Bidding on the Georgia Melodians

[audiophile102]

One again, I was out bid on eBay for an Edison record, #51338 on one side is Georgia Melodians, great sounding jazz/dance orchestra, and selection is "Wait'll You See My Gal"-Fox Trot. Other side by Atlantic Dance Orchestra with "That's The Tune". It seems that there are some collectors with deep pockets who will out bid me every time so I'm going to stay away from auctions and stick with the buy it now listings. I don't mind spending money for great records, but $35.00 for one record seems a bit nuts. Thanks to forum member pughphonos, I have (finally) four great jazz records for my A250 and hopefully, they won't be the last.

[Victrolacollector]

I used to spend outrageous prices for Edison DD's, but now it needs to be reasonable. I would not worry about it , it will come along again. I just think the Georgia Melodians are a little too common for that price.

[bart1927]

Yes, nowadays it seems that when you're into hot dance music from the 1920's you're up against some stiff competition. I always set a limit for myself depending on how much I want that particular record. But it's very easy to get caught in a bidding frenzy and paying more for the record than it's worth. Fortunate for me I don't care for blues or hillbilly music, because that's even more expensive. Also I really like bands such as George Olsen and His Music, and I guess that's not hot enough for most collectors, so many times I'm the only bidder and win that E+ record for just a few dollars. So that way I can compensate for the more expensive records (I recently paid almost $ 80 for Paul Whiteman's "Charleston") but usually I won't go any higher than $ 20 for any 78, and even then only if it's in at least E- condition. If that means I don't win the record, so be it. The stuff I collect is not that rare, so more than once when I loose an auction that same record will turn up again within one or 2 years, and usually that second time I get it for even less.

Years ago I was the highest bidder on a Roy Bargy record in a Green River Records auction. I don't know what my highest bid was, but I didn't get it anyway, because there turned out to be a $ 100 reserve on that record. About a week later I got that very same record on Ebay for $ 10, in the same condition.

It would have been easier if I was into swing or 1940's music, that stuff is a lot cheaper.

[pughphonos]

One again, I was out bid on eBay for an Edison record, #51338 on one side is Georgia Melodians, great sounding jazz/dance orchestra, and selection is "Wait'll You See My Gal"-Fox Trot. Other side by Atlantic Dance Orchestra with "That's The Tune". It seems that there are some collectors with deep pockets who will out bid me every time so I'm going to stay away from auctions and stick with the buy it now listings. I don't mind spending money for great records, but $35.00 for one record seems a bit nuts. Thanks to forum member pughphonos, I have (finally) four great jazz records for my A250 and hopefully, they won't be the last.

It was great to meet you--and I look forward to hearing/seeing your phonograph in the months ahead! I'm glad those records went to a good home.

Good luck chasing the Georgia Melodians; they usually sell for more than the Golden Gate Orchestra. But as the others have said, if you stay at it long enough you'll find most things at do-able prices. It's only when you have to have it NOW that you seem to run into the deep pocket dudes. You should count yourself lucky in such cases that they outrun you. Once I bid an Edison cylinder up to $495.00 and the dude of the day bid a couple bucks more and got it. Good thing as I probably would have been bored with it by now and would have had a devil of a time extracting some of that value in a resale.

[VintageTechnologies]

Keep looking around, desired records sometimes turn up when least expected. This past summer I vacationed in Durango, Colorado. For a tourist town, there are not that many antique stores there and most of them aren't the kind that sell old records. A few of the junkier shops away from downtown had a few records. I finally discovered there was dingey little shop behind the motel where I was staying, not 100 feet around the corner from our motel room. It was closed except on weekends and peering through the windows looked like a very unlikely place. In a dark back room I discovered some very grimey looking Diamond Disks hiding inside a very tattered cardboard box. I thumbed through the lot and pulled three records that were not beat to heck like the others, including a Georgia Melodians record ("Why Did You Do It? - Fox Trot"). I asked the very indifferent old woman who ran the place, "How much are the old 78s?". She replied, "Two dollars each". The record cleaned up well and plays great. Once again, I proved to my wife that if there is an Edison within miles, I'll sniff it out as sure as a bloodhound.

[pughphonos]

Great anecdote! What a memorable day. Yes, those out-of-the-way, scuzzy shops are the best if you can find them.

[audiophile102]

Keep looking around, desired records sometimes turn up when least expected. This past summer I vacationed in Durango, Colorado. For a tourist town, there are not that many antique stores there and most of them aren't the kind that sell old records. A few of the junkier shops away from downtown had a few records. I finally discovered there was dingey little shop behind the motel where I was staying, not 100 feet around the corner from our motel room. It was closed except on weekends and peering through the windows looked like a very unlikely place. In a dark back room I discovered some very grimey looking Diamond Disks hiding inside a very tattered cardboard box. I thumbed through the lot and pulled three records that were not beat to heck like the others, including a Georgia Melodians record ("Why Did You Do It? - Fox Trot"). I asked the very indifferent old woman who ran the place, "How much are the old 78s?". She replied, "Two dollars each". The record cleaned up well and plays great. Once again, I proved to my wife that if there is an Edison within miles, I'll sniff it out as sure as a bloodhound.

Great story! I went to a used record store in Oak Park Illinois called Val's Halla. They had stacks of 78 records unwashed and unloved. The records were mostly trashed, but I found two jewels hiding in the trash. Louis Armstrong playing I can't give you anything but love and the other jewel, Django Reinhardt with Stéphane Grappelli playing Swinging Guitars. Both outstanding and since I brought in a few LP's I got them for nothing. I play both on my Sonora Invincible and they sound great.