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Children's Phonographs and Popular Culture Characters
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Children's Phonographs and Popular Culture Characters
The following are examples of children's phonographs and ads featuring popular culture characters used to promote phonographs for children. Select from the gallery below or use the Children's Phonographs Table of Contents. Other recorded sound devices and memorabilia are also included as legacies of the phonograph.
This gallery is followed by a Brief History of Children's Phonographs.
Howdy Doody Phono Doodle,Shura-Tone ©Kagran, 1955
Roy Rogers RCA Victor Model 9-EY-36 , 45 RPM, c. 1950
Donald Duck 78 RPM, Spear Products, Inc., 1961
Smurf™ Phonograph, Vanity Fair, 1983
The Victor 1-2 (The Nursery Model), c. 1925
Mickey Mouse Phonographs
See-A-Song, Mfg. by The Wal-Feld Co., c. 1955
Bozo the Clown, Steelman Phonograph & Radio Co., 1954
WKRP in Cincinnati Disc Jockey Control Center, Vanity Fair, 1982
Lindstrom Phonograph Model 777
Winnie the Pooh Phonographs
Superman Phonographs
Genola Phonograph, General Phonograph Mfg. Co. c. 1925.Nursery Rhyme characters.
The Frank Luther Phonograph and Storytime Characters.
Raggedy Ann & the Phonograph
Dennis the Menace & the Phonograph
Lemiphone, Leonhard Müller Company, c. 1926
Lindstrom Phonograph, Model 276
Bing Crosby Junior Juke Record Player, Lindstrom Model 999
Lindstrom Majorette Phonograph, Model 888
Strawberry Shortcake
Fisher-Price Phonographs
Little Tots' Phonograph and Records
The Jeannette
Peanuts, 2014
Alice in Wonderland, RCA Victor Model 45-EY-26, 45 RPM, 1951
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 45 & 78 RPM, c. 1970
The Kiddyphone, c. 1925
Barbie Phonographs
Kiss Phonographs
Bingophone II c.1925
Scooby Doo Phonographs
A Brief History of Children's Phonographs
Edison's Tin-foil Phonograph of 1878 was so novel that the public was naturally curious to hear it for themselves. It wasn't invented for children but was to be enjoyed by all ages. For many, hearing it for the first time would be possible because the phonograph travelled to cities and towns where it might perform for "25 cents Adults, 10 cents for Children." Newspaper accounts about Edison's "talking machine" could be confirmed by attending an exhibition because seeing and hearing was believing. Demonstrations varied but could include elements of a science lecture, a side-show and a magic act.
The promotional posters, trade cards, and newspaper ads acted as proxies for a fairground barker. The following advertising banner was used for early Edison phonograph demonstrations inviting the public to come and hear it for themselves: Edison's Phonograph or Talking Machine: "It Talks! It Sings! It Laughs! It plays coronet songs."
Edison's Phonograph, 1878 - Poster which had space to add specific exhibition location, time, costs, etc. (Courtesy of National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.) For a timeline and other examples of demonstrating the phonograph and recorded sound see Phonographia's "Demonstrating the Phonograph."
When the phonograph did enter the home over a decade later as an entertainment machine it was not promoted as a toy nor was it intended to be operated by children. However, as an 1896 Columbia Graphophone ad pointed out, it was "so simple that even a child can make it pour forth the most enchanting selections of the world's greatest Musicians...."
"Marvelous, yet so simple that even a child" can operate it. Munsey's Magazine, 1896 (PM-1006A)
A French toy for children was offered in 1897 but was said to have been made for its educational value and for its role of assuring children that in the future they would easily be able "to obtain a reproduction of the human voice with the phonograph."
Although, in order to instruct children, it is well enough to make them read a description of great scientific inventions, such as the telegraph, telephone, phonograph, etc., it is certainly preferable to put these different instruments in their hands in order to permit them to learn how they operate.
Thanks to an ingenious instrument, which is very easily manipulated and of relatively low price, children will be able in the future to assure themselves that it is as easy to obtain a reproduction of the human voice with the phonograph as it is that of a piece of music by means of a mechanical piano. So this is one of the playthings that has met with the most success this year. -- The Phonoscope, April 1897.
The Phonoscope, April 1897
Songs for children were included in some early phonograph record catalogues and the following 1906 brochure "Victor for Every Day" is an example of how children were portrayed as operating and being entertained by the Victor Talking Machine and its records.
The Victor for Every Day in the Week, Victor Talking Machine brochure, c. 1905 (PM-0210)
Ads also promoted the idea that the phonograph could be educational. By combining the phonograph's attributes of education and entertainment Edison developed his "Double Service" advertisements. While working with companies like the Language Department of International Correspondence Schools Edison ads promoted the idea that "Amusement and the Language Study" were opportunities for "Old and Young" -- if your home had a Phonograph.
"When the language lesson's done then the children have their fun" - The Edison Phonograph Monthly, October, 1904.
