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Re: [ARSCLIST] Libraries disposing of records

Hi Blake:

Good luck with your Utopian dreams. Fact is, things cost money and money is limited. Saving "everything" willy-nilly takes space and space costs money. Genuine preservation takes expertise and expertise costs money. Free market is the best way to assure what's of value -- as in economic value -- gets preserved. The rest is an uphill haul. I welcome you to cart away as much of everyone else's curbside boxes or dumpsters full of 78's as you wish. There is little chance that what you gather up will be usable or even extant past your lifetime. I just don't buy into the "try and keep everything" MO because I think it's not realistic and a foolish waste of limited resources. Decisions need to be made in each era, what was really of value here? Yeah, tastes change but some things are pretty timeless or made a huge impact in their time. Obscure stuff produced by obscure people is simply not of as much greater-societal value so it is likely not to survive. I know the culture today strives to make everyone feel "unique" and "important," but the simple fact is that in every era of human activity, a few people do the heavy lifting on the agenda and the rest lead quiet lives of marginal wider value (but great value to themselves and those immediately connected). This might pour some cold water, but it's just how the world works. What ends up "preserved", if history so far is any guide, is not the whole thing but a stilted and biased representation of the time/place, which by the way is the same with the written history. Like it or hate it, it is The Way It Is.

Another point -- I know a few "grab everything to save it" types who call themselves "collectors." They're not, they are accumulators and are so over-run with junk that they cannot find or enjoy the true treasures in their piles of stuff. One of them will be very lucky if he makes it to his natural death without a premature end caused by a heavy pile of books and records of highly varied value, age and condition falling on top of him. As he's gotten older, less and less joy is to be had from his "collection" because it is, in the end, a pile of junk and he can't ever enjoy it because he has to spend so much time sifting it to find any specific thing. A collector, by the old-school definition, is discriminating and limits his collection to the items he deems finest. A guy who goes and dives every dumpster to save every copy of every shellac is firstly on a fool's errand and secondly nothing but an accumulator who dooms his pile to an eventual trip back to the dumpster.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- From: "D. Blake Werts" <bwerts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 8:13 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Libraries disposing of records


To bring it full-circle with the currently running "discarding books"
thread, imagine saying something similar about the printed page:  humor me
and replace references to 78s and etc, with Classic Literature/books/etc:
(this may or may not work... but lets try...)

At the risk of offending bibliophiles, etc., I'll offer a similar reality
check, in line with Bob's [and Tom's] postings.
Guys, Classic Literature/Books are a real FRINGE/NICHE. Anything with any
remote chance of "mass market" is out on DVD or
YouTube. Most people just don't like Old/Middle/Victorian English of
yesteryear. Yes, there are some Classic Work reprints where they went back
to the original manuscripts and used modern, accessible, and marketable
rewrites, and it's great that modern life offers that wonderful Literature
in a better-than-original mass-market format. But those dusty tomes, they're
just a novelty nowadays, in most but not all cases. Now, that said, of
course I'll grab a pile from the curbside if the works are anything I'm
remotely interested in because I still like to read books for my nieces and
nephews to show them "ye olde entertainment activities". But I limit my book
"collection" to one bookshelf and I'd heave it first if I got in a space
crunch. Illuminated manuscripts -- I'm really glad <someone> has that
archive online but I can't see how anyone would read that stuff for
enjoyment. It reads worse than a material written from another world! But,
back to my main point, if there's a profitable market
for something, it finds its value and there apparently is no market for
most Classic Literature.

---

Please note that I certainly do not feel this way.  I'm just hoping that
folks will understand the metaphor--and appreciate the fact that it is ALL
valuable material shellac or paper or whatever else!

D. Blake Werts

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 6:06 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Libraries disposing of records


At the risk of offending some on list, I have to offer a reality check, in
line with Bob's posting.
Guys, 78's are a real FRINGE/NICHE. Anything with any remote chance of
"mass market" is out on CD or
iTunes. Most people -- myself included -- just don't like bad quality
sound. Yes, there are some 78
reissues where they went back to metal parts and used tasteful, effective
and sound-improving
digital restoration, and it's great that modern life offers that wonderful
music in a
better-than-original mass-market format. But those shellac disks, they're
just a novelty nowadays,
in most but not all cases. Now, that said, of course I'll grab a pile from
the curbside if the music
is anything I'm remotely interested in because I like to play the Victrola
for my nieces and nephews
to show them "ye olde sound equipment". But I limit my 78 "collection" to
one milk crate and I'd
heave it first if I got in a space crunch. Edison cylinders -- I'm really
glad UCSB has that archive
online but I can't see how anyone would listen to that stuff for
enjoyment. It sounds worse than a
phone call over the Internet from Europe! But, back to my main point, if
there's a profitable market
for something, it finds its value and there apparently is no market for
most 78's.

-- Tom Fine

PS -- regarding that comment about sending 78's to Germany, with that
country's draconian
disposal/recycling laws, are you sure you really want to take the dumpings
of the attics and moldy
basements of America? If the comment was serious, is there some sort of
shellac recycling market
developed over there?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Hodge" <rjhodge@xxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 4:58 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Libraries disposing of records


> Well, if it's ANY indicator....
>
> How many Victor Red seals, green and orange label Columbia's , et al.
> get listed on Epay and never garner a single bid- not even for 1 cent.
>
> How could one expect to " make a fortune" from these record labels when
> those are the conditions which prevail ?
> !
>
> BH
>
>
>
>
>
>>>> b_wichert@xxxxxx 1/5/2007 4:48 PM >>>
> ...why don't you ship all the 78rpms to Europe (and I speak for
> Germany) and
> you can make a fortune- instead of discarding them ! ! !
>



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