HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE 45 RPM SINGLE

Apr. 2 1949 Advertisement in Billboard.The initial release of the 45. Actually today, March 31, 1949 was the kick-off day.

Congratulations to our associates, the RCA Victor Dealers everywhere, whose confidence in RCA Victor has made possible this 50-year marketing achievement. To them must go much of the praise for these two newest and finest examples of research and engineering -- the best automatic changer ever built -- the finest record ever made. For, without the assurance of it's dealer's confidence, no company could undertake any major improvement in home entertainment.

Without the confidence of its dealers in 1923, RCA Victor, founder of the phonograph and record business, could never have started radio down its billion-dollar road. Countless other improvements could never have reached the market if it were not for the great confidence RCA Victor dealers have in RCA Victor products. Include Television! Here is a 50-million dollar RCA investment which is today establishing itself as another billion-dollar business for dealers across the country.

And, what inspires this great dealer confidence? Many things...too many to enumerate here. But, proof that it is worth having, lies in the fact that today the RCA Victor dealer franchise is the most profitable in the entire industry. With the continued confidence of dealers and with the unique foresight of RCA Victor management, and RCA Victor franchise will remain the most profitable in the entire industry.

The new RCA Victor system of recorded music is a shining example of management's foresight. With continued dealer confidence the ultimate profit is inevitable. Work started on the new system in 1939. RCA Victor engineers were granted complete freedom of action...freedom from even the major inhibitions, such as non-standardization of record sizes, and speed of turntables. Engineers had but a goal... to produce the finest changer and record ever conceived. The customers' dollars will prove that these engineers reached their goal. The new RCA Victor record and changer constitute the sensible, modern, inexpensive way to enjoy recorded music. The product is ready... the public is ready. A demonstration, more than ever before, means a "close." Its advantages will eventually make it the only way to play music in the home.

Meanwhile, RCA Victor will continue to provide its dealers with 78 rpm records and record playing equipment. This period is not one of revolution but one of transition. There will be plenty of time for all dealers to adjust their inventories in making way for this new, improved, more profitable product. To welcome change is to show a keen awareness of the principal factor lying behind all of our country's industrial progress. That factor is the constant striving of the American public to own something finer. In this light, the new RCA Victor system of recorded music will flourish. To RCA Victor's dealers, whose confidence makes such progress possible, will again go a rich reward of bigger profits through continued high turnover.