The former owners left behind ball gowns and stacks of records. Perhaps, they couldn\u2019t bear to throw them out or thought it would be fun for the new kids to play dress up and listen to the sounds.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Ol Man River shellac record. Photo: www.discogs.com<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n The records were very thick and hard. My favorite was \u201cOl\u2019 Man River<\/em>.\u201d I played this one over and over on my record player (that had several speeds) \u2026 in all of its scratchiness, that record was my favorite.<\/p>\n Looking back, I realize now my Ol\u2019 Man River<\/em> record was made out of shellac, a product I associated with high gloss wood finishes. As I later learned, it was the way records were made until World War II when the process was phased out.<\/p>\n Shellac, believe it or not, is derived from the secretion or resin from the female lac bug, native to India and Southeast Asia, and is scraped off from trees. Shellac was mixed with cotton, finely ground limestone, or pumice, along with carbon black for the color. American Emile Berliner of German descent is credited with inventing the process in 1894.<\/p>\n However, in addition to being used for record making, shellac was also used to make explosives. Using shellac for records came to a screeching halt in World War II when President Franklin Roosevelt forced a cut of 70 percent of new phonograph record production. The public was even encouraged to donate their broken or discarded records to be recycled for the war effort.<\/p>\n Despite the ban on shellac use for record production, it is still used in many applications such as furniture finish, making artificial flies for fishing, in bicycle handlebar tape, and as an adhesive to attach one-piece tubular bicycle tires to wheel rims, particularly used in track racing.<\/p>\n The first shellac records were seven inches wide and grew into 10 to 12-inch diameters, playing at a speed of 78 to 80 revolutions per minute (RPM) at first and then settling at 78.26 RPMs.<\/p>\n The replacement for shellac records?<\/p>\n Vinyl record sizes. Photo: Wikicommons<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n The first vinyl long-playing record was introduced by RCA Victor in 1930. The record was made of polyvinyl carbonate \u2026 shortened to \u201cvinyl\u201d in the vernacular. Vinyl became the main material for records thanks to the war rationing. The speed for vinyl is 33 1\/3 (called 33s), 45, and 78.<\/p>\n Answering the call from the music-obsessed public, enter audio cassettes and then CDs to the music market. When cassettes were first introduced, I carried around my player in my car \u2026 before players were installed as a luxury feature.<\/p>\n Cassettes were replaced by CDs, replaced by audio jacks for plugging in a cell phone for a playlist, Spotify, Apple Car Play<\/a>, or Android Auto .<\/a><\/p>\n Today, of course, most music is streamed and downloaded.<\/p>\n However, turntables are not ready for the dumpsters. Who would have thought this but vinyl had been making a comeback?<\/p>\n In addition to the nostalgia collecting, Taylor Swift\u2019s biggest album release in seven years is bolstering the vinyl interest. According to Luminate, the entertainment data and insights company report, Swift\u2019s album, Midnights, with 1.8 million in sales last year and over 36 percent of the sales on vinyl.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s true that most listeners today are streaming, listening to AM\/FM radio, watching music videos, or listening to CDs, listening to vinyl records is still popular with no end in sight.<\/p>\n<\/a>Enter the Vinyl Record<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Vinyl was the rage in the 70s. Who didn\u2019t have a turntable then to play their favorites? But the music was just not portable. It could only be enjoyed where the turntable was located.<\/p>\n<\/a>Vinyl Sales<\/h3>\n<\/a>Getting Back or Moving Forward with Vinyl<\/h3>\n