[78-L] Why Do You Care About 78's?

[Donna Halper]

I care about 78s for several reasons.  One is because that's what my 
late parents loved, and that's what was played in our home when I was 
growing up. I became familiar with so many amazing songs-- some of which 
are not available anywhere else; listening to those songs helps me to 
keep my parents' memory alive.  The other reason is I'm a media 
historian, and 78s are an important part of radio history, as well as 
music industry history. It's important for me to know who was recording 
which songs, who had hits, who got airplay, how were songs promoted in 
those days (like, who were the song-pluggers and how did they do their 
job?), what labels existed back then, who were the local performers from 
my city (Boston) who became nationally-known, etc. I find the history of 
the music industry and the history of radio equally fascinating, and 
learning about 78s has enhanced my knowledge of both.  And a comment 
about another post-- I am also a stamp collector, and have been since I 
was a kid.

-- 
Donna L. Halper, PhD
Associate Professor of Communication & Media Studies
Lesley University, Cambridge MA