I Love the Smell of Vinyl in the Morning

I Love the Smell of Vinyl in the Morning by AmbergEntertainment
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Car Record Players, 1961

From the Consumer Reports archives:

The needle of the Norelco Auto Mignon stays in the groove of our 45s, even when we drive over rough roads. But since there's no record changer, we must insert each record we want to play, then remove it when the song is over.

How the 1950s Saw Themselves

In 1958, RCA Camden released "Hits of the '50s", just 1/5 short of the actual decade's end. Not that they were missing much -- the hits for the rest of the decade echoed what's on this record: light popular music, with just a touch of rock-and-roll. This is a 'cover' album in the traditional sense, new versions of popular music performed by B-list musicians rather than the one who popularized the song. The Honeydreamers, Connie Haines, Dave Martin and the Strollers, they had names outside of this album, and are a step above a studio band. The songs are actually pretty good: Peter Ricardo's version of the Banana Boat Song takes from the Tarrier's version, and is a bouncy alternative to the rather somber Bellafonte version.

However, the cover is excellent:

click for a larger view

That space helmet kicks ass -- remember, in 1958, sending a person into space was still a sci-fi fantasy. Once we started popping people out of our atmosphere, space helmets stopped looking like this one, opting for a more stark, aviation style.



The antenna on top is a classy Googie, Jetsons thing -- with radio and television dominating the world, everything in The Future would need an antenna, even your head (they were actually pretty close). Back in the fifties, though, putting airtight plastic over a kid's head was preparation for their spacefaring futures -- their flying cars were only a few years away. Until then, though, Dad dons his porkpie hat, mom wears her opera gloves, everyone hops into the Volkswagen to drive it to the farthest star. Make sure the canvas roof is closed, though. That cloth sunroof, incidentally, warranted a credit on the back of the cover: Volkswagen Sunroof supplied by Fifth Avenue Motors, New York City. The photographer's name, the models' names? Nowhere to be found.

Mechanical Recorder, via Edison and Dixie Cups

This cool little do-it-yourself machine takes cues from Edison's original designs, and takes a twist using modern materials. The kit lets you record and play back on essentially an Edison 'cylinder' -- but the medium isn't wax or lacquer: it's a plastic cup.

As a dad, I'm always a fan of anything that teaches, plus has the awe-causing "wow -- how does it DO that?!?" reaction, so this may go a long ways for inspiring some understanding in your kids...the $65 pricetag, however, is a bit high for a novelty project. The mechanics aren't particularly complex, so a industrious Instructables user will probably have something simpler, that can be made with stuff around the house. (via)