Electrola! 78rpm sleeves [6]

These two close the series on 78 rpm record sleeves. Enjoy.

Decca! 78rpm sleeves [5]

My box is nearly empty now. A few more to go. And then, back to books.

Victory! 78rpm sleeves [4]

tomorrow: Decca!

Regal! Olympia! Elite! 78rpm sleeves [3]

Cristal, Odeon, Imperial, Olympia, Elite…  all very serious and pompous names. Even amusement was highbrow in the days before rock ‘n roll. Next: Victory!

Pathé! Telefunken! 78rpm sleeves [2]

The empty Pathé sleeve is not part of the box-collection. More to follow.

Cristal! Odeon! Imperial! 78rpm sleeves [1]

The music I grew up with was always associated with imagery. En plus, I lived and survived the era of the ‘concept album’. Every 33 rpm record had it’s own lavishly designed 30 by 30 cm back and front, often with a fold-out or enclosed booklet. Some surface for a graphic designer, compared to the size of a cd jewel case. Every disc was a planned set of songs and had a personalised visual counterpart in its packaging that is hard to imagine if all the music you have is downloaded to an iPod.

A long time ago, when my mom and dad were kids, music didn’t have a face. It came through the radio speaker, not the screen, and records were a fairly new market. Record companies made publicity for themselves or their catalogue, not for the individual artist in their sleeves. Nice sleeves, though. More coming up.

Boxed treasure 78rpm sleeves

I have a weakness for old paper. I like the surface it has and the life it had. So I collect stuff that other people would throw away. It is rare to come across plain old useless paper on markets but it happens. I will show some examples later. Just to tell you I might have taken this box home even if it had been empty. But it wasn’t. Let us not rush. Turn it around first.

Nice lettering on the remains of the paper tape that held it closed. And a pretty illustration that says ‘handle with care’ without words. Let’s open it.

The box contains  a collection of bakelite 78 rpm records, all in great company sleeves. I will show these treasures in the next days. For now enjoy the packaging.