Avocado Memories: Photos of long-forgotten blank cassettes

I came across this stash the other day - can't say where.

 

Boots UK major chemist chain used to have a record section

 

BASF = Badische Anilin Soda Fabrik

 

I never went to a Boots, but I like it.

 

When I visited my parents who lived in England for 20 months in the late 80s I picked up some Boots brand tapes.

 

Never saw one of these until last week. I don't know what brand it is:

 

Looks like a Memorex to me.

 

Yes, definitely a Memorex - never seen a 'two-tone' one before though, normally they were either Grey or Blue from memory...

 

The two-tone Memorex's were part of their A-V line reserved for institutions like schools and rarely (if ever) sold through consumer retail channels.

 

That two-color Memorex reminds me of a blank I once owned which had white casing on one side and black on the other. It was a no-name brand, in fact I don't even think there WAS a brand on it. I just remember a huge silver "90" on a white label with other typical & inconsequential black text.

The only other black & white cassette I ever saw (unless I've forgotten one in this thread?) was a friend's prerecorded copy of a Don McLean album. Maybe UA cassettes were like that?

 

Yup and they came in horrible cases.

 

Ah, cool! Nice to see that again. Though I have to say they really should have gone the extra step and made the Side One labels white with black text!

I can't remember if my friend's Don McLean tape came in that style of case, but I remember having an Atlantic cassette (pink shell) which did. I kinda like them for some reason. There's no accounting for taste!

 

Thanks for jogging my memory on the pink Atlantic cassettes! My brother had a couple of those I remember.

 

Buddah Records also used those cheap slip covers.

 

I didn't know that because I never had anything on Buddah, outside of a couple of singles when I was a kid. But are these really considered cheap cases? They seem like perfectly viable cases to me, even compared to the more common hinged ones. I only remember ever having two, and I recall them being sturdy enough. I mean, the tapes never fell out or anything like that.

BTW, the other one I had was on a GRT-associated label, with the case and cassette shell both being blue.

 

Ampex made them also like the black clamshell ones, it holds them fine but a little rougher on the shells I guess.

 

I always thought the hinged Memorex cases were a clever design:

 

The problem with this design and the aforementioned cases used by United Artists, is that the tape reels were not secured when in the case. If the cassette was jarred, some slack could occur on the tape - this could cause problems during playback. The Memorex tapes did come with plastic hubs which were inserted into the reels to prevent this from happening. They are not present in the photo.

 

Yes, a clever design, but a PITA! They were a bit too bulky to fit into most cassette cases.

 

That's true...

 

My 2nd Hi-Fi cassette deck bought after I got my first post-college job. $350 I think back in 1989

 

The cassette of the original ROCKY soundtrack was one of those black & white tapes too.

 

And they didn't really allow for easy use of any kind of J-card for notating detailed contents.

 

TDK SA-90 was the go to.......but it seems like I could always find these in sale

 

As posted above I like finding vintage cassette tape cases/holders also. Found this one in a thrift for $2, made by Beaux Mercon Inc (BMI) in the U.S.A. I have another one made by them that is in a light brown case and holds 24 tapes [unmarked but with exact same latch mechanism]. The one below is small and holds 16 and is faux soft black leather covering. BMI started up in 1979, this is probably an early to mid 80s one. The company stills exists and is called caseit.com, though I doubt they make cassette tape holders anymore