How soon they forget....Cylinder machine in 1939 ad

[Lenoirstreetguy]

Ran onto this March 1939 GE advertisement. It's of that " gosh ain't we swell and modern with GE stuff " ilk. It shows though, how quickly the pre 1920 world looked utterly dated to the eyes of the late 30's. Note the kid holding the phonograph horn? He's standing in front of a Model G Home which in 1939 could have been bought new only 25 years before that..they were discontinued in October 1913! Edison was still manufacturing cylinders less than ten years before this ad appeared.

Jim

[OrthoFan]

Very interesting!

Of course, by 1929, Edison cylinder records only represented a small fraction of the overall market, and were long viewed as antiquated technology. Along that line, based on what I've heard and read, record players of any type seemed to have been relegated to the attic or basement by the late 1920s/early 1930s--in many US homes--and replaced with radios. In fact, I remember a neighbor telling me, some years ago, that when his father bought their first radio around 1929, the Victrola was covered with a shawl and used as a plant stand for about the next 20 years, until it was finally hauled to the dump at the time the house was sold. I hate to think of how many met the same fate.

[estott]

Sears was still selling plenty of kerosene lamps and treadle sewing machines in 1939- it took quite a while for electricity to reach the rural communities.

I think a lot of console phonographs survived because they could pass as furniture. In the 1970's I got a magnificent VV-405 console that the owners had stopped playing years before- the record albums were being used to file legal papers and tax returns.

[OrthoFan]

Sears was still selling plenty of kerosene lamps and treadle sewing machines in 1939- it took quite a while for electricity to reach the rural communities.

This was true even ten years later. I have a 1950 Wards catalog with a large selection of battery operated (wooden) cabinet radios, wood and Sterno kitchen ranges, ice boxes that look like refrigerators; as well as "convertible" gasoline powered washing machines bearing the disclaimer, "for areas where electricity is not yet available." It also lists one "wind-up" phonograph model, a suitcase portable virtually identical to this one:

Late Style Portable.JPG (37.01 KiB) Viewed 1144 times

>>Edited to host photo on this forum<<

[estott]

You know, those late portables may not be the best constructed machines, but when they are in fine shape (like that one) they are very attractive.

[bbphonoguy]

I remember as a child when I was like the kid in the ad, but, instead of asking if everyone used to be poor, I would ask my parents "why is everything today so cheap and ugly and my grandparents stuff is so nice?"

[Lenoirstreetguy]

This was true even ten years later. I have a 1950 Wards catalog with a large selection of battery operated (wooden) cabinet radios, wood and Sterno kitchen ranges, ice boxes that look like refrigerators; as well as "convertible" gasoline powered washing machines bearing the disclaimer, "for areas where electricity is not yet available." It also lists one "wind-up" phonograph model, a suitcase portable virtually identical to this one:


>>Edited to host photo on this forum<<

I shouldn't tell you guys this, but I went to a one room public( elementary) school that had no running water, much later than 1950. ( Eight grades: one outdoor pump ) I can tell stories that sound as if they were penned by Cal Stewart. We did have electricity, thanks to Ontario Hydro. 78's lasted...in a limited way... into the the 60's up here; the Eaton Catalogue was still showing HMV windup portables until at least 1959...and what they did to the rather soft surfaces of a 1960 78 .......wow!!!

[larryh]

The first phonograph I purchased was when I worked part time at a Major St. Louis Department Store. They took in a Victor 400 which the lady traded on a stereo. Until then it was her only record player. It was like brand new. Yes a console which may have helped it to last.
The farm home I have didn't get electric until about 1950.