The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I second FloridaClay's words. My brother frequents a local Goodwill and has bought dozens and dozens of 78's there. Yard sales are a great place to look as well, I've seen crates full that people just want to be rid of.

You can generally tell the older 78's apart from the newer vinyl ones because they are usually thicker and heavier, if I can make such a generalized statement.

Best,
Fran

Very Very basic, what to look for. 78s are 10" in diameter, and very brittle, it is a record of this kind that will play on a talking machine. It is preferable to play acoustic 78s, so you look for thicker (but ones that do NOT say Edison. ) In fact to start off, look for a Columbia label that has copper color on it, or blue and gold and dates like 1908, or Columbia with a black and white label with white notes, and 1908, 1912 date. Any record that says "Victor talking machine co" (not RCA) will certainly play on your machine. Brunswick with a black, red and white label work well too, the edges are rounded over rather than sharp angles, anything with sharp angled edges are late 78s, and it will play, but not sound as "right" as the early ones. I hope this helps.

If you're the type who takes along a smartphone or iPad, with internet access, when you go to flea markets, etc., you might also find the information on this site helpful --

http://www.78discography.com/

Normally, 78s are marked with a catalog number and those numbers were issued in sequence corresponding with the date the record was recorded and its release date/pressing.

For example, a victor record with the number 19001 would have been recorded in 1922, while a Victor record with the number 27500 would have been recorded in 1941. (There are exceptions, of course, since some records remained in the catalog for years, so you could find a 1940s pressing of an early 1930s recording, but generally, this works well for dating records.)

Joe

edisonphonoworks wrote: 78s are 10" in diameter, and very brittle,

Except for the ones that are anywhere from 5" to 14"in diameter…

Bill

Lucius1958 wrote:

edisonphonoworks wrote: 78s are 10" in diameter, and very brittle,

Except for the ones that are anywhere from 5" to 14"in diameter…

Bill

And I recently acquired a little 4" 78 put out by General Motors extolling the virtues of the newly introduced 1932 Chevrolet.

That's rare though. 99% of what you will find are 10" and 12" 78s. Most of the 12" ones tend to be classical music.

Clay

edisonphonoworks wrote: Except for the ones that are anywhere from 5" to 14"in diameter…

Bill

I have very big hands