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Post by Ken on Sept 17, 2003 22:21:15 GMT -5
I did this way back at Yesterdayland It was one of my very first posts. My first record player was made by Electrohome and I recieved it as a Christmas gift from my parents in 1974. I still have it too!  I spent many hours in my room listening to it , oh the memories  |
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Post by Railyn on Sept 18, 2003 0:54:37 GMT -5
It was a portable Mickey Mouse record player. When you opened it, there was Mickey with a bubble over his head that said "Hi Kids!". His arm was literally the arm, and the stylus was in one of his fingers. I wish I still had it........   I later graduated to a Montgomery Wards special, that played 78's as well (fun to turn the records up to that speed - chipmunks!) and had the chunky thing that you stacked 45's on. Side note: remember those awful plastic discs to slide in the middle of 45's? I thought it was way cool because you could adjust each speaker individually, and if you lifted the arm that held the records in place, the same record would play over and over....annoyed my dad. Spent many a night playing "Soundwaves", "Rock 80", and "The Magic Of ABBA" on that player. |
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Post by Dawn on Sept 18, 2003 6:52:28 GMT -5
Great topic, Ken! I didn't technically have my own player until I was a teenager, but I pretty much took over my parents' ones from the time I was about 5 or 6.  The first one I remember playing a lot was a blue canvas portable player - can't quite recall the brand name, though. It didn't have a spindle for 45s, so we had to use those little plastic adapters. I still have a cassette of me playing "DJ" with records on that player, from when I was 8 or 9! My first stereo was a Cosmo brand, with a record player, AM/FM radio and cassette. I still have it, and it still works pretty well! |
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Post by Ken on Sept 18, 2003 23:42:39 GMT -5
It was a portable Mickey Mouse record player. When you opened it, there was Mickey with a bubble over his head that said "Hi Kids!". His arm was literally the arm, and the stylus was in one of his fingers. I wish I still had it........ I later graduated to a Montgomery Wards special, that played 78's as well (fun to turn the records up to that speed - chipmunks!) and had the chunky thing that you stacked 45's on. Side note: remember those awful plastic discs to slide in the middle of 45's? I thought it was way cool because you could adjust each speaker individually, and if you lifted the arm that held the records in place, the same record would play over and over....annoyed my dad. Spent many a night playing "Soundwaves", "Rock 80", and "The Magic Of ABBA" on that player. Hi Railyn - my cousins had one of those Mickey Mouse record players too! |
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Post by SAT-I need more room!! on Sept 19, 2003 8:54:22 GMT -5
I like the topics you come up with Ken! When I was little, I was actually allowed to play my parents stereo! Eventually though, for my 9th birthday, my parents bought me one of those little fold up into a suitcase record players. Similiar to Railyn's Mickey Mouse one, but mine was like yellow, brown & beige checks. (Beautiful!  ) The first records I got with it were a Daffy Duck 45 and an Elmer Fudd 45, and a Dr. Suess 2 LP set! LOL! Still got the Suess one. Eventually though, I had the 45's of Another Brick in the Wall and You Shook Me All Night Long.  I went to sell that record player at a garage sale when I was in my teens. An old man offered me a BUCK. A lousy BUCK! And my dad sold it to him!!!  |
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Post by Ken on Sept 19, 2003 16:58:18 GMT -5
I like the topics you come up with Ken! When I was little, I was actually allowed to play my parents stereo! Eventually though, for my 9th birthday, my parents bought me one of those little fold up into a suitcase record players. Similiar to Railyn's Mickey Mouse one, but mine was like yellow, brown & beige checks. (Beautiful!  ) The first records I got with it were a Daffy Duck 45 and an Elmer Fudd 45, and a Dr. Suess 2 LP set! LOL! Still got the Suess one. Eventually though, I had the 45's of Another Brick in the Wall and You Shook Me All Night Long. I went to sell that record player at a garage sale when I was in my teens. An old man offered me a BUCK. A lousy BUCK! And my dad sold it to him!!! Thanks Adam! - a buck ? oh no!! |
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Post by Pete70s on Sept 19, 2003 17:31:07 GMT -5
I had 3 or 4 throughout my childhood. But the two I remember most were a denim covered suitcase-type from Sears (the demo 45 they used in the store when we bought it was "Living Next Door To Alice" by Smokie).
