Work: GA 45 Pop

Description

“We arrived last. But we made a different automatic record player. Different in its industrial design, in its dimensions, in its quality. And at an affordable price. Finishing last like this is really finishing first.” From a Minerva advert for the Pop GA45.

Pop is a portable record player designed by Mario Bellini, produced by Minerva in 1968 then re-launched as Phonoboy by Grundig (which took over Minerva) in 1969. Like other products of its type, it exhibits some of the distinctive qualities of the period: they are compact objects (24cm high x 9cm deep) and robust enough to be transported. When not in use, the steel or polished aluminium handle fits neatly in a groove in the casing in ABS plastic material (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene).

This plastic material offers innumerable expressive qualities: the resin can be pre-coloured and therefore, even after 60 years, these products retain their original colouring, unlike coated products. The version in our collection is orange and is accompanied by a round container for the 45-rpm discs.

An element which is both functional and decorative is the area of micro-perforations which permits the sound of the loudspeaker to come out. Nearby is the slot that allows the 45-rpm disc to enter and exit. Overall, the record player looks like a modern handbag in rigid coloured plastic. Like the Valentine, it could be said that this object was also designed for young women.

“Silent and almost pocket-sized, but with the cumbersome presence of history, of signs, of messages linked to a time that had a bright future, Pop also anticipated the return fashion of not yet or no longer with headphones, but precisely with a stereo on the shoulders. In this case, in the hand.” Chiara Alessi.