TV Tray Stands

TV tray stands....STILL mandatory in many households (namely mine!)

Shhhhh! Milton Berle is on.....

The TV tray stand wasn't necessarily a by-product of 1950's television. They actually had lap tray sets as far back as the 1930s for families to listen to the radio while eating their dinner.

Yma Sumac

Yma Sumac "Voice of The Xtabay" (10" inch LP, 1952) Right here is where "Exotica" music began.....

Before Minnie Riperton and Mariah Carey, Peruvian singer Yma Sumac was considered to have the widest vocal range of any known singer, over FIVE octaves (that's a range going nearly the entire human vocal spectrum, from a gut-deep basso to an ear piercing C-note. The best opera singers can barely accomplish two octaves.)


But WHO was she?

She was reportedly descended from the last Incan emporer, Atahualpa (although no DNA evidence was ever presented, it's a claim supported by the Peruvian government.)

It was also claimed in the 1950s she was nothing more than a housewife from Brooklyn named Amy Camus (and "Yma Sumac" was this name backwards.) However, that rumor has been discredited by several Peruvian and Argentinian records she recorded for Odeon in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

The shellac doesn't lie......

Her popularity peaked in the 1950s during the hi-fi craze. Her exotic look, music and voice made her very popular with young hi-fi fans. In fact, before the first formal hi-fi demonstration albums, it was her records that were the bench test of hi-fi enthusiasts.

One of her most famous was Mambo! (10" inch LP, 1955)

 

Here's Side One.....

Yma Sumac died November 1, 2008.


 

Marcel Marceau's Lost "Best Of" Album

In 1970, famous mime Marcel Marceau (spelled incorrectly "Marceao") released an album.

It was silent on both sides, except for one minute of roaring applause at the end of each side.......

Homemade Records

You know? There's a part of me that's REALLY kicking myself for not buying a similar Presto K-10 in Eastern Washington for $40 14 years ago. If I only known you could use disposable plastic plates as blanks...... 

It's straight, warm, tubey sounding lo-fi mono sound and disposable plate "vinyl" makes it perfect for recording punk or DYI/Outsider music 

Reddi-Bacon

 

In the late '70s, the makers of Reddi-Wip had a GREAT idea.

It looked promising (they DID invent the spray whipped topping.) Bacon in minutes without the messy clean up.

These foil wrapped packets of goodness were a godsend. But, there WERE problems. The packets tended to leak hot grease, creating an instant fire hazard and a disgusting mess in your toaster. Often, you had to throw out the toaster.

Eventually, this idea would be revisited again with pre-cooked microwavable bacon in the late '80s.