The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

dzavracky wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 10:33 am

Aaron wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:11 am Mostly i am back on the forum to procrastinate college homework, and let me tell you, i truly appreciate you all for that.

Aaron

I'm glad it's not just me I come here all the time to procrastinate doing my homework

David

In the days when I had homework, there was no such thing as the internet. How lucky you guys are these days!

JerryVan wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 12:22 pm

dzavracky wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 10:33 am

Aaron wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:11 am Mostly i am back on the forum to procrastinate college homework, and let me tell you, i truly appreciate you all for that.

Aaron

I'm glad it's not just me I come here all the time to procrastinate doing my homework

David

In the days when I had homework, there was no such thing as the internet. How lucky you guys are these days!

dunno, the deals that people got pre-internet sound pretty fantastic to me!

gunnarthefeisty wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:10 pm
dunno, the deals that people got pre-internet sound pretty fantastic to me!

Not sure where those other people were shopping. I paid a LOT of money* for stuff pre-internet, that I could never make back today...

*For me at least.

JerryVan wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 3:59 pm

gunnarthefeisty wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:10 pm
dunno, the deals that people got pre-internet sound pretty fantastic to me!

Not sure where those other people were shopping. I paid a LOT of money* for stuff pre-internet, that I could never make back today...

*For me at least.

And bear in mind, those seemingly-low prices were in far less inflated dollars; they would equate to much more today. The other problem was *finding* things. Nowadays, just look at eBay and other online sales sites, and phonographs are all over the place. Back in the 1970s, when I got started, finding a spring phono was purely luck of the draw at your local flea markets, antique stores, junk stores, and such, and information about what was good/bad/indifferent, valuable/commonplace/junk was sketchy at best, as was knowledge about doing even routine maintenance. Just such a now-simple matter as tracking down a Pathé sapphire ball stylus was quite the undertaking back then. The blessings of the Internet may not have been unmixed in society at large, but as far as our hobby is concerned I think the mixture has been as close to pure blessing as you're likely to find. I would not willingly go back to how blindly we collectors operated before it ripened.

This is from a new member, I have always been interested in mechanical stuff and phonographs have always interested me. I can honestly say that in a time that technology rules this hobby is losing interest. Both my kids aren't even remotely interested in phonographs. But fortunately my 3 year grandson loves them. He like the music and the mechanical aspect of them. He would much rather listen to a old record than watch TV. So there is hope. I honestly wish there was more information around about this hobby online. I love to see videos of people playing records on YouTube. Now that vinal is coming back maybe we can find someone who can reproduce new 78s at a reasonable price. What I do know is that I have secured us a new and enthusiastic member.

I can think of something about our hobby, young people and modern times. It is not new tech invasion, or that the youngsters have no more interest in records and record players... They never had generally any interest on them except for playing the music they liked. Youngsters of 1890-1910 generally had no interest in phonographs, but in the music they played and that was in fashion then... as always has been... And maybe they also felt that fascination for new inventions, in that prolific era this must have fascinated lots of people...
We tend to see common people through our own filter, and we must clear out that. We, phonograph lovers, aren't common people. We are a minority. We love mechanical things, we love old things, we have a strong byas towards these things, and we have the fascination of records and tonearms. This is far from common...
So I can imagine that among youngsters, there always exist such minority, with same byas as we have, that will show interest on old mechanical things ( today, except for cars or other machines, there isn't that abundance of mechanical things... We're in the chip era!) They are yet less common than before, because mechanical apparatus for reproducing music are out of the trend. The industry of music has derived into other technologies. Yet these times are easier than before for preserving old things. Today the fascination goes along the lines of new electronics, quant-based new technologies, the web development, and modern music. There are lots of rubbish, prefabricated idols of music and so on, but there is also good quality music.
We're lovers of old technology, and this is rare and special, a niche. Anyway, thanks to modern media, our hobby gets more visibility than ever, so a few of these tech-inclined youngsters discover this hobby. But that is a niche within a niche!

VanEpsFan1914 wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 9:46 am

JerryVan wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 12:17 pm Price is a factor only to a point. Desire is the main driver. People will find a way to pay for what they want. For instance, "young people" seem to be ever more interested in tattoos. The cost of some tattooes could easily buy a decent phonograph. I have seen twenty-somethings with tattoos of phonographs... but without owning an actual phonograph. "Ya' just gotta' wanna' "

This is actually interesting from a cultural perspective as well as a collector's.
People like tattoos of things that are important to them--I think at this point in history that the phonograph has become an icon representing music and records, even to people who get their music from other sources. In 2021 that wooden box on the sideboard is no longer "a 1909 Victor III with brass-belled horn," it's now "A Phonograph," or "A Gramophone", or "A Victrola" because the technical details are less relevant--To most young people, the phonograph is a stock property of cultural iconography. They show up in games, in movies, in soundtracks. The thing is I don't believe people understand just how many of them are still around!

As for attaracting young people to the hobby: There are a lot of reasons these aren't super popular, and one of them (which I haven't seen too many people bring up) is the size of homes. Most young folks rent tiny apartments that cost too much. It might work to put a Victrola X in there or a creatively designed off-brand but not a massive Orthophonic.

I think, though, that windup phonographs would catch on. This forum has a definite younger presence.

Not much new there, really.

Try collecting gramophones and windups in a college dorm. I left all that in my parents' basement, but took my Pioneer 950SX, Dual 1009, and my newfangled high sensitivity Polk Audio speakers along with Beatles, Sly Stone, and Zeppelin records to compete in the stereo wars!

Same Scheisse back then... I was the only kid collecting 78s and futzing with windups- all the other collectors I knew were my parents' age pretty much. Everyone my age and of that generation and the following calls old jazz and swing "cartoon music" because we all grew up on Looney Tunes. It wasn't till the Archies that we got (sort of) rock and roll on Saturday cartoons. To kids my age, jazz was "square".

gramophone-georg wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 2:15 am
Not much new there, really.

Try collecting gramophones and windups in a college dorm. I left all that in my parents' basement, but took my Pioneer 950SX, Dual 1009, and my newfangled high sensitivity Polk Audio speakers along with Beatles, Sly Stone, and Zeppelin records to compete in the stereo wars!

Same Scheisse back then... I was the only kid collecting 78s and futzing with windups- all the other collectors I knew were my parents' age pretty much. Everyone my age and of that generation and the following calls old jazz and swing "cartoon music" because we all grew up on Looney Tunes. It wasn't till the Archies that we got (sort of) rock and roll on Saturday cartoons. To kids my age, jazz was "square".

I tried the collecting in a dormitory--It was "interesting." Every flat surface was covered in books already, and then I put the Amberola 30 in there on top of that.
The college I'm at now has no dormitory at all for laymen (tiny nuns from Vietnam are in all the houses that used to be dormitory space).

The market will probably keep falling among the 16 to 25 crowd but among the 25 to 35 crowd perhaps it can be opened somewhat.