>> I was able to pull this vintage RCA record player and some vinyl <<
Vinyl was not used for recordings back in the “hand crank” days. Most of the old 78’s were made of shellac. Vinyl became common only after WW 2, especially with the introduction of 33 1/3 and 45 RP records.
(Rubber and various plastics were occasionally used back in the early days. But they never caught on.)
I didn’t know that either.
Thank you.
RCA Victor (post acquisition name) made a series of vinyl 33-1/3 rpm records in the early 30’s which they called “Program Transcriptions”. They were a commercial failure as very few machines would play them, and those that could wore them out quickly. Tracking pressures back then were in ounces, not grams. They are very hard to find today.
My wife has several 60s/70s/ Disney records, wonder if those would play back?
They are in OK shape from what I remember.