Phonoland

I have several boxes of old 16rpm Seeburg records. I am curious what they are worth, and how rare they are. They are in excellent shape, and most people didn't realize how popular the Seeburg company is. They have been very popular in the Jukebox industry, among Wurlitzer, and others. I've done some research. The records were given for a 3 month period, and then returned to the company to be destroyed. I guess that could explain why there aren't many of these records around. I would appreciate any information I can get, and would love to learn more about the Seeburg history. Thanks, William

If those records have 2-inch holes (instead of the usual 1.5-inch holes, they were part of a system similar to Muzak, but with the records in the store, rather than broadcast over a subsidiary communication channel at a radio station. A special record changer played both sides.

If your turntable plays 16 rpm, you can make a spindle adaptor to play them single.

They are strange records though, aren't they? 9" diameter with a 2" hole. I found some of these on eBay a while ago and bought them. Recorded them. Now I have a 6 hour collection of elevator music for my iPod. No idea of what they're actually worth, but a large collection may be worth more than a few individual discs. Are they general music or are they holiday oriented? That may be a factor.

I've seen the phonograph used to play these. Looks like an oversized microwave oven...

They really aren't worth that much mostly due to the odd size. Basically, only a collector that has a Seeburg machine designed for that would be interested. I do still see them around quite often and they sell for about 25 cents a piece. But, it's certainly worth listing it on Ebay. You just never know but be ready to box it up and ship it out.

I happened to come across a Seeburg record at thrift store some time ago. It has a 'Place In Use 10-1-61' date on the label, and in another area of the label it says 'Columbia Record Productions,' along with their Walking Eye trademark. Instead of the over-sized spindle hole, it has a normal Lp-sized spindle hole. I'm kind of thinking an employee at U.S. Columbia snuck it out of the plant after their shift, or it just happened to escape with a normal spindle hole. In any case, I do rather enjoy the first song on side two (even though the songs were covers of popular music, would like to know the title of it--the record didn't come in a sleeve at all).

The hole size is pressed into the record when it is made. The hole is not changed later.

That is probably a record for an older Seeburg system that used a standard 4-speed changer.