78rpm Shops in USA, Canada and Brazil
A list of record shops, antique shops and junk shops on American continents that sell 78rpm records and /or re-issued recordings on CD/LP
this page first published by John Wright, 18 May 1997
last update 8 September 2012vintage@r2ok.co.uk
E-mail John Wright if you know a good shop to add to this list
Brazil
- Alcides C. Filho writes:
I have a store in Sao Paulo, Brazil and a stock with 30,000 - 78 rpm records, all kinds of music (also comedy, sports, courses etc). Send me a want list, and I will answer you.
Alcides C. Filho
E-mail ventaniarec@uol.com.br
Website http://www.ventania.com.br
USA
Much of the information here comes from communications in the
78-L internet group for 78rpm collectors. I've listed alphabetical by state then put cities in bold.
- California
- Collector's Record Shop, 844 B Street, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel: (415) 459-2870
Proprietor: Galen DeWeerdt
Jeffrey Litchman reports: This store has many jazz, vocalists, and 20s dance band records,with a
smattering of other stuff. It also has a lot of vinyl in addition to the 78s.
There are turntables, and you can preview anything in the shop.
- Los Angeles
Geoff Hughes recommends:
- A-1 Record Finders, 5639 Melrose Ave, East Hollywood
Tel: (213) 732-6737 or from LA 931-2757
- Record Collector, 1158 N Highland, Fairfax District/Hollywood
Tel: (213) 467-2875
- a listing that I have not used:
Record Recycler, 4659 Hollywood Blvd, Tel:(213)666-7361
also,
- Music Man Murray, on Exposition
- Pasadena
Michael Kieffer reports: "Pasadena City College flea market occurs the first Sunday of
each month. Several dealers show up with a good selection of 78s each time.
As for CD reissues, the best shop I've found is Canterbury Records on
Colorado in Pasadena. They usually have a wider selection of vintage music
on CD than the better-stocked Towers".
- San Francisco
David Seubert reports: "Community Thrift Store at 17th
and Valencia Streets has a few hundred 78s along with their usual LPs. It
is mostly 10" popular recordings priced around $1 each.
- Idaho
- Lewiston, ID
Bargain Hunter Mall, 1209 Main St. (208)746-6808
"On the main street of town, just east of the business district.
Anteeky Store: has had 78s in the past, occasionally gets more.
Some decent vinyl though. The 78s were $1-2/ea. On my visit-once-a-month
list".
- Moscow, ID (35 miles north of Lewiston on US 95)
Now And Then, 321 E Palouse River Dr. (208)882-7886
"East of US 95 on the south end of town. Nice store, had a small
selection of 78s at a buck-per, BUT also stocks Yazoo LPs!!!
Also has some phonographs. This is an Anteeky store".
- Illinois
- Toad Hall, 2106 Broadway, Rockford, Illinois IL61104
90 minutes from Chicago. Tel: 815-226-1259
- Jazz Record Mart, 27 East Illinois,Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 222-1474 or visit the Jazz Record Mart website
- Record Dugout 6055 W. 63rd Street, Chicago, IL 60638
Tel:(773) 586-1206. They have a great selection of 78s of all styles.
- Check out Hi-Fi Records at http://www.hifirecords.com If you click on the HiFi Records emblem it will take you to an area for e-bay auctions of records.
- Second Hand Tunes, 800 Dempster Street, Evanston IL 60202. Tel: (847) 491-1690
- The Golden Age, 1901 East 31st Street, La Grange Park, IL 60526
Frank Slabinak writes: Good source for 78 rpm records. They also carry vinyl LP's, radio
transcriptions, videos, books and all kinds of nostalgic stuff.
Situated about 1 mile south of I-290 off of US-45. Tel: 708-579-9101. Hours are 10-6 (Tues-Sat)
Website http://www.thegoldenage.biz
- Indiana
- David Owens reports:Indianapolis, Shadeland Antique Mall, east side of town, north of 70.
"Enormous place, unpredictable who will have what, but I found one dealer
with a lot of inexpensive 78s (in 1997)".
