Thanks all! I contacted a couple universities that archive some of these, but neither were accepting donations of 78s. The last thing I’m going to check, at the suggestion of one of those universities, is great78.archive.org. If that is a no-go, then skeet shooting it is.
This sounds interesting. Have you done this? Or can you direct me to where I can find instructions?
If one wishes to take these to a library, ask them first if they can use them. The one I volunteer at gets them occasionally, and we pass them on to the auctioneer that we work with.
I took some to a local dealer, and he said, pretty much literally, that finding an Alma Gluck 78 in a 78 collection would be like finding the self-titled debut Boston album in a collection from the 1970s.
I have not done it myself. You can find videos online. Isopropyl alcohol will dissolve the records. They’re broken up into little pieces and stirred into alcohol to the desired consistency. Carbon was added to the shellac to make the records black.
Okay, thanks! I’ll do a search.
I had a friend who was really into and knowledgeable about collecting records. His advice on 78s: “White people’s 78s are nearly worthless. Black people’s 78s can be worth money.” The ones worth money are old blues records.
My granddaughter’s girl scout troop just did a fun art project where they painted designs on scenes of LPs. They used some old vinyl 33 1/3 records, but I bet 78s would look better than the vinyl. Maybe there’s an art studio or troop that would want to do something like that.
There’s an ultra-low budget mid 1990s documentary called “So Wrong, They’re Right” about 8-track tapes. One of the most memorable scenes in it was where a floridly gay DJ, who worked at a gay-friendly nightclub, had the equipment to transpose some Madonna music from an 8-track (one of her first releases) to a 78, which he took to that nightclub and played. His customers had no idea that they were dancing to music from a 78 disc.
(The other was the one where they were in a convertible with an 8-track player, and put on Lou Reed’s infamous “Metal Machine Music” at high volume, and drove down a busy street.)
Decorators love these things.
Perfect for a music centric man-cave, hung on the wall.
I would call a few and see if it’s still a ‘thing’
I have my Daddy’s. His are worthless as far as the music goes. But I love them anyway.
Just wanted to mention that I literally said that almost exactly.