The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

In the mid-90s through the early 2000s, I used to visit record stores and look through crates full of inexpensive 78rpm records. I invariably found fun and (occasionally) rare records. Even when I didn't, it was great fun to look through the records.

Do such stores exist anymore? Are there any in the Washington, DC area?

There used to be a great record store in the Detroit area with many hundreds of 78 records at 25 cents a piece. One year, I visited the store to find that almost all of those records were gone. The owner informed me that someone had bought the lot for skeet shooting.

Since then, I have never found another record store that bothered with shellac.

Back in the 1980s, the Boston/Cambridge Mass. area was loaded with record stores, both new and used. Out of the dozen or so used record stores, I can only think of one that even then had any kind of selection of 78s. Virtually all those stores have closed by now. The only times I see 78s "in the wild" are at yard sales and thrift stores. Even then, the selection is usually very limited and generally picked over.

Having said that, I have bought a few lots of 78s on Craigslist and similar sites and recommend you look there from time to time.

Thank you! I do look at craigslist here in DC pretty frequently but don't often find much--usually lots of overpriced Columbia Red Labels.

I used to love the experience of thumbing through crates of records and coming away with a handful of fun 78s. Even Goodwill was a good source in those days. Now, record stores don't want to waste space with heavy shellac.