Re: [ARSCLIST] Curious Audio formats and commemoratives

[Aaron Z Snyder <aaron@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steven C Barr wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Aaron Luis Levinson" <aaron.levinson@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > 1. the "hip-pocket" flexi-discs of the 60's that could be taken to the
> > beach!
> I bought a large number of these, unopened, as a group...at a flea market
> in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. They were apparently a product of Philco during
> ]the short period when that firm was a subsidiary of Ford Motor Co. Took
> them to a local (Toronto) record show, and had no trouble selling them
> for several times what I paid! Still don't know what you could play them
> on, though.

I'm sorry to say that I *do* know what you could play them on. I was working
for Philco-Ford at the time (circa 1968), and the company was trying its
darndest to come up with innovative consumer products to catch the
imagination of the public. It turns out that their marketing people were
less than inspired. The company, which was quite influential in the
development of TV in the 30s and 40s, now was selling color TVs with
commercials featuring a chimpanzee pressing the single-button automatic
color control ("We do the rest", the commercial assured us.). Apparently,
the public didn't like being compared to their brother primates.

The hip pocket record was another abortive innovation. Small in diameter and
running at 33.3 rpm, this was supposed to replace the larger and bulkier 45
rpm discs which were standard for popular music. There were several problems
with these discs:

1) "Hip pocket" may have been their name, but the marketeers never thought
about what happens when one sits down with these discs in a hip pocket!
2) All of the music that was legally available to Philco had already fallen
off the charts, so there were no current hits available in the format. Thus,
kids, to whom this was being marketed, had little incentive to buy them.
3) The modulated grooves came much closer to the spindle than those on
regular formats. This caused havoc with average listeners, who tried to play
these discs on their record changers.

Philco had a special manual record player available for these discs. It was
quite small, and the platter, if I remember correctly, was the same diameter
as the hip pocket discs. Nonetheless, the player was large enough that it
was hardly convenient to carry to the beach. I also don't think that it was
battery operated.

All of this happened during a period when Philco's consumer products
division was in its death throes. Ford finally got rid of the Philco line,
giving the name to GTE-Sylvania for their cheap product lines. This was a
very sad end to a once-great and innovative company.

Aaron Z Snyder