ATDT 555-SHELLAC
CONNECT 2400/ARQ/V.42BIS
NO CARRIER
ATDT 555-SHELLAC
BUSY
ATDT 555-SHELLAC
CONNECT 14400/ARQ/V.42BIS/LAPM
Negotiating protocol... MNP5... OK
Detecting terminal type... ANSI... OK
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SysOp: Morton Harley | 14.4k Baud | ANSI Graphics | 8-N-1
Running: TBBS v2.3 on 486DX2-66 / 16MB RAM / USR Sportster 14.4
Callers today: 47 | Total files: 2,147 | Last caller: GRAMOPHONE_GUY
Time remaining: 60:00 | Downloads remaining: 5
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HARLEY - SysOp since 2025
THE STORY
It started with ONE shellac record in 2020. The weight.
The mysterious label. Then the needle hit the groove and
a voice from ANOTHER CENTURY filled the room. Game over.
Total obsession from day one.
THE COLLECTION
Over 2,000 hand-picked shellac records: world folk, 1920s/30s
jazz, dance music, acoustic era recordings, Yiddish, Hawaiian,
Eastern European, Roma music, pre-war blues, and more.
THE PHILOSOPHY
These records are WITNESSES of music history. The original
sound. No filters. No algorithms. Just needle and groove.
Each record: a direct connection to the artists who
recorded it, often nearly a century ago.
GET IN TOUCH
Email: mail@mortonharley.com
Web: mortonharley.com
// BBS JOKE: This "About" section would have taken
// approximately 14 minutes to download at 2400 baud.
// You're welcome for the 14.4k upgrade.
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旭旭旭 RECORD #1: LUKRAPHON - The Phantom Label 旭旭旭
Origin: Germany, ca. 1910
Format: 78 RPM Shellac, single-sided
One of the most mysterious labels in early German recording
history. Barely any copies survive. Morton's is one of the
few documented specimens worldwide. When you hold this disc,
you're holding ACTUAL acoustic-era history.
Rarity: [##########] EXTREME
旭旭旭 RECORD #2: BELASCO - Victor International 旭旭旭
Origin: USA/Romania, ca. 1920
Format: 78 RPM Shellac, Victor
Leon Belasco: Romanian violinist, bandleader, later Hollywood
character actor (300+ film roles). His early recordings:
Gypsy music meets jazz on Victor. A rare crossroads of
Eastern European tradition and American popular music.
Rarity: [#########-] VERY RARE
旭旭旭 RECORD #3: ZEHNGUT - Favorite/Yiddish 旭旭旭
Origin: Germany, ca. 1912
Format: 78 RPM Shellac, Favorite
Zehngut & Mogulesko on Favorite: Yiddish theatre recordings
from Berlin. A window into Jewish cultural life before
World War I. Historically priceless.
Rarity: [#########-] VERY RARE
旭旭旭 RECORD #4: BLIND BLAKE - Paramount 旭旭旭
Origin: USA, ca. 1927
Format: 78 RPM Shellac, Paramount
THE ragtime guitarist. Paramount pressings from Grafton,
Wisconsin - on the cheapest shellac imaginable (literal
slag filler). Sounds terrible. Is irreplaceable.
Paramount: where the music was great and the vinyl was not.
Rarity: [########--] RARE
// BBS JOKE: If this were a real BBS, you could download
// a 22kHz mono .WAV of each record. At 14.4k baud,
// that's only 3 hours per side. For a 3-minute song.
// The BBS experience(tm).
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旭旭旭 RECORD #5: NAZAROFF - Columbia International 旭旭旭
Origin: USA/Russia, ca. 1920
Format: 78 RPM Shellac, Columbia
Michael Nazaroff (Nasaroff): the most-recorded Russian
artist in America. Street songs, romances, humoresques
on Columbia International. A bridge between the old
world and the new, pressed in shellac.
