Record company? No, company record.

Today we have somewhat of a companion piece to yesterday's post, at least in the sense of corporate disc origin.


The Raybestos-Manhattan Corporation of Passaic New Jersey ("Specialists in Asbestos, Rubber, Sintered Metal, Engineered Plastic") put out this part-promotional/part-history-of-technology record in 1962. Basically, it's sound effects with linking narration - I'm particularly partial to Spin test: abrasive wheels, and the Edge Grinder, Gasket Cutter, Reclaiming Cutter Montage (it's got a good beat and you can dance to it). Of course there's the classic Heartbeat of the dog, Laika, in Sputnik II, the dog left to die in space (grrrrr). All of it is designed to let you know how wonderful the Raybestos-Manhattan Corporation is making your life.

There's a brief history of Raybestos-Manhattan here: as you might imagine, a company with asbestos built right into the name had significant legal/economic troubles down the line, going Chapter 11 in 1989 and only emerging from bankruptcy in 2001.

The Space Age Side One
The Space Age Side Two


From the back cover:"America today expects innovation . . . Americans are so used to advancement that change itself has become the rule, and pause the exception. Consider how many once-fantastic things are now commonplace . . . reflect on the startling developments since World War II . . . since the 'fifties . . . since last year!

This is the Space Age . . . a new and different age in which to live. Children - growing up - are affected by it. Families - living faster, better - are molded by it. Men - bringing new techniques, unique technologies, to basic industry - work with it.

The world is different. Our lives are different. And, in the Space Age, manufacturing is very different. Machines, assemblies, components, are much more complex . . . very much more critical. Today, the products of industry must function dependably under almost unbelievable operating requirements. Reliability is the basic ingredient in space age manufacture.

In the Space Age, new standards, new methods of manufacturing have changed our lives. This documentary recording lends perspective to the transformation.

The Sounds That Are Heard: Sputnik I • Heartbeat of the dog, Laika, in Sputnik II • Alan Shepard during re-entry of space capsule, Freedom 7 • Montage: Test firing of various rockets and missiles, telephonic multi-frequency tones, blast furnace warning whistle, conveyor belt testing machine, continuous tape reader, jet passes—X-15 • Music produced and performed by an electronic digital computer • Sophie Tucker, Al Jolson, Irene Bordoni • Model "A" Ford • Nieuport with Hispano engine • Mrs. Robert Hutchings Goddard • Goddard Rocket (simulated) • Rudy Vallee, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, German troops and military band • King Edward VIII, Bing Crosby, "Hindenburg" disaster reported by Station WLS announcer • World War II bombardment, Winston Churchill, British convoy attacked by German Messerschmitts—described by BBC announcer • U. S. Army sergeant and GI's. Japanese Special Envoy Nomura • John Charles Daly, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, World War II battle sounds • Air raid - London • Atom bomb ("Operation Crossroads"), General Douglas MacArthur • Sputnik I • Heartbeat of Laika, Explorer I: blast-off • Montage: Nike-Ajax, Minuteman, Snark, Corporal • Tapping blast furnace, Stamping presses • Heavy-duty sewing machine, L-Frame spinning machine, Tape-weaving loom • Drilling and blowing oil well • Edge grinder, Gasket cutter, Reclaiming cutter • Montage: Passenger steam locomotive, Telegraph key, Radio code signal, B-52 Jet, Multi-frequency telephone tones • Micro-grinder • Bill Haley • Bowling ball • X-15 • Yankee Stadium baseball crowd • Montage: Explorer VII, Continuous tape reader, Continuous printer • President Dwight D. Eisenhower - re-broadcast from space • G. E. scientist bouncing voice off the moon • Electronic digital computer programmed to play music • Atlas - countdown and lift-off • Conveyor belt test machine • Dynamometer test: brake linings and clutch facings • Hammer test: abrasive wheels • Spin test: abrasive wheels • Alan Shepard - recorded in space capsule Freedom 7 during flight.

The Space Age The Age of Reliability is narrated by John Charles Daly. Written by Cloyd Aarseth. Produced & directed by Bruce Chapman. The announcer is Phil Tonken. Assistance from the following organizations made this record possible:

Aerojet-General Corp. • American Iron & Steel Institute • American Petroleum Institute • Association of American Railroads • Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. • Boeing Airplane Company • Decca Records, Inc. • Ford Motor Company • General Dynamics Corporation • General Electric Company • Hearst-Metrotone News • International Business Machine Corp. • Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company • Mutual Broadcasting System, Inc. • National Aeronautic & Space Administration • New York Telephone Company • North American Aviation, Inc. • Radio Corporation of America • United Aircraft Corporation • U. S. Department of Defense

John Charles Daly has received virtually every major award for distinguished radio and TV reporting in his 25 years as a professional newsman. While ABC Vice-President in charge of News, Special Events and Public Affairs, he left his distinctive mark on the Korean crisis, the 1952 and '56 conventions and campaigns, the Army-McCarthy hearings, the Hungarian rebellion, and other major stories.

