WHEN RECORDS WENT AUTOMATIC

Garrard Sales Corporation

Garrard: Record Changers, Radio-Gram Units & Motors

New York: Garrard Sales Corporation, 1939.

AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGERS ON THE EVE OF WWII—GARRARD'S 1939 VISION OF HOME AUDIO.
Trade catalogue for the American market illustrating Garrard record changers, radio-gram units, electric and spring motors, pickups, needles, and related equipment.

RECORDED SOUND GOES AUTOMATIC.
An illustrated 1939 Garrard sales catalogue documenting the company's record-playing technology immediately before World War II. Issued by Garrard's New York sales organization, the catalogue promotes British-built automatic record changers and related components to the expanding American radio and recorded-sound market.

The catalogue combines striking photographic presentation with detailed specifications, operating features, dimensions, and contemporary list prices. Among the equipment presented is the RC 10 automatic record changer, capable of automatically playing eight 10-inch or eight 12-inch records and incorporating automatic stop, tangent pickup arm, non-slip spindle, automatic rejection, and speed regulation. Contemporary sources confirm the RC 10 was being incorporated into radiograms in 1939.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: A PREWAR EQUIPMENT CATALOGUE
Stapled pictorial wrappers, 7.5 by 10.5 inches, 18 numbered pages. Illustrated throughout with large monochrome photographs and technical views of Garrard equipment, including record changers, motor assemblies, pickups, and the company's Swindon, England plant.

Individual models are accompanied by descriptions, technical specifications, dimensions, features, and list prices. Copyright 1939 by Garrard Sales Corporation, printed in the U.S.A.

CONDITION: GOOD. The bindings are tight and square. Text is clean with light, even age-toning. Moderate shelf handling wear to the wrappers, including rubbing and corner wear. A vertical center fold runs through the catalogue, visible particularly on the front wrapper and several leaves. Stapled binding remains secure.

TECHNOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: ON THE EVE OF MODERN HOME AUDIO.
 The catalogue captures a transitional moment in domestic recorded sound, when automatic record changing was becoming an important feature of radio-phonograph equipment. Garrard had already established itself as an innovator in automatic changers, and in 1938 introduced its remarkable RC100, designed to play both sides of a record as well as mixed 10- and 12-inch records.

Issued in 1939, this catalogue documents the company's technology immediately before wartime disruption and preserves both the machinery and the marketing language surrounding increasingly automated home listening. Its combination of industrial design, recorded-sound history, contemporary pricing, and technical specifications gives it appeal beyond Garrard collectors to those interested in early audio equipment and twentieth-century consumer technology.

SUBJECTS: Garrard, Record Changers, Phonographs, Gramophones, Recorded Sound, Audio Equipment, Radio-Gram Units, Turntables, Electric Motors, British Manufacturing, Prewar Technology, 1939,Trade Catalogues, Advertising Ephemera, Recorded Sound, Industrial History, Technology, Consumer Electronics.

Item #22352

Price: $45.00