My First 78 Finds

[Johnny Town Mouse]

I found my first ever haul of 78s at a thrift store today (of course after much rummaging through old boxes lol).

I've collected 33s for a long time but never sought out 78s intentionally until recently and I managed to get the attached for 25 cents each All are in excellent shape. Its quite a random lot but there was a lot of random things to go through there.

Just wanted to share and see if anyone thought any of them particularity noteworthy or of interest.

Happy collecting!
Johnny Town Mouse

[Roaring20s]

Typically you'll find them for $1 each, but 25¢ for clean records you like ain't bad at all.
I don't see any great value there, but good music is good enough for me.
Keep looking and something special will turn up.

Now that you have crossed in the 78 zone, they get heavier!

James.

[Johnny Town Mouse]

Typically you'll find them for $1 each, but 25¢ for clean records you like ain't bad at all.
I don't see any great value there, but good music is good enough for me.
Keep looking and something special will turn up.

Now that you have crossed in the 78 zone, they get heavier!

James.

Thanks James and yes they make 33s look like pieces of cake in terms of the weight difference lol. And yeah 25 cents put them in the realm of "instant buy" for me

[Wolfe]

That grand prize label Victor (recorded in 1908) isn't a particularly valuable title I don't think, but the earlier records like that seem to be getting harder to find anymore in places like thrifts.

Your two Caruso's are some of the most common Caruso titles to find, any of the three versions of the Lucia Sextette he recorded and the Miserere with Frances Alda (recorded 1909, but that's a later pressing).

The foreign series green Viva-Tonal Columbia with the Neapolitan song I'd buy if I found it for a quarter or a buck in a thrift. There's some interesting things in that series.

Fun finds to get started. ! But to be honest, any noteworthy collectible value in the land of 78's isn't there in that collection.

[drh]

... But to be honest, any noteworthy collectible value in the land of 78's isn't there in that collection.

Oh, come now, let's not play wet blanket on a newcomer's enthusiasm. No, these aren't going to sell on eBay for enough to finance that next vacation in Bermuda, but there are a couple of titles in there that I would have been happy to snap up, and I've been collecting classical 78s for some decades now--and there's some great listening to be had in that lot. That Inflammatus looks particularly interesting, although it will need to go a long way to top the Lucy Isabelle Marsh one that is probably more common than the Carusos. Classical and opera on Brunswick are usually interesting, and the Caruso disks are classics, something that should be in every collection of classical/operatic music, even if finding copies to put there isn't all that hard. As to the German record, Der Engel Lied would translate to be Braga's greatest hit, "The Angel's Serenade." Interesting, because it's in an instrumental quartet arrangement; usually it's found arranged as a solo encore piece or, more commonly, in something like original form as a vocal. Very popular once upon a time. Overall, I'd say that group is an auspicious start for building a collection of classical 78s, a good bit more unusual than the expected run of Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey and Bing Crosby, and I wish things like that would turn up in thrift stores around *me*. (In fairness, I haven't darkened the doorstep of one since before COVID hit. )

[Curt A]

The Brunswick I Pagliacci is a good find, if you like opera...
Here is the history of Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci opera:
https://ulisserrante.com/pagliacci-leon ... -calabria/

[drh]

I found my first ever haul of 78s at a thrift store today (of course after much rummaging through old boxes lol).

I've collected 33s for a long time but never sought out 78s intentionally until recently and I managed to get the attached for 25 cents each All are in excellent shape. Its quite a random lot but there was a lot of random things to go through there.

Just wanted to share and see if anyone thought any of them particularity noteworthy or of interest.

Happy collecting!
Johnny Town Mouse

I've written separately to say, yes, they look like a good starting point for getting into classical/operatic 78s. What I'd like to add is that you might want to read up a bit on playback speeds. Apologies if I'm belaboring something you already know, but most of those records were recorded acoustically (horn-and-diaphragm rather than microphones and electronics), and "78s" of that era almost never actually revolve at 78 RPM. The Columbias nominally would have run at 80, but don't count on it; the Victors around 75 or 76 (Victor's published claims of 78 notwithstanding). To get you started, the Lucia Sextette was recorded 1/25/1917 and runs at 75 RPM; the Miserere was recorded 1 /6/1910 at 76.6 RPM. Incidentally, have a look at the deadwax of the latter. Does it have a little figure reading "s/8"? Copies of that record commonly do. It means Victor recut the master by acoustic dubbing. Your copy probably will be like that, but if it happens to lack "s/8" it predates the recut and is a very nice find, assuming it's in decent shape.

Here's a good resource for getting recording dates and other data (but not, alas, playback speeds): https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/

Enjoy your new finds!

[Wolfe]

Fun finds to get started. !

No wet blankets here. As for the rest, I proffered an opinion because it was requested by the OP.

Many people who start out with a collection of 78's wish to know if their records are valuable or some such. Might as well be honest.

Nothing to do with simply enjoying the records. I could.

I own copies of three of those records, the Clarence Whitehill and the two Caruso's. And several Mario Chamlee Brunwicks, though not that one. I think Chamlee was considered by Brunswick to be sort of a leading opera tenor in their recording stable at that time.

[Johnny Town Mouse]

Thanks for the wealth of advice everyone, you guys are great! And no worries about being wet blankets lol, I collect to play as opposed to reselling anyhow, I'm just always curious to hear what enthusiasts have to say, makes the hobby a lot more fun. And yeah I agree, "auspicious" is how I would term the set too. It was a bit random but its what I could manage. I'm looking forward to keeping on the lookout

[drh]

... I collect to play as opposed to reselling anyhow, I'm just always curious to hear what enthusiasts have to say, makes the hobby a lot more fun. ...

That's a great way to approach things. Very few are the records that are worth big $$$, but many are the ones that will give you hours and hours of enjoyment doing what they were designed to do: playing music. Well done!