The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I also like the handy lighter, kept on hand to help those red Columbia Harry James records “spontaneously” combust.

PeterF wrote:I also like the handy lighter, kept on hand to help those red Columbia Harry James records “spontaneously” combust.

No, that would be for Uncle Josh or Yogi Yorgesson

I keep those in that wicker basket on left, that way they all go up at once

travisgreyfox wrote:I keep those in that wicker basket on left, that way they all go up at once

I've heard that there is a seller on eBay selling handy Blue Amberol Molotov cocktails that could be useful for precisely this purpose. Uncle Josh burns best!

Inigo wrote:I've lately been thinking about pizza cardboard boxes for holding up to 6-8 sleeved 78s. They seem to be the right size to use, instead of albums.

I've got quite a few of these myself.
I mostly use them to hold artists like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland, of which I have dozens of different titles. I then label the boxes into solos, duets etc, and they sit on shelves inside machines or open shelved machine stands. They stack nicely 2 boxes high, and it's more convenient grabbing a particular box to find a solo or duet, rather than shuffling through dozens of records to find what I want. Less chance of damaging original paper sleeves too.
It also keeps the dust out of records on open shelved stands.

Of course, you don't want to use boxes that have grease or cheese all over them, but your local pizza shop shouldn't have any objection to selling you some new ones. From memory I think I was getting them for 30 or 40 cents each. And boxes printed with advertising, I would construct inside out so the outter surface was plain and the boxes all look uniform.

Thanks for the tips, everyone. The USPS boxes sound like a good bet, as do the copy paper boxes.

As for longer-term storage, the Bags Unlimited 10" record boxes are fine, but they're also quite expensive. Has anyone out there found good lower-priced alternatives?

Can you post a picture of the expensive boxes? What do they cost?

I see almost zero advantage to those, especially at that price, except for formal archives and people who require a uniform appearance for their storage. If you need a cover, just invert a second USPS box over the top of the records.

I never trust handles, on boxes or on phonographs, and neither should you. Always lift stuff from underneath.

eighteenbelow wrote:https://www.bagsunlimited.com/category/ ... rage-boxes

https://www.staples.ca/products/1375832 ... ge-box-red

I found these on sale at Staples for $10 each [Canadian] and I think they often go on sale. At that price [even buying hanging files] they are comparable to the bags unlimited in price. I'm sure Staples US has them [and likely cheaper than up North]

Here is how I'm using them