The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just went through my entire collection of Edison DDs to catalog them. Since the Edison company has already done the hard part and cataloged them by title and artist, I just typed the serial numbers into an Excel spreadsheet because even though you type the numbers in out of order, you can just highlight the column and click the AtoZ order button, and it changes to perfect numerical order. While handling my more than 500 DD's, I found a few in such bad shape you would never want to play them on your Edison. I don't really want to put them in the trash can, so what can I do with them? Then an idea hit me. Use them as coasters on my dining table and coffee table. Anyone have any other ideas?

You can make a clock out of them. I saw on at an OTAPS meeting recently.
Harvey Kravitz

They make good ballast for your ship when you are plundering distant lands for goods and spices.

A quick question; there is an excel spreadsheet of all of the Blue Amberols, is there one of all the diamond discs? If so, one could sort and merge to pull all of the names and titles from the complete list. I would like to get mine cataloged and have dreaded it for just that reason.

It is hard to "toss" a record but it sounds like that might be the best fate for a record that wouldn't/shouldn't be played?

Ron in Tacoma

pianolist wrote:A quick question; there is an excel spreadsheet of all of the Blue Amberols, is there one of all the diamond discs? If so, one could sort and merge to pull all of the names and titles from the complete list. I would like to get mine cataloged and have dreaded it for just that reason.

Ron in Tacoma

Here is a link to a spreadsheet with all Edison cylinders and DDs that I modified to automatically pull the info when you simply insert the Matrix or face number in the "My..." tabs. http://forum.talkingmachine.info/downlo ... p?id=16360 Not perfect, but makes it easier...

Andreas

alang wrote:Here is a link to a spreadsheet with all Edison cylinders and DDs that I modified to automatically pull the info when you simply insert the Matrix or face number in the "My..." tabs. http://forum.talkingmachine.info/downlo ... p?id=16360 Not perfect, but makes it easier...

That's amazing! I think it deserves its own thread (maybe a sticky thread?) if it doesn't have one already.

Makes me wonder just how many record companies it would be possible to do something like this for...

Cheers,
David.

Well, the original spreadsheet/database was posted by Mordeth I think, I only added the other tabs with the formula to make tracking your own collection easier.

I don't know of similar free information available for other record companies. It would be easy enough to create a spreadsheet once the information is available in electronic form, but most record listings I know of are only available as books and under copyright as that.

Thanks
Andreas

Old, worn out DD's make great packing "stiffeners" when shipping breakable 78's... the Post Office or UPS won't be able to flex them.

The next time that your local community theater toes a production of Noel Coward's "Private Lives" just slip a few Diamond Discs into the stack of records used for the scene where a couple smashes phonograph records over each other's heads. A few Diamond Discs in the pile adds much to the drama, particualrly when the paramedics finally arrive.

I went through a similar, thorough sorting process and came up with almost 100 78s ready to be jettisoned.

My heart can't handle throwing them in the garbage, nor would I want Goodwill to do the same.

Then I started thinking of an art project...which I'm probably going to start next week. Will keep you posted with updates and pictures, but anybody could do it and I think it would make for a nice gift.

Or the simplest thing would be to save them and pass them on to a friend, along with a starter-gramophone. (Did that a while ago)