Entertainment Center

So here in 1985 was my entertainment center. A Scandinavian teak wall system dominates one wall. Yep, I put it up myself, and it's still there, though everything else has changed. The speakers were U.S.-made Advent two-way bookshelf units, which I had owned since the Seventies. The books are now in my garage, having been replaced several times over by newer ones.

The long-play vinyl 33 rpm records on the shelf beneath the right speaker were mainly of classical music, probably alphabetically arranged according to composers' last names, as are my current crop of CDs. (In those days a name-brand classical LP cost around $6. Compare that to a good CD today; that is, if you can even find one!) Not to sound elitist, but truly my collection of classical pieces far outnumber the other stuff.

A Panasonic 19" television (still made in Japan at that time) with rabbit ears, no remote control, and only a very limited number of channels, sits on a stand with casters, that I had built myself in my garage workshop: a simple box, unpretentious, but nicely stained in mahogany and black, and varnished with satin polyurethane. Behind the TV, a framed print of Columbus's "Nina", "Pinta", and "Santa Maria".

On the chest of drawers left of the TV sits a Panasonic VHS videotape player. It has more buttons on its front than anything else. (A good blank videotape cost sixteen bucks back a quarter-century ago.) Next to the player is the Harmon Kardon stereo receiver, which we used about fifty percent of the time as an FM radio, and the rest for playing LPs. Radio was still pretty big back then. There were no remote controls for either the receiver or the VHS player, so you had to get out of your chair to twist knobs or push buttons, just as you did for the TV.

The phonograph, or LP turntable, was also made by Panasonic, but had the name Technics. It worked well, though you had to be careful that the arm was balanced so perfectly that the diamond point of the long-playing needle, manufactured by the American company Shure, made the lightest possible contact with the record in order not to damage or distort the grooves. Because dust can cling statically to vinyl records, there is a special felt roller brush that can be placed at the opposite edge of the turntable from the arm to clean the disc as it plays. It was a high-maintenance device to have to upkeep. The diamond needles needed replacement periodically, and they were not cheap.

I don't know what the black thing is that's sitting on the top of the turntable – probably a sweater that I had just taken off.

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