REMEMBERING CHAUNCEY STREET 11.Music by Patricia Jones [Pat Aronica]

Our family c. 1945.

Our first record player was a wooden box affair, with a handle on the side. This handle was turned and turned, spinning the disk inside the box onto which a record was placed. In the box, on a pivot, there was an arm that held a playing needle. We swung the arm out and down until the needle touched the record, and then let go of the arm. The music began to play. Eventually, record players used electricity to spin the records and move the arm. Years later, some record players held multiple records that automatically dropped down when the previous record was finished. Then came Hi Fidelity players. The sound was much improved, but they were based on the same principle as the original players. Then some genius came along and started recording music on tapes. For this to work, you had to have a tape player. Soon after that came portable, battery-operated tape players. Then came earphones, etc. Now there are iPads and iPhones etc. But none of that existed when we lived on Chauncey Street.

See and hear a hand-cranked phonograph.

© 2013, Patricia Jones