[78-L] Records - LOTS - in Westbury NY on Saturday

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Biel" <mbiel at mbiel.com>
> Your luck and descriptions of the sales out in Long Island sounds much
> like it was in the Evanston Illinois area back when I was at
> Northwestern between 68 and 72.  In addition to the garage sales, there
> were Estate Sales, and many of those were at the old Victorian mansions
> lining the North Shore from northern Chicago thru Wilmette and Winnetka.
> Many of the old families were dying out and many had gotten records in
> their youth back in the early century and were living in the same house
> all these years.  The Evanston News would come out on Thursday morning
> and although I am not now nor have ever been a morning person, my wife
> (who IS a morning person) was a nurse at Evanston Hospital and I often
> had to drive her to work by 7 AM.  So I'd drop her off, get a paper, map
> out the sales for Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sunday, and hit the road.  Then
> I'd either get to my classes, or take a nap when finished.  But that
> area was a gold mine back then.  I only wish I were not just a starving
> grad student and had some real money to spend!!  I don't find much stuff
> our here in Brooklyn when visiting Leah or in my part of Kentucky, but
> there had been some good country stuff in Kentucky when I got there in
> the late 70s.  Not now.  The old folks are already gone.  In Brooklyn,
> apartments are too small and prices to high -- things apparently are
> different in Long Island.  But it does help to get out early, and as I
> said, I am not a morning person.
>
I didn't start collecting 78's until 1973...when I inherited my late 
father's 78's
(around 300 or so). I then started adding to those...78's used to show up at
"flea markets" and the like, and I was quickly up to about a thousand when I
moved to Toronto, Canada early in 1977. After that, two things happened...
first, I subscribed to Record Research (which included large auction 
lists)...
and second I started receiving Peter Leavitt's lists and bidding thereon! I 
also
bought a LOT of 78's from Don Keele; he ran "Don's Discs," and his 78's
kept decreasing in price until somebody (generally me!) finally bought them!
By that time, they'd be a quarter or less per each. Don had bought a LOT of
78's from a late collector in New England...those 78's have the number, 
titles
and artist(s) neatly written in the upper left corner of their sleeves, so I 
can
still tell them apart from others!

I also bought (and will probably once again buy) a LOT of 78's by boxfuls
at the meetings of the Canadian Antique Phonograph Society! More recently,
thought, I have bought MANY 78's in "job lots"...about 2500 from Don Keele
(I need to check and see if he has any more...?!)...another 2000 from a guy
who brought them to the last CCC to sell individually, and then gave me a
good (read CHEAP!) price for everything that didn't sell)...another 3000 or
so from a local (Oshawa) record dealer, who was selling them very cheap
for a friend; finally, I was given about 500 by someone whose late father
had owned them!

Sadly, I now have more 78's (around 56,000) than I shall ever live long
enough to play...worse yet, they are no lomger stored in any sort of order
(as they ONCE were...?!) Even given all that, I'll STILL buy 78's if they're
cheap enough...and may again start getting auction lists when I decide I can
afford to...?! I've also bought a bunch from "Nick J" (right?) via his
net-based lists!

...stevenc