Category Archives: Phonograph History

Walter Camp’s Daily Dozen

Disclaimer: Don’t get fitness advice from random bloggers, talk to your doctor before starting any exercise program, and please don’t sue us if you get hurt exercising.

We previously wrote about Walter Camp’s Daily Dozen, an exercise regimen devised and promoted by Walter Camp, American football player and coach. When the U.S. Army discovered that many conscripts in World War I were badly out of shape, it turned to Camp to come up with an exercise program for sedentary city boys. He came up with the “Daily Dozen,” a series of twelve simple exercises that could be performed in about twenty minutes. Camp also recommended an hour of outdoor play, but the Daily Dozen were seen as a method of getting ready for the day. Camp had observed zoo animals who, like office workers, were unnaturally confined, and his exercises mimicked some of the stretches he had seen these animals instinctively perform.

I recently suffered a broken arm, and as a result, was sent to physical therapy to get the function back. They gave me exercises to do, and as an old out-of-shape sedentary person, I did get in the habit of exercising. When my physical therapy ended, I decided that I ought to take some small step to remain active. And since I had written about an exercise program, I figured that one was as good as any.

As we previously wrote, Camp produced a set of records with his exercises. While a band plays, Camp barks out his instructions, and you exercise along with the record player. Undoubtedly, Camp was standing next to the band as it played, shouting his commands into the cone of the recording equipment. So a few months ago, I decided to start doing the Daily Dozen. Human physiology hasn’t changed much in the last hundred years, and if Camp could make people more fit in 1922, there’s no reason why he can’t do the same thing today.

Even though the exercises are very simple, the 20 minute routine does seem to have a positive effect on my health. For one thing, it has gotten easier after a few months. At first, it wasn’t exactly hard, but it did seem like drudgery. But as time goes by, the routine goes quickly, and quite easy. I do feel more energetic after doing it. And more importantly, I’ve noticed that if I miss doing it for one day, I don’t really feel as well the next day. So it doesn’t do any harm, and it’s probably a benefit. I also try to take Camp’s advice and do some outdoor recreation every day.

If you want to give it a try, Camp’s 1922 record set is available on YouTube:

If you want to see the exercises being done, you can see them in this video. You can find a modern-day discussion and critique in this book at Amazon. You can also find Camp’s own book at this link at Google Books. You’ll notice that the exercises in the videos and books are somewhat different, as the plan changed a bit over the years. I’ve been following the plan from the 1922 record set.

If you’re looking for a modest exercise program to start getting yourself back into some semblance of physical fitness, then you can’t really go wrong with the Daily Dozen.

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1953 Asco Audiomat

Seventy years ago, this high fidelity salesperson didn’t need to work hard to make a sale. The equipment practically sold itself, thanks to the “Audiomat” from Asco Sound Corporation. It would accommodate up to ten tuners, twenty amplifiers, and twenty speakers, all of which could be compactly mounted. Then, at a touch of the button, the salesperson would seamlessly switch from one to the other.

To allow the customer to hear how the equipment would sound at home, the store would have a separate den-sized listening room, with a smaller version of the Audiomat. From there, the customer could make the final decision of what equipment would best suit their needs.

The picture and accompanying article are from the May 1953 issue of Radio News.

Pocket Sized Cassette Recorders, 1973.

Fifty years ago this month, the April 1973 issue of Popular Mechanics highlighted the many miniature cassette recorders then on the market. Like their slightly older brethren like the one at the rear, all of these played standard sized cassettes. Even smaller models were available using smaller tapes, but the magazine noted that those were often hard to find, so it featured only the models using full sized cassettes.

Weight of all of these recorders were between one and two pounds. The playback sound was said to be limited, mostly because of the small speaker and underpowered amplifier. But the magazine noted that a recording made on one of the small units, when played back on the good player at home, sounded surprisingly good.

Prices of the sets shown started at about $65.

1948 Philco 1401 Radio-Phono

This couple are getting ready to enjoy listening to a record on the Philco model 1401 radio-phonograph, which, according to the ad, played records by magic. You didn’t need to lift the lid, nor even look at the tone arm. You just inserted the record into the front, and it played automatically.

This ad appeared in Life magazine 75 years ago today, April 12, 1948. You can see a nicely restored specimen at this video:

Parallel Tracking Turntable, 1963

Shown here is a design that never really caught on, although it appears that there are a few purists who still cling to it. This is the parallel tracking turntable, also known as linear tracking. The advantage is said to be less wear and tear on your records, since the outer half of the groove doesn’t need to do the extra work of pushing the tone arm.

This illustration appeared on the cover of the British Popular Wireless, March 1963, and the accompanying article showed how to build it. If you don’t want to go to that trouble, and you’re an audiophile purist, you can purchase this one. One thing we can say for sure is that the advantage of such a turntable is even greater than oxygen-free speaker wire.

1963 GE Clock Radios and Phono

If you were in the market for a radio or phonograph 60 years ago, you could pick up one of these at the local drug store, although the ad admonished you not to call it that.

