Columbia House Record and Tape Club, January 1983

The early '80s were a time of many greats...great movies, great TV shows, and of course great music. For the music collector, keeping up with all the new releases was an ambitious goal. Getting 11 (or more) albums for just one penny seemed to be an optimal way to fill in holes in the collection and sample the music of new artists, and that's precisely what Columbia House Record and Tape Club promised to deliver.

Columbia House had its beginnings in the 1950s as the Columbia Record Club, the first of several such clubs to sell record albums by mail order directly to the public. As other formats such as 8-track and cassette became more popular, the club was rebranded as Columbia House in the early 1970s and exponentially expanded its membership base throughout that decade. 

Much of the reason for this growth was the enticing ads such as the one pictured here. For just one cent, plus shipping and handling fees, a member could receive 11 albums (or 12 if he/she remembered to fill in the bonus gold box). In return, the member was expected to purchase 9 more albums at regular Club prices, plus shipping and handling, over a 3-year period. As an incentive, every few weeks the Club mailed out its music magazine which contained a description of the "Selection of the Month" for the music category the member was interested in. Usually this was a newer release by a fairly well known, although not necessarily A-list, artist. The Club would automatically mail the Selection of the Month unless the member returned a card declining it.

All in all, the Club was not a terrible deal, although the terms seemed a bit less appealing after the initial shipment was received than they had in the beginning. For one, the regular Club prices for the 9 additional purchases required ranged from $7.98 to $9.98, which was a bit on the high side for most music releases in 1983. Additionally, there was a shipping charge assessed for each album, which at the time was approximately $2. This made the additional purchases about $10 per album. Finally, there was the matter of regularly having to remember to mail in the card declining the Selection of the Month, or else getting stuck with an album the member didn't necessarily want (and at a somewhat premium price at that)!

From personal experience, I can say that the Club operated reasonably fairly, and while in actuality there wasn't such a thing as "free" albums once the shipping and other costs were factored in, it was not necessarily a rip-off either. When the costs for the initial "free" albums, the 9 purchases at regular price and the shipping fees were averaged out, the result was close to what the albums would have cost at retail.

So, while there wasn't an immense saving in the long-term, it was admittedly fun to open that first shipment and see all the newly acquired titles. Now and Forever, anyone?