When Did 16 2/3 rpm Records Become Obsolete?

[reelguy]

I have a vague memory of seeing and using a couple of 16 rpm {can't remember the 2/3 bit }records. if my memory serves they were about the size of an lp record but quite thick , About the thickness of two 78s .quite heavy too .Iit would be in the late 50s when I was 10 or so .
I think they had classical music or military music on them. probably not hifi !..
I played them on an old windup turntable as I was fascinated by the weights flying round to keep the speed constant.
I have come across the odd 16rpm record at bootfairs over the years but never thought to buy any.
The camera shop in Hailsham ,East Sussex also dealt with old windup turntables so maybe I will see if he has any old 16 rpm records next time I wander over that way.
Interesting subject by the way , got me thinking now , can't be bad !
Reelguy

[Boulevardier]

Also, I remember when a child being sent a "souvenir" type postcard from London with a photograph of Buckingham Palace on the front, and a record-track pressed into the glossy front surface. The postcard was of the larger-than-normal type (about 8"x6" I'd guess). I think this was played at 16 2/3 rpm. Presumably there was a hole punched in the card for the spindle. It did actually work.

[Synchrodyne]

The early history of 16⅔ rev/min records is described in an article “The Fourth Speed” in Popular Electronics (PE) for 1957 August, page 63ff. The then fairly recently introduced “talking book” records were described as “compatible” in that they could be played with a regular (for the time) 0.001-inch stylus, as compared with the 0.0005-inch type required for the Chrysler “highway hi-fi” records. At the time, the upper frequency limit for the talking book records was 9 kHz.

Originally Posted by broadgage

Long after feature films had optical or magnetic sound as an integral part of the film, cinema newsreels did not.
Newsreels were not of course shown in silence, but the sound came on a "special" record that was distributed with the film and played in the cinema.
Would these "special" records have been 16 RPM ?

From a Wireless World (WW) 1951 June article “Gramophone Turntable Speeds” (page 227ff):

“The 33⅓ r.p.m. speed was introduced for 16in discs to be used in conjunction with films. With these large diameter discs, 33⅓ r.p.m. is justified. In recent years it has been used by broadcasting concerns for processed transcription records and for lacquer recordings. The groove dimensions are the same as for 78-r.p.m standard.”

There was no mention of 16⅔ rev/min records in that article. So, it seems unlikely that the “film records” of times past ran at that speed.

The above-mentioned PE and WW articles are available at: http://www.americanradiohistory.com/.


Cheers,