Pick up a stack of old records and you will notice something odd. Most have a small hole in the middle, but some, especially little seven inch singles, have a giant one. It turns out the difference is not an accident or a quirk of manufacturing. It is the leftover from a business rivalry between two record companies, and the answer starts long before the jukebox.
The history lesson comes from @richardsmithwrites on Instagram, who explains it with a collection of records and a vintage jukebox sitting right behind him.
It goes back before the jukebox
You might guess the big hole was invented for the jukebox. The presenter says it goes back further than that, to the very early days of the record. Early records were made of shellac, which was extremely fragile. He even holds up a broken one, joking that it is one he made earlier. To protect them, records were stored in a box, which became known as an album. Those early albums were physically huge, a bit like a stamp album but a lot bigger.
Columbia’s long playing record
A few years later came vinyl and the microgroove. Suddenly everything that used to fill a whole box of discs could fit on a single record. Columbia, the company that marketed it, was very pleased with its new long playing format, which replaced the bulky album sets. The twelve inch Columbia LP held about six tracks on each side.
RCA’s answer: the seven inch with a big hole
Another company, RCA, had a different problem to solve. What about the single, the one song that used to appear on each side of a larger shellac record? RCA used the new technology to come up with the seven inch record. And this is where, as the presenter puts it, commercialism steps in.
RCA wanted to corner the market with its own format. It made its records with a big hole, which made them incompatible with Columbia’s records, which had the smaller hole. He compares it to Apple versus Android. RCA then brought out a special player that stacked four or five of its 45s so that they could be played one after the other, like an album.
The player that failed and the jukebox that saved the hole
It did not work. People would not buy the machine, which meant the format was in danger of dying. It survived partly because of the jukebox. The large hole was perfect for a clever but clunky mechanism that had to drop records onto a turntable, and that is why big hole records are so strongly linked with jukeboxes today.
For people elsewhere in the world, whose record players only had a spindle for the smaller hole, the big hole meant using a spider, a little black plastic adapter dropped into the middle of the record so it could be played. He clips one into an RCA seven inch to show how it works. As for why records play at different speeds, he says that is another story for next time.
The story ends with the jukebox doing its thing. A mechanical arm lifts a seven inch record with a large center hole, sets it on the spinning turntable and lowers the needle onto the groove, and a vintage rock track begins.
Handy things to know if you collect records
- If a seven inch single has a large hole, it follows the RCA style and is made to work with jukebox mechanisms.
- If you play a big hole record at home, you may need a spider adapter in the middle so it sits properly on a small spindle.
- Shellac records are extremely fragile, so handle them gently and store them with care.
- Look at the label. Brand names such as RCA Victor and HMV can tell you a lot about where a record came from.
- Records come in different sizes and speeds, so check what a record needs before playing it.
Speeds and sizes at a glance
Most seven inch singles spin at 45 revolutions per minute, while twelve inch LPs usually play at 33 and a third. Older shellac discs commonly run at 78. Many modern turntables have a switch to select the speed, and shellac discs also need a stylus made for them, so check your equipment before dropping a needle on an old record.
Looking after your records
- Store records upright, never stacked in a pile, and keep them out of heat and sunlight, which can cause warping.
- Hold them by the edges and label, not the playing surface.
- Brush away dust before playing, using a carbon fiber brush or a dedicated record brush.
- Use fresh inner sleeves, since old paper can shed fibers into the grooves.
- Inspect a used record under a bright light, tilting it to catch scratches and scuffs.
Credit for the original post goes to @richardsmithwrites on Instagram.
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