Reel to reel

Reel to reel tape recorders first appeared in the 1930s and later became popular in domestic use until the smaller compact cassette gradually replaced them from the 1960s. They remained in professional use until digital recording techniques took over in the 1980s/90s. That said, they still see use today; apparently many artists record to digital and then re-record to tape for a fuller, more natural sound.

My father bought a Bush recorder back in the 1960s, I remember going up to London with him for a (presumably successful) demonstration, bringing it back in the car. It was big and quite heavy, more so when also carrying the associated box of tapes. Although it was a feature in our house, we recorded off the TV and radio (with all the attendant background noise for added atmosphere!) and, on one occasion around 1968, gathered some old workers in our front room from the local sand quarry railways, to talk about their life. What ever happened to that recording, I wonder? I can only recall one pre-recorded tape, for the musical Carousel, which my mother bought

Here is an advert for the German-made Grundig, from Lilliput magazine, December 1955. Despite it's size, it is described as "......the instrument you can take to a party that everybody asks you to play". The price tag was hefty too, at 70 guineas less microphone, more expensive that the 14in television promoted by Eamonn Andrews in the same issue