[78-L] 78rpm speed

[David Lennick]

33RPM ETs date from at least 1931..I've had several. I think the Philco 
Symphony Orchestra programs date from 1930 and these are 16-inch, running only 
9-10 minutes a side (same length as soundtrack discs).

The ARSC Journals online list a lot of 33RPM discs cut by Victor between 1931 
and '34, and even 3 discs cut at 16RPM. Educational, promotional, radio use as 
well as the issued PTs.

dl

neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com wrote:
> Thanks Mike. Interesting, b'cast tables were 2 speeds from the early 
> 30s, which pre-dates ETs (1934 I believe, which I would call mid-30s). 
> Why a 33 speed in the early 30s, assuming you mean 1930-1933? Would 
> there have been a reason to play a soundtrack on the air?
> 
> joe salerno
> 
> 
> Michael Biel wrote:
>> Broadcast turntables were dual speed from the early 30s, and there were 
>> some dual speed tables for home use when the Program Transcription came 
>> out at that same time, and there were some school use of ETs in the late 
>> 30 thru the 40s so there were dual speed tables in schools as well.  (I 
>> have the ETs that were still in my high school when I was on the AV 
>> squad in the early 60s.  I asked for them as soon as they threw out the 
>> only 16-inch player!)  But I think the terminology was usually 
>> "Standard" and either LP or ET, when referring to the Program 
>> Transcriptions or Electrical Transcriptions.  Of course, short 
>> recordings were sometimes cut on ETs at 78, so perhaps broadcasters 
>> would call them "78 ETs".   When the Columbia Lp and the 45 came out, 
>> this was the first time broadcasters also had to worry about stylus size 
>> as well as speed, so "microgroove 33s" or "ET 33s"   might have entered 
>> their lingo.   When Decca started to issue records and albums on all 
>> three speeds, the number was the designator on the sleeves, on the back 
>> of the jackets, and in the catalog.  RCA emphasized "45" immediately 
>> from the very beginning.  They were always called "forty-fives".  They 
>> could have been called "Standard", "forty-five", and "Long playing", but 
>> I bet that once RCA ALWAYS used the designation of the speed number, 
>> that was the clincher for 78, 45, and 33.  In looking thru a lot of 
>> original publications from the mid 30s to early 40s, I don't recall any 
>> mention of 78 or 78s.  But as I write my script I will now make careful 
>> note for you of any time I might see these designations. 
>>
>> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com 
>>
>> neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com wrote:
>>> True, there were other speeds, but did the average home user of 
>>> phonograph records know about radio transcriptions and movie 
>>> soundtracks? I doubt that the average record buyer knew that Edison had 
>>> attempted an LP format at 300 or whateveritwas LPI. I think that most 
>>> likely, as stated, records were either standard (what we call a "78") or 
>>> something else, like the early LP attempts, which go back to cylinder 
>>> days. "Long playing" options would be the variation from the norm, but 
>>> even this is not correct. Motion pic soundtracks were only, to my 
>>> knowledge, recorded at 33 1/3, so that was the norm for that format. I 
>>> believe I've seen some ETs that were produced for classroom use, or 
>>> maybe could be used for either broadcast or classroom use. Or maybe they 
>>> repurposed ETs for distribution to classrooms to make more money. Home 
>>> recordings and ETs would be the place to find different speeds 
>>> available. So rephrasing the question, when did home players with 2 
>>> speeds (78 & 33) become common enough to be recognized by the consumer 
>>> for what they were? Late 40s to my knowledge. When did 33.3 become 
>>> common enough to be used in classrooms for audio visual presentations 
>>> (assuming my premise to be correct)? Can someone point to a catalog and 
>>> say 'this is the first example of a classroom record player with 33 
>>> speed on it'. Again, for consumer awareness, I'm thinking late '40s. 
>>> Maybe Mike Biel can answer this. (I assume that  players for radio 
>>> stations had 2 speeds from the beginning of the ET era).
>>>
>>> joe salerno
>>>
>>> David Lennick wrote:
>>>   
>>>> But since the slow speed (33 1/3 RPM) was in use as early as 1926 for sync 
>>>> soundtrack discs and radio stations were playing discs of both speeds after 
>>>> 1931 and 33RPM "Program Transcriptions" were marketed by RCA Victor that same 
>>>> year, the answer has to be a lot earlier, even if the general public didn't 
>>>> have reason to refer to "78s" till 1948..even then, the term "standard" 
>>>> remained popular for quite a while. The introduction of the "45" probably 
>>>> heralded the general use of speed designations. Lacquer discs, both studio and 
>>>> for home use, usually had boxes to check "78" and "33" on the labels.
>>>>
>>>> dl
>>>>
>>>> Royal Pemberton wrote:
>>>>     
>>>>> I'd say following the advent of the LP and the 45, so circa 1948/1949.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 3:34 AM, <L78rpm at aol.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>       
>>>>>> When, please, were the objects primarily associated with this list  first
>>>>>> called "78s"?   This seems a reasonable question, I believe,  given the
>>>>>> adjustable speed mechanisms on early disc machines, and the suggestion
>>>>>>  that some
>>>>>> brands should be played at 80rpms (or something other than  78).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Paul Charosh
>>>>>>