Following on from my other posts regarding what 78s were made of from the US perspective, one interesting member of the 78L list provided a UK perspective:

From a UK perspective….

We didn’t get the vinyl/metrolite and other so called ‘unbreakable’ 78s that were issued in the USA and elsewhere until about 1956. In 1956/7, the Pye/Nixa/Mercury group of labels issued some (not all) of their 78rpm singles as vinyl issues but all were still given shellac equivalents.

I don’t know how this system was operated, but I think the vinyl issues came out after the shellac ones and it is also interesting to note that although this group of labels issued vinyl discs on the other speeds (33 and 45) as early as 1954, singles remained at 78rpm only until 1958 bar a few 45rpm juke box only issues in 1957. Same goes for Philips and Fontana too but they didn’t make vinyl 78s.

So, the hit records by The Platters like “The Great Pretender” issued by UK Mercury in 1956 never came out on 45 but came out on shellac 78rpm in 1956 and in 1957 or so came out on vinyl 78rpm.

It would appear that these labels thought the 78 would last for singles but there was definitely a growing market for LP and EP records (especially in their classical and jazz catalogue) and stuck with the 78 right to 1960 by which time vinyl 78s on the above labels were the norm before 78s were scrapped in 1960 for good. It is interesting that the EMI labels and Decca didn’t invest in the vinyl 78 technology but the Mercury/Pye/Nixa labels did. These vinyl 78s sound excellent even in average shape and mint condition ones sound fantastic.

The only other 78rpm records I have come across pressed on vinyl or part plastic material are the early 30s Broadcast label 9″ records (series started 1931) pressed by Vocalion. The material isn’t vinyl but it is quite flexible and the discs are thinner than the earlier 8″ issues of the late 20s by the company. Perhaps they found a cheaper material to use for the later issues to cut costs (the last 9″ Broadcast discs are late 1933)??

And if so what is the material used?? It is increasingly poor as the series went on and the higher catalogue numbers often turn up cracked and/or worn as they are so thin and soft despite appearing to have had little play. So all other British 78s are shellac as far as I know of…

Another member offered the following in relation vinyl use in the UK:

Vinyl WAS in use in Britain for music libraries and sound effects recordings..as late as 1968 but from the mid 50s on, as far as I can tell. Oddly enough, the blue label Chappells pressed by Philips in the mid 50s were still on shellac, and not even good quality stuff. Those always turn up chipped and flaked. And Decca/London sent out white label promos on high quality vinyl (to North America, at any rate..I don’t know if the UK got them).

Another member of the 78L list confirmed that:

Decca/London 78 promos all shellac in UK. I agree that non-UK ones were often vinyl.

In Europe however, Pathe ethnic (Serbian) 10″ records from 1929 were defenitely not shelac, but some flexible, at the same time dense, hard material. Those records played very clearly and quiet with very little surface noise.

Marconi discs were made in 1907 (into 1908?) and were black, I believe. The surface might have been the same material Columbia used on their laminated records, but applied to a paper base.

Another member of the discussion list went into further discussion regarding the Marconi discs. Many members of the list were even surprised that Marconi went into disc production.

Assuming that we are talking about the 1906 Marconi Velvet-Tone Columbia pressings, the surfaces are indeed black and with the exception of Martha’s Spanish discs were single-sided, with the back side having a large info label surrounded by a cross-hatch pattern that probably was meant to grab onto the turntable felt. They obviously differ from regular Columbia laminated pressings in that they are only 3-ply rather than 5 ply, not having the thick center core and only one paper layer instead of two. But I don’t think the surfaces are the same material as the regular laminated surfaces. Considering the edge chips and flakes on regular laminated discs, I don’t think the regular surfaces are as soft and pliable as the Marconi’s. They could be celluloid or a mixture of celluloid and shellac without filler.

One member also suggested that Marconi discs were perhaps made of celluloid. A link was provided relating the patient information of the talking machine record: http://tinyurl.com/yggel26.

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