05/29/2026
✨✨✨✨flashback photo✨✨✨✨
these albums are what ya call 78s
the size of the records you have are probably 33s the "average" standard size now
or
45s which hold about one song on each side and are much smaller
the 78s came from last century lol
actually the late 1800s
when they were made of a brittle shellac made from bugs 🐞 lol
and only hold one song per side
but were a big improvement from Thomas Edison's wax discs.
the numbers are the revolutions or rotations per minute similar to a car
78rpm or 78s
aren't vinyl which most albums are referred to because of the material
but are referred to as shellac or breakables and were slang termed "platters " by djs before the switch to 33rpm on vinyl in the 1940s to popularize in the 1950s
when recorded the artist would have to play into a large horn to amplify the sound into the recording device (why most of these albums sounded like they were playing from a tin can )
(oh don’t get me started on why we call them albums… okay too late… It’s actually because these only contained one song per side. They would be released in series’ in thick paper notebook sleeves adjoined together similar to a photo album or such)
then the large steel needle would be placed in the deep grooves of the thick shellac, and a handle would be cranked up to operate the revolutions and another horn to amplify the sound out of the record player
isn't it a bit magic and science
so cool! I love learning about this stuff
What fun fact do you know about 78s?
or were any of these new to you?
