[78-L] Your 78's--WAS: Talking Machine World and / or Review

Steven C. Barr stevenc at interlinks.net
Sun Feb 28 18:01:31 PST 2010


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Ramm" <steveramm78l at hotmail.com>
> Did someone answer the Talking Machine REVIEW question? I didn't see it. 
> TMR was a more modern publication published in the 1970s and 80 by Ernie 
> Baly in the UK. He was former editor of Hillandale News. Ernie gave it up 
> and a guy named John Booth continued it periodically.
> Speaking of similar sounding names. There's an article by Bob Baumback in 
> the new issue of the Calif APS mag on early talking machine periodicals. 
> He mentions and shows the monthly called Talking Machine and Radio Monthly 
> but at same time there was Talking Machine and Radio Weekly (which i have 
> some copies of). It eventually evolved into Radio and Television Weekly!
> But TMR - to answer the question came at least 50 years after TMW - and 
> was a collectors' pub.
>
So...do "digital archives" of this more recent publication exist 
anywhere...?!

What is seriously needed is someone(s) to data-enter the relevant contents
of all of these record-related publications!

I just spent over Cdn$4,000.00 to purchase a lot of Arthur Badrock's
archives...given that I'm now 67+, it remains to be seen how much use
(in terms of time) I shall get out of this acquisition...?! If all goes as 
hoped,
UCSB will inherit my half-vast shellac archive (they have already asked
for this bequest!) as well as my similarly half-vast discographic library!

We "78-ophiles" should be giving serious thought to the eventual
destinations of our record and book holdings...?! The bitter reality
is that (my guess) a majority of us are either "official senior citizens"
(i.e. 65+) or beyond that age...and we will be seeing more "death
notices" on 78-L and its counterparts in coming years!

As I have often said/posted, it looks like there may be ONE final
"78 collector" who is able to acquire all of the collections of his/her/its
predecessors...probably at major discounts from their original costs!
There will certainly be surviving "collectors" ready and willing to
purchase "rarities" (i.e. "Zulus' Ball" on Gennett)...but the average
78 is neither rare nor particularly valuable...?!

Finally...how many of you 78-L listeners have left instuctions for
your children (or other desendants) as far as what should be done
with "all those old records"...?!

Chances are that after your funeral, your descendants will be
carrying out all of your 78's to the curb on the next "garbage day"...
to be unceremonially thrown into the maw of the next garbage
truck?!

Don't your 78's deserve a better fate...?!

Steven C. Barr 




More information about the 78-L mailing list