Steven C. Barr(x) wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Karl Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
>> I recall a story told to me some years ago...I think
>> it had to do with a Paul Robeson recording that
>> contained some politically oriented songs...perhaps
>> recorded outside the US? When the reissue was being
>> done, one of the discs has a significant crack.
>> Supposedly the engineer used vaseline to smooth over
>> the crack. After making the transfer the groove walls
>> started to disintegrate...or so the story goes...
>>
> It's equally likely that the disintegration was somehow secretly
> arranged by J. Edgar Hoover (or agents of the KKK, who were opposed
> to its opposite concept...INtegration...?!).
> :-)
> More seriously, Vaseline, being a petroleum derivative, should have
> no noticeable effects (other than making a major MESS!) on either
> shellac or plastic discs...
>
> Steven C. Barr
>
Ahem. No, I guess the vaseline doesn't harm the discs..I had a collection given
to me which apparently had belonged to a fellow who worked on the Great Lakes
and obviously didn't get ashore to buy new needles (how did he get records,
then?). As soon as they began to sound worn, he'd put vaseline on them. When I
got them, they'd been in green library sleeves for years..in a garage, probably
next to a bag of something powdery like concrete. Yuch!

dl