12" album binders

[TVfuzz]

What do you all do about storing your 78s?

The binders I find that are in the best conditions are still quite fragile.
Being one who listens to them, I'm wondering if others who enjoy these old albums always use the antique binders.
I've seen the guy on here who had some leatherette glue-on spines printed. Something like that would be great if there were modern album binders.

Just curious to see what others do. Maybe the collector veterans in here just have immaculate antique binders that aren't as frail as the ones I've came across. They sure don't seem to be designed for longevity to me.

The lettered 12" Victor ones.. Were they A-Z?

Any info on the different versions, if there were? I have some victor, some Pathé.. All 12".

Curious to know more.
Thanks.

[mattrx]

I think you will find that most of the collectors here store their records in paper sleeves outside the machines, either in record cabinets made for that purpose or otherwise. Some people here have purchased shelving made for other purposes, but work well as record storage shelving. Some members use IKEA shelving.


The search function of this site is VERY useful.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/search ... mit=Search

Good Luck!

[FloridaClay]

While I have some records stored in binders, mostly to show the kinds of binders/albums that came with machines (e.g., albums of the correct design in my Credenza where I store some of my Victor VEs), it is mostly paper sleeves and shelves.

I usually get sleeves from internet sources like http://www.bagsunlimited.com. For special records, and for thick Diamond Discs, I use the really excellent "Disc-O-Files" from Kurt Nauck, http://www.78rpm.com/DOF_home_page.htm.

There are a number of good alternatives for shelves. I bought some stock wood shelving units from Office Depot and then added upright dividers on the shelves about every foot. This helps the shelves bear the considerable weight and it is also safer for the records not to have the kind of lateral forces that can go with long open shelves.

Clay

[howardpgh]

I would prefer to store the records individually.
A 12" binder full of records can be very heavy. The ones in my Victrola XVI hold 17 records each and are very heavy. Later versions held 10 12 or 15 records.
Also you run the risk of breaking the records if they get caught in the spine of the binder.

[larryh]

If your able to find some of the better binders from the 40s most likely they are not usually deteriorating. The earlier ones generally end up with split or deteriorating sleeves in them. I was lucky to run across a set of binders (20 or so) that were from a major collector. They are very sturdy and all the sleeves remain very sound. I tend to put records of similar types together in a binder, say of violin, or piano ext. Years ago I used to use a type writer to make small labels of the type of music in an album and tape it to the binder end. Trouble with that is that if you want to remove them they may damage the surface of the album. Now in my newer set of cabinets I tend to label the shelf instead.

My edisons however do not have albums so I do group them by types of music and store them in paper sleeves. Little by little I am having to eliminate the older originals sleeves since they are terrible about falling into pieces making a mess where ever you take them.

Larry

[Wolfe]

I'll "re-purpose" usable binders to store many scattered records of one artist, be it a Glenn Miller or a Sousa's Band, etc. Most are single sleeved, some have yet to be sleeved at all.

[TVfuzz]

Cool.

Thanks to all who post, as this isn't a topic I've seen specifically addressed here, and I think its an interesting one.

My idea is to have my VV-500 set-up as period-correct as I can get it, using correct binders for display- but for albums I play often and rarer stuff, I'll store them with my LP collection in special cases I can carry downstairs when I want to listen.
I like the http://www.78rpm.com/DOF_home_page.htm sleeves. See, nothing like that exists on Amazon (and if it ain't on amazon, I'm likely not gonna find it without asking around).

Solid point about the binders scalloping discs that pry from being close to the spine while flipping. Individual storage with the thick sleeves seems to be the way to go.

As for authenticity/ collecting:
Is there a reference for these albums/binders/books? I'd like to know about the years they were produced and what machines likely had them.
I still want an accurate set to house in my period console. Were there "rich-people" album books and "middle-income-people" books? Should I be trying to get a lettered set of maroon binders, or were there some other set that the upper-class used in their machines?

I'm new to the hobby (somewhat) and my curiosity is a bit rampant.


(And now someone who does have this question, will find insight by using that search criteria!)


Wonderful forum! Thanks to all contributing!

[larryh]

I only have a few early "lettered albums" as they tend to be too fragile for much use after all those years. If you have a cabinet the latter albums work well and hold up much better. Like everything there evidently were as you say, a lower grade that didn't survive well and latter ones that did. I will try to get a photo of the style I recently received. Laying the albums on a flat surface and then trying to turn them that way can be an invitation to breaking the ends off them. I usually look though the album partly open enough to read the titles and then stand it upright to remove the record I want to hear. Some album makers seem to have tried to overcome that by designing the sleeves so they allow for turning the pages so that they don't bind the edge of the record.

Larry

[FloridaClay]

For albums that came with Victor machines, the best guide I know of is the excellent Victor Data Book by Robert Baumbach. It has a whole section in the front devoted to that topic. That and his Look for the Dog are the "bibles" for Victor collectors.

Clay

[Torjazzer]

The typical record binder/album is a record killer. Turning the page sleeves causes stress on the record's edge which eventually causes arc-shaped cracks. Unless you are completing a machine that might have been originally sold with a certain binder, stay away. Most that I find are coming apart so I break them down to acquire the individual sleeves.