[78-L] REcord "collectors"? Record (and more) "hoarders"?

[bradc944 at comcast.net]

Gang:

I've been on this list for years, and even joined in active discussions (as some of you may remember from the halcyon days of me being employed gainfully <grin>)... and this is one of the most important topics I think I have seen on this list.

When I started out, I was somewhere between a 'collector' and an 'accumulator'.  My collection had a center, a focus (pre-ww2 swing and popular, with a side emphasis on classical).  As it, and my musical tastes grew, it went more from a collection-accumulation' to an 'archive'.  Things were sorted, jacketed, and somewhat organized.  That included the 45s and LPs as well as the 78s.

However, the archive has grown steadily, and my time to work with it has not.  So, now it is, sadly, unorganized, unsorted, and some things are near impossible to get to.  I can still get to a majority of things, but if I want to get to the section that has the Red Onion Jazz Babies 78s or the section that has the 50s doo-wop 78s, I need to shuffle other things around (material stored in the garage, where the archive lives now).  I recently acquired a 5 drawer lateral file cabinet for the 7-inch reels to be able to get them out of the boxes that they have sat in for a couple of years.

My *intent* was, and still is, to make the material I have collected-accumulated over the years available to those who are looking to enrich their musical life, or for studies, etc etc etc.  If now all I am able to do is transfer the occasional 50s LP or album of 78s, and share them with friends, then so be it.  But... the article *did* show me one thing: I *do* need to personally 'clean up my act' and get the un-neccessary crap out of the way and freecycled or donated so that someone else can make use of the *other* stuff I have accumulated and thus make my collection-accumulation-archive more usable and accessable... and enjoyable by myself and others.

One of the visions that Mike put forth recently, the one about Russian collectors living in tiny cramped apartments with records nearly filling the living space... it gave me pause.  They are collectors, maintaining sounds that would not be available (or even perhaps extant) apart from their collections.

It's all a matter of semantics, I guess... as a writer, I try to use the most accurate word for the situation, but sometimes, like the visual arts, things blur... each will have their own view of their sound-stash, and their own motivations for adding to it et al.  My intent here was to say this: Life is a frantic balancing act, and something that should be bringing you joy... should not be the millstone about your neck.  Just my opinion, gang, sorry if I step on toes.

Personally, I am planning on getting my archive back into usable shape, so that I can help share information and the sounds themselves.  Financially, I'm not in ANY shape to be adding to it, save for the occasional onesey-twosey buys at the Goodwill (the G&S set I recently got for 2 bucks, or the Woody Herman LP for 50 cents that just got transferred... stuff like that), but I can certainly prepare for when the Gods of Fortune decide to bless me, and then I can return to plans I had that have gone astray, such as the Impal-o-phone Cylinder Player (a home-made 2-piece cylinder player made from scrap parts laying about that would be able to play cylinders well enough electronically to be able to electronically archive them).

Thanks to you all for letting me personally vent my own inner demons... in the time that I have been here, I have seen sooooo much information and support and knowledge and good FUN!  78s (and actually all 'obsolete' format sound material) are a great pasttime, and if there were ever a position as a sound librarian/archivist/restoration specialist, I would give my left first-born male son to be able to get paid to do something I enjoy like coaxing the material from the gritty grooves into the light of sonic wonderment.

I bow in honor to you all, and may all your hunting expeditions be fruitful.

Brad
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark L. Bardenwerper, Sr. 
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:21:19 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: [78-L] REcord "collectors"? Record (and more) "hoarders"?

Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
> At 07:13 AM 11/10/2009, you wrote:
>
>   
>> Though we say we collect, many of us realize that we also accumulate 
>> - or in many cases HOARD - stuff. (I'm not quite to the hoard stage 
>> but certainly well above "accumulate").  This article in today's 
>> Wall St. Journal shows the effect on family and home life and some 
>> of you might find "interesting" so I'm sharing it. (then again, if 
>> you are a serious hoarder you will probably think it's useless ).
>>     
>
> Between records, sixteen millimeter films plus the VHS tapes & DVD's 
> I've got, yep I'm a hoarder. Way too much & I still collect more 
> however my home is not totally filled yet. I can still move around in 
> it. Oh & I'm a digital hoarder too with tons of mp3 & flac files. Not 
> bragging. Just a fact of my life. I'm sure I'm not the only record 
> hoarder on the list though. Most of us have much more than we have 
> time to listen to. Some of mine haven't been played in years & I 
> still hang onto them...... 
>   
I define collecting as "having to share and make available for further 
use by oneself and/or others". Hoarders hide and keep things away, with 
an intent to place items out of use.

There are many collectors here. The fact that we are talking about it is 
testimony to that. Glad to know ya. I am constantly being rewarded.

-- 
Mark L. Bardenwerper, Sr. #:?)
Technology, thoughtfully, responsibly.
Visit me at http://www.candokaraoke.com

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