[78-L] So where were we?

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Jessup" <dgjessup at hotmail.com>
> Thank you, Ron, for all the work you've put into the forum both in 
> maintenance and getting it resuscitated and improved this past week. (I've 
> had to help move a parent from one apartment to another, so I've hauled 
> some 78s, not read about them.)
>
> Cary & all - prices seem to have gone nuts, especially over the past few 
> months. "Common" things like run of the mill Millers seem to be able to 
> command several dollars; choice rarities have gone stratospheric. Maybe 
> it's just selective vision, or having lost bids... or having won some at 
> unexpected prices. Stuff I'd have bid $30 on now seems to need over $60 to 
> have a chance.
>
> I got my first Ben Pollack from a Salvation Army store for probably 50 
> cents at around age 16. I'm now 49; said disc would probably - if it 
> sold - run around $20.
>
> That big ol' online auction site has shaken out some of the folks who 
> think that certain things are "priceless" (all those people trying to 
> offer Miller Limited Edition LP sets for a hundred bucks or more - and 
> receiving nothing beyond the sound of crickets chirping), made some 
> rarities available for cheap when folks don't recognize them as such.
>
> But: changes taking effect this month seem calculated to drive small 
> vendors & individuals away. Remains to be seen what will happen, but like 
> many I've read about & conversed with, I'm honked off at that site.
>
Well...wait for the upcoming "Next Depression:...!!

We shall wait and see if popular music (I can only hope?!) follows
the same path it did in the previous depression...which saw two-beat\
"jazz" replaced by the "sweet bands" of 1931-35...?!

Now...the harsh reality is that it has been a half-century (give/take)
since the final shellac 78rpm phonorecord was pressed! Given the
typical XXI Jahrhundert mindset ("If they don't make them any
more, they HAVE TO be extremely valuable...?!), my leftover
dupes of  "Doggie In the Window" shall shortly finance a VERY
pleasant retirement...?!

Keep in mind that we are now in the XXI Jahrhundert...so we
now live by (until the pending depression, anyway...?!) the
current "uber-truths"...
(1) Greed is GOOD
(2) Winning isn't everything...it's the ONLY thing!

We can also add the "New Golden Rule"...
"He who has the gold rules!!"

...stevenc