Of us sent in that penny???
Hey, Gen Xers, another hallmark of our younger days is going away. Then again, most of us would be surprised to know that it was even still around at all.
We all remember the ads in magazines and Sunday papers: GET 7 RECORDS OR TAPES FOR A PENNY! There was a list of options for the records or tapes (later CDs) that you wanted, and all you had to do was attach a penny and send it in. If you were young enough, you probably missed the fact that you were signing up for a subscription service, and I bet most of us abandoned that subscription.
Truth be told, teenage Chris probably owed hundreds of dollars to Columbia House. There’s no telling how much money Columbia House thought it would rake in but didn’t.
Full article, HERE from PJ Media.
I remember my aunt and uncle getting records from them in the late 50s, as they lived out in the oil field and there was ONE small town a half hour away. Anything else was at least an hour’s drive, if not longer. And my aunt sang in the church choir, and played the piano for years, both at home and church.
I honestly don’t remember ever sending in a penny or anything else, but that was a LONG time ago! I honestly hadn’t thought of them in probably 40 years. The one thing I do remember is that the choices weren’t that great, at least for a penny...
And I think a lot of folks didn’t realize it was a subscription either! I know ‘we’ had a subscription to the Encyclopedia Britannica for their yearly update books, but that’s really the only subscription I remember...
Did ‘you’ send a penny in???
As I mentioned yesterday, I did it, but it was back in the very early 90's. I was living way out in the country (my job was was about a half-hour drive). So it was the easiest way to buy CD's. A friend had told me that if you paid off (Or 'bought off') the contract quickly, then told them to never send you the monthly 'choices', that you'd get a lower price than you'd find in the stores.
Turns out, he was right!
So while the ones you had to buy to fulfill your obligation (it was 12 for a penny when I did it) were a higher price, when you averaged it all out, it was still a good deal.
I was a member for years, until everything they'd offered that I was interested in, I'd bought. And I'd bought a lot. So it could be a good deal, as long as you paid attention and shopped carefully (and told them NOT to EVER send out their 'monthly suggested CD's').
The first contract I ever signed was when I was 17. Cost me nothing. 30 days later in boot camp THEY PAID ME $75 in cash. Total win.