The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi- On Sunday, a friend of mine at church pulled his car up next to mine and presented me with 3 boxes of DD Records. They belonged to his Grandfather who was born in the late 1890's.

There are around 75 or so records-- The records almost all have white mildew on them-- or something. I briefly cleaned several with just water and a soft cloth- Some look as though they might not have been played-- I'll do a more thorough cleaning. Most are 50,000 and 80,000 series-- with a few 82,000 and at least one 83,000. (No 52's unfortunately)

Between each record was a numbered divider -- as pictured-- and in one of the boxes was a large pile of Title/info cards. The dividers alternate--Some have numbers on the right- others on the left. I have never seen a divider shaped like the ones shown-- Can anyone shed light on where/when this type of divider was used? Could these have possibly been part of a dealer stock?
I'd appreciate the help. (Pics will appear correctly when clicked on)
Thanks-
Brad Abell

I believe my B250 uses the same dividers. I don't have any of the title cards. Weren't those title cards originally pasted to the record sleeves? Maybe someone cut them out of the sleeves and pasted them onto a cardboard backing in order to keep them with the record?

I can’t say much about the dividers, but the “title cards” definitely look like descriptions cut from original sleeves, as Jerry said.

Steve

The B250 I mentioned above...

Thanks Jerry and Steve-- You both nailed it. Much appreciated. I haven't had but a few Diamond Disc machines over the years-(H-19, A-100 and an L-34-- all were sold many years ago) I had never run into those dividers.
I guess my friend's Grandfather may have had a B250 or similar machine at some point-- My next task is to clean all the records and then match up the title strips with them. I have one of the DD adapters that attaches to a Victor machine, so I'll play a few-- I'll likely keep a few, sell a few and give some away.

Thanks again guys!

Brad Abell

Edison Diamond Disc are cleaned with alcohol, per instructions on record jacket. Water will damage these records due to the wood type core.

Marc

The C250 had the dividers.Mine doesn't.edisonplayer.

The title cards were originally paster to or printed onto the sleeves the records were sold in.

As also mentioned, you want to clean Diamond Discs with alcohol. I use 70% or 91% when I can find it. Put some on a cotton ball and rub in circles in the grooves. Keep going until the ball comes back basically clean. You use alcohol, not water, because the the "wood flour" core of the record will swell up when it gets wet.