Re: [ARSCLIST] Other memorable record stores

[Mike Richter <mrichter@xxxxxxx>]

John Ross wrote:
> The recent thread about Discophile and Franz Jolowicz, and Peter's 
> comments about how we acquired our collections has started me thinking 
> about some of the other places where I found some of the treasures on my 
> shelves.

Discophile was my source for Eddie Smith's treasures, but my favorite 
shop was H. Royer Smith in Philadelphia. One collection from them was a 
case of sets of acoustic operas from La Scala. There is a suggestion 
that they may be the last surviving copies since even those contributing 
to Opera on Record (Alan Blyth, Lord Harewood, et al.) had been unable 
to find copies to evaluate.

Then there's the shop in Brookline with the remarkable basement. In the 
early 1960s, the proprietor had passed away and his daughter (?) who 
kept it running while determining the shop's and her future had little 
idea of what was there. The records I bought - all I could afford - were 
still in the plain brown wrapping paper which enclosed 78 sets in the WW 
II era.

As for their status today, I do not know. I contributed all my 78s to 
U.C. Riverside when I realized that I'd never again have space to store 
them and retain access. A few years later, I gave up my 78-rpm hardware. 
Everything of value had already been transferred to tape and the best of 
it has now been moved to CD-ROM, some in distribution, some just in my 
library.

Mike
--
mrichter@xxxxxxx
http://www.mrichter.com/