The Lunch Man and Lunch Tunes Lunch Boxes (1986)

The Lunch Man and Lunch Tunes lunch boxes were basic kids lunch boxes with one striking difference; They had built-in radios and headphones.

Unfortunately, they were AM radios at a time when Top 40 radio in the US had largely moved to FM. (They still had several AM Top 40s in Canada until the early 1990s.)

And it's doubtful many teachers or school lunch ladies thought these were a good idea either...

Building Mind Power - The Ben Sweetland System (Nocturnal Education/RCA Custom, 1956)

Ben Sweetland was a motivational speaker. Similar to Norman Vincent Peale, Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar and the late Robert Schuller. He was a godfather to the self-help craze that continues to lure in desperate people to this day.

A pioneer in "sleep training", he published this 22 record ‘system’ as a way for average people to improve themselves via conscious and subconscious education.

These records look like 45 RPM discs. But they actually played at 16 RPM with an average playing time of 20-30 minutes per side.

Are you sure this is something that ought to be played during daytime hours?

On top of this MAMMOTH 22 record set, Sweetland also offered a special phonograph changer with a timer. So users of the program can select when certain talks were to be heard during the night or day.

"The Lamp of Memory" Yvonne DeCarlo (1942)

In 1942, Yvonne DeCarlo, then 20 years old, a rising star and future Lily Munster recorded a musical film called a soundie, which are pretty much the very earliest music videos. They would be shown in theaters sometimes, or in coin operated jukeboxes and you could also order them on 16mm film for home showings.

More on Yvonne DeCarlo's singing career.

The Elves And The Shoemaker (Scholastic Records, 1975)

More on the Scholastic Book Club.  

"The Rock & Roll Doctor" Travesty Ltd. (1980)

As heard on Dr. Demento back in the day.....