Re: [ARSCLIST] LP pressing question

[Frank Wylie <sfwylie@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Roger and Allison Kulp wrote:
> Bob,
>
> Dead wax is the term for the area in between the label.and the end of the runoff groove.Actually non-promo test pressings get out there quite a bit.I own several dozen.At least 100 or so,including one of "A Christmas Gift to You From Philles Records".The oldest one I have seen,is an early Columbia test pressing of an uncredited recording of "Casey Jones",that I was able to date to about 1906.I sold it on eBay last year.This had a blank white label,with the title written in pencil,and the label usually found on the backs of Columbia of this period.
>
>
>                                     Roger
>
>   
Apropos of nothing;  I remember as a teen discovering cryptic messages 
inscribed in the "dead wax" (thanks for a new term!) area of LPs I 
purchased.  They  must have been cut into the masters and most messages 
were in the (for lack of a better term) retrace area that parks the 
needle at the end of the record.

Can't even remember which albums had these strange tags on the retrace; 
anyone else know of this practice and any history behind it?

Thanks.
--

S. Frank Wylie
Independent Motion Picture Specialist
Dayton, Ohio