Rarity: [#########-] VERY RARE
旭旭旭 RECORD #6: UKULELE IKE - Brunswick 旭旭旭
Origin: USA, ca. 1928
Format: 78 RPM Shellac, Brunswick
Cliff Edwards, aka "Ukulele Ike" - the voice of Jiminy
Cricket. Before Disney hired him: hot jazz and vaudeville
on Brunswick. This 1933 Paper Moon is a gorgeous Great
Depression-era standard — warm, velvety pre-war sound.
Rarity: [######----] MODERATE
旭旭旭 RECORD #7: BELF'S - Syrena Grand Electro 旭旭旭
Origin: Russia/Poland, ca. 1910
Format: 78 RPM Shellac, Syrena Grand
Belf's Romanian Orchestra on the legendary Syrena Grand
Electro label from Warsaw. Pure Klezmer roots. Syrena was
one of the oldest recording companies in Eastern Europe.
The label itself is a work of art.
Rarity: [#########-] VERY RARE
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Area: SHELLAC_DOCS - Shellac Record Resources
Listed: 7 file(s) | Total: 42KB | Free space: 340MB
Filename Size Date Description
-------------------------------------------------------------
GRADING.TXT 4K 01/15/25 VJM Grading System explained
78RPM_FAQ.TXT 12K 02/03/25 Everything about 78 RPM records
LABELS.ZIP 8K 03/21/25 Obscure label identification guide
NEEDLES.DOC 3K 04/10/25 Steel vs. thorn vs. fiber needles
CLEAN78.TXT 2K 05/08/25 How to clean shellac records
HISTPRIX.WK1 6K 06/15/25 Historical price data (Lotus 1-2-3)
MORTONHP.ANS 7K 07/01/25 ANSI art: Morton's logo (VGA req'd)
Download which file (1-7, or Q to quit)? _
// BBS JOKE: HISTPRIX.WK1 requires Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3.1
// for DOS. Running it in Excel will crash. Running it in
// Google Sheets will summon Cthulhu. You've been warned.
//
// Also: Don't ask about MORTONHP.ANS. It took the SysOp
// 47 hours to draw in TheDraw. Any criticism will result
// in an immediate carrier drop.
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Conference: SHELLAC_TALK - General Shellac Discussion
Messages: 23 | New since last call: 5
Msg# From To Date Subject
-------------------------------------------------------------
18 GRAMOPHONE_GUY ALL 07/10/25 Found a Pathé in my attic!
19 NEEDLE_QUEEN SYSOP 07/11/25 Re: Steel vs Cactus needles
20 SYSOP ALL 07/12/25 New Lukraphon research!
21 V1NYL_D3N1ER ALL 07/12/25 Shellac > Vinyl. Fight me.
22 WAX_CYLINDER_FAN ALL 07/13/25 You guys are ALL wrong
23 SYSOP ALL 07/14/25 BBS Rules reminder (be nice!)
Read message # (or N=New, Q=Quit)? _
From: V1NYL_D3N1ER (Node 1, Chicago IL)
To: ALL
Date: 07/12/2025 02:47 AM
Subj: Shellac > Vinyl. Fight me.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Look, I know this is a shellac BBS, but I need to say it:
Shellac records are OBJECTIVELY superior to vinyl:
1. They survived TWO world wars. Your vinyl melts in a hot car.
2. You can drop a 78 on concrete. Try that with your
"audiophile 180g pressing." (okay don't actually drop them)
3. Shellac records have HISTORY. Your colored vinyl pressing
of Fleetwood Mac has "vibes."
4. A 78 RPM record spins FASTER. More RPM = more better.
That's just science.
I rest my case.
--- V1NYL_D3N1ER
... "My other turntable plays at 78"
... FidoNet 1:234/567
From: WAX_CYLINDER_FAN (Node 1, Edison NJ)
To: ALL
Date: 07/13/2025 11:03 PM
Subj: You guys are ALL wrong
-------------------------------------------------------------
Shellac? SHELLAC?! Please.
