[78-L] Reprising Record Price Guides

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Over the years, I have acquired a handful of record price-guides for 
both 78s and LPs. I use them as references only to identify artists and 
records, not prices. Any time I see a vendor at a record meet with a 
price guide at hand, I pass on by. I also take a pass on vendors who do 
not price-mark their records or group them by price. If I have to ask, 
I don’t want to know because I know from experience I am likely to hear 
a ridiculous figure. The smart record vendor prices his merchandise 
according to what he perceives to be the break point between price 
acceptance and price resistance of each market he attends. I enjoy 
reading or hearing about certain records that go for fabulous sums, 
knowing full well I would never pay that kind of money for the physical 
artifact we call a record. As a prime example, a collector friend told 
me of a recent auction where an E+ copy of OKeh 40318 Halfway-House 
Orchestra doing Barataria/Pussy Cat Rag went for $2600. I’m very happy 
with my much cheaper dubbed copy on Jazz Classics 524.