[78-L] Approximating 78s age by physical characteristics

[David Lennick]

English Columbias were laminated until the EMI merger, as were Parlophones. 
(This is oversimplification since it doesn't tell when these labels began to be 
laminated.) French pressings of just about everything were laminated into the 
50s, ditto Australian from a certain point.

Capitol 78s were notoriously breakable in the 40s and got worse in the 50s, but 
they used vinyl for promotional pressings and usually didn't indicate this 
anywhere. Find a black vinyl Capitol and you've got one of the quietest records 
ever made. Unfortunately some of their promos were on thicker heavier 
"Superflex", designed for children's records, and these are noisier.

There's a lot more to it..Brunswicks and their bargain derivatives like 
Vocalion usually weren't laminated, but exceptions turn up. When CBS bought 
ARC, lamination stopped for a couple of years and the early red Columbias and 
OKehs are quite breakable, till lamination returned in the early 40s. A lot of 
their client pressings, like Liberty Music Shops and Schirmer, turn up on noisy 
unlaminated shellac and quiet laminated material, sometimes within the same 
album. And at some point in the mid 50s, red Columbias became solid shellac again.

Again, over-simplification.

dl

On 3/3/2013 6:59 PM, David London wrote:
>>>> first laminated pressings
>> Columbia and American were doing laminated pressings in maybe 1902 or 3.
>>    The Columbia Marconi Velvet-Tone flexible plastic discs in 1907 were
>> laminated. But Columbia was doing solid pressings as well until the
>> introduction of the New Process in 1923.
>>
>>
>
> I noticed you capitalised "New Process".  Was this the start of the
> modern laminated pressings?
>
> Amongst all the modern (post WW2?) 78s I have, labels like Columbia,
> HMV, Parlophone, Philips are thicker and nicely laminated, but some
> still seem to be thin unlaminated - such as red Capitol label - the
> later Capitol went to purple and were laminated. (a side note - the red
> label Capitols all seem to have more surface noise as well) There's
> probably a whole long story here, and it may well be country/continent
> specific.
>
> Is it possible to put an approximate date on when the "modern" laminated
> disc was first used mainstream?  Seems that nearly all later big band
> era and jazz records I have are laminated, except a few, such as red
> Columbia label from the US.  The impression I am forming is that the
> main changeover to laminated was happening about or just before WW2.
> The earliest I have noticed are perhaps some Regal-Zonophones from the 30's.
>
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