John Daly's style is professional; his insights quick and revealing. As his 1954 Peabody Award citation reads, 'John Charles Daly is primarily a reporter—and a good one.' "

From the several-page insert booklet:

OCTOBER 4th, 1957 . . . the Day the Whole World Listened

Beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep. Remember? A small sound - almost trivial - but the whole world listened . . . and nothing since has sounded quite the same. Sputnik made people everywhere grow up a little. From orbit it signaled the start of a new age . . . the Space Age . . . the Age of Reliability.

Today, basic American industry respond to its greatest challenge. In modern aerospace manufacturing, a single simple error can mean complete and costly failure. Today, the raw materials of production must take new forms . . . must be specially developed, newly compounded. Manufacturing methods have changed, too: precision craftsmanship now tempers the breakneck speed of mass production. A satellite in space? Every space vehicle requires countless individual parts and components . . . each perfect, each perfectly dependable. Lives depend on accuracy and men take greater pains - and more pride - in their work. Production in the space age has evolved an entirely new technology.

THE TURN OF A SINGLE SCREW

One quarter, right. Only a simple adjustment to a basic component, but essential to the function of a critical assembly . . . and - ultimately - a significant factor in the performance of a defensive missile, or a satellite in orbit around the earth.

In the space age, the successful launching of a space vehicle depends on precision adjustment and predictable performance. The reliability of any product is similarly determined by the dependability of every component part. The space age - the Age of Reliability - has established ever-increasing demands for production efficiency and precision that basic industry must constantly strive to meet . . . and exceed. Today, man relies on the innovations of industry to multiply his abilities, and to extend his reach. He must be able to depend on them.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

Re-entry temperatures can soar to a searing 5000° Fahrenheit - and above. Missiles and satellites must tame this inferno. How? Basic materials are skillfully adapted to extreme operating conditions . . . many unique, each critical.

The space age requires new products, near perfection . . . demands perfect reliability. And with any space age product, reliability begins with research: isolate the fundamental properties of materials . . . determine the limits of thermal conductivity and resistance . . . probe the extremes of fatigue and strain. Test and re-test . . . and test again. Reliability is the basic ingredient in modern manufacturing. We must know how a product will perform . . . and how often.

THE MISSILE THAT CAN'T FALL ON KEY WEST

Click. Push a button: destruct. As simply as that, a missile veering off-range is destroyed. That quickly, the threat of catastrophe is past.

Reliability in space age manufacture takes on a new significance here: an intricate mechanism explodes a runway missile in mid-air with predetermined certainty. It is this emphasis on reliability - equally important in launching of a space vehicle, and to its effective destruction when in faulty flight - that makes it possible for American industry to venture new frontiers at calculated and controlled risk. Tomorrow's successful product developments depend on reliability today.

SEVEN . . . SIX . . . FIVE . . . FOUR . . . THREE . . .

Do children still learn to count from one to ten before they count from ten to one? Still fancy themselves at the controls of a giant locomotive roaring coast-to-coast . . . or must it now be a rocket to the stars? It's different . . . growing up in the sixties. Different for all of us.

This is the space age. A new and very different age in which to live - and age of challenge to man . . . and to the men in industry who must meet its new demands. Vehicles to probe the wonders of the universe . . . missiles that will guard the peace at home. Today, as never before, reliability is the basic equipment in manufacturing: reliability in the products we make . . . reliability in the methods and materials with which they are made. Margin for error? Not in the new world we live in . . . in the sixties.

WEST OF THE MOON . . . June 17th, 1967

Silence. A stillness broken only by the occasional voice of the intercom. Inside your capsule, darkness . . . outside, an eerie twilight on the moon. And beyond the moon, earth . . . Florida . . . the Bahamas. After four days, you're headed home.

Orbit the moon in 1967? That's the prediction. And in the space age it's significant that no one is amazed. Consider the changes that have taken place in the last ten years . . . the last five. Man's reach still exceeds his grasp, but men in industry are narrowing the gap. Precision manufacturing of completely dependable products is changing the world we live in . . . in the space age, the age of Reliability.

Raybestos-Manhattan specializes in adapting basic materials to meet the exacting demands of industry in the space age. Wherever you use asbestos, rubber, sintered metal or engineered plastics, rely on R/M technology . . . and R/M products . . . to promote the highest standards of performance reliability. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., Passaic, N.J."