78 rpm Record Donations in the UK

[Melvin England]

Does anybody know if there is a person, or organisation within the UK that collects the old shellac 78rpm records ?

The reason I ask is that I have a few I would like to get rid of, but just like vinyl records, it is just not in me to just throw them in the bin. (It's the same with film, of course). For all I know, some of them could be the only copy of a recording left, and I feel it is such a shame to lose them.

I know there is a place in the States, but the postage would be too restrictive from the UK.

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[Ken Finch]

In my neck of the woods we have a a charity shop for Demelza, which runs a centre for terminally ill children. One of their shops specialising in media and they take 78s as well as books ,DVDs, L Ps etc. There are also people who collect vintage record players and museums who would be interested. If they are very old I.e. pre 1940s they may be worth quite a bit. Antique dealers may be able to assist you. 😊

[Ken Finch]

My wife’s father, played in and ran dance bands in the u.k. during the 1920s and early 30s. She has discovered that there were records made by some of them and would love to be able to obtain them. They were the dance bands that played in the London hotels etc. They would be very rare today. The 78s wore out very quickly and were very brittle.

[Daniel Bottom]

My grandfather was in the O2E band during World War 2, and we have a metal 78 that was etched in one take. He sang "I can't give you anything but love". I'll have to check whether anything is on the other side!