[78-L] Cellophone (no, not cellophane, and not Sellotape)

[Benno Häupl]

Strange, the bookrags.com link mentions that Cellophone was marketed as from February 1937, 
and the scienceandsociety.co.uk page says 'ca. 1936' and that it predates the tape recorder 
by 10 years. However, the Telefunken 'Magnetophon K1 was first marketed at the Funkausstellung 
(radio exhibition) in Berlin in August 1932. 

BTW, are you people aware of the German Tefifon? This early 1950's apparatus played cassettes 
containing an 'endless plastic tape' with grooves like on a 78rpm record!  The Tefifon 'loop tapes' 
were pressed like records (a band was spoliced to a loop)! The sapphire needles and cartridges 
used to play these cassettes were standard needles like for most record players (Braun, Telefunken...). 
The technical system had been developed by a company which was later to become DUAL. 

These cassettes played for up to 4 hours! Music offered was mainly background music and 
light classical. As from 1961 there were even Stereo cassettes! 
http://www.sterkrader-radio-museum.de/tefifon.htm 
A close-up view of the tape with grooves can be seen here: 
http://www.tonbandmuseum.info/das-tefifon.html

Much earlier, at the Funkausstellung 1936 in Berlin, the inventor Karl Daniel launched his Tephicord, 
a machine to record grooves on this 'endless' (= loop) tape machine!  It is said that the sound quality 
exceeded by far that of 78rpm records. 
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefifon 

Some original Tefiphon / Tephicord press photos are currently on sale at eBay Germany: 
http://cgi.ebay.de/Tefi-6-x-original-Fotos-Teficord-Tefifon-/120688707800?pt=Radio_TV_Musik&hash=item1c199b88d8 

Benno