Record Christmas Season

My Christmas spirit has been fading, so this morning I recruited some old friends to help pull me out of my “Humbug” state. It has been ages since many of these LP’s have been played. Okay, I realize that some people reading this may not know about LP’s, so let me explain.

In ancient times, the 1950’s through the 1980’s, Mp3 players did not exist. CD’s did not exist. Gasp!

Without these modern devices, music was played and enjoyed on something called a phonograph or a Hi-Fi. Even in those days, music was recorded on many formats: 78 rpm, 45 rpm, and 33 rpm. The 33 disks were called LP’s or long-playing records. The 45 was almost exclusively limited to new, single releases and many were sent to radio stations to allow artists to get their work “on the air.” The 78 is an older format and was nearly phased out by the time that I bought albums although I do have some from my mother’s collection.

At a craft show in Kansas this fall, I was aghast that people were painting on old LP albums. My sister bought a record that had a Christmas scene painted on one side. The booth was popular as ladies gathered around reminiscing about albums they owned.

I cannot part with my albums and even bought a reproduction phonograph five years ago so I could play them occasionally. It appears that many baby-boomers want to enjoy their albums because I have seen these phonographs in many catalogs and stores this holiday season.