Received my new batch of shellac from ShopGoodwill but...

[Dischoard]

So this is hilarious. My box of Diamond Discs arrived in fine condition, wrapped up to survive re-entry from orbit. I'm almost sure that Kurt Nauck would've approved of the packing. Of course none were damaged (they're Diamond Discs.)

Terrific! That is good news! And yet, I can't imagine many shipping situations that would really wreck a diamond disc, even one with minimal packing.

I received about 40 records wrapped in one layer of bubble wrap and then put into an oversized box. There was NO good outcome for that.

Funny, I received a smaller batch of 78s from a fellow one state away in NY and mentioned "put a piece of cardboard in between each one, secure the whole thing together like a sandwich, put plenty of packing material in, don't let the records touch the sides" etc, etc. It must be his computer would only allow so many characters to present. It seems he got as far as "put cardboard between records" and he, literally, tore the flaps off a USPS Priority Mail box and threw the small flaps in between each record, stuffed the whole thing into a Priority Mail box and then questioned ME when the Post Office wouldn't let him ship it Media Mail. I'm shocked to admit that, not only did the records arrive completely unscathed, they were also in WAY better condition than he described

Happy listening!

[VanEpsFan1914]

That's a wild one, about the flaps-in-a-box story, and the guy trying to send a Priority box via Media Mail is just the icing on the cake.

I am listening to a rather worn version of the overture from Martha right now & unfortunately the copy of the "Infanta" March was chipped right at the introduction, leaving me a few more piles of records to go through--Starting to think they've been played on a regular Victrola, and they're in very "average" condition. Oh well, there are some nice placeholder copies now so I can keep hunting for good ones. Finding really nice "light classical" stuff on Diamond Disc is kind of neat; I like hearing orchestras on it since it has a nice sound quality.

If you are looking for any specific titles to replace those that got crushed by the Goodwill shipping accidents, let me know; I may have some around here.

[drh]

So this is hilarious. My box of Diamond Discs arrived in fine condition, wrapped up to survive re-entry from orbit. I'm almost sure that Kurt Nauck would've approved of the packing. Of course none were damaged (they're Diamond Discs.)

Terrific! That is good news! And yet, I can't imagine many shipping situations that would really wreck a diamond disc, even one with minimal packing. ...

So true. I firmly believe that, as long as you don't get one wet or play it with steel needles, the Edison Diamond Disc is the closest thing to an indestructible object man has yet devised. Case in point: I once won a lot of diamond discs from a seller in Australia. When they arrived here in the Mid-Atlantic United States, the box looked as if it had been through both World Wars and the Korean Conflict--bashed to the point that it was a floppy, totally unprotective wreck, held together only by some glorified Saran Wrap the PO had put around it. For good measure, all the way upstairs I heard the "WHAM!!!" it made when the postman threw the package onto the concrete step outside my door; sounded as if he held it over his head to get a longer fall. And yet the records sustained only a slight chip, not affecting play, on one side of one disc. My ghast was flabbered.

All that said, the one I want on *my* C-250 is the one in your avatar picture.

Actually, kidding aside, and I don't want to sound like a prude, I do enjoy that photo, but, since I never know where it might turn up, it's kinda single-handedly turned the TMF into an exercise in "not safe for work," where I used to like to browse the forum during odd down moments. (Actually, all my moments are a bit odd, but that's a matter for another time.) Any chance you might buy her a nightie or something?

[Dischoard]

That is hilarious, I never even THOUGHT of that! It's funny, my wife saw my avatar the other day and said "and what is THAT?" It hadn't even occurred to me that this 120 year old picture, though tastefully and artistically done, may still seem a bit titillating to the casual observer. I'll work on it, I'd hate to make TTMF NSFW!

[JeffR1]

OMG, the female form in art work has been around forever, people need to get over their hang-ups.
It's not as if you have picture out of a Playboy Magazine.

If the Mod's haven't said anything, I would leave it.

[Inigo]

It's funny, artistic, and mysterious somehow.. is the Edison c250 so strong to hold a woman sitting in the border of the machine this way? There must be done trick, the woman sits in an impossible equilibrium!

[Lah Ca]

I have heard horror stories from collectors I have met about international shipments.

Canada Customs and its American analogue have sometimes been intrigued by the stated value$ for in$urance on the outside of packages. They have then opened the packages to inspect the contents - "Who in their right minds would pay thousands of dollars for a single 78 record? We have to have a look at this." Then after removing all the careful, elaborate Nauk-style flack-jacketing, they just throw the record back in loose and send it off for its now unavoidable delivery in fragments.

[Dischoard]

Then after removing all the careful, elaborate Nauk-style flack-jacketing, they just throw the record back in loose and send it off for its now unavoidable delivery in fragments.

[Dischoard]

If you are looking for any specific titles to replace those that got crushed by the Goodwill shipping accidents, let me know; I may have some around here.

We should start an exchange program! I'm sure we all have records that are less interesting to us but more interesting to the person-on-the-right, so to speak. How great would it be to hand over a bunch of Mischa Elman records in exchange for a batch of Vernon Dalharts, or Enrico Caruso records for Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards records?

[drh]

If you are looking for any specific titles to replace those that got crushed by the Goodwill shipping accidents, let me know; I may have some around here.

We should start an exchange program! I'm sure we all have records that are less interesting to us but more interesting to the person-on-the-right, so to speak. How great would it be to hand over a bunch of Mischa Elman records in exchange for a batch of Vernon Dalharts, or Enrico Caruso records for Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards records?

Tell ya what: if you have any Caruso Zonophones or Elman Pathés, I'll cheerfully pass you every Ukulele Ike or Vernon Dalhart record I own.

Both of them.

OK, the one of them.

Hey, would you take some prime air molecules?

Actually, I do have a Vernon Dalhart in my principal collection: he and Gladys Rice recorded a duet in English, "We Strongly Now Will Try Together," from Lecoq's La Fille de Madame Angot on an Edison diamond disc, a souvenir of Dalhart's pre-country-singing days.