[78-L] The Suggestive Sell

[Rodger Holtin]

Last week Dave D and I spent a few days scouring the Goodwill stores in middle and west Tennessee.  In the happy little hamlet of Tullahoma we spotted a modest handful of late 40’s red label Columbias and other post war Deccas and Mercurys.  There was a lone antique VG+ of Henry Burr singing M-O-T-H-E-R on a batwing label in an original period Victor sleeve that was so tattered and worn that it felt like soft cloth.  All corners were dog-eared and frayed but not torn along the edges.  Amazing.  
 
Well, anyway, back to the story, as we were leaving a young woman and her early-teen son came up to the CDs and gravitated to the records.  “Wow – those are the really old kind!”  You could hear the awe in his voice.  They fingered a few of the gems like Mule Train, This Old House and Mambo Italiano and I gave them a ball-park date for them and then pulled the Burr from the bottom of the stack and told them it was from about 1916-1917, and headed for the check out with my own treasure (a better copy of 60 Years Vol 3 red seal).  As we were leaving the store I spotted the mother-son pair headed for the checkout.  The Burr record was their only purchase.  
 
Dave astutely noted that it would probably be mounted in a frame for Christmas or something – a much better place for it than on the turntable they probably don’t have.

Rodger

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