The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello all, I bought a bunch of records recently, including many in albums. I took out the various ones in the blank ones because I have had several break after being in them. The only ones I leave in the albums are series albums, as I have not had problems with these. Has anyone else had problems with albums? Are the albums worth hanging onto? Thanks!

I generally don't have issues with albums for sets. The early Victor ones with the green paper are a pain. Otherwise, I think it's more personal preference. I generally cut sleeves out of old albums to use individually unless it's a set. As far as having a record get damaged I have never had an issue.

I find many are prone to breaking the edges off the records when the "pages" are turned - it depends on the design and how well the discs are held away from the spine. I've got into the habit of always sliding each record towards the outside before turning.

Also it was recognised back in the day that albums could lead to warping - it was recommended to use cardboard spacers, and EMG even sold them - as I store most of my records vertically on edge I don't find it an issue, but recently I bought a 20-disc album set of Gounod's Faust (the biggest set I've seen in a single album) which had obviously been stored flat, upside-down, for a long time - the first few records were slightly dished around the commentary booklet in the front flap!

Orchorsol wrote:I find many are prone to breaking the edges off the records when the "pages" are turned - it depends on the design and how well the discs are held away from the spine. I've got into the habit of always sliding each record towards the outside before turning.

Also it was recognised back in the day that albums could lead to warping - it was recommended to use cardboard spacers, and EMG even sold them - as I store most of my records vertically on edge I don't find it an issue, but recently I bought a 20-disc album set of Gounod's Faust (the biggest set I've seen in a single album) which had obviously been stored flat, upside-down, for a long time - the first few records were slightly dished around the commentary booklet in the front flap!

I've found likewise. The habit of easing them forward before turning the inner sleeves has meant that I've only had one or maybe two edges broken off in several hundred discs.
If one has space to keep albums, storing them vertically, as I do, it leaves finding a piece of music very much easier. Almost all my albums, though, are dedicated items enveloping specific symphonies, pieces of chamber music etc. with title et al. inscribed on the spine.
Those which are not in albums would need an efficient cataloguing system which is somewhat beyond me at this time!

Frankia wrote:If one has space to keep albums, storing them vertically, as I do, it leaves finding a piece of music very much easier. Almost all my albums, though, are dedicated items enveloping specific symphonies, pieces of chamber music etc. with title et al. inscribed on the spine.
Those which are not in albums would need an efficient cataloguing system which is somewhat beyond me at this time!

Likewise - apart from various original sets with dedicated printed albums I don't have many - I don't tend to use them as they're a bit of a menace (for the aforementioned reasons) and not the most convenient means of storage.

Cataloguing and readily retrievable storage is a whole other issue, or a series of 'em! I end up with a bit of a piecemeal mishmash of approaches, but it works for me.

I have a number of generic albums that I've used for years with no record breakage. I almost always store them upright, not flat. I also always open them upright and then fan out the sleeves to put records in or take them out. This way the edges of the records are never near the crease where they could get broken since I'm not flipping the sleeves like pages. I usually never open an album like a normal book, and flip the sleeves like pages. So far this has worked for me.

BTW, I would never consider cutting up a perfectly good album since nice new individual sleeves are cheap and easy to buy online.

Just turned my album sets vertical in the closet. I was previously unfamiliar with the warp risk. I have seen a few with 18 or so sleeves (Victor sets of the early La Scala sets or the Gilbert & Sullivan D'Oyly Carte sets). As far as individual sleeves, we have a junk shop nearby which is basically the warehouse of things that aren't good enough to go into the Salvation Army stores. I find many records there (See the Banner & Vess Ossman posts) and routinely I will pick up old albums that have had their contents sadly smashed. If they are clean, sturdy and in decent shape I generally cut those up for sleeves and use the covers for shipping or separation purposes (have a big pile in the closet). Yes, there are better alternatives, but when you are cheap and on a limited income it does the trick.

Then take the clean and sturdy albums and sell them on eBay rather than destroy them, you'd be surprised what people will pay for nice storage albums. I do this all the time and usually net between $5-10 for each of them. You can use your profits to buy new sleeves. I hate hearing people cut up perfectly good albums like that. It's one thing if they're damaged or otherwise, but quite another when something that's still useful and managed to have survived get hacked up.

Sean

I cup the spine of the album in my hand and open the sleeves minimally with my other hand (just enough to see the label) when I use them, and never broken a record that way. I have broken records when I wantonly flip through them as fully open on a table or some such.

I like to use albums to store collections of certain artists, but they make me wary.

OrthoSean wrote:Then take the clean and sturdy albums and sell them on eBay rather than destroy them, you'd be surprised what people will pay for nice storage albums. I do this all the time and usually net between $5-10 for each of them. You can use your profits to buy new sleeves. I hate hearing people cut up perfectly good albums like that. It's one thing if they're damaged or otherwise, but quite another when something that's still useful and managed to have survived get hacked up.

Sean

I have also sold albums for good prices on eBay, especially the HMV variety. For some reason, 10 inch albums seem more sought after than 12 inch. I only keep those which have particularly interesting artwork on the cover.

The best quality albums had two brass rivets punched into each sleeve, which prevented the record from sliding too close to the spine and risking damage to the edge.

My records are either stored in cabinets or carrying cases and NEVER flat. I buy any 78 era carrying cases I see, but not the flimsy cardboard and plastic cases designed to hold LP's.