What the 8-Track Museum Is Now
The Museum at present is taking up one whole room of my apt. and spilling into the hallway outside the door. It is wall-to-wall shelves. Portable players are on display on the top shelf and some of my fancier carriers. There's about 35 component-type players, some with turntables, stacked up on the floor against one wall and two rows deep under my worktable.

The work table has some other cool display items on it. Two players with little doors that look like toaster ovens. One plays three tapes one after the other, the other plays five tapes! They work poorly. The quality isn't the same from tape to tape and they have a hard time drawing the next tape in sometimes. They spit one out, but the next doesn't go in all the way until you give it a push. There's one of my 3 mostly non-functioning 2xl robots, an early 8-track-like tape cartridge system from Orrtronics for which I have one 'Tapette". It plays if I hold it in just the right positon. There's a pile of 8-track to casette adaptors and an radio tuner that you stick into an 8-track slot to play. There's an aerosol spray stereo cleaner that says for use on 8-track players on the label. I haven't tried it. 30 years of pressure built up in that can. I can't imagine it'd be the best thing fo rmy players right now.

The piece de resistance of the whole room is a giant fiberglass fake fireplace with an electric fake fire. Under the mantel (Surprise!) are a turntable and an 8-track player. Speakers fit inside on either side of the 'fire'. I found it on vacation in Wildwood, New Jersey in the trash. It's super heavy. My ex and I nearly killed ourselves lifting it into the truck. This behemoth has had all its wires cut, but I hope to restore it to its former glory one day.

In front of the cozy fake fire is a giant fuzzy chess board rug with pieces all ready to go. Somebody come play with me? I'm no good at chess, but I play anyway. On top of the rug is a blue butterfly chair. There's hardly any room to walk around and admire the tapes on the walls, so luckily the butterfly chair is the folding type.

There are also two windows with crazy-patterned vintage fabric curtains and the top sash glass is covered with old 8-track ads to keep the sun off the carts. I leave only tiny spaces for decorations. Between the two windows are two little 70s painted glass pictures, one says Led Zeppelin all in black and red with a sparkly silver blimp, the other says Ziggy and is gold foil and painted glass. There are three macrame wall-hangings, two owls and some flowers.

A hookah stands on tiny shelf by some 60s wall-hangings which are almost indescribable, but I will try. They are teardrop-shaped wood with aqua and white abstract paintings of vases or someting with little plasticky aqua doodads glued on in places. That's the best I can do. One large teardrop and two small. The theme color is aqua, the curtains match the wall-hanging, but the over head plastic ball lampshade is red and the fire is red, so the total effect is probably dreadful. I like it though.

I almost forgot the domed pedestal Electrophonic stereo. It is forgettable. Once a lovely piece, it was mangled during shipping to me. The wooden base won't hold it up. I had to bolt it to the floor. It tilts there forlornly, looking like it wished I had let it die. Hopefully the whole place will be brightened up one day soon by a black light poster, for which I have reserved a prime spot on the closet door.