Perfect Record Colour

[PeterF]

A rumor went around about the red records, years ago, that they were at least slightly hot. I happened to work at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab at the time so I took in a bunch of red ones, plus black ones for comparison, to get them measured by professional folks and equipment that would let me know for sure.

Yep, turned out they were slightly hotter than the black ones, but negligible and certainly not dangerous. The vintage orange Fiestaware is considerably hotter, but you would have to grind up several place settings and inhale it all to have any chance of adverse health effects.

[gramophone-georg]

The earliest Aeolian Vocalion discs were pressed in a similar reddish brown shellac. Needless to say, Vocalion claimed it to be superior to black, but they soon discontinued it in favour of black.
A more attractive colour was the dark blue used by American Odeon on discs which were said to be for export only, but this did not prevent US Columbia from taking legal action which forced them to cease production.
Blue reappeared in the 1930's on US Columbia's Royal Blue label, said to be pressed on a super fine grade of shellac.

Actually the earliest AV records were black vertical pressings, except for the colourful splatter special records pressed in celebration of the end of WW1.
They went to black again in the early 15000 series, likely in anticipation of electrical recording, which required a stronger shellac to avoid breaking down when playing, as Gennett found out.

As to the blue American Odeon- the blue shellac and the label design is a direct copy of the Hawthorn American Record pressings. If the Odeon is not associated with that I can see why they got sued. Royal Blue shellac Columbias began as a marketing gimmick in 1932 to boost sales, and was discontinued in early 36, at which time the remaining RB shellac formula was moved to the West Coast and mixed in with black for Vocalion and Brunswick pressings resulting in a very dark blue. Most, but not all, of these were laminated, and they seem to have been a one year wonder thing.

As to why the red records exist... my best SWAG is to skirt a patent and also maybe to stand out. It's also possible the "red" lowered production cost.
Perfect records were "red" from the early mid 20s until about 1932. Perfect was associated with Pathé, and in USA we got Actuelle records that were red and black "splatter"- again a marketing gimmick from what I understand. Unfortunately, it seems the buying public thought these records were defective somehow. That rumor could be nonsense, too.

Now, if my idea that Vocalion switched to black because they were getting ready to switch over to electrical recording is true, it begs the question of why Perfect did not do this. I would note that I have seen way more badly worn red electrical Perfect records than any other brand, but this is just an anecdotal observation. Another reason Vocalion may have made the switch is that they were merged with Brunswick at about the same time as the 15000 series began, and Brunswick never used red shellac.

[gramophone-georg]

A rumor went around about the red records, years ago, that they were at least slightly hot. I happened to work at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab at the time so I took in a bunch of red ones, plus black ones for comparison, to get them measured by professional folks and equipment that would let me know for sure.

Yep, turned out they were slightly hotter than the black ones, but negligible and certainly not dangerous. The vintage orange Fiestaware is considerably hotter, but you would have to grind up several place settings and inhale it all to have any chance of adverse health effects.

Here's hoping that your avatar is smashing red records while breathing heavy, then.

[paradroid1793]

Splatter & mixed colours were also used on special occasions. Vocalion's limited pressing of the Star Spangled Banner used white, red, and blue for a mix "tye-dye" appearance of the record.

[MisterGramophone]

The earliest Aeolian Vocalion discs were pressed in a similar reddish brown shellac. Needless to say, Vocalion claimed it to be superior to black, but they soon discontinued it in favour of black.
A more attractive colour was the dark blue used by American Odeon on discs which were said to be for export only, but this did not prevent US Columbia from taking legal action which forced them to cease production.
Blue reappeared in the 1930's on US Columbia's Royal Blue label, said to be pressed on a super fine grade of shellac.

Actually the earliest AV records were black vertical pressings, except for the colourful splatter special records pressed in celebration of the end of WW1.
They went to black again in the early 15000 series, likely in anticipation of electrical recording, which required a stronger shellac to avoid breaking down when playing, as Gennett found out.

How do I know if one is vertical? If it is, can I play it on this?

[JerryVan]

The vintage orange Fiestaware is considerably hotter, but you would have to grind up several place settings and inhale it all to have any chance of adverse health effects.

Well, there goes another pastime shot to hell...

[52089]

I know of at least one black shellac Perfect record. It's a memorial record reissuing 2 Warren Harding speeches. It has a white label and black shellac. There may be others.

[drh]

Come to think of it, some issues on the Domino label were also pressed in the red shellac.

[ChesterCheetah18]

I know of at least one black shellac Perfect record. It's a memorial record reissuing 2 Warren Harding speeches. It has a white label and black shellac. There may be others.

The Harding record was originally pressed (in black shellac) by Pathé shortly after his death in 1923. I have a copy of the Actuelle pressing. I'm not sure if they also released a vertical pressing as well.
Back in high school, one of the staff members, in addition to being the varsity basketball coach and teaching driver's ed, also taught history. In one of his classes, "The '20s", he often referred to 'Ol Warren as "Horny Harding". I still get a chuckle out of that when I think about it.

Steve

[ChesterCheetah18]

The earliest Aeolian Vocalion discs were pressed in a similar reddish brown shellac. Needless to say, Vocalion claimed it to be superior to black, but they soon discontinued it in favour of black.
A more attractive colour was the dark blue used by American Odeon on discs which were said to be for export only, but this did not prevent US Columbia from taking legal action which forced them to cease production.
Blue reappeared in the 1930's on US Columbia's Royal Blue label, said to be pressed on a super fine grade of shellac.

Actually the earliest AV records were black vertical pressings, except for the colourful splatter special records pressed in celebration of the end of WW1.
They went to black again in the early 15000 series, likely in anticipation of electrical recording, which required a stronger shellac to avoid breaking down when playing, as Gennett found out.

How do I know if one is vertical? If it is, can I play it on this?

The machine shown is currently set up to play vertical records. You must use a sapphire ball stylus though. Never use a steel needle on a vertical record.

Steve