Shown here are the GE Model 1530 stereo phonograph, and models C465 and C467, and models C433 and C434 clock radios. The radios are typical “All American Five” circuits. Come to think of it, my first ever radio of my very own was a similar model (but without the clock) also purchased from a local drug store.

The ad appeared in the Washington Evening Star, February 27, 1963.

1938 Phonograph & Mead Glider Ki-Yak Kit

If you were in the market for a portable source of music 85 years ago, you couldn’t go wrong with this portable electric phonograph, shown in the February 1938 issue of Popular Science.

It weighed in at only 18 pounds, and measured a mere 7.5 x 11 x 18 inches. It featured a crystal pickup and six-inch speaker driven by a three-tube amplifier, and it could play either 10 or 12 inch records.

The magazine didn’t mention the name of the manufacturer, and the price is likewise not given. There was a Depression going on, and coming up with the purchase price might have been an issue for some readers. But the same issue of the magazine solved that problem, thanks to the ad below. You could assemble kayaks (dubbed Ki-Yak by the manufacturer, Mead Gliders, 15 S. Market St., Chicago)

The price is not shown here, but the kit apparently retailed for $15.75. One could assemble it at home in a few nights, and undoubtedly sell it for a tidy profit.

If you’re in the market for a similar phonograph today, they are indeed available, and the modern ones aren’t limited to 78 RPM. And if you want a kayak, they’re relatively inexpensive as well, all put together. As with everything, you can get them on Amazon:

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1948 Magnetic Recording

The drama student shown above appeared on the cover of the February 1948 issue of Radio News. The young thespian was an early adopter of magnetic recording technology, one of the many civilian technological advances that came from wartime industry. She used a wire recorder from Webster-Chicago Corp. to practice her diction and delivery.

Of course, home sound recording had been possible for some time, thanks to disc records such as the Recordio. But magnetic recording media had the great advantage of being reusable.

The magazine contained a number of features, and it does contain a very complete look at the state of the art in 1948. The two competing formats were wire and tape. Wire held a slight lead in fidelity, but tape was easier to work with, especially when it came to editing and splicing. Interestingly, the magnetic recording tape of the time was actually paper tape with a thin magnetic coating. Typical speed was 8 inches per second.

Among the features of the issue was a construction article for the tape recorder shown here. The project was said to be “well within the capabilities of anyone who has a working knowledge of electronic circuits and who has ordinary mechanical ability.” The mechanical ability was important, because all of the parts had to be made. A metalworking lathe was required, although the article noted that those without one could have the parts custom made at a local shop at low cost. As one of the mechanical diagrams shown at right shows, the construction did require some mechanical skill. Apparently, 75 years ago, that level of skill was ordinary.

The recording/playback and erase heads also had to be homemade, and consisted of a coil wound on a laminated core and placed in a shielded enclosure with just a small opening for the tape. The choice of material for the core was critical, and had to be permalloy. The type of material normally used for transformer cores would not work. The best solution was to buy a particular type of audio transformer, disassemble it, and use the lamination material for winding the heads.

X-Ray Film for Record Blanks

Eighty years ago, this couple owned a home recorder, visible in the background, for cutting their own 78 RPM records. It was probably a Wilcox-Gay Recordio like the one we previously featured.

The problem, however, was that you had to pay for the blank discs, and you could only use them once. The least expensive blanks were six for 75 cents for the 6-1/2 inch size, up to six for $2.25 for ten-inch discs. If you wanted to do some experimenting, it could prove expensive. And there was a war going on, so it wasn’t very patriotic just to make excessive use of resources.

This couple figured out that they could make their own blank discs by using used x-ray film. You could get this by asking your friendly family doctor, and in the days before HIPAA, he would gladly give you a bunch, since they would otherwise go in the trash.

Using an old blank disc as a guide, a wooden template was made for the spindle hole as well as a locking hole that held the disc in place while being cut. These were drilled out with a hand drill. Then, a divider was used to mark the edge, and scissor and a razor blade were used to cut the form. Since these were thinner than the standard blanks, you would put them on top of a standard blank while cutting. The magazine noted that the film records could be recorded on both sides.

According to the January 1943 issue of Popular Mechanics., these homemade blanks were ideal for practicing sound effects and making practice recordings before making the final cut on commercial blanks.

Soviet bone records. Wikipedia imagge.

I’ve never seen any other American use of this idea, but it did catch on in the Soviet Union, where “jazz on bones” (Джаз на костях) became a popular black-market method of producing records. For a ruble or two, and probably a bottle of vodka, the local physician could be talked into giving you old x-rays, which would have wound up in the trash anyway. These were used to produce bootleg copies of otherwise banned music.

1922 Librola Library Table-Phonograph

A hundred years ago, if you were in the market for both a fine piece of furniture and a deluxe phonograph, you couldn’t go wrong with the Librola, a combination “library table” and phonograph. It is shown here in an ad from Talking Machine World, December 1922. The set was made by the Seaburg Mfg. Co. of Jamestown, N.Y.

If you now have your heart set on owning your own Librola, this one is available on Facebook Marketplace. You’ll need to repair the phonograph, but we’re confident that most of our readers are able to tackle that job.

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