[Milsurplus] Re: [ARC5] NPC: A Tune for Pearl Harbor Day

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Dec 7, 2007 2:29 PM, Mike Hanz <AAF-Radio-1 at aafradio.org> wrote:
> I thought the mass produced records of WWII were shellac - I know I
> accidentally broke more than one when I was a kid, much to the
> irritation of my parents.  Originals were aluminum disk coated with
> black lacquer, or at least that's what the ANQ-2 disk recorder uses.

Yep, I have some of those from an old radio station with early 40s
dates. The black lacquer is peeling off one of them, exposing the disc
inside. Used for announcements and such, they could very well have
been old stock used during the war. Hard to believe they'd be using
aluminum during that time. Others I've seen look like some kind of
particle board material. And it's been years since I paid much
attention, but I do have some 'black vinyl' looking recordings from
the early/mid 40s timeframe.

One of the things that seems to have accumulated around me through the
years is a large collection of old records. From early 78s, to large,
red translucent transcription discs of radio programs, and many
oddities in between. Some of the 78s are a marbleized color, some are
made of odd materials, and who knows what is buried in the piles and
boxes. I never set out to accumulate them, they just.....arrived over
time?

> "From 1897 onwards, earlier materials were largely replaced by a rather
> brittle formula of 25% "shellac" (a material obtained from the excretion
> of a southeast Asian beetle),

Wow...that's a lot of beetles......  (o:

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