Blotter Record

I honestly know very little about this record, manufactured for advertising by the Albermarle Paper Manufacturing Company of Richmond, VA. My guess is that it dates from the early 1920's. I have never played this record out of fear of ruining it with a steel needle on the end of a 2 pound pickup, and my "modern" record players can't handle anything this small. The record is very similar to a postcard in size and appearance. 

A. R. Weeks from New York, NY wrote to me and said:
"Yours is not the first Albemarle blotter record I have seen. Mr Henry Shaw, my seventh grade math teacher and noted record collector had one also. Clearly it was an advertising premium and it contained a fairly high pressure presentation about the superiority of Albemarle blotters. The two pieces separated and, after doing so (which Mr. Shaw did not do) the record was unplayable since blotting paper provided the record's rigidity, body and mechanical resistance to a steel needle. As far as I can determine, the blotting paper was excellent.
This is, however, hardly unique. There was an English record label called "REX." They advertised their records as indestructable and showed a lion holding a record in his paws (presumably a "REX"), chewing away. Well, coming upon a number of them that were band selections of ephemeral interest and being the inquisitive sort that I was I had to try it out and, it was true. Under normal usage, the record was, for all intents and purposes, indestructable. I did, however, make an amazing discovery. When dropping the record on its edge and hitting the same point on the circumference enough times (six usually did the trick), the record separated into two pieces, each still playable because the playing surfaces separated from the core. The core, however, was the finest blotting paper I have ever fond anywhere from any manufacturer. I did this to two of my trove of "Rex" es and assumed they were all like this.
Perhaps one day you will like to hear about the time I performed quantitative analysis on a blue shellac Columbia disc record?"

Personally, I'll do my own quantitative analysis as a mathematician...on paper..... :-)

If you have any more information about it I would love to hear from you.

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