HAVE THRILLING RACES AT HOME! (Apr, 1948)
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Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1948
| Buy on Ebay
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1948
| Buy on Ebay
How did they make a record where the outcome couldn’t be predicted?
HAVE THRILLING RACES AT HOME!
Great fun for every occasion!! Start this record on any phonograph and NO ONE CAN TELL THE WINNING HORSE—Not Even the Owner! Has all the thrills and sound effects of BIGTIME racing! Comes complete with scoring sheet. Send TODAY sure…Safe Delivery Guaranteed. (Write for wholesale prices.)
STAR SPECIALTY CO.
Maybe the same as Monty Python’s LP “Matching Tie and Handkerchief”. Instead of one groove there are multiple grooves, each of which extends from the edge to the center. Think of hypno-coins. Which groove plays depends on which happens to be taken when the needle is placed on the record.
It turns out to be fairly random. It drove me nuts when trying to play the third side of the Monty Python album.
Comment by Steve Adams — October 15, 2007 @ 1:05 pm
I second the guess (or second-guess) that it’s multiple parallel grooves.
There was a Henny Youngman LP in the 70s with the same gimmick. You’d randomly get one of a bunch of monologues, depending on where the needle fell.
The horse racing disk would have been a 78. (33-1/3 LPs were just being invented in 1948, and the public didn’t have the means to play them yet.) I guess somebody had a multiple-track cutting lathe even then.
Maybe I’ll just send in my $1.49 for the record and look for myself.
Comment by woid — October 15, 2007 @ 2:43 pm
And to conclusively prove that Steve Adams and woid answered Charlie’s question merely follow this link http://showcase.thebluebus.nl/.....cords.html
Comment by Firebrand38 — October 15, 2007 @ 2:59 pm
I also found a ebsite with details on a 1932 record with title info as well as a chance to play the 6 tracks at random.
http://www.oldcrank.com/articles/winner/
Comment by Firebrand38 — October 15, 2007 @ 3:05 pm
To further the discussion;
I worked at a radio station back in the mid 80’s, and we had several multi grove records, which we used for “on the air” contests. One of these was indeed a horse racing record.
“Now caller number 13, which horse do you think will win the derby today? If you guess right, you win 5 pounds of carrots and a turnip from Roger’s Garden Market.” was the general idea. Corny as all get out, but people loved it.
Comment by Sammy — October 15, 2007 @ 8:17 pm
I wonder if a CD or DVD could do this.
It would be great for games or movies with multiple endings.
[Yes, I am fully aware that CDs and DVDs do not have a sprial track. It's concentric circles.]
Comment by jayessell — October 16, 2007 @ 9:15 am
I believe CDs and DVDs do have a spiral track; it is written and read from the center of the disc to the outside, the opposite of a record, and the rotational speed of the CD or DVD varies so that the speed of the pits going past the laser remains the same. See http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/dvd.htm
Comment by Don Fearn — October 16, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
I got a record just like this as a child in the 80’s. Probably still have it. Neat to see that they were around for decades before my time.
Comment by Chris L — October 16, 2007 @ 6:47 pm
MAD magazine had one of these in an issue in the early seventies. I think it was called “A Wonderful Day”.
Comment by KHarn — March 2, 2008 @ 6:02 pm
I wonder if a CD or DVD could do this.
It would be great for games or movies with multiple endings.
[Yes, I am fully aware that CDs and DVDs do not have a sprial track. It's concentric circles.]
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DVDs and CDs are both spirals, not concentric circles.
And to do what you want… you could just press Shuffle
Comment by AB — June 27, 2008 @ 4:38 pm