When did Shink wrapping LP start?

[Hardbopjazz]

Was shink wrapping of LP albums there from the very beginning? How were the early 33 1/3 records packaged or sealed?

Edited March 14, 2005 by Hardbopjazz

[brownie]

SHRINK needed here

I don't recall seeing shrink-wrapped jazz albums until the mid-sixties. And only a few labels used the system at first.

[Chuck Nessa]

In the US they started wrapping records in the mid/late '50s to accommodate "rackjobbers" who placed lps in grocery and drug store racks.

[Rooster_Ties]

How did shrinkwrap "accommodate" said "rackjobbers"??

Or, maybe this'll clear up my confusion -- what (or who) was a "rackjobber"??

Thanks.

Edited March 14, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[Chuck Nessa]

Rackjobbers were a "class" of distributor that put racks of records in non-music stores. Generally they owned the inventory and billed the stores for records sold. Since these establishments didn't have clerks tending the inventory, the wrap protected the merchandise.

Edited March 14, 2005 by Chuck Nessa

[GA Russell]

I remember when I bought Meet the Beatles in February of '64 that it was hermetically sealed in a thick plastic wrap which was not shrink wrap. Subsequent albums were shrink wrapped, so if I had to say when specifcally, I would say 1964.

[RDK]

To add: while the jackets themselves weren't shrinkwrapped until later, I know that at least some labels' LPs were "sealed" in those waxy or clear thin plastic liners. I don't know if this was standard or not, but I've found "mint" vinyl sealed this way in its original state.

[DMP]

Back in the 50's and early '60's it was possible to go to your local record store and get the clerks to play records for you. Some stores even had private listening booths. Shrink wraping put an end to that!

[Jazz Kat]

There wasn't always shrink wrap on records? When did it start?

My local record shop lets you test out the records, just like they did in demonstration booths way back when.

[DMP]

I think Chuck Nessa is right about the time (and reasons) for this practice. Of course, 45's were never wrapped as far as I know, and they accounted for a lot of sales in that period.

[David Williams]

Some of the posters on the Kind Of Blue thread seem to have had their heads shrink wrapped.

[Guest ariceffron]

LP SHRINK-WRAP BEGAN THE DAY AFTER SOULSTATION1'S B-DAY SO HIS MOM CAN PRACTICE EFFECTIVE BIRTH CONTROL

[Bill Fenohr]

When i started working in the retail record business in the late 50's we had two listening booths in our store in East Lansing. We had a system where we kept all of the lp's filed behind the counter and the covers were out in the bins. If you wanted to hear an lp you brought the cover up and we played the lp on turntables that were wired to the speakers in the booths. Once we got into the 60's those booths became a never ending source for grass roach's at the end of the day.

Not all labels used shrink wrap at first as i remember. The rackjobbers were only interested in the big hits, so many of the indie jazz labels like Blue Note did not shrink wrap their stuff until later in the 60's.

Once everyone started using wrap, we did away with the listening booths.