How NOT to pack a 78 record!!

[blacknwhite]

How NOT to pack a 78 record!!: The Hawk arrived in tact, but I attribute that more to luck, that NO one at the US Postal Service placed any boxes on top if this one:





It was placed very neatly on top of a 2-inch thick block of stiff styrofoam, in a 2-inch-tall box.

Other bad, or good, packing stories/tips?
- Bob

[Neophone]

Bob,

Your are a lucky one!!!!

Regards,
John

[estott]

This is WAY off the phonograph topic but it's my worst packed item story. I once bought an old Knights of Pythias sword on Ebay. It arrived in one of those triangular cartons and to fit it in the seller had taken it out of the scabbard. When I picked it out the point of the sword had worked it's way through the cardboard and was sticking out a good three inches. Fortunately this was in the 1990's, after 911 I don't think they'd have let it through.

[Nat]

I received a record once that had been painstakingly packed - in a manilla envelope!

One whole record of a hatfull of record pieces - which is better?

It was a rare one, too, and one I really wanted. At least they refunded my money. But it should hurt to be that stupid!

It's not quite relevant, but when I ran a ski shop, I once received a pair of cross country skis in a 7-foot box measuring 14" x 14" in packed in almost 4 cubic feet of styrofoam peanuts. Took me half a day and three shop vacs to clean up the mess.

Nat

[gramophoneshane]

B&W- count yourself lucky! I've had single discs sent in similar boxes....minus the styrofoam. They've arrived in pieces of course.
A couple sellers have been nice enough to wrap the record in a sheet of newspaper first though

[Victor78]

Happened here too. Back in high school I used to hunt down the picture records, and the shaped picture records. Anyway, my first year in phono's, I had seen a picture of the blue American Record Company record, the one with the Indian on the label. I find one on ebay, cool, my first example! I won it for a few bucks. A few days later, I was talking with my Dad on the phone, and I see the mailman pull up to the mailbox, I see him hang one of those Priority envelopes on the mailbox... I wasnt expecting anything else in the mail otherwise. I told Dad to hang on, I want to get the mail. Well, Im sure you have guessed what was in the envelope - the record I was desperately waiting for! After being very upset for a while, and calming down, telling Dad the story, I take a picture of the record, and send it to the seller. His reply, Ive been sending records like this for years and never had a problem. He did refund my bid and shipping after a few messages back and forth. You would have though that after sending records like that for years, he would have changed his way, but whatever. I glued it together and made it into a wall hanger. Frustrating though!

Next!

- Jim

[WDC]

Poeple can be so stupid and immune to any packing instructions. I recently had a bunch of nice brown wax cylinders. I gave the seller detailed instructions, including do's and dont's. He did not follow that and used a way too small box, one arrived cracked. It had been a wonderful record, 100% mold-free with a great recording on it. I got my money back but it didn't really help me to get over it.

[Wolfe]

They ought to know that scrawling 'FRAGILE' on the box only means that the chances of it being ignored goes up several fold.

[beaumonde]

Which Hawk? [I assume Hawkins?] Not, perchance, Decca 661 (Chicago/Netcha's Dream)? That's a goodie. Glad it arrived uncracked.

I had a rare Victor Monarch Pol Plancon shipped to me about 8 years ago in a stiff Priority Mail envelope, with nothing else but perhaps a paper towel on each side. Needless to say it cracked through the center. It would have been possible -- perhaps -- for it to have arrived intact, as these are THICK records. I got refunded on that one, and have scrupulously instructed newbie sellers ever since.

[blacknwhite]

I once bought an old Knights of Pythias sword on Ebay... the point of the sword had worked it's way through the cardboard and was sticking out a good three inches.

Now THAT's just somewhere between scary & funny! (Since you did get your item in tact, I assume.)

I received a record once that had been painstakingly packed - in a manilla envelope!

D'OUGH! Man, sorry to hear that, that hurts to think about.

B&W- count yourself lucky! I've had single discs sent in similar boxes....minus the styrofoam. They've arrived in pieces of course.
A couple sellers have been nice enough to wrap the record in a sheet of newspaper first though

Yeah, the "no padding at all" method. I had someone mail me a 1950's record changer that way once! NOT pretty... LOTS of metallic rattling when I picked up the box. Reminded me of Jim Carey in "Dumb And Dumber", dressed as a UPS deliveryman, kicking a jingling box marked "FRAGILE!" up to a lady's doorstep, shaking it, and telling her with a huge smile, "Sounds Broken!" This is what items must be packed to withstand...

I recently had a bunch of nice brown wax cylinders. I gave the seller detailed instructions, including do's and dont's. He did not follow that and used a way too small box, one arrived cracked. It had been a wonderful record, 100% mold-free with a great recording on it. I got my money back but it didn't really help me to get over it.

Any eBay "gurus" here who know how to access the "expert advice" or whatever it's called, section of eBay?

If I recall correctly, there's some way that eBay, like Wikipedia (?), allows users to write "expert advice" on different topics. One topic was how to select a needle for a record player, which noted the difference between microgroove and 78 grooves, etc.

Someone here should do a write-up on how to ship a 78. (or several 78s... or a cylinder... but to stress that 78s & cylinders are more delicate than LPs and 45s.)

That way, anytime you buy a 78, you can just include with your payment, a link to that page (since eBay doesn't allow linking of non-ebay pages), requesting they follow those guidelines when shipping, and maybe sellers will see it as more "official", and be a little more likely to follow it.

A sort of "minimum requirements" thing: like,

-> For single 10-inch 78 disc, pack in a box at least 1" x 11" x 11", in other words, at least ½" space between the disc and the box in ALL directions.

-> ensure the disc is at the CENTER of the padding, with the padding AROUND it on all sides.

-> Use SOFT, not HARD, padding. Lightly wadded newspaper is fine as long as it doesn't put enough pressure on the disc to crack it if the box flexes slightly. Stiff padding like rigid foam transfers outside pressures to the disc and can break it. Complete lack of padding allows the disc to flop around inside and break.

And one specifically for shipping phono's would be nice too - I made a list which I use to send to sellers, posted in this thread, altho this one's more geared towards suitcase 1920s-50s acoustic & electric portables... http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=104413

Which Hawk? [I assume Hawkins?] Not, perchance, Decca 661 (Chicago/Netcha's Dream)? That's a goodie. Glad it arrived uncracked.

Man that bites about your Monarch disc that cracked. Nah, this isn't 661, but it's a super-clean copy of the similarly pensive, moody Ellington-esque 742, also from 1935, presumably with the same lineup - "Meditation" & "What Harlem Is To Me" - someone posted it on the Tube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmvwXfc3mMI



Yeah, can't go wrong with Hawk, early or late. Recently also got BOTH Hawk's original singles on Joe Davis where he gave pianist Thelonious Monk his first recording gig as a sideman, too, around 1946 - great stuff! - MAN I would've been MAD if Those got cracked!

- Bob