A curious record defect...

[Fran604g]

For me, a significant amount of enjoyment I derive from collecting, is imagining and trying to understand the human connections made through the inception, design, production and ownership of these artifacts. 

 

A while ago, as I walked passed the room which contains a large portion of my collection, something caught my eye. The light coming through a window was cast upon one of the Zon-O-Phone records I have displayed bottom side up, and as I turned more attention toward it I noticed 4 concave dimples. 3 of those dimples are in close proximity, forming a crescent shape.

 

 

Of course I was curious, so I picked it up to further examine and as I flipped it over into my right hand to inspect the groove side, I instantly realized those 3 dimples fell exactly in place of my 3 fingers while holding it.

 

 

It seemed obvious to me that a worker had removed this record a little sooner than it had time to completely cool after the pressing operation. Perhaps he was quickly inspecting his work, and neglected that he was inadvertently leaving his own mark on the underside.

 

What, if any, defects have you all noticed?

Edited October 16, 2022 by Fran604g

[phonogfp]

Since our attention is riveted to the front of single-sided discs, it's rare that we pay much (if any) attention to the back.  A couple of weeks ago when Fran was telling me about the anomaly he described above, I was curious enough to go through all of my 7-inch single-sided discs to see what might be on the backs,  Well, I didn't find any finger dimples, but I did find something else...

 

Below is a picture of three Victor pre-matrix flush-label discs.  From left to right they are: Catalog #510, Minstrel First Part, No.5, by the Georgia Minstrels; Catalog #801, Whoa Dar Mule, by Silas Leachman; and Catalog #1298, Whoa Bill, by Collins & Natus.  Here's what the recorded sides look like:

 

 

Now here's what these discs look like (in the same arrangement) when turned over:

 

 

Note the inch-long vertical line in relief at the 2:00 position, and the two small blobs about mid-way between the spindle hole and the perimeter at the 12:00 and 10:00 positions.  Here's another image showing exactly what I mean:
 

 

There are a number of light scrapes that appear in exactly the same places on all three discs, but the features shown above are the most easily seen.  Here's one more image slightly overexposed which may show more detail, depending on your device:

 

 

It's obvious that the same slightly damaged back plate was employed in the record press used to manufacture all three of these titles and takes.  Since the marks are all in relief, the cause had to be scratches and nicks to the back plate.  I can't help but wonder if this same damaged back plate was used to press any matrix-series (sunken label) discs. 

 

George P.