Difference between revisions of "Hip Pocket Records"

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===The Flexi-Disc===
 
===The Flexi-Disc===
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The 7” discs made way for the flexi-disc, which was only 4 inches in diameter, made of soft, bendable plastic.  The flexi-disc was durable and inexpensive to make, and able to be played on a 45 record player.  These tiny discs were first marketed to children, as prizes in cereal boxes and samples in magazines.  The flexi-disc, however, could only be played about a dozen times before the stylus on the record player ruined the tiny grooves.  (Dawson)
  
 
===Philco/Ford===
 
===Philco/Ford===

Revision as of 20:24, 2 November 2008

Hip Pocket Records were flexi-discs manufactured by Philco in 1967. They were one of the first forms of portable music, preceding cassette tapes and compact discs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v674/jukeboxmafia/img051.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v674/jukeboxmafia/img052.jpg http://jukeboxmafia.blogspot.com/2008/06/hip-pocket-records.html

Brief History

The invention of the automobile brought on a wave of excitement and anticipation among the American people. The technological advances of the 1950’s and ‘60’s enabled Americans to embrace their youth. Shortly after the automobile, radio came into the picture, and with radio came a new kind of recorded music. The only problem with the radio was that people were unable to choose exactly what they wanted to listen to. At home, they were able to play their choice of music on any 45 record player, but in the car, their only option was the radio.

Dr. Peter Goldmark, who worked for the CBS Electronics Lab, decided to put his efforts into developing records that could be played in a moving automobile. He created a disc that was 7 inches in diameter revolving at 16 2/3 rpm, which was half the speed of the LP record (which Goldman developed). The disc also had 55 grooves per inch, which was two times the number of grooves in the LP record. CBS rejected Goldmark’s project because they feared they would lose radio listeners if people had the option of playing records in their cars. Goldmark tested the player and discs in his own car, a Chrysler, and worked out minor kinks. In 1955, Chrysler bought Goldmark’s automobile player and introduced it in their 1956 line of cars. They teamed with Columbia Records, who manufactured the discs to be sold with the car. Columbia, however, did not provide any information on where to buy additional discs for the automobile player. In addition, the discs could only be played in a car with the automobile player installed. Eventually these 7” discs became obsolete with new models of cars. (Dawson)

The Flexi-Disc

The 7” discs made way for the flexi-disc, which was only 4 inches in diameter, made of soft, bendable plastic. The flexi-disc was durable and inexpensive to make, and able to be played on a 45 record player. These tiny discs were first marketed to children, as prizes in cereal boxes and samples in magazines. The flexi-disc, however, could only be played about a dozen times before the stylus on the record player ruined the tiny grooves. (Dawson)

Philco/Ford

Competition

Packaging

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