The Phonograph by Generation

Phonograph/Recorded Sound Generationally Experienced in Popular Culture

By Doug Boilesen, 2024

The X'ers meme (above) found on the intranet lists some recorded sound formats that Generation X sequentially replaced, humorously noting the emotional, disruptive and financial impact those technology changes caused them.

Every generation since the end of the 19th century has experienced technology changes related to recorded sound. Examples of those changes are the subjects of this gallery. Phonograph and recorded sound technologies found in popular culture from 1883 to 2025 are organized by their generation titles (e.g., The Greatest Generation, The Baby boomers, etc.).

The common demographic group names assigned to generations can vary for countries by dates, by the demographic context, and by cultural identifiers.

The following are generational names, dates and text extracted from Wikipedia in August 2024 and are linked with their respective Wikipedia sections. These generational groupings are illustrated with ads, ephemera and memorabilia related to recorded sound with the phonograph as the constant. This gallery shares elements of Phonographia's Evolution of a Revolution but examples here are shown in the context within each Gen's birth date and end date.

Generations Table of Contents

 

The Lost Generation, 1883 to 1900 - This demographic cohort reached early adulthood during World War I....The social generation is generally defined as people born from 1883 to 1900, coming of age in either the 1900s or the 1910s, and were the first generation to mature in the 20th century. The term is also particularly used to refer to a group of American expatriate writers living in Paris during the 1920s....Gertrude Stein is credited with coining the term, and it was subsequently popularised by Ernest Hemingway, who used it in the epigraph for his 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises": "You are all a lost generation." "Lost" in this context refers to the "disoriented, wandering, directionless" spirit of many of the war's survivors in the early postwar period.

1883 - The Lost Generation

Edison gave birth to his tinfoil phonograph on December 6, 1877 and it was exhibited initially as a novelty and scientific wonder. The "Parlor Speaking Phonograph" was "intended for use in the parlor or drawing room" (p. 66) but by 1880 sales for new machines were basically done (except in Europe where according to tinfoil phonograph expert René Rondeau "the tinfoil phonograph enjoyed a surprisngly long life- span, with some manufacturers making them as late as the early 1890's." (See Rondeau, René "Tinfoil Phonographs", 2001, p. 81).

 

Handbill distributed February of 1879 offering the first (Bergmann) Parlor Model but showing the Brady phonograph in the ad. (Courtesy Rondeau, René, "Tinfoil Phonographs" 2001, p. 61 and Edisontinfoil.com).

 

1900 - End of The Lost Generation

 

Sears Catalogue, 1900

 

The Greatest Generation, 1901 to 1927 - They were shaped by the Great Depression and were the primary generation composing the enlisted forces in World War II. Most people of the Greatest Generation are the parents of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers, and they are the children of the Lost Generation.

 

1901 - The Greatest Generation

 

The London Illustrated News, March 30, 1901

 

1927 - End of the Greatest Generation

In 1927 phonographs were still being made but acoustic recording was being replaced by electric recordings and phonographs like the Victrola Orthophonic needed to play the new Orthophonic Victrola Records to produce the highest quality sound. Radio had been introduced in the early 1920's and it was rapidly becoming a very popular home entertainer. Much of the entertainment on radio stations was created using records while phonographs were being combined with radios to become combination home entertainment centers.

 

"Waiting to sing and play for you...the Victrola is the gift that keeps on giving." 1927 (PM-2032)

 

The Brunswick Panatrope Radio-Phonograph Combination, The American Magazine, 1927

 

The Silent Generation, 1928 to 1945 - Also known as the Traditionalist Generation...In the United States, the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II in the early-to-mid 1940s caused people to have fewer children and as a result, the generation is comparatively small.

1928 - The Silent Generation

Radio during the Great Depression in the United States became the popular source of weather, news, talk, stories and sports while the sales of records and phonographs was basically collapsing. Nevertheless, phonographs continued to be made and many new phonograph purchases could potentially be in "one beautiful cabinet" by combining the phonograph and the radio into the home's new home entertainment center.

Phonograph advertisements, as they had done in previous decades, would continue to emphasize the quality of its sound which could be enjoyed in your own home -- radio broadcasts did include live music and the playing of records but the phonograph was said to be able to create sounds "so natural, so realistic"...you could virtually see the performers "right in the very room with you."

The phonograph was advertised as a musical instrument. The radio was a more democratic device with its programs based on the station and their schedules.

The radio broadcasts were free, but if you wanted the best sound and artists at your command to be repeated as often as you wanted then the phonograph was the technology of choice: "Sing it again!" was as simple as replaying the record.

 

The New Orthophonic Victrola Model Four-three. "Without stretch of the imagination, they are right in the very room with you." 1928 - Edmund Wilson artist

1945 - End of the Silent Generation.

In 1945 phonograph ads took a new step with new radio-phonographs available with FM radio. Television receivers were also being introduced as ready to provide "the utmost in home entertainment."

