[78-L] Fwd: Re: Vinyl Lovely Vinyl + 78s around Madrid

[Joe Salerno]

Iñigo, glad you reposted this here as I haven't been on ARSC list in 
some time. You bring up some interesting questions.

So is the supply of 78s dwindling? The collectors? I can't help but 
wonder if interest is the hobby is fading, could it be because the disc 
has long faded from public view? And for those machines that can "play 
78s", this means the table will spin fast enough, not that there is a 
proper stylus. To be sure, I'm not advocating for the return of the flip 
over needle, just observing that the new machines don't have all that it 
takes for proper casual listening (completely forgetting about EQ here). 
I just bought an A-T on sale at Fry's for downstairs to listen casually 
and audition 78s from a collection newly acquired. The previous table 
needed some work and didn't do 78s. The new one has 3 variable speeds, 
but only 1 stylus. It'll do for my purposes, I hope.

Perhaps having the speed option will at least ignite a new interest in a 
few persons and open them to the world of outmoded formats. Maybe they 
will become collectors.

What will become of our collections when we die? Mostly headed for the 
dumpster I fear. Better the estate sale. Better for the family to get 
some money than none at all (and help clearing the house) and better for 
collectors to find more records to enjoy. Some will enjoy them, some 
will transfer and reissue whatever is deemed worthy. Someone will be 
collecting them I think, just because people collect things, some thing, 
sometimes anything.

If shellac records and cylinders become museum pieces, they will 
survive. No public accessibility? Maybe. Like ancient scrolls, they will 
someday be so rare as to be considered invaluable. Digital distribution 
is quasi-acceptable to me for public consumption. Depends on the 
transfer. The difference between you and me is that I listen to content 
and you enjoy the machines as much as anything. To each his own. Or her 
own. Good luck to us all.

Joe Salerno

On 10/8/2016 7:24 AM, Inigo Cubillo wrote:
>
> I just wrote this following a thread at ARSC-list, but also considered
> interesting to share it herein.
> ---------- Mensaje reenviado ----------
> De: "Inigo Cubillo" <ice261263 at gmail.com>
> Fecha: 8/10/2016 2:21 p. m.
> Asunto: Re: Vinyl Lovely Vinyl + 78s around Madrid
> Para: "Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List" <
> ARSCLIST at listserv.loc.gov>
> Cc:
>
> Actually in Madrid, and as far as I know, also in other big cities in
>> Spain, the love for (second hand) vinyl has never died. Still, this is our
>> era --for old-record collectors-- and herein and momentarily I want to
>> align shellacophiles with vinyl collectors...
>>
>> There are a pretty bunch of shops here around dealing on second hand LPs
>> and singles of all kinds and eras. The dozen shops I know in Madrid are
>> alive since I was a teenager and started collecting. I, in fact, started
>> with vinyl, and switched to 78s when I discovered them on one of the shops
>> I frequented in search of old vinyl. I then found that these shops did
>> usually have also 78s for sale. Ones on a steady basis, others only
>> acquiring lots from time to time. Almost all them are still running.
>>
>> The other side of the coin is that many of them had quitted selling 78s in
>> late years. But still four or five continue having a short supply from time
>> to time. But they're now much scarcer.
>>
>> Madrid flea market is named "El Rastro". It is a very old tradition, and
>> is set every Sunday morning in the same district, a dozen streets full of
>> stalls. There are also many antique shops and goodwill stores in that
>> district. So it's easy to identify which shops carry 78s steadily, or at
>> least, occasionally. Stallholders are well known, always the same in the
>> same places, so it's all also easy for a shellac chaser to center the shot.
>> From time to time, collections appear for sale, and in those days, stalls
>> and shops are flooded with shellac. But nowadays, things have changed. 78s
>> are scarcer. This is a very specific market, and dealers are a small group,
>> so it's easy to identify when an inheritance has been sold out, with a
>> collection of 78s, divided into lots, is for some weeks seen around by the
>> stalls and shops. But now, this happens only from time to time.
>>
>> I've also noticed in my latest visits that gramophones (mostly portables)
>> have lowered prices. The most notable I remember, a recent near-mint 101 in
>> blue, at an antique shop, for a mere $160, which was a real bargain. Pity I
>> didn't buy it... But I already own two 101s, and the Management at home
>> would have frowned angrily at the slightest notice of 'yet another one'...
>>
>> There must be a lack of interest among the public, or there are less
>> collectors. I'm painfully thinking that 78 collecting, which seemed to us
>> an eternal hobby, is going to be only a somewhat short living fashion.
>> Old-record collecting started in the mid-20th century, and it seems that
>> after three generations, less than a century, it is bounded to languish and
>> die. Youngsters show some interest, but only archivists and related scholar
>> people. What will be of our collections when we die? They will study 78s,
>> transfer them, etc, but they will not ENJOY them, not to say... play
>> shellac records on aggressive gramophones! Shellac records and cylinders
>> will become museum pieces, full of 'historic value' but no more accessible
>> to the public, except in digital form, and impossible to buy, touch, see,
>> play... and enjoy them. But this is human civilisation!
>>
>> Resuming the plot, I've also noticed an increase in French shellac
>> products at our flea market; I suspect there is a tendency among dealers to
>> go chasing to the south of France, Marseille and the like, directly or
>> through the web... for fresh supply. Late months there were lots of pathés
>> and pathephones, also French 78s of other brands, mostly lots of 1930-1950
>> records.
>>
>> Anyway, I will continue going there on Sundays and ask for 78s at the
>> usual places, for showing an interest is vital to maintain the supply.
>> Although I get a NO answer most of times, others I succeed, for some lots
>> of shellac still appear. One must always ask...
>>
>> Another thing I discovered while chasing is the interest of asking for
>> shellac at unusual places (book dealers, for instance). Sometimes the book
>> dealers buy complete households for the books alone, and are forced to take
>> the disc collections altogether. Being records somewhat out of their
>> specialised scope, they are wanting to sell the records fast, if only to
>> get rid of them. Most of times when asking at old book stores you'll get a
>> NO for answer, but sometimes you hear YES, and take with you a real
>> bargain. To be noted that I also collect classical 78s, and good classical
>> record libraries used to go alongside good libraries...
>>
>> Saludos,
>> Iñigo
>>
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