Youth & Phonographs Today

[phonogfp]

I'd say its the money... I can't help but think living in general is harder and more expensive then when my parents were my age. You need a good phone, a computer, maybe a car if you don't live in NYC like I do, insurance is expensive, internet bill, the cost of food has got to be higher... Am I wrong? I think the reason younger people don't get into the hobby is purely financial. If you have extra income your not likely to buy a phonograph over say, a million other more "practical" life upgrades first. You really have to be dedicated to the hobby to seek out machines.

USLakeside,
When I was 23 (34 years ago), I was fresh out of grad school with a Master's Degree and was job hunting. We were told that we could expect to make $6000-$10,000 a year, depending on where we found a job. That was good money. (Minimum wage was around $2.00/hour.) My wife was working on her MS, but even so was making $9006.00 per year with her Batchelor's Degree. My first job paid $11,337 per year and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Between us, we were pulling in $20,00 per year - - upwardly mobile yuppies! Now days, we'd qualify for food stamps. Sure, things are "more expensive" now, but not in relative terms. An Edison Concert or Opera might have cost $1000 back then. Spend 1/20 of our gross income on one phonograph? We couldn't afford it. So did "the money" keep me from collecting? No - like you, I wheeled & dealed, sometimes took out a bank loan, borrowed from my dad when I could, and WORKED to make the deal happen. It didn't always happen, either. I left a pristine Victor I at a garage sale because I couldn't find the $100 they wanted for it. A coin-operated AS Graphophone was in a local shop for $1000, but it might as well have been a million. I remember thinking, "Why are these things so darned expensive?" But time passed, my little collection grew, as did my earning capacity, and gradually I was able to purchase things I had only dreamed about years before. Sometimes I'd sell several machines to get one cherry. Occasionally I'd have to dip into the Home Equity Line of Credit and pay it back later. That's the way life works. Be patient, and keep working at it.

We live 6 miles from a college town, and my office used to be in the same town. I saw (and continue to see) young people driving nicer cars than mine, drinking vast quantities of adult beverages at $3.50 a copy, carrying phones that do everything but shine shoes, brandishing laptops, and wearing $200 sneakers. They come into the bike shop and drop a couple hundred on North Face clothing without batting an eye. Their sound systems on campus and in their cars make your eyes bleed. If these kids wanted an antique phonograph, they'd have one. (By the way, this is a State school - - these are not ivy leaguers.) I'm not suggesting that all 18-22 year-olds are in the same circumstances. But there are 5000 students enrolled at this college, and I'm not aware of a single one who collects antique phonographs. If there is, there's a good chance they subscribe to this message board, so here's my invitation: If you attend SUNY Geneseo and are interested in antique phonographs and records, PM me. You'll get a dinner, a tour, and all the help/advice I can offer. (I'll let the rest of you know if I get any reply!)

You're absolutely right when you say "You really have to be dedicated to the hobby to seek out machines." If we're not willing to sacrifice something in order to obtain these artifacts, do we really want them?

George P.

[phononut]

Hello
I saw this and would like to note that I am a 12 year old collector with a Grafonola and Amberola. I have many cylinders and records. People always ask me how I got interested in the hobby. I truly don't know. My parents are "in this century". I know no other collectors my age (or even within 20 years of me).

Best regards
Brad

[phonogfp]

Brad,

I'd have to say you're an exceptional young man. You have embarked on a hobby that you discovered yourself, so whatever attracted you was not a product of peer pressure or other outside influences. I hope you will find that this remains a rewarding and life-long interest!

Perhaps even more surprising is your use of proper capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. I've worked with a number of undergraduate and graduate students who could take a lesson from you.

Best of luck with your phonograph collecting, and please offer my congratulations to your parents. They're clearly doing something right as well!

George P.

[USlakeside]

Phononut-

That's really cool. Stick with it. When you get older you may not have much competition, aside from myself I had no obvious reason to become obsessed with phonographs either. My parents could never figure it out. But who cares, its a cool hobby. I still don't know many people interested, and no one in my immediate life who is an actual collector. If you find pleasure and joy in it, then there is no greater reason to collect.

There is one advantage to starting out younger and thats the fact that your overhead for living is lower. You're not paying rent, and you don't have as many things to watch out for financially. I recognized this when I was starting out and bought one machine (a Pathé Royal) I generally couldn't afford now, or find that easily. I remember saying to myself "you have the money now, and you may not in the future, so get it while you can". I took my savings, which wasn't much, and bought it. Today I could say I had the money in the bank, but there are too many "unknowns" around the corner that keep me restrained.

Good luck!

[EdiBrunsVic]

It has been interesting to read the previous comments. My interest in the hobby began in 1968 when I was in high school. A lady had a VV-50 for sale and wanted $25 for it. I had some money saved, so after asking my parents about it (they wondered why I wanted an old record player...) a check was written and I brought it home. It began that way, and the collection grew from there. It wasn't long before I found a VV XVI at an estate sale for $50. My high school graduation present was a Brunswick York that was acquired for $45.

During the years that followed, I entered college, earned a teaching degree, and then shared the hobby with my elementary school students each year. It was fun to see their reaction and interest. As I was nearing retirement, many of the students had never seen a record, but found it fascinating to hear the old music. Now that I work at a museum, there is a Victrola I play for some visitors, and the young people enjoy it. I let them crank it up and show them how it works.

I commend the young collectors for their interest and hope it continues!