The first vinyl records, as we still know them today, were introduced by Columbia and RCA just after the second World War, in 1948. The RCA Victor company launched a small affordable electrical turntable in 1934, the Duo Jr ($16.5 at that time), which you had to plug into the family radio.īy the mid 1930s, coin-operated Juke boxes were the default entertainment appliance in most dance and drink establishments in the US. Edison introduced the 12 inch 40-min Long Playing record in 1927. The first fully electric record player was launched by Brunswick in 1925. This process was later replaced by a more effective sound-on-film recording. In the early 1920s, record players were used to provide sound playback to the first talking movies. The same year, Victor introduced their iconic Victrola, featuring an internal horn, beautifully presented in the shape of a fine cabinet. The first Juke Box machine was launched in 1906, called the Automatic Entertainer. Shellac was an alternative material (a form of organic plastic) used to manufacture the early 78rpm records. Celluloid was one of the first forms of plastic but it was very fragile. The first celluloid records were introduced in 1900. It featured a large horn connected to the diaphragm, as pictured on the illustration featured on this page. Together with Werner Suess, Berliner introduced an improved version of their Gramophone in 1889. Emile Berliner introduced the Gramophone in 1888, using a flat disc.

It came in a wooden box and was powered by an electric motor. Edison released a perfected version of his Phonograph 11 years later, in 1888.

So your record player can’t be older than that. First of all you should know that the oldest record player ever – the Phonograph – dates back to 1877.

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