Nostalgia (dept. of Grammy Awards)

The editor of Reminisce magazine, with Sunday’s Grammy Awards in mind, rightly thought we would be interested in their collection of vintage radio and record ads that they have assembled for the occasion. He writes:

Bendix 1945

With the boom in national identity and manufacturing in the decades following World War II, the American music industry was a particular point of pride. The reason the annual awards are called “Grammys” is in tribute to Emile Berliner, the American inventor of the gramophone. In fact, so important was the idea of American innovation and manufacturing that the other name they were considering was “the Eddies,” in honor of Thomas Edison.

RCA 1946

The message here is pretty clear: no home was complete without a music player. It might double as a piece of high-end furniture, and was less ostentatious than Google Glass.

This was as much a matter of fashion as of art. And design: nowadays you’re more likely to find these pieces exhibited as prized collector items.

See the full 11-slide show:

Reminisce is a North American nostalgia magazine.