- Kansas/Missouri
- Wesley Brown reports:The Record Exchange formerly 207 Westport Rd., Kansas City, MO,
has moved a couple of blocks west and south. It's now called Music
Exchange and is at 4200? Broadway. It's bigger and as pricy as before.
- Salina
Acoustic Sounds, P.O. Box1905, Salina, Kansas 67401
Tel:(785) 825 8609
- Maine
Elizabeth McLeod reports, 31 Mar '98: at the Junque Barn in the town of
Washington, ME, a few 78-related treasures may still be found
at "Luce's Bargain Shoppe", all 78's are 50c, maybe the odd player.
- Massachusetts
Reported 1/23/98 by Joel Bresler:
- Cambridge
- STEREO JACK'S, 1704 Mass Ave. (between Harvard and Porter Squares)617-497-9447
Roughly six bins of 78s. One of the few stores in Boston actively buying.
Also, they take the trouble to classify records by genre. Jazz, Dance and
Blues/Rhythm and Blues predominate.
- IN YOUR EAR, 72A Mt. Auburn (lower level, in Harvard Square) 617-491-5035
One bin of mixed 78s. Not much in the way of bargains!
- LOONEY TUNES, 1001 Mass Ave. (Lower level, between Harvard and Central Squares) 617-876-5624
Three or so bins. No longer actively buying, but take 78s that are part of the larger collections they buy.
- CHEAPO'S, 645 Mass. Ave (in Central Square), 617-354-4455, but now at a
temporary address: around the corner at 114 Bishop Allen Drive, have 500 to 1,000 unique titles(!)
Gospel and Jump Blues predominate. Some of the disks are still new.
Be sure to talk to Allen, the owner; the rest of the staff tries to be helpful but not nearly as knowledgeable. It will be
six to eight weeks until they are back in their permanent space, and
probably summer until things settle down completely.
- Boston
- IN YOUR EAR, 957 Commonwealth Ave. (near Boston University) 617-787-9755.
Some 78s, but many without sleeves in a sorry jumble. Good luck!
- ORPHEUS, 362 Commonwealth Ave. (near Tower Records),617-247-7200.
Great site for used classical LPs. The extremely knowledgeable
(if opinionated!) owner Ed evidently has some 78s stored off-site.
Check with him about what you want.
- Hadassah Bargain Spot, near Boston University has a limited selection: 2001 Beacon St., 617-566-0666
- Michigan
Dave owens reports:
Ann Arbor, Encore Records, 417 E. Liberty.
Tel: (734) 662-6776, "Peter Dale, very knowledgable,
lurks on the 78-L list. Lots of LPs, also some 78s, 45s, CDs, books".
- Bangor (west of Kalamazoo) "there is an antique mall on south side
of main street, downtown. Upstairs gloomy back room full of unsorted 78's,
some other records. Last visit 1997".
- Mason (south side of Lansing)
Mason Antiques Market, 208 Mason St. Tel:(517) 676-9753 or 676-9600.
"Lots of interesting 78s, sorted by type, mostly inexpensive.
Often no one there who knows about them. Last visited 1996".
- Negaunee (west of Marquette, Upper Peninsula)
The Old Bank Antique Mall, located in the old bank downtown.
One large vault stacked with 78s, not sorted, "I've always paid $1 each.
Some LPs, sheet music, other antiques naturally. Fun place. Visited 1997".
- Minnesota
- Vintage Music Co., 1820 East 38th St., Minneapolis, MN 55407.
tel.(612) 729-8929 fax (612) 729-8938
open Mon.-Sat. 11:00a.m.-6:00p.m. central standard time
Mark Mason writes:
1,000's of 78's in stock and 100's of cylinders, fully restored phonographs (all makes and models)1890's-1960's,
do repair and restoration on all machines we sell and they all come with a 90 day warranty to back our work.
We have an in-house repair service and stock needles and parts. We ship goods all around the globe.
Want lists welcomed.
