[78-L] pile of ancient discs

[Kristjan Saag]

On 2012-02-04 07:10, David Lennick wrote:
> There was definitely a program to reclaim old records. I have a
> Bluebird catalog which asks you to bring an old record to the store every time
> you buy a new one, and get a few cents back, and also not to bring in any
> laminated records. The regrind was necessary because a crucial ingredient in
> shellac was unavailable due to Japanese blockade.
---
The ingreident, of course, was shellac itself.

More about this at:

http://books.google.se/books?id=NlUVOC70BCEC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=%22shortage+of%22+shellac&source=bl&ots=Y9EUUfADMp&sig=CxIuFO692EJ8PAmzSv0gUIVjoDo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ef4sT8m6I8OM4gSZ4Mm0Dg&ved=0CCEQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=%22shortage%20of%22%20shellac&f=false

By 1944, as you can see, there was no longer any restrictions as to how 
much shellac the record companies could use. But there was a post-war 
shortage of shellac, nevertheless, and the prices were high. This didn't 
change until the late 1940's, as can be seen from this Billboard article:

http://books.google.se/books?id=l_UDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=shellac+postwar+shortage&source=bl&ots=jNTLT_SsVf&sig=CaLH2eLXu_LWL8dnFYud9-79MTs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EQktT4blCcyP4gSD4aXBDg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=shellac%20postwar%20shortage&f=false

The situations was the same in Europe: the record scrap in Sweden, for 
instance, lasted until 1949.

And, by the way:

http://texaspaint.com/2011/01/shellac-shortage-bug-paint-industry/

Kristjan