Christmas record cards, 1948-?--Hawthorne House greeting card discs, Gulf Dealer, Pampers, L&M, more!

 

A repost of Christmas record cards (original post, 2017--links long gone).  All, save for one, are re-rips.  Most consist of slim vinyl records (either 78 or 33 1/3 rpm) glued to cardboard backings, typically given as freebies by various companies.  Exceptions: two greeting card records made by Hawthorne House (the first, Jingle Bells, from 1948), in which case the discs were carelessly (and ineffectively) partially attached to a non-solid backing.  Those were unplayable as is, so in order to have any possibility of getting a rip, I removed the discs and taped them to 45 rpm discs for a solid backing.

As for the postcard-style cards, I taped these to 78 rpms (of the unwanted variety), either temporarily or permanently, to flatten the playing surfaces.  I kind of overdid it on a few of them, with too much Scotch tape--I wish I'd gone the easier route of simply taping the corners.  But maybe I had tried that, and it wasn't enough.  A few of the cards are pretty warped, so maybe the extra Scotch tape was necessary.  Record card saving can get complicated.  Lots of hairy decision-making involved.

I stole the phrase "record card" from one of the Hawthorne House greeting cards, as it serves nicely as a catch-all term for these.  Given the difficulty of getting these things to play, I imagine a lot of record card recipients didn't bother to try--that, or else, they tried, listened to the tonearm skipping across the warped surface, then decided it was the thought that counts.

Scans are included in the zip file--each mp3 has a pic, too.  I think I finally figured out how to attach images ("art") to individual files (as opposed to albums) in my media player.  The trick, apparently, is not to enter an album title.  That way, the player treats each track as an individual one, as opposed to part of an album.  Makes sense.

You'll be hearing the Pickwick Carol Group, The L&M T.V. Quartet, and a host of anonymous choirs.  Sound quality varies from okay to decent, with the 1948 greeting card disc offering surprisingly good, vivid sound.  Oh, and there's a Gulf Dealer disc that was given out by the very gas station we lived next to in Toledo, Ohio--1918 Wayne Street was their address, which means the disc is pre-Airport Highway.  I remember the street name change, but not the year.  Beringer's Gulf Service, it says.  That name, I don't remember, so I dunno if it was still Beringer's when we moved there.  The card is pre-ZIP code ("Toledo 9, Ohio").  I remember the pre-ZIP code days--my dad was a mail carrier at the time.

To the record cards...

DOWNLOAD: Christmas record cards

Jingle Bells--Sommerfield Musical Card (Hawthorne House, 1948; 78 rpm)

Season's Greetings--Your Neighborhood Gulf Dealer (1918 Wayne St., Toledo 9, Ohio)

Frosty the Snow Man; Santa Claus I Coming to Town--Pampers (Free record with one package of Pampers, any size)

Recording of your favorite Christmas Carols as sung by your L&M Quartet (Liggett& Myers, 1960)

Christmas Greeting--A Christmas Medley (Sapphire, 78 rpm)

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town--Photo of two kids in front of Christmas tree

Jingle Bells--Photo of two kids on Santa's lap

Joy to the World--The Pickwick Carol Group (Hawthorne House Record Card; 78 rpm)

Lee