[78-L] 45 rpm adaptors

[DAVID BURNHAM]

I guess it shows the youth of our group that this would even be discussed.  I remember when 45s and their adaptors were first introduced and I don't recall anyone having trouble installing or removing them.  When the question first appeared, I assumed it was referring to British type 45s where the adaptor was manufactured as part of the record, but could easily be removed, (but not reused).  The Webster Chicago type were at the time, (as I recall), the luxury type because they were sturdy and gave the record some weight, but removing them was quite obvious by just looking at them - you push down one of the tabs which go under the record from the holder's point of view, then slide it until the one opposite is released and then lift it out.  The famous plastic adaptors with the three contact points are simply pushed out of the record - holding the record in the label area and pushing the adaptor with your thumbs.  These things quickly became obsolete
 when they designed the 45 adaptor which was simply placed on the turntable so that 45s could be played like any other record.

I guess collectors 50 years from now might ask, "How in the world did you put a record on a turntable when you can't see the spindle because it's hidden by the record?"  I remember teaching my daughter when she was a toddler to peak through the hole so she could see the spindle and then lower it to the turntable while watching the spindle through the hole.  At first she would walk across the room holding a record up to her face, keeping her eye on the spindle.  Many years later when she was in grade 8, her teacher asked her class if anyone knew what an LP was.  She was the only person who did and went on to say she even knew what a 78 was, and the teacher said he didn't know what a 78 was.  I have had at least two teachers ask me about those records which used to turn really fast on the turntable.

db