[78-L] Spy Records

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <fnarf at comcast.net>
> The stories of wartime recycling of shellac -- from old or unsold records 
> (presumably including lots of rare and valuable ones today) -- and the 
> inevitable bootlegging of shellac are fascinating. At one point, he says, 
> shellac was so valuable that factory workers were smuggling discs home 
> under their coats, and goons with baseball bats were stationed outside the 
> plant to smack them lightly with a baseball bat, not enough to hurt them 
> but enough to send the shards tumbling out onto the ground.
>
Oddly enough...not as many "rare & valuable" 78's as one might suspect! 78 
collecting was
already in full force (per my back-file of "Record Changer")...and many 
collection points
were observed by collectors, who had REAL "junk 78's" to trade for any 
rarities found
in the "scrap shellac" piles...!

...stevenc