General Electric, "Natural color tone on this great new radio-phonograph," 1945.

 

The Baby boomers, 1946 to 1964 - Often shortened to boomers...the generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom.

1946 - The Baby Boomers.

With World War II over and the revived production of consumer goods include new home entertainment options, the Baby boomers would see and hear important changes related to recorded sound. The 78 rpm format would be joined by new formats with the 33 1/3 rpm LPs in 1948 and 45 rpms in 1949. Component high-fidelity phonograph systems would appear and televisions would be introduced with Triple Play options with a television, radio and phonograph built into one piece of furniture. Wire recorders and reel-to reel tape recorders would become popular during the Baby boomers generation and in 1963 Philips released the Compact Cassette tape into European markets and American markets (under the brand Norelco to avoid trademark infringement).

 

Admiral's Triple Thrill FM-AM Radio-Phonograph-Television Set, 1948.

 

Wire Recorders

Another recording technology that gained some popularity during the decade after World War II was the wire recorder. "Baby's first words can be caught and locked away" said a Popular Science magazine article in January 1946 noting that the wire recorder "may well become a camera of sound." Edison expressed this same theme in 1878 under the probability Edison listed as Family Record which stated that "for the purpose of preserving the sayings, the voices, and the last words of the dying member of the family -- as of great men--the phonograph will unquestionably outrank the photograph."

 

Webster-Chicago Model 18 Wire Recorder (ca. 1953).

 

Component High-Fidelity Phonograph Systems

 

 

This painting titled "Hi-Fi" from the series "Homelife in America" by Haddon Sundblom featured friends with cold glasses of beer listening to state-of-the-art music from the component high fidelity phonograph system. The ad and its image, sponsored by the United States Brewers Foundation, is extracted from a 1956 Collier's magazine ad.

 

1964 - End of the Baby Boomers.

Emerson Portable Hi-Fi Phonograph, 1964

 

Sony model 250 solid state stereo tape recorder, 1964.

 

Generation X, 1965 to 1980 - Commonly referred to as Gen X or X'ers, researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the late 1970s as its ending birth years.

1965 - Generation X

Wollensak 5280 Stereo Tape Recorder, 1965.

 

Home Entertainment 4-track reel-to-reel tape deck, AM/FM/FM Stereo Tuner, record changer, Time, 1965

 

1980 - End of Generation X

Set your life to music - Sony's Interlock Sound Systems with Sony's Direct Drive turntable, 1980.

 

 

The Millennials, 1981 to 1996 - Also known as Generation Y or Gen Y...researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years... As the first generation to grow up with the Internet, Millennials have been described as the first global generation. The generation is generally marked by elevated usage of and familiarity with the Internet, mobile devices, social media, and technology in general.

1981 - The Millennials

 

1981 Sony Tape. Full Color Sound. (Created by Milton Glasser)

 

The Sony Walkman (Stereo Cassette Tape Player), 1981.

 

Revolutionary - Pioneer's CD/LaserVision Player, 1987

 

Digital Direct. Luxman D-109 Compact Disc Player, 1989

 

1996 - End of the Millennials

 

 

Generation Z, 1997 - 2012 - Often shortened to Gen Z or Z'ers, also known as Zoomers...researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2010s as ending birth years...As the first social generation to have grown up with access to the Internet and portable digital technology from a young age, members of Generation Z, even if not necessarily digitally literate, have been dubbed "digital natives".

1997 - Generation Z

 

iPod magazine insert ad, 2001

iPod magazine insert ad, 2001

 

 

Every song you've ever owned. In your pocket. The new iPod, 2003.

 

"Napster To Go" to refill MP3 players, 2003

 

"The Changing Face of Music," LG Flip Phone MP3 player, 2006

 

2012 - End of Generation Z

 

 

 

Generation Alpha, 2013 to 2025 - Alpha (often shortened to Gen Alpha) is named after alpha, the first letter in the Greek alphabet, Generation Alpha is the first to be born entirely in the 21st century and the third millennium....For those with access, children's entertainment has been increasingly dominated by electronic technology, social networks, and streaming services, with interest in traditional television concurrently falling. Changes in the use of technology in classrooms and other aspects of life have had a significant effect on how this generation has experienced early learning compared to previous generations.

2013 - Generation Alpha

 

 

FACTOLA: In 2015, for the first time, streaming became the largest component of industry revenues, just slightly higher than digital downloads.

 

The Launch of Apple Music, June 30, 2015

In June 2015 Apple introduced Apple Music as "the next great leap in listening." As part of its promotional kick-off Apple created a video showing Apple Music as the newest addition to the timeline of recorded music. See Phonographia's gallery Apple Music for more about that video and the legacy of the phonograph.

 

"Teen Titans Go to the Movies" Poster, Soundtrack available of Spotify, 2018

 

The Dream Room, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, "The Art of Noise Exhibit," 2024

 

2025 - End of Generation Alpha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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