[78-L] acoustic vanity

[David Lennick]

There were some systems that used metal or zinc discs, but nothing that 
resembled a conventional phonograph record. And the black lacquer 
"instantaneous" disc didn't appear until 1934. From the late 20s forward, you 
could go to a studio and record your voice, but this was on an uncoated 
aluminum disc which was silver in color. And yes, you could have a vanity 
record made and pressed, if you had a lotta dough or knew someone who didn't 
mind using the company's facilities after hours, nudge nudge wink wink.

dl

On 1/26/2011 11:46 AM, CelticGuitar666 at aol.com wrote:
> I don't think there was I have a bunch of disc's form the 30's 40's
> Audiodiscs's They were machines that were for the home or they were at other
> public places. Some came with mailers to send to friends family. Since the were
> all electric I doubt they were around in the 1920's although I guess some
> enterprising young person who had access to blanks? could have done it back
> then. Who knows?
>   Oh yes I just missed out on one of those machines with a case of  blanks
> for Freee   Nut's!
> Dwight
>
> In a message dated 1/26/2011 11:26:13 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com writes:
>
> Recently  I happened to catch an ep of COLD CASE, a crime drama about
> some  detectives who solve old murder cases. This one is called "Torn",
> #91,  from April 8 of 2007. I don't care for this series, but this case
> happened  in 1919-20 (which is why it even caught my attention, I was
> hoping there  might be a phonograph sighting) and involved the murder of
> a suffragette.  There were a few scenes with records and machines, and as
> one might  expect, the historical accuracy was somewhat lax. The first
> scene in  question (remember, 1919) used Al Jolson singing "You Made Me
> Love You"  with a big band accompaniment as background.  In another scene
> we see  a close up of an Edison Disc, Sophie Tucker "Some of These Days"
> on 4M-691  (???) and quickly a character plays it on an early external
> horn machine,  steel needle out of focus in the distance. I'm no expert
> on Edison labels,  but surely this was a prop person's creation. Did
> Edison have a double  strobe on his label ever? It looks like a double
> strobe anyway. I think it  was 12".
>
> But the real question is about something that happens at the  end of the
> show. A detective has found a record and comments that it had  been made
> by the deceased person's mother. What we see looks like shellac  with a
> printed label - "Market Street Recording Studio" in big letters.  Was
> there such a studio? Would there have been a sound studio in 1920? Or  a
> place to make a personal recording? There's even an address in Philly
> but most of it is not visible. Date of recording is August 18, 1920
> (date of 19th amendment ratification). Sounds and looks like vinyl to me
> when the fellow puts it on the same phonograph to play it, and I don't
> think it is turning at 78 rpm. Certainly it's a prop. As far as the
> story goes, it would have required plating and pressing to produce a
> shellac record, and the time and expense for one disc would be way out
> of line, even if someone provided this service in 1920.
>
> So here's  the question - in 1920, would it have been possible to make a
> vanity  record or a home recording on disc? I know it could be done on a
> cylinder,  I've heard those played at an ARSC Conference. Was there a way
> to make a  single home-recorded disc for family use? And if so what
> material would  this be? Certainly not shellac.
>
> joe  salerno