A cardboard record was a type of cheaply made

phonograph record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

made of plastic-coated thin

paperboard Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 Inch#equivalences, points) than paper and has certain ...

. These discs were usually small, had poor audio quality compared to vinyl or

acetate An acetate is a salt (chemistry), salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. Alkali metal, alkaline, Alkaline earth metal, earthy, Transition metal, metallic, nonmetallic or radical Radical (chemistry), base). "Acetate" als ...

discs, and were often only marginally playable due to their light weight, slick surface, and tendency to warp like a taco shell. Playability could be improved by placing a coin between the

lock groove The overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes (7, 10, or 12 inches), playback speeds (33, 45, or 78 RPM), and appearance (round black discs). However, since the commercial adoption of the gramophone record (ca ...

and the spindle hole to add weight and stability. These records are distinct from both flexi discs, which are sturdier, and from many of the old home-recording discs since cardboard discs were mass-produced for a specific purpose.WFMU 91.1 Jersey City "http://www.wfmu.org/MACrec/" April 2010 Cardboard records were often used as freebies in promotional campaigns, and as such were expected to be played once or twice and then thrown away. Two examples, both from the late 1980s, were Life Cereal's "Rock Music Mystery" and McDonald's' "Menu Song" contest, both of which were designed around audio "clues". Because of their disposable, limited-run nature, as well as their association with long-gone advertising campaigns, cardboard records can be quite collectible. Cardboard records are also associated with phonographic recordings included with magazines of similar subject matter. Certain songs credited to the fictional 1960s–1970s band The Archies were released as cardboard records printed directly on boxes of

breakfast cereal Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in ...

. Other artists - usually with a generally younger fan base - such as The Monkees, the Jackson 5 and Bobby Sherman also had records released on the backs of cereal boxes during this time. Also there were some printed on cereal boxes, for instance, " All I Have to Do is Dream" by the Everly Brothers. These records, if found in pristine condition, have significant value among collectors as well. In the past, '' Mad'' Magazine inserted cardboard records of songs from its series of merchandised novelty albums in certain of their ''Mad Super Special'' reprint magazines. One of these, for example – the mid-60s release "It's a Gas!" – featured a rhythmic belching sound (allegedly provided by the magazine's fictional mascot, Alfred E. Neuman) with a honking saxophone break played by an uncredited King Curtis.

References

Audio storage Audiovisual ephemera {{Sound-tech-stub