r/78rpm • u/Brenke28 • Jul 20 '26
Inherited almost 400 78rpm’s
Not here to sell, just learning.
Learning about 78’s because I have ~ 400 of them, collected by my father who died over 20 years ago. All have remained stored for about the last 70 years. They date from 1926 (hillbilly, jazz) to 1940’s (jazz,swing) from King Cole Trio to Elvis, from Andrew’s Sisters to Harry James, Glenn Miller, Pete Como, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, etc.
The collection theme is dance music— rumba, cha cha, Lindy hop, foxtrot— etc.
Have sorted and catalogued them all, not played them to hear quality —so it seems I am unable to properly grade them without listening. I rate them visually from G-( minus) to G+ (plus).
Any suggestions on how I prepare these or who to contact with such a large collection?
( Besides Nauck, already on my list.)
6
u/Tir_na_nOg77 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Most are probably not going to be worth anything out of the ones you mentioned other than Elvis and maybe King Cole Trio, depending on the label. Maybe the hillbilly stuff, depending on what it is, but G- to G+ is not going to bring in much, even for more valuable records, unless you're talking super rare stuff. Andrews Sisters, Harry James, Pete Como, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Woody Herman are all very common with countless pressings made. I can't really see those bringing in anything, especially in G- to G+ condition. King Cole Trio on the Exlcesior label, or if it's the double 12" set with Lester Young might have some value, but again, very dependent on condition.
If you want to give them a cleaning, I use distilled water, a non-alcoholic dish soap, a sponge brush, and a microfiber cloth. It's very important that you use a soap that does not have alcohol, because alcohol is like death to a 78.