The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I found this video on You Tube and from now on I'm going to send it every time I buy a record on Ebay so that I might have a chance at receiving my purchase unbroken.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTYO_2L8Wu8

Very useful!

Well put together, and exactly the way I have been packing records for years.

Yep - that's the way! I hope eBay will allow the insertion of a link into the message. I've found that they're a bit touchy about including things like email addresses in messages.

George P.

Interesting and informative video, indeed. However, I would add one observation. I have found that when paper-label Diamond Disc records are shipped in after-market sleeves, any shifting around inside the sleeve of a record having a loose label will often result in the sleeve catching the loose part of the label and slicing through it like a razor, sometimes severely damaging the label. So, I request shippers to sandwich the record in cardboard with no sleeve. This seems to occur no matter how tight the cardboard is taped.

Just my two cents from the Peanut Gallery.

While perhaps minor, another thing I've noticed when receiving well-packed 78s in the mail is that sometimes the tape is wrapped so tightly around the cardboard "sandwich" enclosing the discs that when cutting the tape, sometimes residual tape will stick to and rip a sleeve or even cling to the first few grooves of the record with the attendant goo remaining on the grooves. I'd have to say, though, that I'd rather have a bit o'goo than a busted record.

While perhaps minor, another thing I've noticed when receiving well-packed 78s in the mail is that sometimes the tape is wrapped so tightly around the cardboard "sandwich" enclosing the discs that when cutting the tape, sometimes residual tape will stick to and rip a sleeve or even cling to the first few grooves of the record with the attendant goo remaining on the grooves. I'd have to say, though, that I'd rather have a bit o'goo than a busted record.

Yes, Charlie that's a big problem and it's easily solved. All the packer has to do is put some newspaper around the records where the tape goes over so that the tape sticks to the newspaper instead of the records. Problem solved!

why don't they already do that? They either don't know or don't care.

marcapra wrote: why don't they already do that? They either don't know or don't care.

That's a mystery to me also. Even very experienced dealers (such as Kurt Nauck) do this. It's a good thing that he uses very sturdy sleeves, but sometimes they do get damaged by that extra strong brown tape he uses.

This discussion makes me wonder how records ever survived "Old School" shipping practices. The Eastern Talking Machine Company record shipping box pictured below has inside dimensions of 10.625" X 10.625" X 1" --- not too much room for padding a 10-inch record for transit! I'm not sure of the exact age of this box, but there is an undated Boston, Mass. postmark over the 8-cent stamp on the box.

Bob

it looks like that box could be as early as the 1920s! I don't think they still called them Talking Machine Records by the 1930s!