HISTORY OF THE 10" LP

The "LP" (Long Playing Record) was a development of Columbia Records in the mid-1940s as the next technological development to replace the 78 rpm record which had been around for nearly 50 years and were sonically poor, wore out quickly due to the 'chisel' type needle utilized to play them and the material composition of the 78s made them heavy and especially brittle and fragile--if you dropped them, there was a good chance they would shatter. This new 'LP' rotated at a much slower 33 1/3 rpms, used a much smaller needle to play them and more importantly tracked the record at a much lighter weight, greatly reducing the wear and tear on the record. The record grooves on the 'LP' which were much finer than that for the 78s, resulting in more 'play time' per side.  Since 78s had been produced in both 10" and 12" sizes, it naturally was decided to produce the 'LP' in these two sizes.  However, the consumer response favored the 12" size over the 10" as they now had the convenience of hearing a single disc that could play up to 20 minutes of music on one side as opposed to the 78s which provided so little play time, as well as, the smaller 10" disc.  The smaller size also got lost when interfiled with the 12" disc.  What occurred was that the number of releases in the 10" format was much smaller than for 12" LPs, and although their existence did extend into the mid-1950s, they were definitely not as popular.  They were convenient for releases that incorporated a lesser number of selections, and that included a number of original soundtrack records--as seen above with Dean Martin vocals from 'The Stooge', 'The Eddie Cantor Story', 'Athena', and Patrice Munsel's 'Melba'.  The pop examples shown are Bing Crosby and the Somerset Strings on a Christmas release.  There were hundreds of such releases, but that compared to thousands of 12" disc releases.  On the other side, however, was the present situation that the 10" format becomes an oddity that has become unusual and eyecatching, as it stands out with respect to the common 12" LP.

THE COLLECTIBILITY OF THE 10" LP

As mentioned, the 10" LP is a novel size, and evokes considerable interest among collectors today, regardless of what's on the record. They've always been collectible in the soundtrack market for size and content for such releases as the John Wayne film, 'Island In The Sky'; Tyrone Power's 'Captain From Castile', Jennifer Jones' 'The Song Of Bernadette', Max Steiner's music from 'Streetcar Named Desire'.  They can each command anywhere from a minimum $100 to as much as $1,000 for a mint copy of some titles today.  In pop 10" LPs, the values are considerably less, but some rarer titles can still sell for upwards of $100 mint.  This value goes right back to the fact that these 10" releases were so much less in release, making them much harder to find today and more intriguing to collectors in search of them.

THE 10" LP COVER AS GREAT WALL ART

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this 10" LP, and it also extends to LPs in general, is that collectors find the graphics of such interest that they're now coveted, even without the actual records, for their 'Wall Appeal'.  They're now seen on many collectors' walls either singly or 'grouped' in either collector 'LP Frames' or custom framed in a group--devoted to a Sinatra, Bing, favorite films, favorite bands, you name it.  In the world of rock and roll, the 45 picture covers have always been a valuable commodity--how about a 45 picture cover of Annette Funicello's 'First Name Initial' that goes for over $50 mint condition?  Elvis Presley 45 covers go for even more mint.  So it was not unusual that now LP covers minus the records inside are now starting to climb in value, as they're disappearing, and the baby boomers want them for nostalgic appeal to rekindle the days of their youth while viewing them in their dens and bedroom walls. Some collectors actually favor covers that don't look new, because it's like 'patina' on antiques, they want you to see the age of the cover! 

'RTS RARITIES' DOES OFFER 10" LPS BOTH AS COLLECTIBLES AND AS 'WALL ART' INCLUDING 'LP FRAMES' FOR SALE. PLEASE CONTACT ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR NEEDS! 

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