[78-L] How to keep 78s warm in a cold snap

[Stewart, Joseph R]

David Weiner and Roger Holtin's stories about RCA Dynafloppy LPs curling up into bowl shapes after coming in out of the cold reminds me of a story from my youth.  During a cold snap in February of 1973 we were holding a meeting of our informal high-school music club, "Polyhymnia."  Among other ambitious things we tried to cover subjects such as disc playback and record care.  I brought along a copy of one of my dad's Sons of the Pioneers LPs (a reissue on a Dynaflex pressing) to illustrate the idea that you could (usually) bend 'em in half and they'd spring back to a (nominally) flat(?) shape.  Not this time--one of the other kids tried folding it in half a little too aggressively--remember, it had been in 20 degrees F outside and had been brought into a 72-degree room--and SNAPPP!!!  The sonofagun busted clean in half.  Don't think I've ever seen a vinyl record do that before or since (shellac, yes!)....  Yes, he readily paid for a replacement copy, so luckily my dad wasn't too unhappy about it.

Randy Stewart
Arts Producer
KSMU
901 S. National
Springfield MO 65897