Paramount Records thrown into the Milwaukee River

[edisonplayer]

Hi!I remember hearing that after the Paramount Records pressing plant in Grafton,Wisconsin closed that former employees tossed many of them into the Milwaukee River.On the PBS TV series "History Detectives"there was an episode that showed scuba divers scouring the bottom looking for some of those records.They came up empty handed.I kind of doubt that story.IF they were thrown in the Milwaukee River,they'd be long gone after 80-some years.The plant closed in 1932.Any comments?edisonplayer

[Curt A]

A lot of water has gone under the bridge and over the dam since the company washed up... I think they just got sold down the river...

[Phototone]

Shellac records are really not waterproof. Long submersion in water would cause them to disintegrate.

[FloridaClay]

There is something in a book I have about Paramount about kids breaking into the old factory and sailing records off the roof over a period of time.

Clay

[Nat]

Reminds me of a beer party I went to while in college, where some of the guys started using one-sided red seal victors for skeet shooting. I managed to rescue a few Carusos - nothing special, but agonizing waste. Likewise Whitman College simply tossed thousands of 78's into dumpsters in the 70's - including albums full of Fonotipias. HOW I wish I'd been there with a pickup....

[Henry]

My college got rid of the entire Carnegie-sponsored series of great recordings, produced IIRC by Victor. They came in olive green albums, and the set included a nice oak file drawer with index cards for the entire series. At the time, I had no interest in 78s at all. Ten years later I would have taken the whole shebang. I'm sure this sad tale was repeated many, many times at schools throughout the country.

[alang]

My college got rid of the entire Carnegie-sponsored series of great recordings, produced IIRC by Victor. They came in olive green albums, and the set included a nice oak file drawer with index cards for the entire series. At the time, I had no interest in 78s at all. Ten years later I would have taken the whole shebang. I'm sure this sad tale was repeated many, many times at schools throughout the country.

Is this what you're talking about? That would be a great find today.

Andreas

[Henry]

While there no doubt was some overlap in the contents, the set I remember had thicker albums. It was intended for schools (thus the index, and the Carnegie sponsorship) rather than the consumer market. Thanks for the posting!

[victorIIvictor]

Clay wrote, "There is something in a book I have about Paramount about kids breaking into the old factory and sailing records off the roof over a period of time."

That would be Alex van der Tuuk’s "Paramount’s Rise and Fall: The Roots and History of Paramount Records" (Mainspring Press 2003, Rev. ed. 2012). I think this story first appeared in Stephen Calt's multipart article on Paramount in 78 Quarterly.

Best wishes, Mark

[Wolfe]

You can read about that record sailing stuff - and more- here:


http://www.mainspringpress.com/nyrl.html