V-DISC Number 191

V Disc number 191, with its cover. No guarantee on the sound quality having not been able to try it.

V-Discs or V Discs - short for Victory Discs - were the records recorded during the Second World War, from 1943, at the initiative of the American War Department and intended for the soldiers then on the front (for the "morale of the troops").

These records were presented as 78 rpm records of 30 cm. The repertoire was very varied: song, dance music, jazz, classical music... Some contained titles already previously published by major labels, but many were new recordings made for the occasion. For example, many jazz sessions were organized for the "V Disks". After the war and until 1948, "V Discs" were still published. In all, 905 records were produced and approximately 4 million copies sent to the various fronts.

These discs were not to be marketed and in 1949 all the masters were destroyed. Theoretically, even the copies in circulation were to be destroyed. The FBI and the Provost Marshal's Office were sometimes even mandated for searches and destructions. (source wikipedia)