Japan Story Phonograph

Japan Story

I had a very important job.  When I was about five I was tasked with replacing the phonograph needles.  This involved standing on a stool, carefully lifting the heavy phonograph needle holder, unscrewing the old needle's grip, and putting it in the 'old needles' place.  Then selecting a sharp new needle and inserting it in the head, screwing it tight so it would not fall out.  This was required for the optimal sound each time a record was played.  A worn needle would make the record sound fuzzy.  

The phonograph player stood about four feet high with a lid that opened up to reveal the turntable and the playing head. It was too high for me to reach without a stool.  The 78 RPM records were stored on a bottom shelf.  My father, who had been trained in  violin, had a collection of classical music, all on 78 RPM s as that was the latest technology.  I think we might even have had a speaker horn!

I had one record of my very own.  It was a collection of nursery rhymes set to music.  I would sit on the floor and sing along .  The only one I really remember was:

"Tom, Tom, the Piper's son
Stole a pig and away he run  (A bad rhyme I thought)
The pig was et
And Tom was beat
And both went roaring down the street."

Altogether a very bad poem.  But what struck me most was the strange sound effect at the end. It was supposed to mimic the sound of a pig roaring, but to me it sounded exactly like someone throwing up!