Then there was one that looked more like an actual stereo than a childrens record player. It was white plastic, except for a clear tinted dustcover, with a panel on the front that had all the volume/treble/balance controls, as well as am/fm radio dial. It had two external speakers (so technically it WAS a stereo). It was VERY retro-70's looking, like something out of a space-age bachelor pad. The turntable was 7", so a 45 would fit right on it. But the speed selector (which doubled as an on/off switch), was right next to the turntable. So if you wanted to play a 12" record, you had to turn it on before placing the record on it. I wish I still had that player!
My parents had a "console-type" model. It was about 5 feet long, with speakers in the front, and two doors that opened up on top. The radio/8-track/controls were on the left side, and the turntable was on the right. seperating the two was a small bin to store a few albums. A LOT of records got played on that!!
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Post by smittykins--70s pop RULES! on Sept 21, 2003 9:53:46 GMT -5
I only vaguely remember my first record player; all I know is that it was a children's "suitcase"-type model.
When I was 12, after my mom remarried and we moved, I "inherited" her Zenith console job. A couple years later, I received a Zenith component-style stereo as a combined early bithday/school promotion gift.
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Post by athompsen on Sept 21, 2003 23:53:30 GMT -5
My parents had a RCA record player in the den which we were not allowed to touch. I remember if I wanted to hear "Band On The Run" my mom would put it on for me. In the basement my sister and I got to use the 8-Track player, which never worked. I remember it always breaking down.
One Christmas we got Sony record player for the basment. And that stereo took a beating between me and my sister. We used to play 78 records on a 45 speed, so everything sounded like Alvin and The Chipmonks. We used to play records backwords to see if we could find Satanic messages on them. I remember playing the Grease, Saturday Night Fever and all of my Bay City Rollers albums over and over. I remember we also had a ghost stories record and I would have slumber parties and we would listen to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with all the lights out.
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Post by H2IZCOOL on Sept 22, 2003 11:09:47 GMT -5
Hey Ken! Good topic that I'm finally getting around to respond to. I'll give you three answers. 1. In the 40s, my folks had a record player that they called a "Victrola". I don't know if it was really a Victrola (that is, Made by RCA Victor) or not. It was one of those examples of a brand name (like Coke or Kleenex) becoming the common generic name. I do know that it was a square shaped brown box and it played only 78 rpms - which was essentially fine for its day. Yes, it ran on electricity, and you didn't have to wind it up. It's the first record player I remember, and it was on this player that I heard my first records. 2. In 1950 my folks bought an Admiral combination TV, radio and record player. You turned a three-way knob to access the three functions. The record player was a 3-speed (78, 45, 33), and you turned another three-way knob to set the speed. This was our only record player from when I was 6 until I left home at 22. For most of the time, I was the only one who used the record player part, and I got yelled at if I didn't turn the knob back to the TV setting when I was done.  One time, (it seemed like months) the speed knob on the record player was broken, and it would only play 45s. I'm not extremely mechanical, but one afternoon I opened up the record player and found that the speeds were controlled by connecting various gears via a rubber band, and the band had broken. So I would manually change speeds by opening up the record player whenever I needed to, until it finally got fixed.  3. It wasn't until I was in grad school and on my own in Maine that I got my own record player. That was in 1967. It was a Columbia Masterworks, and it came in a case, that when it closed, it looked like a regular suitcase. It had a big old heavy tone-arm. I actually needed that because at that time I was buying a lot of used records (see my scrapbook) and you needed something heavy to plow through some of them.  I still have that player to this day. It still works, but I rarely use it. Yes, I have had several more "modern" turntables, but I've never gotten rid of my "suitcase". |
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Post by SAT-I need more room!! on Sept 22, 2003 16:58:30 GMT -5
My parents had a RCA record player in the den which we were not allowed to touch. I remember if I wanted to hear "Band On The Run" my mom would put it on for me. In the basement my sister and I got to use the 8-Track player, which never worked. I remember it always breaking down. One Christmas we got Sony record player for the basment. And that stereo took a beating between me and my sister. We used to play 78 records on a 45 speed, so everything sounded like Alvin and The Chipmonks. We used to play records backwords to see if we could find Satanic messages on them. I remember playing the Grease, Saturday Night Fever and all of my Bay City Rollers albums over and over. I remember we also had a ghost stories record and I would have slumber parties and we would listen to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with all the lights out. Oh man, I used to mess with the speeds of records all the time as a kid! What a riot! But don't you mean you played 45's at 78 speed? |
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Post by athompsen on Sept 23, 2003 17:14:50 GMT -5
Oh man, I used to mess with the speeds of records all the time as a kid! What a riot! But don't you mean you played 45's at 78 speed? Is that what it was? I couldn't remember...it's been so long ago! |
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Post by SAT-I need more room!! on Sept 23, 2003 17:34:18 GMT -5
Is that what it was? I couldn't remember...it's been so long ago! Well, yeah, in order for them to play fast, the 45 would have to be played at 78. |
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OldMusicCollector
New Member
40 years out of date and 9 time zones out of place!
