Many of you know that I am fascinated by phonograph related photographs
(cabinet cards & stereoviews in particular). A few years ago I offered
free reprints of some of the images in my collection to members of
phonolist & phono-l.
In the past I had negatives made of the originals & then reprints
made from the negatives. I am trying a different approach now. I have
scanned a high quality image to cd and will take that into the photo shop
& have reprints made. Hopefully the quality will not suffer in the
end. Tonight I scanned several additions to my collection of "stuff" and
am planning to have reprints made at the photo shop. All reprints will
be 4x6. If you are interested please respond off list . . . let me
know the image (s) you would like . . . and your mailing address. A brief
description follows:
1. Man with Edison Standard & Horn . . . Holding Rifle
2. Dexter, MN High School Graduation Photo with Victor XXV
Phonograph.
3. Woman standing next to Victrola VV-60 Electrola (I think that it
is this phonograph but am not absolutely certain). Original was hand
tinted.
4. Family sitting around a Edison C150 (am pretty sure that is the
model). Nice clear photo.
5. WC Wolfe Univeral Electric Autophone. Good clear image of a
rather obscure subject. Upper left corner is missing but does not really
negatively impact the appeal of the picture.
6. General Store with Bicycles & Columbia Phonographs.
7. Photo of combination Laundry/Barbershop/Talking Machine Repair
Store. Has a Nipper in the window.
8. Child listening to Suitcase Style Edison. Child is using ear
tubes. There is a brush with shavings on top of a table next to
phonograph. Clear image.
9. Cover of Rangeland Romances magazine (c 1940) with cowboy, pretty
girl, record (has title "I love you") , and rear mount phonograph.
This one is a colored drawing but is so neat that I thought a few of you
may enjoy it.
I intend to have these pictures made in the next day or two. If you
would like a free image please drop me an email off list.
Happy Collecting.
<:)>
Wayne H
---------------------------------
Blab-away for as little as 1?/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo!
Messenger with Voice.
From [email protected] Wed Apr 26 02:16:29 2006
From: [email protected] (Robert Wright)
Date: Sun Dec 24 13:11:34 2006
Subject: [Phono-L] RCA microgroove LP demo disc from ca. 1932 - any info??
References: <[email protected]>
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Many of you know my area of interest is technical oddities -- odd sized
discs, puzzle records, failed experiments with format,
inside-out/vertical/universal cut, and especially early attempts at long
play discs.
I have a question I intend to ask Kurt Nauck, but I wanted to ask you folks
first. I'm repeatedly amazed by the depth and range of the knowledge of
this list's members.
I bought an RCA Victor demo record on eBay based on the description in its
rather elaborate sleeve. It's red/orange flexible cardboard with gold print
on the front, "RCA VICTOR DEMONSTRATION ALBUM" in bold, fat letters -- very
1930's art deco, typical of much RCA Victor design of that era. Inside is a
blurb printed on a page of record sleeve material, "The Music You Want -
When You Want It". It's loaded with typical stuff about how only Victor
records give you the full degree of pleasure, years of experience, skilled
craftsmen, yadda yadda, with the obligatory plug for the new line of RCA
Victor instruments, the rhetoric aimed boldly at consumers (YOUR new Victor
phonograph, YOUR home, YOUR new records, etc.).
This sheet mentions the differences between Chromium needles (green shank),
Tungstone needles, regular needles, and 'red shank home recording needle' as
well as 'orange shank long playing needle'. This dates it around the time
of RCA's takeover of Victor in 1929 and the hard push for sales they made in
the years after with home recording, 33rpm program transcriptions, and
picture discs.
Here's where it gets bizarre. It mentions the brand new Automatic Record
Changing Device and its ability to play up to 10 records automatically, but
making it clear that only 10" discs could be used "(either long playing or
standard)". I've never seen a changer that only changed 10" discs. In the
earlier paragraph about various types of needles, it mentions standard
records being played with the "speed shift lever at position 1."
Under the blurb page is a record sleeve, hole-less, with another blurb.
This is the stranger of the two. "This is a NEW KIND of Record!" calls from
the top of the page. Then: "Here is a disc that will play several times as
long as any record of similar size you have ever heard! Twenty minutes of
delightful entertainment have been recorded in its super-fine grooves, and
instead of the usual few minutes of a single selection, the two sides of
this disc will give you a complete musical sketch, with songs and pleasant
talk by Frank Crumit; two inimitable numbers by the famous Revelers with
Frank Black; a piano duet by Victor Arden and Phil Ohman; a brilliant
orchestral selection by Nathaniel Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra, and
finally, a suite of four famous compositions by Wagner, Dvorak,
Rimsky-Korsakow and Tchaikowsky. It is the new RCA Victor Long Playing
Record. Imagine this wealth of entertainment within the confines of a
single 10-inch disc!"
Yeah, no kidding! Even the 12" Program Transcriptions were only 12-15
minutes per side (the ones I own, anyway - if they're even that long). And
PT's were certainly not microgroove! Heartbreakingly, the record that
should've come in this folder had been replaced by a crummy old Victor Radio
Tone Demonstration record, a scroll label VE Orthophonic with Milton Cross
announcing. It does sound positively fabulous, but it's not the record I
was trying to buy. There were, however, a number of shards of what was left
of the original demo disc way down in the sleeve, and in addition to clearly
being shellac, they were plainly microgrooves, without question -- not quite
as fine as an Edison DD, but certainly as fine as Columbia's 1949
microgrooves.
All these years we've understood the 33 microgroove disc to be Columbia's
doing. Folks, please help me if you can: exactly what failed RCA
experiment do I have evidence of here?
Thanks in advance,
Robert
