In my household, all we had were 78 rpm players for the first few years--a walnut-finish wood tabletop model in the basement (about 2'x3'x3') where we played Disneyland records and Davey Crockett and some old acoustic count-tree square dance record. Upstairs was a 78 tube floor-standing console made (I think) of mahogany, where it took a stack of 78s to play one symphony.
When I was about 6 or so my dad got our first 33-1/3 RPM player--a portable RCA with built-in speaker. He'd set it on the kitchen counter and we'd listen to Beethoven or Tchaikovsky during dinner. When I was about 8 we got a floorstanding stereo console as the family Christmas present that played all 4 speeds from 16-2/3 to 78 rpm. This was back when you weren't supposed to play stereo records on mono equipment.
I remember one of the first stereo LPs we played on it was the Chipmunks Christmas, vol. 2. Fast forward a few years and at the end of 6th grade one of my sisters gave me a Gene Krupa compilation, "Drummer Man" LP on MGM records. Although I didn't buy it with my own money, it was the very first record I owned. The next one was given to me by another sister, "Time Further Out" by the Dave Brubeck quartet.
Finally, for my 15th birthday I got $5 from my Grandma. To that I added about $1.50 and bought two new LPs at $3.19 each--Creedence Clearwater Revival (self-titled, with the extended version of Susie Q and I Put a Spell on You) and Blood, Sweat, and Tears 2, the one with Spinning Wheel and You Make Me So Very Happy.
That Spring my older brother bought the first componenet stereo I ever saw, and the beginning of my 38-year (and counting) audio obsession. It was an Electrophonic POS with whizzer cone speakers and a built-in 8-track. Soon after he bought a mid-level Garrard turntable and battery-operated Cal-Rad mag phono preamp.
When I was about 6 or so my dad got our first 33-1/3 RPM player--a portable RCA with built-in speaker. He'd set it on the kitchen counter and we'd listen to Beethoven or Tchaikovsky during dinner. When I was about 8 we got a floorstanding stereo console as the family Christmas present that played all 4 speeds from 16-2/3 to 78 rpm. This was back when you weren't supposed to play stereo records on mono equipment.
I remember one of the first stereo LPs we played on it was the Chipmunks Christmas, vol. 2. Fast forward a few years and at the end of 6th grade one of my sisters gave me a Gene Krupa compilation, "Drummer Man" LP on MGM records. Although I didn't buy it with my own money, it was the very first record I owned. The next one was given to me by another sister, "Time Further Out" by the Dave Brubeck quartet.
Finally, for my 15th birthday I got $5 from my Grandma. To that I added about $1.50 and bought two new LPs at $3.19 each--Creedence Clearwater Revival (self-titled, with the extended version of Susie Q and I Put a Spell on You) and Blood, Sweat, and Tears 2, the one with Spinning Wheel and You Make Me So Very Happy.
That Spring my older brother bought the first componenet stereo I ever saw, and the beginning of my 38-year (and counting) audio obsession. It was an Electrophonic POS with whizzer cone speakers and a built-in 8-track. Soon after he bought a mid-level Garrard turntable and battery-operated Cal-Rad mag phono preamp.