These girls are now close to 90 years old, but they undoubtedly had an appreciation for music their entire lives, thanks to their parents’ foresight in buying this model L-678 radio-phono from General Electric. They are shown here having a concert in their very own room thanks to the instrument. They were able to operate the set themselves, and the turntable could accommodate 12 inch records, even with the lid closed.

Their parents were able to find much of the world’s finest music especially arranged for children, allowing them a wonderful opportunity to develop an appreciation for good music. This set retailed for only $39.95. The ad also featured the model L-500 radio, “encased in handsome mahogany plastic cabinet that won the top award in the nation-wide Modern Plastics contest.” Also shown is the portable model JB-410, which the police officer notices and points out that he also has a GE radio in his squad car.

The ad appeared 80 years ago today in the March 10, 1941, issue of Life magazine.

This young woman is obviously distraught and overwhelmed, but it’s not her fault. It’s the fault of her radio-phono dealer, who neglected to sell her anything in which to store her records. She is pictured in the February 1941 issue of Radio Retailing, which reminds dealers of the potential peril, and explains that “people who buy soon have scarred and battered records scattered all over the house unless dealers simultaneously sell accessories to keep them in.”

To prevent this from happening, the magazine listed the manufacturers of a number of different racks and cabinets, any of which would have solved this woman’s problems. The next page of the magazine showed one reason why the problem was becoming acute: It was the prevalence of compact combination radio-phonos hitting the market. The player didn’t take up much space, but the records that it played represented a storage problem.

This photo, in the January 1921 issue of Talking Machine World, shows an early radio broadcast taking place a century ago in Detroit.

The magazine noted that a number of well-to-do residents and members of the Detroit Radio Association were able to tune in radio concerts and dances, furnished by the Edison phonograph, “providing diversion simultaneously in a number of homes, of which some actually are located between four and five miles away.” In some cases, musicians played in unison with the phonograph.

Among the younger set, radio dances had taken a permanent place as a popular pastime, “in the home of those fortunate enough to have had the necessary receiving apparatus installed.”

Fifty years ago, the December 1970 issue of Popular Mechanics showed how to make this “dancing light display”. The idea was quite simple, and employed no electronics. It simply used a string of Christmas tree lights made up of flasher bulbs mounted on the rear. These were projected through a cardboard with cutouts of various geometric shapes, only a sheet of plastic on the front. Optionally, a speaker could be mounted inside the cabinet.

Even though the changing of the lights was random, according to the article, when music was playing, it would give the illusion of being in time with the music.

EIghty years ago today, the December 27, 1940, issue of the Washington Evening Star carried this Sears-Roebuck ad for a radio-phonograph-recorder.  The set came complete with microphone and five blank discs for $47.88.

It appears to be the Sears Silvertone model  5731.  You can view some photos at this link.

Shown here transporting a set are Cleveland radio dealer Louis Schwab and Rev. W.P. Schmidt of the Parma Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2625 Oak Park Ave., in suburban Cleveland. The photo is from an article in the December 1940 issue of Radio Retailing, which details Schwab’s success with selling recording phonographs. The article noted that less than 5% of the phonographs sold included recording, but with salesmanship of the type employed by Schwab, this number could be increased. The magazine noted that once the set was sold, sales of blank records were almost sure to follow. One family with musically inclined offspring bought two packages of records a week. And another customer did “recording parties,” at which he would go through at least three dozen disks.

The sale depicted in the photograph resulted from the fact that the church organist was going to have a baby. Rather than pay a substitute during her maternity leave, the church sprang for the radio-recorder shown here. The organist pre-recorded the hymns to be played during her absence, and the machine took over the musician’s duties. The set was used at other church gatherings to listen to broadcasts and recorded music.

The church shown here appears to be the predecessor of Parma Lutheran Church, which is now located about a mile away from its 1940 location.

Eighty years ago, this intriguing room could be found at Allied Radio in Chicago. Here, the Hi-Fi enthusiast interested in the very best equipment could be given a demonstration showing exactly how different pieces of equipment would sound together. Around the room were various tuners, amplifiers, preamplifiers, cartridges, tape machines, and other devices. From the console, different elements could be switched into and out of the circuit, and the discerning listener would be able to pick out exactly the right combination that met their needs.

The photo appeared on the cover of Radio & Television News, November 1950, which also included an article going into the room’s technical details.