It was probably 1971, plus or minus a year or so, that Santa Claus brought me my very own record player. We had at least two phonographs around the house, and at least one of them was used mostly by me. But it wasn’t mine, and thanks to the Kenner Close ‘n Play phonograph, any kid could own one. And the parents’ (and/or Santa Claus) would only be out $6.88, plus the cost of three D cell batteries (According to this inflation calculator, that works out to about $47 in 2021 dollars.

The Close ‘N Play was a rather ingenious design. It played only 45 RPM records and it was more or less automatic. The young audiophile would place the record on the platter and turn on the motor. When the lid was closed, the record would automatically start to play.

The Close ‘N Play was probably one of the last acoustic phonographs to be mass produced. There were no electronics inside. The acoustic tone arm was built into the lid, and when the lid was opened, the arm would drop into position, ready to play from the start of the record. With the Close ‘N Play, there was no way to start in the middle of a record. If you lifted the lid, it automatically went back to the start. When you closed the lid, the needle would land on the record, and play through the acoustic horn, which was about 4 inches in diameter. Of course, there was no volume control, but the horn was relatively efficient and could be heard with no difficulty.

Of course, young owners such as me (and especially their parents and older siblings) quickly discovered that the steel needle, even if “synthetic sapphire tipped,” wasn’t particularly good for the records, especially since the acoustic tone arm had a pretty hefty tracking weight.

Despite being made by a toy company, the Close ‘N Play was decidedly more than a toy. But it didn’t quite qualify as a “real” phonograph. Once the novelty wore off (and the batteries went dead), most of my youthful record listening took place on a normal record player. The only real advantage of the Close ‘N Play was its portability. But I could proudly say that I owned my very own record player, even if perhaps I destroyed a few 45’s in the process of using it. The clipping above is from the 1971 Sears Christmas Catalog.

Here’s a 1967 commercial for the product: