How many 78s do you have? (w/ image gallery)

[Cousin Hepcat]

Hope everyone's having a great Good Friday - they let us out of the office early, got some sunshine at non-sweltering temperatures for the first time in weeks, very nice...

This is a knockoff of one of H-Guy's threads...

So, how many of those thick heavy shellac 78 rpm records do you have? Don't forget to vote. And what's your poison?

Me... don't know. Started collecting when I was 8; last time I counted back in school, just over 5000 (Hey, there's worse habits to have)

Never able to catalog past about 100. Then realized, Hey, I don't *want* to know what I have... cause the fun is in forgetting, then looking through the boxes and re-discovering stuff!

The last time I attempted catalogging, I took label pics too. (The first few ones I did from the 1920s, I used the flash, so every little spec of dust looks like a scratch...)

So here's pics of a random sampling of 78s in my collection. These definitely aren't my "cream of the crop" (neither of the King Joe Olivers or the Bessie Smith), just the ones that were at hand when I last tried catalogging with label pics (like THAT was gonna last). But it's a fair representation of the whole lot. Mainly

- 1920s-early 30s hot & sweet jazz & dance
- late 30s-1940s swing era
- bebop jazz
- blues, and rhythm & blues

Take a gander, at the huge bulk taking up space in closets all over my house, that is both my pride, and my shame:

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

What do I play them on? ... really a whole other thread, but, everything from this previously-unused acoustic portable

to the most-used player, mainly when friends are over, my 1952 Rock-Ola juke box (The last juke Rock-Ola made that would play 78s before going 45-only)

.

I'm working right now on a 1949 arched-top model juke box to take this one's spot.... then some day, somehow: an original, accept-no-substitutes, 1946 Wurlizer...

- C H

 

[dhermann1]

I'm not sure how many, but probably close to 100. They're in boxes and bins and not properly protected at all. I tend to go for oddities, so I have things like Danny Kaye doing patter songs, Rabbi Joseph Rosenblatt, Cowboy Phil and the Golden West Girls (recorded in Greensburg PA), etc.
Those labels are cool, but the juke box WOWWWWW!!!!!! I've ogled jukeboxes on various websites, but a genuine pre 1946 Wurlitzer or Rock-ola is a real prize! (Kaching!)
Oh, yes. I also have several 10 inch 33rpm LP's. They're lo fi. I think it's an interesting niche category.
I have a turntable that has 78 rpm, but it's put way at the moment. I want to record them to my computer. I know there is software for that. Does anybody have experience with this?

 

[CharlieH.]

This has to be the most beautiful thread I've ever seen....

 

[Fletch]

Fantastic, Cuz.

I'll have a go thru my latest plays after dinner. ±2,500 groove biscuits here, 90% jazz/pop, primarily 1930s.

 

[HadleyH]

Wowww Cousin Hepcat! I'm impressed! What a great collection! :eusa_clap

 

[LizzieMaine]

Some lovely scans there, Cousin -- I recognize quite a few from my own collection in that lot.

How many 78s do I have? I have no idea. How many can fit into eight milk crates? Most of them are from the stock of an old furniture store I stumbled across about twenty years ago and bought in bulk for 50 cents apiece -- probably 80 percent of them are scroll Victors and Columbia Viva-tonals, but there's a smattering of Columbia Royal Blues, a few Perfects, and even some Edison Needle Cuts. With only a few exceptions these were unplayed when I got them, and in the original sleeves. Most dated from 1928-31, and were mostly pop/dance band/personality stuff, with a few interesting oddities tossed in.

I also inherited the 78 library of one of the radio stations where I worked, literally rescuing it from the dumpster. Most of these records are mid-to-late '40s big band stuff, with quite a few of those razor-thin vinyl DJ pressings that you can cut your fingers on if you aren't careful. This lot also yielded an original 78rpm pressing -- in picture sleeve -- of the Singing Dogs' rendition of Jingle Bells. Considering that this was a record I gotten hold of somewhere as a little girl -- and which I suspect my mother smashed to bits after one playing too many -- it was very pleasing to find a replacement after all these years.

 

[Flivver]

Wow Cousin, you have some labels there that I've never seen, and I've been collecting 78s for a long time!

I have no idea how many I have, but I know it falls into the "too many" category. I began accumulating 78s when I was in high school and discovered that the local Salvation Army Store had a huge selection of them at five cents each! I still can't pass up a box of them at a flea market if they are of the right era and are priced right. I really filled out my collection a few years ago when a friend of mine in upstate New York cleaned out his collection.

Most of my 78s are from about 1917 - 1936, but I have a few earlier. To save space, I try to refrain from buying big band or swing 78s, since so much of that music has been made available on LP or CD. My favorite music is pop and dance bands from the mid 20s to mid 30s, and since so little of this music has been made available in modern formats, 78s are the ONLY way to go. I have started trying to organize the Victor scroll labels in rough numerical order but it's quite a task!

Lizzie, those Edison Needle Cuts are a real prize. I don't think I've ever seen one, except as a picture in a book. How do they compare in sound to the Victor Orthophonics or Columbia Viva-tonals?

 

[Absinthe_1900]

I've never counted mine, I have five, or six boxes of 78's, plus several Edison Diamond Discs, and a box full of 2min and 4min Cylinders.

When I first started, I began a list, then bought the better part of a collection at an estate sale, plus the ones my Mom & Dad had from the days when my Dad worked for a Juke Box Co., I'm not sure I want to know.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Lizzie, those Edison Needle Cuts are a real prize. I don't think I've ever seen one, except as a picture in a book. How do they compare in sound to the Victor Orthophonics or Columbia Viva-tonals?

