# Will my 17 year old know what this doodad is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 19, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749 "2010-12-19T20:49:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/1 "2010-12-19T20:49:58Z")
Just found one half buried in the snow in a parking lot. Think he’ll know what it is? [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:45rpmadapter.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:45rpmadapter.jpg) (Cafe Society? IMHO? Aw, heck, I dunno…) ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/2 "2010-12-19T20:52:39Z")
Not a clue. I’m 24 and I’d think it was a child’s ninja throwing star or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/3 "2010-12-19T20:54:21Z")
I’m sure he knows what a turntable is, and I guess he knows about vinyl, but does he know about the RPMs? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/4 "2010-12-19T20:55:49Z")
LOL, I doubt it. I’m 35 and it was already a fairly obscure item when I was 17. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/5 "2010-12-19T21:04:48Z")
I doubt he will. Those were from the 50’s and 60s. Before 8 tracks. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/6 "2010-12-19T21:10:27Z")
I’m 48 and I barely know what it is – 45s in the UK never needed them (our singles had the same size hole as LPs). But your 17-year-old might well know what it is the same way I do: from seeing them on the web (and elsewhere). They’re available as keyfobs, earrings, pendants and designs on t-shirts. Kids these days, huh? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/7 "2010-12-19T21:13:34Z")
I’m 46 and I remember them well but I haven’t seen one in like 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/8 "2010-12-19T21:17:06Z")
I guessed, and then saw the title. Although I grew up during vinyl’s senescence, and don’t think I ever saw my parents play anything but 33s (and 1/3), I do know that there are many types of adapters. The wikipedia page linked to that shows (appropriately) 45 different types, so just because someone doesn’t recognize one doesn’t mean they don’t know what one is. I am most familiar with what I remember as a little “basket” that goes over the spindle. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/9 "2010-12-19T21:19:07Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I doubt he will. Those were from the 50’s and 60s. Before 8 tracks. Not in my world they aren’t. I was born in 1970, and I definitely had 45s with the big holes and tons of those adapters. 8-tracks, though, were something from the past. My parents had a stereo with an 8-track player, but had long since moved to albums. The only 8-tracks in the house were very, very old. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/10 "2010-12-19T21:24:51Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > I’m 48 and I barely know what it is – 45s in the UK never needed them (our singles had the same size hole as LPs). They’re not completely unseen in the UK - I bought a load of second hand singles that came out of juke boxes - they had these. Also, my record player had an adaptor that went over the spindle to fit the 45s with the larger hole. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/11 "2010-12-19T21:26:46Z")
I have them, a couple 45’s and a turntable in my bedroom right now. Until the flood a few years ago I still had dad’s 78 phonograph with the large needles and a vibrating diaphragm on the arm. Turntables were still in common use until at least 1990. I don’t expect anybody 30 or younger to know the components of a turntable or how to use one. It’s nice if they have used one, but don’t expect it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/12 "2010-12-19T21:33:04Z")
I asked the Kiddo (12 yo) and he thought it was some sort of “throwing disc thing” like a frisbee. It’s hard to tell scale from the picture. We have plenty of LPs around the house, so he is well aware of vinyl and what a turntable is. He just hasn’t encountered any 45s. I’m 41 and we had a couple of those around the house, but we also had a column-style adapter that let you stack and play half a dozen 45s in a row before turning them all over to the B side. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/13 "2010-12-19T21:50:41Z")
No clue. The turntable in our house had an adapter that popped up from the table itself. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/14 "2010-12-19T21:54:12Z")
not even I know what it is ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/15 "2010-12-19T22:13:41Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > not even I know what it is It’s a videodisk spacer, for when you have to stack videodisks to store them.\* Okay, that’s not true. It’s [a spindle adapter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45_rpm_adapter) that allowed small diameter [45 rpm vinyl records](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_record), which were produced with large central holes, to be played on a standard record player (designed for 33 1/3 rpm, but often with a variable speed switch) which had a narrow spindle. ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/16 "2010-12-19T22:14:02Z")
I’m 30 and had no idea what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/17 "2010-12-19T22:51:53Z")
I guess that it was something you’d use to hold string for a long period of time, and perhaps had some versatility so you could get a set amount off quickly. I figured it was for fishing or yard work or something. I’m 25, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/18 "2010-12-19T23:04:01Z")
The name of the file clued me in that it has something to do with record players, but even after reading the thread, I still have no idea what it actually does. I’m 32, and we had an operational record player in my house until I was about 11 or so. (Although my dad had been transitioning to CDs for a few years by that point.) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/19 "2010-12-19T23:12:05Z")
Here are a bunch of the [45 adapters](http://www.jukn55.com/other-items-45rpm.html) like were on the older turntables. Most of them could accommodate a stack of 45’s and drop them one at a time. They had a hole through the middle which you used to put them over the spindle ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749/20 "2010-12-19T23:33:08Z")
I had to travel about 20 feet from where I’m sitting by my computer to find over half a dozen of those things. They were sitting inside a bunch of 45s on top of a stack of LPs stored on the floor in an old milk crate. Titles inclued “Leaving on a Jet plane”, “Brandy”, “Rockin robin” and “Short people”. Those all sat on top of my “Sammy Davis Jr.'s greatest hits” LP. I’ll get this basement organized one of these days. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-my-17-year-old-know-what-this-doodad-is/564749.md?page=2)