Customer Reviews

The Complete Guide to Vintage Children's Records

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One of the fondest memories I have from my youth is that old, suitcase style record player where I would play records for hours. I used to have a lot of old kids records and would dearly LOVE to still have them. My favorite was an Batman LP from the 60's that came a comic that retold Batman's origin. Collector Books is always ahead of the pack when it comes to publishing great niche books, and they've released truly the ultimate book for fans and collectors of children's records.

The Complete Guide to Vintage Children's Records is a remarkable book and a journey through a wonderful era of nostalgia. The Author, Peter Muldavin is a lifelong collector of children's nostalgia items and this book came about out of pure necessity. There simply was nothing else out there on the market. Now, the focus of the book is on 78 rpm records and not 45's or LP's. It's important to point that out as what most people are going to encounter in garage sale or flea markets is going to be LP's or 45's. Muldavin is concentrating on the era of his childhood, the early baby boomer years when 78's were prevalent in the 40's and through the late 50's.

Muldavin provides a very detailed and entertaining history of childrends records which highlights the Golden Age of kids records from 1946 - 1956. This includes a top ten list of record companies who produced children's records which includes Golden, Victor/RCA, Decca, Capitol, and Mercury. He also covers unique packages such as shaped or die-cut records, picture discs, filmstrip records, etc...All highly collectible today! There's also very valuable information about identifying and dating records, grading, and buying and selling. This truly is one-stop shopping for the Kid's record collectors.

Perhaps the most important section of the book is the 80 pages dedicated to label notes and identification. Here, Muldavin lists the hundreds of different label producers along with information such as distributor, content, subsidiaries, record size, color of label, date range, and miscellaneous notes. For example, Blue Ribbon records was a division of Mercury Records producing general children's entertainment records in the 1950's on 6", 7", or 10" vinyl. Over 450 different labels are noted.

The guide portion makes up the 300 pages plus of the book. It lists records alphabetically by label brand, beginning with Action Records and ending with Young People's Records. The guide is done in a grid format listing the main title, Disc #, artist, year, and values for both G/VG and EX/NMT grades. In all over 13,000 records are listed in the guide with hundreds of clear color photos included. In here you'll see pictures of records such as The Travels of Babar, Astro Boy, Mighty Mouse in Toyland, Jerry Lewis the Noisy Eater, and Uncle Milty and Donald Duck...what gems!

One of the best books I've seen yet from Collector Books...gorgeously illustrated and thorough. The perfect Baby Boomer companion!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Let me say at the outset that I'm not really -- yet -- a children's record collector, but I am a fan of the wonderful and imaginative art that graces so many of the covers. And the older I get, the more the songs, stories, and fables themselves touch my heart in ways that complex adult materials can't. I discovered this guide by accident while trying to find a particular song from my childhood. In the tradition of Schroeder Publishing's Collector Books, it is a very impressive work. Collectors will find not only values for a vast number of records, but also insightful information on the various labels. Hundreds of jackets and records are illustrated in color. It's fun just to flip through. The love and enthusiasm that Mr. Muldavin clearly feels for his hobby are infectious and he shares his expertise fully. Highly recommended!

There seem to be two questions that enthusiasts and collectors ask when they find something new - "what is it" and "how much is it worth." Peter Muldavin's book, "The Complete Guide to Vintage Children's Records," answers those questions in painstaking detail, built on what must have been years and years of research. The first quarter or so of the book provides a short, but very informative, history of each of the record companies included and the rest of the book is devoted to the record listings. You'd think that lists of record titles would be visually boring, but that's not the case here - almost all of the listing pages are illustrated with color photos of the records and sleeves. The listings themselves are set in a type that's easy to read, and color is used well so that it's easy to move across the lines. The value estimates seem accurate to me (at least for the records I know something about), and this book has gone further than most by providing values for records in both near-perfect and lesser condition - a real boon to a hobby where condition matters. The price of this book is very reasonable - listings like this are often much more expensive and don't have photos. So if you have an interest in children's records or just want to reminisce a little about the sounds of your childhood, this might be just the book for you.

Peter Muldavin's book Vintage Children's Records is over the top. It lists nearly every 78rpm child's record released in the United States through the 1950s. Anyone who still has one or more 78rpm records from their childhood, whether stashed away in a closet or proudly displayed as a fine collection, will surely find their discs described in Peter's book together with an accurate price guide and artist reference. Vintage Children's Records is published in gorgeous, glossy full color and measures 8 1/2 x 11 inches. It is nearly an inch thick. If you want to research your own 78rpm record or just desire to learn about the history of vintage childhood records, this book is a "must." I recommend it without reservation. Dale Alberstone, Beverly Hills

Many collection or hobby projects start with a grand plan but result in something less. This project meets and exceeds the niche market it was designed for. There is no doubt that Peter's initial efforts will make it much easier for children's record collectors to know what they are missing and find ways to fill the voids in their own collections. Along the way, many collectors will no doubt be proud of items they may have that Peter has not yet mentioned, and in providing that information to him, another expanded edition will result to the benefit of all collectors. Thanks for a job well done Peter.

THIS IS SUCH A WONDERFUL BOOK! I'm a Children's Record Collector and I waited a long time for Peter to finish this GREAT BOOK. It is so useful and put together so nicely. The information has been very helpful to me & my Husband. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!

This guide to children's records is superbly made, with high-quality printing in full color. I have enjoyed it not only for the specific information about availability and price, but even more so for the nostalgic pleasure of perusing the pictures of so many favorite records from that era. It is quite a trip down memory lane!

This book is the answer to a collector's dream! Having collected children's records all my life (even before they were considered "vintage"), I have had to rely on the frustrating and haphazard method of scouring the country for used record stores, swap meets and garage sales or answering ads. Now for the first time, thanks to Peter Muldavin's amazing book and website, my collecting can be done systematically! My only complaint about the book is that the records are listed only by label. A second edition would be greatly improved by an index of titles and artists. Nonetheless, it is so beautifully designed, so thoroughly researched, so richly and colorfully illustrated, it should be considered a collectible itself.
Robin Field, Big Bear Lake, California

First-rate scholarship; complete as is possible; in a well-presented (sorry for the food comparison) book. Well-done, Peter. RH

Mr. Muldavin's book is a very attractive, entertaining and informative work. It is a pleasure to browse, with colorful 50's style illustrations as well as a generous sprinkling of color photographs of some of the records themselves and their vintage art jackets. The pages are of a slick, sturdy weight paper which will hold up well under a lot of thumbing through by the reader. It begins with a very interesting introduction which includes an explanation of codes and abbreviations used within, the purpose of the book, various types of children's records, what "vintage" means, information on children's record labels, a most interesting history of the "Golden Age" of children's records, and much, much more. The meat of the work is a well-organized discography of thousands of 78 rpm children's records from the 1940-50's with their disc ID numbers, song titles, artists, year, and estimated value. This book covers in an eye-catching way everything you didn't know you wanted to know about vintage children's records.