[78-L] Average age (was: Jack Palmer)

[Malcolm - Venerable Music]

I'm 38 & have developed into a serious collector. I started about 4 1/2 
years ago and have since acquired 25,000+ 78s. Give me another 4 years and 
let's see where I'm at - ha!
I have 5-6 friends who are right around my age and are also serious. I think 
one of them acquired at least part of Jack Palmer's collection as I remember 
him asking me which Dalhart's I needed 2-3 years ago (and I think he 
mentioned it was a lot of Jack's records).

I also have a few friends in their early 20s who are developing into serious 
collectors. The thing is many of them can not afford to regularly compete on 
ebay or even the vmauctions site - but they are out junking (and turning 
stuff up) most weekends! I know of one who routinely reads 78-l (and the 
ARSC list - hi Mike!), but is still learning (much like myself) and just 
doesn't have a whole lot to contribute.

As these folks age and become experienced, I'm sure they will take the place 
of many collectors that are leaving us. Four and half years ago, I never 
wanted to spend more than $2 on a record. Now it seems like everything I 
want is at least $50! I also spend as much time as I can soaking up 
information & knowledge from other collectors so someday I can pass it on as 
well.

These records will always be desired and collected, I'm sure of it. At some 
point in my lifetime, I do believe that it will become near impossible to 
junk records with any frequency. Those of you who were collecting in the 50s 
and 60s (or even the 70s) may feel like that time has already come, but it 
still is possible to turn up great records. It just takes a lot of pre-work 
trying to find the folks that have them - you can't just blindly drive 
around (you can, but you'll waste a lot of time).

So, in the future, it may be an even tougher hobby to get started with, but 
some people just have it in the blood. Personally, I don't have a choice - I 
compelled to buy and sell records and begin to feel twitchy if I go to long 
without buying or finding something!

Malcolm in GA

Venerable Music - http://www.venerablemusic.com/
78rpm Auctions - http://www.vmauctions.com/
Venerable Radio - http://www.venerableradio.com
On Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/venerablemusic

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Taylor Bowie" <bowiebks at isomedia.com>
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 3:17 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] Average age (was: Jack Palmer)


>I personally know three 78 collectors in the Seattle area who are under 40.
>
> Taylor
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Kristjan Saag" <saag at telia.com>
> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 12:14 PM
> Subject: [78-L] Average age (was: Jack Palmer)
>
>
>> Steven C Barr wrote:
>>
>> > I have no idea what the average age of us 78 collectors (or 78-L in
>> general) is...but I expect it is WELL into "senior- citizen-
>> > hood"...?! Somewhere out there is some young (now) 78 fan who will
>> be, in a few decades or so, the last 78 collector...and thus > wind up
>> with all the 78's that don't get "land-filled" by unknowing descendants
>> who are charged with settling the estates of
>> > collectors...?!
>>
>> ----
>>
>> Five years ago we made an enquiry on he list; I collected the answers
>> and found out that of more than 50 regular contributors, at the time,
>> the average age was 55.
>> It's probably somewhere between 55-60 now; I don't think there have been
>> a significant number of younger newcomers since then.
>> Jack Palmer was the second oldest at the last count...
>> Kristjan
>>
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