78 record find!

[CaddyKid21]

While my dad and brother were cleaning the attic, they found a box of 78 records to go with our Victrola. There is something special about this box or records, they have a few that are printed on paper. The bottom is paper, and the record is made in the plastic on top. They are very peculiar. They say "Hit of The Week" on them. Does anybody know of anything like this. I will post pictures soon.

 

[Burnsie]

I got a stack of these (mixed in with other 78's) from my Grandpa when he gave me his Philco - these paper records were much older than the Philco (which is from the early 40's) and seem to have been my Grandmothers and judging from the music (most of them are playable) they sound 20's. They're brown with white lettering and all say "Hit of the Week" on them.

 

[CaddyKid21]

Mine sound 20's-ish too, I wonder what their purpose is. Maybe the other lettering on yours has faded, the lettering on mine has partially faded.

 

[LuketheLurker]

Good find Hit of the Week records are pretty cool. Check Out Dismukes Hit of the Week pagehas a little history about them. Also Check out his Message Board for 78 Collectors were you might find some more information. I look Forward to seeing the pictures.

 

[LizzieMaine]

While my dad and brother were cleaning the attic, they found a box of 78 records to go with our Victrola. There is something special about this box or records, they have a few that are printed on paper. The bottom is paper, and the record is made in the plastic on top. They are very peculiar. They say "Hit of The Week" on them. Does anybody know of anything like this. I will post pictures soon.

They were sold on newsstands during 1930-32 for fifteen cents each as a Depression alternative to paying 75 cents for a Victor or Columbia record, and featured the top pop tunes of the moment recorded by various studio orchestras, although they also scored a coup by signing Rudy Vallee as a featured performer.

The sound quality on these is a lot better than you might expect. The main problem with them is that they tend to warp, so you'll often find them glued back-to-back to create a "double sided" Hit Of The Week disc, or even attatched to a regular shellac 78.

 

[CaddyKid21]

Thanks for the info Lizzie. Mine have warped a little, they have turned Frisbee shaped. The sound quality is pretty good, surprisingly and are in overall 8/10 condition id say.

 

[Forgotten Man]

Word to the wise...

Do not play them on a wind-up player... they will chew them up faster then you'd think.

To play them once in a wile, play them on an electric player... "HIT of THE WEEK" records are rare... not very common today since they were only made two years or so.

Hang on to them... and do post photos!

 

[CaddyKid21]

Here are the Hit of The Weeks. I also included pictures of our Victrola, and a very special record, well i think its special. Its a record that has never been played, original paper, no rips or tears, and no fading. It also only has a recording on one side.

The backside

 

[Flivver]

That's a Victor Red Seal record you have there. These were Victor's most expensive records (up to $4 each, depending on the stature of the artist) and were reserved for classical and opera music. A collection of Red Seal records was a status symbol in the Golden Era...to be proudly displayed by their owner.

And that's an awfully nice Orthophonic Victrola...the Consolette model, if I'm not mistaken. Orthophonic Victrolas are great sounding machines, particularly when playing electrically recorded records produced in 1925-1937.

Your Consolette was introduced on November 2, 1925..."Victor Day", when the revolutionary Orthophonic Victrolas were first shown to the public.

 

[Forgotten Man]

Nice Brunswick jacket... it is in fine shape... also, love the Romeo platter on your turn table... I have a few of those and they're pretty good for a dime store label.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The "Lullaby of the Leaves/Betty Boop" Hit of the Week disc is a special one -- late in the run of the series they introduced new "longer playing" records, which used a tighter grooving to allow two full selections to be included on one side, for a total running time of up to five and a half minutes. They were considered quite a novelty in their day. Note also the "Arthur Murray" endorsement on the label -- king of the walk-up-one-flight dancing schools!

 

[Dismuke]

Hit of the Week records are, indeed, lots of fun.

Happily, Archeophone Records is reissuing the complete run of Hit of the Week records in a four volume CD collection. Volumes one through three (each of them a 2 CD set) have already been issued, though unfortunately, volume two has apparently sold out. However you can still get volumes one and three as well as read more about the history of the records and hear some sound clips at: http://www.archeophone.com/product_info.php?products_id=61

p.s. - thanks for the mention Luke!

 

[LuketheLurker]

p.s. - thanks for the mention Luke!

No problem Dismuke, just trying to help everybody out.