# online catalog of old gramophone records, pre-development hell



## Rola (May 27, 2013)

I hope this is the place where I can share my woes. I don't expect anything, just a bit of understanding...

When I introduced myself here, I wrote I'm really into the interwar period. In my hobby research I've encountered many old recordings, available only on old 78RPM gramophone (shellac) discs, never re-released. Not only popular songs from films or cabaret shows, but a great deal of classical music as well. It's a miracle if they can be still heard today, bear in mind that e.g. Polish label Syrena Record didn't survive the war (you can read stories about broken disc masters lying on the street... or what happened to its management).

However... where can I find the info? During the last 10 years or so I've heard only about one book on this subject (dealing only with one label). I doubt that even Polish cultural institutions have comprehensive catalogs.

Seeing crowdsourcing projects all over the net I've envisioned mine: to gather in one place the info about Polish records from early XXc. Not only the pre-WW2 shellac discs... it was a wonderful moment for me when I recognized the actor's voice, reciting... recorded over 100 years ago... on a wax cylinder!

I have only very limited web programming knowledge. Considering the size of this undertaking I'd like at least one webdeveloper to join me.

The problem is... I only found a handful of collectors (on youtube) and they have gray hair.
Hoping to find some younger (&computer-savvy) people, I've tried my chances on a vinyl disc collectors' forum, but very few of them cares about those ancient shellacs.

Now what?
Even if I somehow magically was able to create the website all by myself (so far I've tested the database structure offline, I stopped in the midst of writing PHP servicing it) such catalog is a long term project. The hosting/domain cost wouldn't be big, but it has to be covered yearly... I can't pay for this constantly from my pocket alone.

With this in mind I've tried to contact some cultural institution. First was one of those collectors, who also presides a foundation... then there was Biblioteka Polskiej Piosenki (but its director was too busy and negotiations got stuck)... I'm still waiting for a reply from National Audiovisual Institute...

In all honesty: I see less important/successful projects getting grants from foundations... is my idea really that bad? Why can't I find willing and able people?


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