Designed for Hi-Fi Living: The Vinyl LP in Midcentury America

This is the coolest book! The photographs are stunning. And the analysis of how the US became invested in entertaining, and what entertainment meant, in the post-war era is eye-opening. The book is a fun read, not just because of the beautiful photos of LP covers, but also because of the insights on how Americans became "modern" both at home and abroad.

What was unclear to me before I bought this was how many album covers were pictured and discussed. Around 250, all at 6.5" square. As for the size, one can wish that they were even larger, but since these are likely scans from the old albums, displaying them near half-size allows them to avoid moiré effects. All in all, this is a quality project and a very cool book. And would make a great gift for any collector.

A great read featuring vintage album covers of post-war America and what a properly gentrified or cultered mid-century American sould be wearing, how one should be decorating their house all whislt hosting a perfect dinner party or imaging the perfect vacation destination through subliminal messaging depicted on the album cover. Borgerson and Schroeder take one though different aspects of life centered around the hi-fi console that was stratigically placed in living rooms accross America and the covers of the music played on them.

This book captures the essence of the 1950's and 1960's. Entertaining, but informative. I would highly recommend this book for a wonderful trip down memory lane!!Phil Prygoski

As a book it reads more like a college thesis paper than an engaging history of Hi-Fi age recordings. Most of the records are pretty common. They have a Hawaii section but they don't go into exotica. There are dance records but they don't go into the numerous Cha-Cha, Mambo, or Limbo records of the time. They completely skip Space Age Pop. whether it was because of space constraints or some other decision, they never really wander deep into the Kitchy oddness that makes that time period of music a unique one. I would consider this a possible starting point if you're getting into these kind of records but there are so many more interesting records of the time period than what are included in this book. For me it missed the mark by not showing some of the records that really are still great to listen to today.

Phenomenal insights into the world of vinyl and how it both reflects and impacts America's view of the world and itself. Beautiful color plates bring back fond memories and recall a time when purchasing an album was an investment in a multimedia artistic expression rather than a one-song-and-you're-gone impulse. Well-researched and thoughtfully arranged. Well worth it!

For Boomers, this book is visual comfort food. Thoughtful and scholarly, but nicely accessible. No linear reading required--just pick it up and read. You'll be amazed at how well the visuals cue up vivid memories, even if you've never listened to the music. The book reminds me of afternoons reading Gary Larsen or Garry Trudeau.

Loved this book from cover-to-cover. Insightful window into the American era of gracious living and a pleasure to peruse album covers with concise write-ups for each. Highly recommended as an information source, aesthetic and curiosity piece.

Unlike the authors, I never collected vinyl -- books yes -- but my father, two older brothers and most of my boyfriends certainly bought records regularly. Vinyls were always everywhere, held between stiff jazz hands, and cleared of dust, but not by us children because, well the stylus, risk of scratches, etc. They lived on substantial furniture, room-dividing shelves, in heavy box sets sporting etched portraits of bewigged classical composers in sober ranks, eventually joined by new neighbours: classic rock, new wave and electronic albums -- with special master versions in their special plastic sleeves. As a child, I used to stare at the covers, open the double albums and read the liner notes and want to know more about the stories behind the images -- because album covers always left an impression, even if they were the 'duff', weird albums of Christmas and weirdly exotic gamalan music, and other 'gifts', stuffed in the hall closet beneath the polythene skirts of the dry cleaning bags. My own disco albums never made the living room - they were kept with the old nursery rhyme, storytime and Disney records and played on a portable Winnie the Pooh record player in my bedroom -- emphatically not on the hifi in the living room. This book brings the importance of albums in our family households back, and shows how record companies were instrumental in building our expectations about desirable consumer lifestyles. The albums that surround us, like wallpaper, are considered -- not the ones we are proud of, and show off, with all the curated snob appeal, to distinguish our superior taste from others' -- the curios are discussed as an important precursor to building social consensus before all the mail-order catalogues and glossy magazines that came thick and fast after the mid-century era studied. The LP is the old Instagram of yore -- except they got to make us hungry for outer space first!

A joyous "coffee table" book .Just the thing for browsing through and reading one or two pages.A terrific celebration of the vinyl HiFi albums of Midcentury America.As an oldie I remember many of them but certainly not all ~ in the UK we only got a selection of what was in America.A great gift for an oldie who loves HiFi and or Vinyl.

Eigentlich eine schöne Idee eine Buch mit Schallplatten-Covern von nicht ganz so bekannten Alben aber leider ist der Textanteil sehr hoch, so daß noch nicht einmal 100 'Cover abgebildet werden konnten

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  英語の説明文が思ったより多かった印象。LPジャケットの写真ももう少し大きければいいなと思った。余白が多めな気も。内容はテーマ別。右ページにジャケット、左ページに文章で構成されている。本の大きさの画像と内容をさらっと見せた動画もあるのでよろしければ。50～60年代のレコードジャケットのデザインが好きなひとには興味深く見れるかと思う。

If all you care about is LP sleeve design in cursory terms, you will love this book. If you're a hipster who buys LPs but doesn't even own a turntable, you'll love this book. But if you want to know about the LP's impact on society and expect more "meat", read on:How two academics with such solid credentials managed to write a 400pp book for such a lofty publisher, with that specific title and ...1) managed to discuss 150 (admittedly disposable, kitschy albums for the most part) without giving release dates or any recording info;2) managed to avoid completely dealing with "hi-fi" and the hardware needed to play LPs, especially as hi-fi is referenced in the title;3) completely ignored hi-fi's (and audiophiles') role in establishing the LP in the first place back in the 1950s and 1960s, considering how LPs were aimed at jazz and classical lovers who probably owned "stereos", which is surely a major part of the sociological implications of the book's subtitle;4) made reference to the LP's revival without contacting the record labels, turntable manufacturers or reviewers who sustained the LP during the years after CD came along and served as the revival's midwives (e.g. Mobile Fidelity, Chad Kassem, Pro-ject, Michael Fremer, VPI, SME, etc.)... completely baffles me. As gorgeously reproduced as are the obscure LP sleeves, the book has no worth whatsoever in communicating the true birth, history, impact or rebirth of the vinyl LP format itself. And there are other, better books that deal with the story of record album cover art.A missed opportunity, especially given the gravitas of The MIT Press.