- New York, NY
- Records Revisited, 34 West 33rd St., Room 214V, New York NY10001
Tel: 212-695-7155
- Mooncurser Records on the main street in City Island district of Bronx, NY,
where you'll find shelves upon shelves of 78's in label and numerical order.
- Jazz Record Center 236 W26th St., New York City NY10001
Tel: 212-675-4480, fax: 212-675-4504
e-mail jazzrecordcenter@att.net
visit website: www.jazzrecordcenter.com
- North Carolina
- Raleigh Buck Winslow invites you to visit his shop located in The Carolina Antique Mall, Retro Renaissance booth,
Cameron Village Shopping Center, 2050 Clark Avenue, Raleigh North Carolina 27605 USA
Tel: 919-833-8227, Hours: M-S 10:00am-5:30pm
Proprietors: Buck Winslow and Andrew Cabaccang
There are two racks full of 78s and an assortment of acoustic phonographs.
website: Retro Renaissance
email victrola@mindspring.com
- Reidsville many little shops in the downtown area. There's also available a guide to Antique shops statewide which you
can get at any of the Major Malls.
- Ohio
- Cleveland Royal Garden Records, Lorain Road, North Olmstead (tel:440 779 4450). Tom Kennish has a
large 78 stock, with thousands of reasonably intact album sets. It is clean
and well-organized, bit pricey.
- Oregon
- Christie's Mallternative Music Exchange, 1167 Marine Drive, Astoria, Oregon 97103
Tel: 503-325-0268
- Portland Vinyl Resting Place, 8332 N.Lombard, Portland, Oregon, 97203
Tel: 503-247-9573 or visit Vinyl Resting Place
- Glenn Sage is also worth contacting and can be reached at glenn@tinfoil.com or cellular tel. 503-888-8933.
Check out Glenn's website: www.tinfoil.com
- Pennsylvannia
- Jake and Tim, at table 106 at Wind Gap Indoor Flea Market Wind Gap Pennsylvania 316 North Broadway, sell 78rpm records and some vintage talkies on VHS tape. The flea market is easy to find just off of RT209 aka North
Broadway, Wind Gap Pennsylavania.
- Antique Edison, 301 Murray Avenue, Bridgeville PA 15017 (USA)
Fax 412-257-8926, E-MAIL: antqedison@aol.com
Website: Antique Edison
Records,radios,sheetmusic,phonographs also bought and sold
Always looking for 78rpm, 10 & 12"LP'S & 16" transcriptions from 1920-1950'S, jazz, blues, sweetbands, country, vocals, bid bands, rock'n'roll, rhythm'n'blues, hillbilly.
- Philadelphia
Allen Wald Zollman writes:
Germantown (Northwest Philly-15 min from Center City):
Bargain Thrift Center, 5253-61 Germantown Ave. Tel:215-849-3225
Feb 98, "0.50 for the little ones, 1.00 for the big ones".
- Village Thrift Store
East Chelten Avenue near Germantown Ave.
Feb 98. Records get no respect but at least they're only 20 cents.
- Whosoever Gospel Mission,101 E. Chelten Avenue, tel:215-438-3094
Feb 98. a thrift shop. Inscrutable pricing formula works out to about 40 cents each.
Stock is handled and displayed better than average for a thrift shop.
- Several junk shops exist on the 5200 through 5500 blocks of Germantown
Avenue, open irregularly. Saturday is the best bet. The going rate for 78s
when available is .50, sometimes 1.00.
- Southwest suburbs (Main Line-20-25 minutes from Center City):
Plastic Fantastic Record Exchange, 26 W. Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, PA. tel: 610-896-7625, has stock of CDs and videos,
some classical and jazz vinyl; hundreds of 10" LPs with a few postwar 78s
intershelved with the vinyl. The 78s consist mostly of albums - Brunswick,
Decca, and Columbia repressings of earlier jazz and pop material. 78s are
priced upon inquiry at $4 to $5 per disc. Some of the
Folkways and Blue Note LPs are priced $25 - $100! Owner and staff unhelpful.
