syncopeter wrote:Each and every 78 I bought in the 2nd half of my collecting career was put in a paper sleeve - preferably original, but if not in a blank one - and stored vertically in an IKEA shelving system that was immensely strong. Over 20 years of collecting and two house moves I broke only 4 records out of a collection of 3,500 discs. I used board separators every 50 discs.
Apart from that I've always been hesitant to buy records without sleeves.
It's an interesting point, because in my collecting 'career' I've bought untold numbers of 78's that either had no sleeves or were placed in sleeves that were (in many cases) grossly inappropriate. Like a 1906 Victor in a ca. 1946 Capitol sleeve. It's a weird phenomena.
I don't worry about 78's without sleeves, as playing wear counts much more than the mild abrasion that may come from being stored sleeveless. Shellac is very good that way.
Oh my, I spent around $40 to buy new paper sleeves for approximately 120 records that are in remarkably decent condition. I suppose that's OK for a small collection. Considering the conditions of storage I found them in I figured the best thing is to try and preserve them with a second chance and the respect they deserve.
Yes, it is good to treat them with respect. There is a ton of great music on those things.
dd2u thank you for sharing the video. I can not believe someone would destroy a record like that! I could not watch the whole thing, with out getting upset.
I have no problem with genuinely wrecked records being re-purposed, but I doubt that anyone cared which records were used for all these projects, as long as they did not cost much to buy. I consider £1 too expensive for a random 78, so someone creating a £12 cake stand may be willing to outbid me every time.
I do remember as a child some local museum had created a display by roughly cutting just the centres from a collection of 1940s-1950s 78s and mounting those labels behind glass. A very strange thing for a museum to do, I always thought.
While I like all types of music I have always favored the Classical Selections and Albums of the 40's period and back. There is some demand but only for the rarest of recordings evidently. I am not one to collect that type of record unless its by accident.. I find that biding on them say on Ebay is going to usually turn out to be records that as the saying goes "got no respect".. Generally its hard to tell the condition by looking or reading the descriptions. When I was a teen ager I spent all my free time gathering up albums at the local thrift stores. At that point they were like cassette tapes today, worth about a dime a piece. I used to have literally walls full and twice I gave every album away to charities that had sales just to get them out of the house.. One big problem was that no matter how great a phonograph of the electrical type I would purchase the parts and repairs usually made it impossible to keep them working for more than a short time. I went to all acoustic or orthophonic records for at least 40 years till recently I began to see all the people restoring old phonographs and many people offering parts which were nearly impossible to find back in the day. Once again I started to build up a collection 78 albums and now have more than a wall full again.. Yet the condition of the records were often disappointing.. Warped, scratched, worn center holes, chips, you name it. Now and then a wonderful set would come along and tantalize me more.. then a friend who works for a musical college I hadn't heard from in 50 years reappeared and told me the school had a large collection of 78s they wanted out of the building.. Was I interested ,YES.. He has been sending them to me for months now a large box full every week or so.. the vast majority were from a private collector and are like the day they were made. So now I have a very fine Elac Changer with a Grado 78 Prestige Cartridge and the sound is wonderful.. the Elac uses the small balancing spindle which I also have on a Dual of the same period. The dual will tilt the records and knock the arm off about every second record. Then if the record is even slightly rough around the paper of the label at the hole it will refuse to drop them.. the Elac does a wonderful job of dropping them up to 8 12" records with out a problem. After all these years I finally have a way to enjoy them and I am happy to have them still coming..
I also have a large bookcase which is fairly full, that I built in my small home.. It too is in need of more cabinets for records. I am culling though the albums I had picked up the past few years and any that don't meet a standard for working well and sounding good I am setting aside. I may keep them but only the excellent records will stay in the main cabinet.
Larry
Last year I decided to sell some of the 78's in my collection, in my parents antique booth, and surprisingly I have sold quite a number of them. I never thought I would sell a one, but lo and behold I have sold at least 30 or so since I started! I sell them rather cheaply. I wash ever 78 I buy, and then put them into paper sleeves and set them upright in plastic milk crates. Unfortunately I have too keep them on the floor, since there is no room to put them anywhere else. Also, I have been buying 78's as well to resell. Usually when I find them they are either staked flat on top of each other, or they are in their original sleeves, but the sleeves are falling apart. I can usually, pick them up for pretty cheap. Now I am still collecting 78's, but now, I am looking for certain one's. Blind Blake, Jimmie Rodgers, Fletcher Henderson. These I have found from a local record dealer. They are priced higher then most, but they are more uncommon or rare. However each one is in a paper sleeve. They may not be in the best condition, but I don't mind it. The reason why I collect them is this: I love the music on them but also, I want to preserve them, so they don't get lost. There are lot of 78's out there, that are really common, Caruso, Sosa etc.. but I am not looking for them. I have some more common 78's in my collection, but that's not where my taste's lay.
So when I see people destroy these records, it make me cringe, and get upset, and want to rescue them. Just because you think they are worthless, does not mean someone else thinks they are worth something!
I wonder how these people would react if I destroyed an LP? BTW: I have seen LP's turned into those melted bowls.
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