[Dixielandjazz] Shellac, acetate, PVC....

[Hal Vickery]

Here's everything I know about materials used for recordings:

The recording of the Crosby outtakes was most likely an aluminum core
covered with acetate (actually cellulose acetate).  This is the same type of
recording on which radio programs were transcribed.

78 rpm recordings were made of shellac.  However, when I was a kid growing
up in the early and mid '50s, some of the 78 records I had (kids records
were of the same material as LPs (more on that in a moment).

There were cheap records made of plastic-coated cardboard going back to the
late '20s.  The first such plastic had the trade name "Durium."  It was used
to make the short-lived "Hit of the Week" series during the Great
Depression.  I imagine the later ones you're talking about were made of a
similar material.

Finally, afaik, LPs were always made of polyvinyl chloride (aka PVC or
simply vinyl, but this way I get to show off the fact that I teach chemistry
:-) .  Ditto 45s.