- Browse Around Thrift Shop, East Athens Avenue, Ardmore, PA
- Ardmore Antiques (The Little Indian), 321 W. Lancaster Ave. Ardmore, PA tel: 610-649-4432
has had a handful of 78s @1.00 ea.
- West Philadelphia (Overbrook Park section)
S'Ort of New Shop, 7592 Haverford Ave., Philadelphia, PA (215) 473-5590
LPs and 78s @ one dollar per album, regardless of # of pockets
- Texas
- Houston Alex's Collectibles is a fantastic record shop devoted to 78's.
It is dealer #543 at Carolyn Thompson's Antique Center (713)527-0530. Contains over 1,000 78s in very good to
excellent condition and around 100 78 albums in such categories as Jazz,
Big Band, Country/Western, WW1, popular-vocal, and many devoted to
certain labels. Most priced from $5 to $10.
David Diehl writes:
- San AntonioAlamo Records, 517 E. Houston St., San Antonio TX 78205-1919. Tel: (210)212-4200
"Located in the basement of an antique mall just a couple of blocks
from the Alamo. There are thousands of 78's in varying degrees of
sortage, the proprietor can usually find specific items for you.
There's also a backroom stash for the serious diggers. There's also
lots of vinyl, sheet music and memorabilia. Prices start at $3"
and another top dollar source is:
- Austin Immortal Performances, 1404 West 30th St., Austin TX 78703
call before dropping by (512) 478-9954 or visit the booth at: Antique Mall of Texas IH 35 at Round Rock
Richard Todd Martin writes:
- Dallas Collectors' Records, Garland Road have
meticulously filed some 20,000 78s in a back room that
has a large table- great for careful handling, viewing, etc. Most
everything is put into albums (be careful turning the sleeve-pages!),
arranged by artist. Everything in this BACK ROOM is $1 each, and happily most of it is
in really pretty good shape, most of the stuff is 1920s-1940s.
Out in the MAIN STORE select items have been pulled aside, and the prices
are higher e.g. Hank Williams, Bessie Smith.
- Dallas There is an antique mall on Midway, a little north of Beltline,
it's a big warehouse thing on the left side as you go north - very ugly, but crammed with stalls.
They are open 7 days a week.
- Virginia
- Arlington:
R Dehoney writes:
Orpheus Records, 3173 Wilson Ave, Arlington, VA
has a few hundred 78's, many of them in albums.
They are way in the back, so you have to ask to see them.
- Richmond:
Memory Lane records, 8508 Sanford Dr., Richmond Va 23228
tel: 804-266-1154 fax: 804-264-9660
- Washington State
- Bellevue
Sharon (manager) writes:
St. Margarets Thriftshop, 4228 Factoria Blvd., Bellevue, Wa 98006
Tel: (425) 641-6830
We have Big Band, Rock'n'Roll and more.
- Brad Clark reports on these stores:
- Clarkston, WA,The Hangar, 935 Port Way Tel:(509) 758-0604
"Follow the signs on US 12, it's about 3 blocks from the highway. 78s unsorted,
$1-2/ea. a bin-load of them. On my visit-once-a-month list".
- Clarkston, WA
Dan's Antiques, 823 6th St. (509)758-6223
"On the main street of Clarkston, Hiway 128, east side of street. An Anteeky store, has small selection of 78s,
but reasonable ($1/ea). On my visit-once-a-month list. NOTE!! Dan does **not** take plastic,
but will take out-of-town checks".
- Colfax, WA (50 miles north of Lewiston, 20 or so miles N of Pullman WA on US 195)
Bryan's Antiques
Hwy 195 south of Colfax (509)397-3259
"About 1-2 miles south of town of Colfax on US 195 on west side of road.
Part anteeky store, part barn (really!!): has 78s in the front that are
listed by card file, and unsorted 78s in the barn in the rear of the store.
The good stuff is in the barn (natch!) but from either place the shellac
is usually a buck each. Had a good country selection when last I visited in fall of 1997.
