Cylinder recordings line the walls of the Vintage Music Company, along with radios of all shapes and styles from the Victorian era to the mid-century. Above it all, gramophone brass horns hang from the ceiling. The store is vast, but space is sparse.
“Just find a place that you’re not going to hurt yourself, if that can be done,” said Scott Holthus, the owner of the record and turntable repair shop in Minneapolis. Holthus considers his shop as orphanage for artifacts of a bygone era that either need repair or a new home.
“I’ll take care of it, or hide it, until it has a better place in the world to be or completely restored,” he said. Over the years, Holthus has fiddled with, fixed and seen a number of artifacts that have entertained people throughout the 20th century. These items come with tall tales and a lineage of history. But for Holthus, he sees most of it as just other people’s stuff.
“It does not hit me in the sentimentals at all,“ he said. “I’m nostalgic and sentimental for family items but not not the stuff in here. I love the music. I love the records. Don’t get me wrong. I love the machines dearly, but I don’t need to take it home. I don’t need to worship it.”…