adajohn010

       You may not consider a record player to be a toy, but these make excellent additions to playrooms for children and grandchildren. Introduce a part of your past to them through music and dance and they will be delighted with the novelty of this former technology!

       In American English, "phonograph", properly specific to machines made by Edison, was sometimes used in a generic sense as early as the 1890s to include cylinder-playing machines made by others. But it was then considered strictly incorrect to apply it to Emile Berliner's upstart Gramophone, a very different machine which played discs. "Talking machine" was the comprehensive generic term, but in the early 20th century the general public was increasingly applying the word "phonograph" indiscriminately to both cylinder and disc machines and to the records they played. By the time of the First World War, the mass advertising and popularity of the Victor Talking Machine Company's Victrolas (a line of disc-playing machines characterized by their concealed horns) was leading to widespread generic use of the word "victrola" for any machine that played discs, which were however still called "phonograph records" or simply "records", almost never "victrola records".

This record player was a favorite toy in our home when my girls were young.

       After electrical disc-playing machines started appearing on the market during the second half of the 1920s, usually sharing the same cabinet with a radio receiver, the term "record player" was increasingly favored by users when referring to the device. Manufacturers, however, typically advertised such combinations as "radio-phonographs". Portable record players (no radio included), with a latched cover and an integrated power amplifier and loudspeaker, were fairly common as well, especially in schools and for use by children and teenagers.

       In the years following the Second World War, as "hi-fi" (high-fidelity, monophonic) and, later, "stereo" (stereophonic) component sound systems slowly evolved from an exotic specialty item into a common feature of American homes, the description of the record-spinning component as a "record changer" (which could automatically play through a stacked series of discs) or a "turntable" (which could hold only one disc at a time) entered common usage. By about 1980 the use of a "record changer", which might damage the stacked discs, was widely disparaged. So, the "turntable" emerged triumphant and retained its position to the end of the 20th century and beyond. Through all these changes, however, the discs have continued to be known as "phonograph records" or, much more commonly, simply as "records".

       The brand name Gramophone was not used in the USA after 1901, and the word fell out of use there, although it has survived in its nickname form, Grammy, as the name of the Grammy Awards. The Grammy trophy itself is a small rendering of a gramophone, resembling a Victor disc machine with a taper arm.

       Modern amplifier-component manufacturers continue to label the input jack which accepts the output from a modern magnetic pickup cartridge as the "phono" input, abbreviated from "phonograph".

"A welcome gift for any child- an Electric Phonograph of his or her very own! Easy to use... plays 78-rpm records up to 12 in. Built in tone chamber amplification gives full, rich tone. Balanced tone arm has tone-set playing head that locks in playing or rest position for safe carrying and storage. Self-starting electric turntable motor; on-off switch..."

       Toy blocks (also building bricks, building blocks, or simply blocks) are wooden, plastic, or foam pieces of various shapes (square, cylinder, arch, triangle, etc.) and colors that are used as construction toys. Sometimes toy blocks depict letters of the alphabet like the standardized from our family collections shown above and below.

       In 1837 Friedrich Fröbel invented a preschool educational institution Kindergarten. For that, he designed ten of the 20 Froebel Gifts on building blocks principles.

• The Means And Ways of Occupation In The Kindergarten

        Above is one of many wooden pull toys in our family collection. This alligator was made by hand. The wooden balls spin as the comical reptile is being pulled across the floor. Below is a bouncing, wooden frog by Melissa and Doug and a dancing alligator by Plantoys Planwood.

       All woodwork must be sanded and thoroughly dried before any paint is applied. Care should be taken to see that all sharp surfaces and edges are smoothed to the touch so that a baby or small child does not get cut or poked with a splinter while playing with the blocks. You may wish to apply a primer first to your block surfaces prior to painting them depending upon the wear of their surface areas.

       After the priming coat of paint is dry, putty up all knot holes, dents and cracks, and other defects on the surface of your blocks.

Application of Paint.

       In applying the paint to the toy the first coat should be thinned. This will act as a kind of primer or undercoat for the succeeding coats of paint. Care should be taken that plenty of time is allowed between coats for the paint to dry completely. Three coats of paint will produce a good finish.
       I used a variety of enamel and acrylic paints that I already had purchased for previous craft projects. This is a great way to use up all kinds of paint that you may have tucked away in cupboards and drawers around the house. Try to use water based paints for easy, nontoxic application. I will, however, seal the painted surfaces by coating them with a wood varnish. This will help prevent chipping; wooden blocks take lots of tumbles while in use!

       Two or three coats of varnish will produce a very durable finish. The first coat of varnish ought not be quite as heavy as the succeeding coats. If the varnish is of extra heavy body it should be reduced slightly for the first coat. The best varnish reducer is thin varnish. The prepare this reducer, take one part varnish (the same varnish to be reduced), and two parts of turpentine. Shake these together well and let stand twenty-four hours before using. This will reduce the consistency of the varnish without tearing down the body as pure turpentine would. The first coat of varnish should be allowed to dry thoroughly before the second is applied.