Record sleeves

[welshfield]

I keep every original sleeve unless horribly torn and fragmented. Who knows when someone will want even a part of one? I straighten them out and pack them in a box tightly to keep them as flat as possible. In most cases (when I am putting away a large quantity of sleeves) I sort them by record company but this is a bit hap hazard. I throw away very very little, not knowing about future values. To this day I regret allowing a Victor Granada orthophonic machine, which I found on a treelawn for the trash, get away from me because I already had one. That was back when the enclosed-horn machines were worth very little and not really collected. I still see that poor machine going to the dump and hate to think about it.
John

[FloridaClay]

How many of you then keep original sleeves even when you store your records in new sleeves. How do you keep your old sleeves? Is there a baseline you use as to which sleeves you keep?

I usually store away old sleeves in acceptable condition in a cabinet. What is "acceptable" is, of course, purely subjective. For me, common ones have to be largely intact. I give a lot more latitude with respect to condition if it is something unusual.

Unfortunately many sleeves were made out of pretty flimsy cheap paper that was not acid free and they just disintegrate over time.

Clay

[VintageTechnologies]

"Unfortunately many sleeves were made out of pretty flimsy cheap paper that was not acid free and they just disintegrate over time."

The Victor, Pathé and Edison sleeves are not too bad. The Columbia sleeves were just awful.

Like some others, I put many of my records in newer sleeves and store the fragile fragile sleeves in a box.

[XCaptBill]

I put my cleaned and digitized records in a new Bags Unlimited sleeve and then put that in a slightly larger mylar sleeve. If there is an original paper sleeve and it's worth saving, I also put that in the mylar sleeve separate from the record. That way if I take the record out to play, I don't need to disturb the original sleeve very much. I then store them in appropriately sized Bags Unlimited archival box that holds around 50 records.

[RAK402]

I keep the old sleeves unless they are completely shredded.

I put all of my records in new sleeves, as the original sleeves are, in many cases, very fragile, and I play my records a lot.

I keep the old sleeves in a box (or two, or three). Many of the records arrived in the incorrect sleeves (Bluebirds in Decca sleeves, etc.) so I am not too worried about keeping specific records in specific sleeves.

[epigramophone]

All my records are kept in original sleeves and are stored either in purpose built cabinets or carrying cases. I never use albums as there is a risk of snapping off the edge of a record when turning the pages, although some album leaves did have reinforcement to prevent this from happening.

Many original sleeves, whether produced by manufacturers or dealers, have fascinating advertisements portraying the eras in which they were sold. Many UK dealers had their own cardboard sleeves printed and presumably discarded the flimsy paper ones from the manufacturers.

For me the original sleeve is part of the record's history. To put old records into new sleeves is like putting old paintings into plastic frames. Even if I had the space to use new sleeves and store the old ones separately I would not do it.

[bart1927]

All my records are kept in original sleeves and are stored either in purpose built cabinets or carrying cases. I never use albums as there is a risk of snapping off the edge of a record when turning the pages, although some album leaves did have reinforcement to prevent this from happening.

Many original sleeves, whether produced by manufacturers or dealers, have fascinating advertisements portraying the eras in which they were sold. Many UK dealers had their own cardboard sleeves printed and presumably discarded the flimsy paper ones from the manufacturers.

For me the original sleeve is part of the record's history. To put old records into new sleeves is like putting old paintings into plastic frames. Even if I had the space to use new sleeves and store the old ones separately I would not do it.

Whenever I buy a record that comes with a nice sleeve, I keep the record in that sleeve and put an extra plastic sleeve over it for protection. If the sleeve is in bad shape or made from flimsy paper, I store the sleeve in a box and put the record in a new, blanc, brown, sturdy cardboard sleeve. Another option is to put the record in a new sleeve and put it in a plastic sleeve, together with the original old sleeve. I don't think I'm really altering history that way, because most records you come across have passed through many hands, so there usually is no way of knowing if the sleeve of a record is the original sleeve the record was originally sold with. I have several Victors from the 1920's with "Victor Records" sleeve that tells me to buy US war bonds and stamps for victory

[FloridaClay]

Perhaps it is the area where I live, but I'd say I'd consider myself lucky to find one 78 in 50 that still had its original sleeve in usable condition. And even then there is likely decades of dust and dirt inside that I would not want next to a newly cleaner record and is tough to remove without damaging the sleeve.

Clay