Readers React: Nostalgia for Columbia House

To the editor: I actually have fond memories of Columbia House when I was growing up. (“Columbia House — 12 albums for a penny! — files for bankruptcy,” Aug. 11)

Yes, you had to commit to buying more records in the coming year “at regular club prices,” but Columbia House didn’t hide this fact in its ads. If you didn’t want the upcoming selections, you sent the card back saying so.

For me and many others, this “club” provided a means to build and acquire a record collection quickly while saving some money, and with the convenience of home delivery. I have all of my records and tapes from the 1950s and ‘60s and still enjoy them.

Many people were able to acquire music at an affordable price due to Columbia House’s “unethical” practices. I even did the unethical when I surmised I could join the club under different names and get the introductory offers again, thus building my collection further. I was not “beholden” to Columbia House forever because it never came after me.

Nostalgia? For Columbia House? You bet.

Richard Nichols, Yucca Valley

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