I don't remember seeing any smoke eaters but the players, yes.
The 45 was first released by RCA in 1949 and by '52 or '53 it was the standard for single recordings and were selling by the millions. So it was a natural that the 45 rpm players were officered early on for auto use. Most all of the auto accessory suppliers like Warshawsky’s/JC Whitney or Western Tire and electronics suppliers like Allied and Lafayette sold the in-car players. They were fairly common when I was in high school in the late 50's. The major problem was that the tone arm had to have so much pressure on them to keep the needle from skipping you would wear out your vinyl 45's in short order. And at .59c for an Elvis that .75c an hour that you got paid for pumping Sinclair gasoline dint last to long.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
Last edited by Denny Graham; 11/06/2008 12:51 PM.
