The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

This thread mentions many ways to secure 'Durium-type records' and at last I managed to fight my way to the previously inaccessible gramophone and found the 'centre grip' I mentioned 'above', which was the official Durium accessory.

Durium called it the 'Durium Record Lock' !!! I think it is made from leather and it works very well indeed.

So, for posterity I attach a photograph:

Pristine HOW records grip the spindle quite well. My grandfather who was an avid jazz/ dance band collector when these were new had some and he told me that the PROPER way to install and remove these from the spindle was with a twist, otherwise they'd lose their grip. He was a civil engineer and draftsman and was very particular about things so I tended to believe him. And yes, though it seems impossible, these were actually DESIGNED to play on a wind up with a fresh steel needle. They hold up to this very well.

The easiest and free item for a hold down is a Shrader valve from your local tire store. Just cut off the large end and voila - a record hold down that works with HOTW or other small records that tend to rotate.

I own 3 HotW records, all of which are warped. I have played these on my Victrola many times (especially the Sam Lanin "Love Letters In The Sand" that I own) and the warping is not an issue nor does the steel needle appear to be hard on them.

I have found, though, that a funny fix for the warping is a giant steel nut that my dad had leftover from a plumbing repair project (pictured in the attached photo, but not in use). It looks goofy, but it gets the job done and isn't so big that it gets on the grooves.

HotW has some really fun dance music amongst the issues (my personal favorite is another Sam Lanin side, "Hello, Beautiful!"). The records themselves quite durable in my opinion even with the warping they often experience. And of course, you don't really have to worry about dropping them, because they're just cardboard discs. Have fun collecting!