Columbia Phonograph Company 1918 poster advertising Thornton Burgess reciting his Bedtime Stories on Columbia Records. Artwork by Harrison Cady, illustrator for several of Thornton Burgess’s children’s books. (Courtesy Golden Age Posters).
Children's Phonograph, Union Hardware and Metal Company Catalog, 1930
The children's phonograph and record market grew after World War I in the United States, but like the rest of the phonograph industry it declined in the 1930's, re-emerged after World War II, continued to be part of home entertainment and popular culture through the 1980's, declined and then made a remarkable recovery in the teens of the 21st century.
Admiral Phonograph, "Child-Proof, " Collier's, August 1946
"Favorites of Tots and Teens," Penney's Catalog, 1947, pp. 46-47
"RCA Victor Children's Record" stories begin with Little Nipper, 1951
"Dial-O-Matic" Phonograph. Sears, 1964.
"Magic Phono, Playskool, 1965.
"My First Sony - Cassette Player," WM-3000, 1988
"My First Sony - CD Compact Player," D-5000, 1989 (FP0027)
From the 1980's and on children listening to music on phonographs had become uncommon. Instead, infants and small children would move from tape recording and CDs to ipods, smartphones and other electronic devices for personal music and entertainment.
WiWoo MP3 Player for Kids Ages 3 -12. (2018)
Kids MP3 Player Music Player with Video Games Voice Recorder and Headphone, Portable Toddler Music Player with Cartoon Bear Paw Button Expandable 128GB (Pink)
STYLIZED PHONOGRAPH MUSIC BOXES
The phonograph as an iconic part of popular culture was adapted in some children's toys which weren't actually record players. One of the stylized toy phonographs that played music box records instead of recorded sound was the 1971 Fisher-Price Model 995.
Fisher-Price Music Box Record Player, Model 995, 1971
Mattel's 1974 See N' Say® Sing-Along™ Play Phonograph is another example of a stylized toy phonograph but this Play Phonograph actually played a record. Its mechanism and record where basically the same used by Mattel's Chatty Cathy to play Chatty talk when its "Chatty Ring" was pulled. The 1974 See N' Say® Sing-Along™ Play Phonograph is the only Mattel See N' Say that actually looked like a record player.
See N' Say® Sing-Along™ Play Phonograph, Mattel 1974 - The recorded track could be heard by rotating the play record, selecting a picture in the window and then pulling its string.
Parents purchasing the Mattel See N' Say® Sing-Along™ Play Phonograph, TOMY, Fisher-Price and other music box record players had probably all played actual phonographs when they were growing up. Technology, digital recordings and smartphones, however, continued to change how words and music were heard and the market for actual phonographs and records became a niche market in the 21st century.
Tomy "Bring-Along-A-Song® Record Player, No. 1073, 1984.
Besides their children's music box record players Fisher-Price did also make actual children's record players -- perhaps most famously with their 1984 phonograph featuring Sesame Street's Big Bird playing 33 1/3 and 45 RPM records.
The Fisher-Price Record Player Model 815, c.1984.
For more examples of Fisher-Price Record Players see Phonographia's Fisher-Price Phonographs.
For an on-line collection of children's phonographs (kindergrammophones) see Peter W. Burgherr's Collection.
For other examples of lithographed children's phonographs see Phonographia's PhonoLithos.
Children's Phonographs Table of Contents
Alice in Wonderland, RCA Victor, 1951
Bing Crosby "Junior Juke" Record player, Model 999, Lindstrom Corporation of Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1948
Bozo the Clown, Steelman Phonograph & Radio Co., 1954
Dennis the Menace Phonograph, Porter Spear Company, 1967
Donald Duck 78 RPM, Porter Spear Products, Inc., 1961
Frank Luther Phonograph with Babar and Storytime Records and Characters
Genola, General Phonograph Mfg. Co, c. 1925
Howdy Doody Phono Doodle, Shura-Tone ©Kagran, 1955
Lemiphone, Leonhard Müller Company, c. 1926
Lindstrom Phonograph Model 276, Lindstrom Corporation of Bridgeport, Connecticut
Lindstrom Phonograph Model 777, Lindstrom Corporation of Bridgeport, Connecticut, c.1948
Majorette Phonograph, Model 888, Lindstrom Corporation of Bridgeport, Connecticut, c.1948
Raggedy Ann, the Phonograph, Records and Other Phonograph Connections
Roy Rogers RCA Victor Model 9-EY-36 , 45 RPM, c. 1950
Scooby Doo Phonographs, Vanity Fair, 1976
See-A-Song, Mfg by The Wal-Feld Co., c. 1955
Smurf™ Phonograph, Vanity Fair, 1983
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Porter Chemical Co., c 1970
Strawberry Shortcake Phonograph, Playtime, 1982.
Stylized Phonograph Music Boxes
The Victor-Victrola VV 1-2, the Nursery Model, c. 1925
WKRP in Cincinnati Disc Jockey Control Center, Vanity Fair, 1982
Phonographia