Thanks, Al for these observations on value, which make perfect sense. I also appreciate your comments on nitrate and acetate film. Do you happen to know when the industry as a whole (or for the most part) switched over to Acetate? I have some 16 mm films that I should probably take a sniff at, but if I know for example that these were all made after 1935 and the industry changed over to acetate by 1930, then there would be less risk of them being deteriorating nitrate.
Best, Andy On Aug 23, 2008, at 2:00 AM, ClockworkHome at aol.com wrote: > The value of Home Kinetoscope films vary so much that a firm set > price is > like asking what a Blue Amberol will sell for. The topic is all > important to the > collector. The Home Kinetoscopes were used by police departments for > training films which a law enforcement collector would pay a high > for while a topic > like "storm waves hitting the Jersey shore" may only bring $50 which > is > generally the lowest I have seen. So, prices start at $50 and go as > high as $2,500 > for a presidential parade and inauguration. The special films were > normally > lost in time so projector collectors are usually just happy to have > one of > something they can put on a Home Kinetoscope for display purposes. > The only way to > determine what "Cocoa Production in the West Indies" would be truly > worth is > to put it on eBay and see how high it goes. As a chocoholic I would > bid to > $100 ! ! ! > > Some of the films were on nitrate film stock rather than acetate > safety film. > Any old film that has a smell of vinegar usually means that it is > nitrate > and becoming unstable. Edison's use of acetate later became the > industry > standard "safety film" as the old nitrate burns dangerously fast. I > have run > nitrate film in a fireproof projection booth with blast doors and > metal drop slides > over the projection ports. You don't want nitrate film in your home. > > Best Wishes, > > Al > > > > > **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find > your travel > deal here. > (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047) > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org
