The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Thanks for posting, Shane, this will prove to be very useful.

I now know what to do with all my John McCormack records!

I once asked Patsy Stoneman Murphy, daughter of recording artist Ernest V. Stoneman, if the myriad record companies her father, mother, and uncles recorded for ever sent them samples of their records (yes), and if so, what became of them? She replied that they would set the 78's in the sun to soften and then fashion them into bowls or vases which they sold! There were 22 children in the Stoneman family . . . a lot of mouths to feed on small royalties!

John M

heh... interesting... when is that article dated?

phonophan79 wrote:heh... interesting... when is that article dated?

The label on the record in the article illustration looks like a Victor 'Monarch', 'Grand Prize', or 'patents' label. Doesn't really date the article specifically, but does show what was considered obsolete even then.

John M

I knew that you could flatten a record that had some cupping (by pressing it under glass in direct sunlight or in an oven), but I didn’t realize that you could deform a record quite this easily.

— MordEth

[hr][/hr]

Old Records Make Flower Bowls

(Here is a photo of one of the shapes into which record may be bent for bowl when dipped into boiling water.)

VERY artistic and serviceable fruit bowls, flower jars, and sewing baskets can be made from those old worn out phonograph records you have on hand. The first step is to dip the record into boiling hot water to soften the rubber composition. In this plastic state they can be bent to any shape you may desire, one of which is shown in the accompanying photo. When the bending operations are completed the records may be decorated with some ornamental design.

I'm not sure how useful a flower bowl would be with a hole in the bottom

I suppose that when you water your flowers, the hole would allow the excess to run out.

I though another good use for old 78's was to dissolve them and use the shellac mix to coat cabinets with. I thought I read that somewhere before.....in fact I think Shane said that he had done that with some of his really ancient (and broken) 78's.

RJ

LOL, true! I couldn't remember what you said you used it for

RJ