This week in February of 1949 RCA Victor introduced the 7-inch 45 rpm fine-grooved vinylite record, marketed simply as a "45". It would change the way people would listen to records.
From Wiki:
"The new format, which had been under development for several years, was RCA Victor's belatedly unveiled alternative to the 12-inch and 10-inch 33⅓ rpm microgroove vinyl "LP" (Long Play) discs introduced by arch-rival CBS/Columbia in 1948. In heavy promotion, RCA sold compact, inexpensive add-on and stand-alone units that played the 45 rpm format exclusively.
At first, RCA Victor's 45s were issued on colored vinyl according to the musical genre: ordinary pop music on black vinyl, prestigious Broadway musicals and operettas on "midnight blue" vinyl, classical music on red vinyl, country and polka on green, children's fare on yellow, rhythm and blues on orange or cerise, and international on teal.
This array of colors complicated the production process and the practice was soon discontinued. The use of vinyl, which was much more expensive than the gritty shellac compound normally used for 78s, was made economically practical by the smaller diameter and greatly reduced bulk of the new discs, which required very little raw material."
How many of you still have your 45's?
