----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Warren" <[log in to unmask]>
> Dear Mike and List Readers,
>
> As you've probably found, some manufacturers released vinyl 78's without
> notice or with minimal notice. I've seen Columbia 78's pressed in black
> vinyl with very little if any indication of that fact; and several small
> labels used vinyl, usually either black or red, most or all of the time.
> Many children's records were pressed in vinyl, perhaps in order to use
> colored discs, probably also because of shatter-resistance. Many promos
for
> radio station use were pressed in vinyl, while their marketed versions
were
> made of shellac. Most vinyl 78's seem to have been marketed after WW II
> (but there are probably exceptions to that observation).
>
The earliest vinyl (or some kind of plastic) records I have seen are a
handful of Muzak 12" transcriptions which seem to date from 1935 or
1936. I have three by Glen Gray...

...stevenc
http://users.interlinks.net/stevenc/