The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

BIRTHDAY!!! Anyway, I've been wanting to buy more records for my J1-95, (78 RPM Records), what are some nice sounding/popular records to buy? I don't know much music from that era and I only have the copy of Hill of Pure Heart/China Night that was left inside the machine.

If anyone has any other ideas and what I should buy I'd be open to that too, maybe a better phonograph, the family hand-down J1-95 is pretty worn. (I'd keep it since it's family at the least )

Well happy birthday!!

If you were near here I'd give you some records from the stash.

Really the only way I know to build a 78 collection as a younger person is to go out and experiment, buying 78s that you think you like the sound of. Hit some estate sales or Marketplace/Craigslist ads and get a few.

And that old Japanese Victor should be OK restored. I started out with a CR-73 Crosley Celebrity, which is not a great record player, and upgraded to a 1914 Victrola XIV that was abandoned for about fifty years or so in a barn. It was in very poor shape. I bought it ten years ago when I was 16 years old and it's still in the living room of my apartment here, with a bellyful of 78s. Replacing the mainsprings on the 195 should get it a little more powerful and you may be able to use gears like the ones in a Victrola 1-90. Restoring a phonograph takes awhile but it's a good way to get mileage out of a machine that's almost "dead."

Charles

Thank you!!!

Haha, I'm in the Northern US, far away.

Do you think record stores will also have 78's? There's a couple close to where I live, but I wouldn't mind looking on Craigslist, Marketplace, Mercari.

I think my Uncle still has his woodworking gear. The mechanics seem fine but the wood is pretty worn out, are there any precautions I should know of?

Thanks again Charles.

I wish I could help with the wooden parts. Last October for my 26th birthday I bought myself a consolette by Northome and refinished it by gently scraping the finish and using a mix of stains to replicate the original color, then refinishing with several coats of thinned shellac then spraying it with clear shellac as a topcoat.

Most record stores I've been to do not have 78s. However, some will keep them in the back. Get on the telephone & call ahead; bet you'll find someone.

I cannot go to the next phono swapmeet because I don't need to buy more phonograph goodies but phonograph swaps are a great way to get records. I've bought them for 10c. apiece there.

Happy birthday to you!

In case you haven't already looked at it, here's a page about the J1-95: http://www.victor-victrola.com/1-95.htm Not much about the machine, but it links to a page about its US equivalent, where there's a little more. That's a real treasure, to have a machine that came down to you through your family.

In my experience, record stores neither have nor want 78s. Yard sales, estate sales, Craigslist, and the like are hit-or-miss, and in recent years I think they've become more miss than hit. It's a generational phenomenon; the records that show up in such venues tend to pour out of the attics and garages of the people who bought them new as they move to smaller digs or to the Great Beyond, and by now the generations that bought 78s have mostly taken one or the other of those paths. Maybe try putting an ad in the Music Trader section of the forum; be sure to give your location (something like "Portland, Maine," not just "northern US"), as your best bet, considering the cost and hassle of shipping, will be people close to you.

Good luck in your search!

Thanks for the info!! We've been to a couple record shops, my dad bought a copy of "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard on a 78, but that's all so far!

VanEpsFan1914 wrote: Sat Apr 05, 2025 12:26 pm I wish I could help with the wooden parts. Last October for my 26th birthday I bought myself a consolette by Northome and refinished it by gently scraping the finish and using a mix of stains to replicate the original color, then refinishing with several coats of thinned shellac then spraying it with clear shellac as a topcoat.

Most record stores I've been to do not have 78s. However, some will keep them in the back. Get on the telephone & call ahead; bet you'll find someone.

I cannot go to the next phono swapmeet because I don't need to buy more phonograph goodies but phonograph swaps are a great way to get records. I've bought them for 10c. apiece there.

Hey, where are phono swapmeets at?, or like Record conventions, however you call it. Is there a good place that has a list or schedule?

The Antique Phonograph Society has a "Future Events" tab on its website. There are also notices for upcoming shows published in its quarterly magazine.

https://www.antiquephono.org/#/event/future/1

There's a phonograph/record show coming up at the Wayne, NJ PAL on Sunday April 27 (parking lot activity there on Saturday April 26). The fall Wayne show will be October 11-12.

George P.

Sounds cool! Do you have a place with more info on the Summer Wayne show?

There is no summer Wayne show; just April and October.

George P.