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Album flats & CD longboxes

SA-708

SA-708

Appalachian-American
My daughter has been cleaning out her bedroom, which was my den back when my wife and I bought the house. She had me retrieve some boxes from the top shelf of the closet, which look to have been untouched since we moved into the house twenty-some years ago. One of them contained some old album flats and compact disc longboxes that I had used as room decor back in my single man days, living in dorm rooms and small apartments. There should be a big tube of old music posters in the back of a closet.

For the youngsters out there, album flats were small posters the size of LP covers that had the artwork for the album on the front. Some were blank on the back, others had a different image on the reverse. They were sent to music retailers along with posters to be used in promotional displays on the walls of stores. They sometimes were given away or sold to customers, either new or after they had been used.

CD longboxes were used in the US at retail, so music retailers could continue to use the same fixtures as they had for LPs. About 12 inches tall and 6 inches wide, two rows of CDs could sit side-by-side in an LP bin. Not all new CDs came in boxes; some used plastic blister packs of the same general size. The music industry did away with them in the early 90s. Most were ripped open and tossed, but I kept mine. Some that I found had been cut up to put on the wall, others were intact but folded flat.
 
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Most blister packs had just the CD and cover booklet, but a few had a full length printed panel in front of the CD.

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These are both double CD sets. To fit them in one standard sized longbox, they came in two standard single jewel cases, one in the top of the longbox, and one in the bottom. Later US copies came in double jewel cases.

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In preparation for the end of longbox packaging, labels started shrink wrapping the jewel case inside the longbox. The red-and-yellow symbol at the bottom left of these longboxes indicate that the jewel case was shrink wrapped, so the retailer knew they could rip open the box and have a wrapped CD to sell, when they were ready to make the changeover to their fixtures. It is printed on The Darling Buds box; the other three are stickers.

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Fragments of longboxes I cut up and plastitacked to the wall

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zebra03 said:
Those could be worth some money . Check the bay .
Click to expand...
I've looked at completed sales for some idea of their value, but I won't be selling any time soon. Not really looking to add to the collection either. Just thought I'd let AK see another facet of music retail that they may not be familiar with, or had forgotten.
 
Lord, I remember those. I too adhered them to my bedroom wall as a youth.

Thanks for the flashback, and that MInistry album?? That's one of their best. Psalms 69!!!
 
I can't recall seeing these in Australia, but I was into cassettes when these came out.

BTW: It's a fabulous collection of late 80's alternate releases.
 
The self-titled Fine Young Cannibals album was the first CD I bought, and it was in the box, so it looks like I saved them all from the longboxed CDs I bought in the late 80s to early 90s.

I brought that CD home from Headstone Friends to my dorm room at RHIT, cut up the box, and stuck the artwork up at my desk. Didn't even have a CD player yet; had to use one at the campus radio station to make a copy on cassette tape.
 
Vintage Long Boxes...:thumbsup:

LOL I couldn't pass these up at the record store. I bought them all and the original store display carton. Most are from Tower Records and I have one issued in 1988 and 1992, all others are from 1991 all are sealed. All are James Brown and 4 are live shows, one is a greatest hits and one is James Brown is Back, meaning back on the streets after he got out of prison in 1991.

The most expensive Tower sticker is on the oldest in 1988 showing CDs where very high in price when they first came out. $17.99 was not cheap at all in 1988. Also of note is the gap between 88-91 showing his issues with the law and then getting out and dumping live shows to the public to generate money.

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Some stray photos I didn't post yesterday.

Some packaging from the first 3" CDs I bought. The "Don't Let's Start" artwork was cut down to fit in a standard jewel case, many years ago. "Eardrum Buzz" came in a blister pack with a notch cut at top right.

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A few more long boxes.

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To a collector, the longbox is an unique part of the entire package for a CD. Just like the box for cherished toy. The CD is more than just a carrier to a bunch files....the jewel case and the packaging all adds to the value of a disc.
 
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