Posts: 34
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Post by OldMusicCollector on Nov 8, 2003 0:37:41 GMT -5
Great topic, Ken! I didn't technically have my own player until I was a teenager, but I pretty much took over my parents' ones from the time I was about 5 or 6. The first one I remember playing a lot was a blue canvas portable player - can't quite recall the brand name, though. It didn't have a spindle for 45s, so we had to use those little plastic adapters. I got a General Electric one-piece stereo phono at age 9. It was sort of a tan color.... It had an automatic changer that could take up to 6 records..... 7/10/12" size selector, 33/45/78 speeds, BUT the needle was NOT a "turn-over" type needle so you effectively were playing 78 records with a microgroove needle.... NOT a good thing for the needle or the old shellac records! This thing had no headphone jack or external speaker jacks so you only really got a "stereo" effect if you were right in front of it. The good family stereo, a GE portable with record player and AM/FM stereo rado did not have a 45 spindle that worked (45's wouldn't drop automatically) so using the 45 RPM inserts was the only way to go on that one. The 45 RPM adapter on my GE did work but all the 45's had this "rumbling" effect. This was also true if I used the 45 spindle on the family stereo (which I still have) by dropping the 45 manually and then placing the tonearm on the record. The 45 RPM insers were the best way to go... and I learned that some 45's came WITH the insert already in place. OK.... maybe not in the USA!. I have a couple of 45's on the German Telefunken label (one by Ernst Mosch and the other by Gitta Lind) and you CANNOT play these two records with a 45 spindle because the insert is part of the record. |
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OldMusicCollector
New Member
40 years out of date and 9 time zones out of place!
Posts: 34
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Post by OldMusicCollector on Nov 8, 2003 0:53:22 GMT -5
I had 3 or 4 throughout my childhood. But the two I remember most were a denim covered suitcase-type from Sears (the demo 45 they used in the store when we bought it was "Living Next Door To Alice" by Smokie). My parents had a "console-type" model. It was about 5 feet long, with speakers in the front, and two doors that opened up on top. The radio/8-track/controls were on the left side, and the turntable was on the right. seperating the two was a small bin to store a few albums. A LOT of records got played on that!! Alice? WHO THE BLEEP is ALICE!? Sorry.... couldn't resist!! It seems a lot of people had those... One book that Radio Shack sold (about stereo equipment) referred to those stereos as "Mahogany Monsters". I'm glad we never had one of those! I realized early on that the components were the way to go. Even with "compact" or "all-in-one" systems, the tape or turntable -- ONE oF THEM will go and then you'll be stuck unable to either play records or tapes and unable to make tape recordings of records. Today's kids who know only of CD's can't conceive of being able to listen to music on records only at home. |
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I spent many hours in my room listening to it , oh the memories 
The first one I remember playing a lot was a blue canvas portable player - can't quite recall the brand name, though. It didn't have a spindle for 45s, so we had to use those little plastic adapters. I still have a cassette of me playing "DJ" with records on that player, from when I was 8 or 9!
One time, (it seemed like months) the speed knob on the record player was broken, and it would only play 45s. I'm not extremely mechanical, but one afternoon I opened up the record player and found that the speeds were controlled by connecting various gears via a rubber band, and the band had broken. So I would manually change speeds by opening up the record player whenever I needed to, until it finally got fixed. 
I still have that player to this day. It still works, but I rarely use it. Yes, I have had several more "modern" turntables, but I've never gotten rid of my "suitcase". 