The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

This is my first post under the Music board. When I purchased one of my
Victor Victrola machines (I can't remember which one) I found 26 of
these Durium Products Hit of the Week flex records. From what little
I've read, they were only made foe about 2 years from 1930 to 32 and
sold for .15 cents. I have seen some of these played on suit case
portables, so I tried one on my VV-2-60 and it sounded pretty good, I
used a steel needle soft tone, then I tried a tungstun, the tungstun
wouldn't play it. The questions I have are,
1. are they collectable
2. what are they worth
3. What machines should they be played on
4. what kind of needle?

Thanks in advance for any info that anyone can give me.
Gene

You can play them on any 78 machine with a steel needle. They are not rare or unusual, so not worth much, but still interesting... The best way to keep them from slipping (probably what the Tungstone needle did) is to use a simple record hold down made from a tire valve stem - see pic attached. Cut the end and place it over the spindle after you have placed the record on the turntable. These also work as Standard Record adapters (Standard records have an oversized hole).

Curt, nice adaptation of use.

Gene, You may have come across these sites...

https://archive.org/details/CompleteHit ... s1930-1932

http://hitoftheweek.blogspot.com/

http://flexible-records.blogspot.nl/201 ... -2010.html

James.

While they aren't particularly rare, they do contain much snappy music performed by the best session musicians of the time. And they cover a period of time when regular shellac records were not selling in large numbers due to the onset of the depression. There were also some celebrity recordings from Rudy Vallee and Eddie Cantor among others. Also, other than being curled due to age, when weighted down to lay flat on the turntable, they play very well.

Thanks curt/james & phototone for the great info, I did happen onto
those websites mentioned and found some good info. I really like
the hold down idea that curt came up with tho thats a really
neat idea, I will try that for sure. Thanks again guys much
appreciated.
Gene

From what I know about these Hit Of The Week records is they are very fragile. Won't the heavy reproducer tear these apart? Were these records designed for the early electric machines?
Harvey Kravitz

The Hit-of-the-Week discs actually have quite strong grooves. The plastic compound they are made of is quite resistant to wear, certainly more than the contemporary shellac. Evidence is the survival of so many in playable conditions. And they remain remarkably flat if they were well treated over the years, I just add a weight in the center (a disc stabilizer made for LPs) and they play quite smoothly in my gramophones, without noticeable wear.

There are some rare issues, but most Hit of the Week records are fairly common. There is some good listening to be had from them. If you play them on an acoustic machine use a new medium tone steel needle- I don't play my good ones that way but keep some common issues around for demonstration. The surfaces are tough but if you bend them now it can crack

Thanks for more info Harvey/Carlos & Estott, I certainly do appreciate it.
I posted a Youtube Video to show one being played on my VV-50 with a medium
steel needle. It actually sounds pretty good, here's the web address

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEwoC8jmFFQ

Hope you like it
Gene

The Hit of the Weeks, most had longer playing time than conventional records, they advertised 5 minutes. To achieve this the groove had to be spaced closer together, and the modulation of the groove had to be less (not as loud), therefore they seem to play quite well on older Mica diaphragm reproducers that would blast with 1930 era Electric recordings on shellac. The lower groove modulation also enabled them to play with a steel needle without excessive wear.