Record Factory Bag that is. I was recently browsing through some old collections of stuff and found some old magazines, LP’s and of course those wonderful 45’s that so many of us had in our possession as vinyl people back in the day. So anyway, a good handful of the 45’s were in this little bag and I snapped a photo of it to remind us of a time so long ago.

Since many of the PiercingKen blog readers are not from this exact region let me explain a little bit about the historical significance of this find. Way back in the day when you could still find pre-recorded albums on cassette and 8-track tape, the LP ruled the roost. They lived in bins that spanned large floor spaces and new releases were up on the wall. The 45’s were in a bin behind the register and this was the bag you left the store with at the establishment known as Record Factory. Going to this place on 86th off 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge was always something you did with your friends and you almost always left with something. Over the years I can easily say that I dropped hundreds and hundreds of dollars in this place. I smiled a little bit thinking about those treks to the store with my band buddies as we looked for the latest Hard Rock and Metal release.

Eventually the tapes went away, then the albums to make room for CD’s. Finally the store went away as well and in its place stands a cell phone outlet for one of the big providers. Close by the Record Factory was another haunt called The Little Record Store which was also loved since it always had Metal imports to browse. That’s gone too. If you wondered, there are now no less than eleven cell phone stores between 4th Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway on 86th Street. Some of them majors and others these little fly by the minute joints. The times they are indeed a changing.