Wax cylinders are the ONLY true format:
- Round, like the Earth (flat disc = flat earth propaganda)
- Thomas Edison invented them (your fave could NEVER)
- They break if you look at them wrong (AUTHENTICITY)
- Storage: you need a MUSEUM, not a shelf
Discs are a fad. Cylinders forever.
---WAX_CYLINDER_FAN
... Running on Edison Gold Moulded BBS v1.0
... "2 minutes of audio MAX. Anything longer is showing off."
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Select a door to run:
MORTONHARLEY.COM .... The modern JavaScript version
NO-JS EDITION ......... Pure HTML+CSS, no JavaScript
1998 EDITION .......... HTML only. As Tim intended.
FRAMES EDITION ........ <FRAMESET> glory. Netscape approved.
TELETEXT EDITION ...... ARD Videotext style. Seite 100.
BBS/ANSI EDITION << YOU ARE HERE >>
WAP EDITION ........... For Nokia 3310. Seriously.
Run door #? _
// BBS JOKE: In the real BBS days, "Door Games" were
// external programs like Legend of the Red Dragon, Trade Wars,
// and Barren Realms Elite. The SysOp had to reboot the
// entire system every time someone rage-quit LORD.
//
// These "doors" are safer. Probably.
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旭旭旭 BULLETIN #1 - Welcome to the Shellac BBS! 旭旭旭
Posted: 07/14/2025 by SYSOP
Welcome, callers! A few rules:
1. Be respectful. Shellac collectors are a small community.
2. No piracy. These records are 100+ years old but still
have cultural value. Don't upload rips without permission.
3. If you're calling long-distance, remember: your phone
bill is NOT my problem. (But I sympathize.)
4. Ratios: Download 5, Upload 1. The SysOp needs to eat too.
旭旭旭 BULLETIN #2 - System Upgrade! 旭旭旭
Posted: 07/10/2025 by SYSOP
Big news! We upgraded from a 2400 baud modem to 14.4k!
That's SIX TIMES faster! Downloads that used to take
3 hours now take only... 30 minutes!
Also upgraded from 4MB to 16MB RAM. The 486DX2-66 is
handling the load like a champ. No plans to upgrade to
a Pentium yet - who needs that kind of power for a BBS?
旭旭旭 BULLETIN #3 - Rare Find Alert! 旭旭旭
Posted: 07/08/2025 by SYSOP
Found another Lukraphon pressing at a flea market in
Germany! Total count worldwide now: still barely countable
on two hands. Photos uploaded to Area SHELLAC_PICS
(warning: 640x480 BMP, 900KB, download time: yes).
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Thanks for calling Morton Harley's Shellac BBS!
Call Statistics:
Time online: 47:23
Messages read: 6
Files downloaded: 0 (you're missing out)
Doors played: 1
Ratio: NEEDS WORK
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/ /_\/ _ \ / _ \ / _` | '_ \| | | |/ _ \ |
/ /_\\ (_) | (_) | (_| | |_) | |_| | __/_|
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Remember: SHELLAC IS FOREVER. VINYL IS A FAD.
NO CARRIER
+++ATH0
OK
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LEGAL / IMPRESSUM
Morton Harley | mail@mortonharley.com | mortonharley.com
Content responsibility per § 55 Abs. 2 RStV: Morton Harley
External links: We are not responsible for content of linked sites.
Morton Harley's Shellac BBS - Est. 2025 - Node 1 of 1
Running TBBS v2.3 | FidoNet 1:337/78 | 78Net 78:1/1
USR Sportster 14.4 | 486DX2-66 | MS-DOS 6.22
This BBS is a tribute to the golden age of bulletin board
systems and 78 RPM records. No actual modems were harmed
in the making of this website. (One modem was mildly
inconvenienced.)
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