Inspired by the memory of the gramophone. 🎶

Some time ago I was in a museum, the Museo de Artes y Costumbres in the city of Málaga. I found in that place many doors to memories and to the past, as if they were portals to different times in history.

Much of what I could see in that place reminded me of my childhood, tools that were in my house and many anecdotes that came from my Spanish and Italian ancestors.

When I got to room 7 where many typical items from the taverns of that time were exhibited, there was one in particular that reminded me of some of those stories that my grandmother and my mother used to tell me. Beautiful stories of music, joy and customs.

The gramophone or the vitrola as it was known in Argentina was a very famous music player in those times so far away from this one.

It was wind-up, played very good music and was coveted by people.
It could be found in bars and taverns. In Argentina they played mainly milongas and tangos, like those of Carlos Gardel.

Some people could have the gramophone in their homes. My great-uncle had one, my mother tells me. The son of Italians, since he was a child he enjoyed these longed-for sounds. He was also my godfather, how many good memories come to my mind of his anecdotes and experiences as I listen to Carlos Gardel as I write these lines.

My mother tells me that my maternal grandparents danced to the beat of this beautiful and colourful music player.

How much beauty and how much history this article has to tell. How many couples must have danced to the notes that were released, how many ears must have been delighted with the music that floated through the air as it was released from the beautiful flower that made up this device.

I close my eyes and try to imagine my grandparents, my uncles and aunts, dancing a tango that they listened to through the vitrola. Family parties, joy and lots of music.

The tango was and is very popular in the land where I was born. Putting both together in my mind, it makes me move and create images of my ancestors enjoying the beautiful melodies.

This famous music player was widely used in the latter part of the 19th century and up to the 1920s. But then many households kept it and at family parties or simply the yearning to listen to good music, a hand would turn it on.

Without electricity, turn a crank and the magic would begin to flow.

Although I did not live in that era, the comments and stories that have reached me over time, makes my ancestral memory transport me to those moments and create those mental images of those distant times.

How many things the gramophone must have inspired, how many attentive ears and romantic dances when listening to the music that came out of it.

Seeing it reminded me of the tango and remembering the tango inspired me to evoke relatives and family friends.

They are no longer present but the experiences with them are still present. They inspire tears for the memories, but also smiles for the beautiful moments lived.

Music is always present in the different moments of life, I imagine at that time it was a delight to spin a record while a needle made the sound come out magically.

Ears and hearts enjoyed that novelty in the world. Between memories and images that my mind creates, I write this story, admiring these photographs that I have taken while the tango "Por una cabeza" plays in the background.