It is my understanding that shellac was rationed by the US government to
record companies in the US because the bulk of what was available was
going to serve the war effort. Something having to do with weapons &
guidance systems.
If the Japansese controlled the lac beetles it would stand to reason
that the quality of Japanese 78 pressings would have either remained
constant or improved. Sadly, neither was the case - the Japanese record
industry suffered loss of quality, too, up into the early 1950s.
Then again, government is government no matter what side one supports
and, until we blew the hell out of their record pressing facilities,
their industry suffered from the same curtailment as ours - less, poorer
quality shellac.
Mal Rockwell

*******

Steven Smolian wrote:
> The reason the shellac was worse in the early 1940s was Indonesia,
> where the shellac beatle abides, was occupied by the Japanese who were
> not the best of sharers.
>
> Steve Smolian
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Lennick"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 5:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Listing of RCA Victor Z-scrolls?
>
>
>> I don't know if there was a specific list, but it's my understanding
>> that theze "z" pressings were made as a requirement of the Carnegie
>> Libraries. Other companies were required to upgrade their pressing
>> quality as well, even Brunswick. I believe Victor continued to use
>> the same high-grade shellac for all Red Seal pressings after the
>> Scroll era and until 1940 when the prices were cut in half, drop
>> automatic became standard and the industry went to hell.
>>
>> dl
>>
>> Clark Johnsen wrote:
>>> As many of us know, these were the finest editions from the Victor
>>> catalog
>>> ever offered, made exclusively (I'm told) for libraries and radio
>>> stations.
>>> The quality of the shellac compound even makes these spinners
>>> *look*shinier, almost immediately detectable at a glance.
>>>
>>> Does anyone know about a listing of which titles/numbers were made
>>> available
>>> in Z-scroll? Even better would be a note of how many were issued of
>>> each!
>>>
>>> Finally it's my understanding that after the scroll-label-era no such
>>> special editions were offered, although I'd like to find myself
>>> contradicted.
>>>
>>> clark
>>>
>
>