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Lacquer disc
Date range: 1932 – 1960s
Lacquer discs are also called acetates or instantaneous discs.
Lacquer discs were used in a recording system that enabled instantaneous playback after recording. The discs commonly consist of an aluminium core coated with cellulose nitrate. When new, the coating was soft enough to enable a groove to be cut, yet hard enough to withstand several plays with a lighweight stylus. Lacquer discs were made redundant by the development of magnetic audio tape.
Very occasionally lacquer discs were made with a water soluble gelatine coating.
During the 1940s steel (very heavy) or glass cores (very fragile) were sometimes used. Cardboard has also been used as a core.
Usually the metal core or other core material of the disc can be identified by examining the centre hole.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.