The sound's a good bit deader and constricted to my ears than either the Victor or Columbia process -- I know Edison himself was very halfhearted about the whole notion of electrical recording, and I think that shows thru on the examples I've heard, both the laterals and the late Diamond Discs. The tunes and bands themselves aren't bad though -- the examples I have include such orchestras as Phil Spitalny's (pre-All Girl), and Luigi Romanelli's King Edward Hotel Orchestra, and while they aren't especially inventive they're good straightforward examples of late '20s dance bands.

I think Columbia Viva-Tonals are by far the best-sounding records of the period -- played back properly, some of them have a presence that beats anything else I've ever heard on 78.

 

[Flivver]

I think Columbia Viva-Tonals are by far the best-sounding records of the period -- played back properly, some of them have a presence that beats anything else I've ever heard on 78.

I'm also a big fan of the Columbia Viva-Tonals. They really do sound better than any other label of that era. And the Columbia surface sounds quieter than the surface on Victor recordings. That's quite a change from the recordings of the early 1920s where the Victor wing label records were far superior to the Columbia blue labels.

But regarding the Viva-Tonals, I seldom find examples today that are in really excellent condition. Most of mine were "played to death" by the original owners. I always feel very lucky when I find a Viva-Tonal or blue Columbia in excellent condition...particularly the Paul Whiteman "Potato Heads".

 

[max the cat]

viva tonals

Viva tonals were wonderful pressings but I find the Victor Orthophonics warmer in their sound.
What a great thread nice to see pics of some records-
note that Take Oh Take those lips away pictured earlier Varsity 8 I think has some wonderful early Adrian Rollini(are you with me Fletch?)
I junked a copy 30 +years ago- I guess my exposure to Rollini-didnt know who it was but knew the real deal when I heard it-
love those scanned pix

max

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Nice. I love the art on those labels. I've only got a few 78s myself, but this reminded me of the fact that in order to actually hear the music I'd need a turntable. So I searched and found this site,...http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store/78-Speed-Tables;jsessionid=ac112b1d1f437fd1590edb7346c4bf11c67ecf2c4b41.e3iKaNePch4Re34NaheQc34Sc3b0
I couldn't believe those prices!!!

 

[John in Covina]

Trashed!

Zero. In a way this is a sore spot for me as my dad had probably around a hundred or so, mostly opera. I was about 10 or 12 and had been playing some stuff (La Dona Mobelai?) from the 78 collection and my dad says why are you listening to this old stuff and tosses the collection in the garbage. I begged him not to but that was it. Same thing happened with all his great 40's and 50's ties, I started wearing them and he chucked the whole collection in the trash. Again begging ensued to no avail.
:eusa_doh:
A good question is why did he do these things? I have no clue. Also note, I would have never dared to try to rescue these collections from the trash, either. To challenge my dad's decision like that would have been unthinkable.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Zero. In a way this is a sore spot for me as my dad had probably around a hundred or so, mostly opera. I was about 10 or 12 and had been playing some stuff (La Dona Mobelai?) from the 78 collection and my dad says why are you listening to this old stuff and tosses the collection in the garbage. I begged him not to but that was it. Same thing happened with all his great 40's and 50's ties, I started wearing them and he chucked the whole collection in the trash. Again begging ensued to no avail.
:eusa_doh:
A good question is why did he do these things? I have no clue. Also note, I would have never dared to try to rescue these collections from the trash, either. To challenge my dad's decision like that would have been unthinkable.

Wow, that's terrible john. Maybe he had some bad memories from the past he was trying to get rid of?
I hear stories about how my aunt threw away all kinds of vintage clothing when my grandmother was ill, before I was born. A reaction to change? I don't know...

 

[Fletch]

Maybe it's not my place to say so, John, but your dad sounds a touch authoritarian.

Who knows, maybe he had some prejudices about people who rescue old things - that they are mostly crazy packrats, grungy hippies, fruity artist-types, preservationist cranks, just generally not solid citizens. And he wanted to save you from that kind of life, and the social ostracism that would inevitably(?) result.

The small-town midwesterner in me still questions daily whether I might not, in fact, be becoming one of these social pariahs. Then I remind myself I already am one, and it mostly hasn't hurt me a damn bit.

I did, however, slow down drastically in my 78 purchases about 10 years ago. Mostly because I had more of the things than I had the time or energy to listen to, but also because I felt there were a few too many folks connected with the hobby who were socially thwarted, bereft or desperate - and that the ones you wanted least to spend time with were often the most knowledgeable. I'm still trying to find the balance in my own life - probably always will be.

 

[John in Covina]

Who knows, maybe he had some prejudices about people who rescue old things - that they are mostly crazy packrats. He wanted to save you from that kind of life, and the social ostracism that would inevitably(?) result.

********
He had an aunt across the street that was a junk dealer. Man did they have way too much stuff.

 

[Fletch]

DING!

All comes clear.

 

[Earp]

I have about 1000. I got them from a guy that bought out an old juke box company in Grand Rapids, Michigan about 30 years ago. They were getting rid of their 78 record inventory. Originally there were over 2500 records in the lot. He got tired of having them laying around and taking up so much room in his basement so he offered me a deal on them. I paid him $50 and got 1500 of the oldest ones dating from the turn of the century to about 1947. Over the years I pared the collection down to about 1000 of the best of them. One of the few times in my younger years where I was in the right place at the right time and with the money to take advantage of a good deal.