Mixed Media

Criminal confessions, court reporting, secret shoppers – was there anything newly portable recording devices of the twentieth century couldn’t capture?

Although the equipment was bulky and heavy by today’s standards, advertisements and product catalogs show that by mid-century, the portability of recording equipment had become a selling point. As noted in some of the promotional literature, recording devices were not only marketed for recreational use. Smaller recording devices also created opportunities for new professional applications. For example, the Amplifier Corporation of America promoted its “Secret Recorder” as useful for recording an astonishing array of potential situations, all while cleverly concealed within a discreet briefcase.

Early adopters of Edison’s gramophone typically listened to the device in groups or at parties as a novelty. Once radios became a common household feature, families would listen to broadcasts together, as seen in the advertising brochure here.

With the advent of the transistor, smaller, more portable and more affordable radios and stereo systems changed the listening experience. From the mid-20thcentury onwards, individuals could listen to these devices alone in their rooms.

The development of the Sony Walkman in the 1970s enabled individual listening—first to cassette tapes, and later to CDs. Much like its mid-century predecessors, the Walkman was both marketed and represented in popular culture as appealing primarily to youth. By the early 21stcentury, MP3 players, most famously Apple’s iPod, transformed individual listening to a digital experience. Here are some examples of how these media players were advertised and appeared in popular culture, and how their portable predecessors were marketed in mid-century America.