The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I haven't come upon this before, perhaps it was just how/where these were stored but the album sleeves tore/fell out of this easier than the cover of Rod Stewart's "Every Picture Tells A Story" comes off. I was thinking I could still use these as "dividers" in some of my machines but I wonder if anyone else has figured out a use for these or a way to even fix them?

What a pity!

Find some similar sized "generic" albums and replace their covers with the Victor ones...

Or, buy some of the nice, heavy record sleeves and modify them by gluing a strip to one side to make replacement pages...

I like the idea of swapping sleeves from a generic folder, I could probably do a little construction but I'm not sure it would be as strong as I would like. Even these tabs that were left behind are so fragile, flaking, brittle, they come right off their brass grommets if the paper doesn't just tear right out first. I think I've found albums that were made during the orthophonic pot metal years... albums that fall apart as easily as the reproducers.

Pot metal record albums!

Dischoard wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 8:22 am I haven't come upon this before, perhaps it was just how/where these were stored but the album sleeves tore/fell out of this easier than the cover of Rod Stewart's "Every Picture Tells A Story" comes off. I was thinking I could still use these as "dividers" in some of my machines but I wonder if anyone else has figured out a use for these or a way to even fix them?

Victor album1.jpg


Victor album.jpg

The sleeve material dries out and cracks along the binding when the sleeves flex. The sleeves also split along the bottom. I have noticed that some designs of these albums incorporated a fabric tape like binding for the sleeves and this design seems bulletproof. I'd suggest getting a big roll of green duct tape like this:
https://www.amazon.com/WOD-Tape-Reflect ... ljaz10cnVl

and reattach your sleeves, then use a good quality tape like this, folded over along the bottom of each sleeve:
https://www.amazon.com/Transparent-Perf ... 627&sr=8-1

It's easier to make these repairs BEFORE the sleeve cracks out, though... just FYI.

This is an example of what I meant by making replacement pages and George's suggestion of using heavy tape would work well...
Punch them like the originals to fit in the album.

If you do end up storing records in these albums, be aware that laying them flat and opening them with records inside risks taking large "bites" out of the record edges. It's always best to stand them up on edge when leafing through the pages...

When I came across my first Victor/HMV albums with the Nipper logo, I was so excited to find them. The logo itself is so cool. but unfortunately, the adhesive they used to assemble the pages dries up, and the paper usually dries up as well. What can you do? They are now more novelties than practical record storage. I have since cleaned each record, and put them into new individual sleeves. The years have not been that kind to these cool looking albums. Certainly how they were stored has a lot to do with it. Also, the weight of shellac certainly made its impact over the decades.

Yes, I holdup love albums, and still use those in good shape, but I'm feeling they are getting tired day by day, while 78s, made of stone, still last and will lay many years more!
The cardboard sleeves named Disc-o-file from Kurt Nauck are a serious thing. They are the best I've had.
Among the old thin cardboard sleeves, there are many that have survived very well, and are still strong and usable (all the ones from Cohoes, NY, for instance). Others fall into pieces. Same for the paper ones.