Every large city had one or two of those old sheet music stores with tons of inventory dating back to the turn of the century. Because they are so easy to store and don't take up much room, the old stock gets buried beneath the new stock and sometimes gets inadvertently preserved in great condition.
When these places closed down either someone smart goes through the thousands of sheets and sells them on eBay, or the old stock is tossed in the trash - there was one old place in Chicago where i was able to snag some great mint old early 1900s pieces when I spied some overflowing dumpsters.
I guess you could face these things, but why sell them in a bulk like that? You think the person would let a set go one or two at a time. If they are real I bet they came from the dead stock of some forgotten music store.
|