- Pullman, WA (35 miles north of Lewiston on US 195, 10 miles W of Moscow on SR 8)
Square One Antique Mall, Grand & Main (509)332-0771
"In the center of Pullman. Anteeky store, but if you know where to look,
it be a Treasure Trove. If the gentleman at the counter is somewhat large and wears a beret, ask to see the records in the backroom.
There are some in bins, SOMEWHAT sorted by label in the back, but there are
more sorted by label kind-of in the far-far back, past the sign that says
"Don't Go Past Here". Usually $1.00 ea.
- Seattle, WA:
- Bop Street Records, 5219 Ballard Avenue NW, Seattle, WA 98107
The shop is next to the "Tractor Tavern". The proprietor is Dave Voorhees,
Tel: 206-297-2232 E-mail bopstreet@hotmail.com
Gregory Tomasin writes: Bop Street Records has the bulk of their 78rpm
records down in the basement in two separate sections. The larger of the two
basement sections is sorted by label only, and they still have other boxes
to unpack. In the smaller basement section, Dave has shelved some of the
better 78s. Dave keeps all his best 78rpm records in another room on the
main floor which is locked, but he will let you in to take a look if he is
on the premises (usually 12:00 to 6:00pm Monday through Friday). Dave will
let you listen to any 78s you are considering for purchase. Of note, Dave
is an expert on early rock and roll as well as "doo-wop" tunes from the
1950s.
- Fillipi Book & Record Shop, 1550 East Olive Way (close to downtown),
Seattle, WA 98122
Proprietor: Brenda Fillipi, Tel: 206-682-4266; no e-mail address.
Gregory Tomasin writes: A well organized store with 78rpm sections in jazz, sweet bands, polka,
classical, pop organ, vocals, and ethnic. There are also some blues and
early rock and roll 78s in the "new arrivals" section, but they tend to sell
quickly. There is an extensive music reference book collection. Although
books in this section are not for sale, they are always available for your
perusal during regular business hours. All records can be previewed as
well.
- Walla Walla, WA: About 90 minutes west of Lewiston on US 12.
Country Collectors, 226 East Main (509)529-6034
Main & Palouse in downtown Walla Walla. Anteeky Store, the 78s are
in the basement. Again, buck-a-piece, but some nice stuff there when I
was over in 1997.
There are other stores in Walla Walla, and some are rumoured to have
78s, but I did not get the chance to check on these.
- Spokane WA:
There are stores on Sprague Ave, very few carry shellac.
Check out Hillyard district (in the east part of Spokane)
- Wisconsin
- Milwaukee area
Past Presence, 7123 W. Greenfield Ave, West Allis
(414)-774-7585.
Hours are 11 A.M.- 5 P.M. Wed.-Sun. Closed Mon. & Tues.
- Mauston (on 94 NW of the Dells)
David Owens reports: Mauston Antique Mall, north side of town, at road from 94.
Back room full of unsorted 78s at $1. Also LPs, 45s, sheet music, memorabilia".
CANADA
- Spike's Corner, P.O. Box 116, Harrowsmith, Ontario K0H 1V0.
(east side Hwy. 38, in the Village). Has a large selection of 78's and gramophones.
- Owen Burgess writes: when in Toronto, Ontario look up:
Discovery Records 1140 Queen Street East, 416 778-6394
mainly vinyl,some 78s/CDs. Open 11:00 - 6:00 daily except Wednesday (I think)- accessible via the Queen Street streetcar.
Back Beat 2071 Yonge St., mainly vinyl, (78s?)
Website Backbeat
Vortex, 2309 Yonge St., 2nd floor - 483-7437 (north
of Back Beat) has vinyl (no 78s) - accessible from subway (Eglinton Station).
Around Again 18 Baldwin - 416 979-2822. Vinyl only.
Open City, 1374 Danforth 416 461-8087 - 7 days a week, call for hours and
and directions. Some jazz, blues vinyl, also dollar bins and dollar
basement.
From University Ave and Queen Street West walk west 20 blocks
for a dozen used record and CD stores, antique and
junk shops, including a three story "antiques mall" near Bathurst Street
that has 78s.
Much of the information above is from communications in the
78-L Group, the internet group for 78rpm collectors.