Audio antiques

[Nano]

Just reading about "first purchases" woke up some memories about old turntables, that ones we in Argentina used to call "tocadiscos" (mine was a Wincofón label, made in my country). That tiny record players with automatic play-system, the long pole in the middle (to put several records and let them auto-fall in the turntable, one over the other), and a small mono speaker just below the plate. But there were others that now sound even more dated, like the magazine players.
I also had one thing called "Tragadiscos" (RecordEater) which was "tocadiscos-size" but with a hard cover and just a small hole to feed the singles (didn't work for LPs). You had to put the record upside down, because the stylus was pointing upwards, and then lower the whole plate with your finger: the auto-player did the rest. This one was red, with a small dial on one corner (it also had AM radio! ) and a grey bag to carry it on the street (the record didn't slide!) and laugh at the funny faces some people put on because they couldn't find the music's fountain... It was probably the first portable player I ever saw (long before portable cassette recorders, not to say the "walkman").
This was around '72. Did you have one? Remember another audio antique of your time?

[QUINNY]

As I pre-date most of the people here I'll reiterate what I typed over at another thread. My first record player was a very large, very old fashioned (probably) 1930's 78 RPM wind up gramophone. The stylii were metal pins, which via the pick up assembly transferred the sound to the large metal flared horn. That's what produced the sound. No electronics of any kind involved.

[Graham_Start]

Well, I have a large number of 8-track tapes...