[78-L] Cold Shellac

[marimbamoods at comcast.net]

i received a 12" shellac ET in the mail yesterday, unfortunately cracked from the edge to the center spindle hole. surprisingly, the packaging seemed fine in this case. the record was sandwiched between pieces of corrugated cardboard taped together, and was packed with plenty of styrofoam peanuts in a corrugated box of adequate size. 


generally, when i get shellac records in the mail i can take one look at the packaging and have a pretty good idea if there was damage or not before opening the package. in this case, i am very surprised that this damage occurred. the seller sent this from alberta, canada to me in massachusetts, usa. there was no sign of stress to the box, such as having been crushed, nor any indications that customs had opened the box, such as cut tape / re-taped, customs stamps, etc. 


this particular disc is a little thinner than some other labels, such as acoustic big-note columbias, etc. therefore, as it is 12" diameter combined with the thinness perhaps it is a little more susceptible to stress than a thicker 10" disc. still, that does not entirely explain the damage, as it was-in-fact packed well. 


however, i am wondering if the cold weather may have made this disc more brittle than normal. i have never had a problem with shellac 78's in wintertime in the past, and generally where cold weather is involved the only issues are with wax cylinder records, not 78's. 


i am a little perplexed. of course, there is the possibility that it was already that way when packed, which is one thought. any ideas on this? 


david harvey