oO*Ahh: Pennies from Heaven, Remembering Columbia House's Mail-order Music

We leave them on counters at the register.

We throw them on the ground.

We no longer pick them up for good luck.

What are they?

You guessed it....PENNIES.

The throw-away copper cousins to all the other, more valuable coins in US currency.

But there was a time, friends, a magical time during my childhood, when a one single penny was worth ELEVEN records, tapes, or CDs.

All I had to do was fill out a little yellow piece of paper with my monthly selection of music, and a little company called Columbia House mailed me The Doors, Billy Joel, The Beatles, REM, Heart, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Journey, Fleetwood Mac & David Bowie.

Of course, 11 albums for a penny was a bit of marketing scam, better known as a negative billing option. Every month, you were automatically sent Columbia House's music selection and billed for it, unless you explicitly turned down the product before it arrived. This resulted in a lot of random music being delivered to my doorstep. I didn't necessarily want Simply Red's Greatest Hits album, but turns out my Dad really liked the guy with the stringy red hair who wore the beret. I also didn't want Grateful Dead's American Beauty, but my younger brother felt it was ideal accompaniment for taking bong hits in his closet. Turns out my negligence, resulted in strengthening my family relationships.

Thanks for the memories, Columbia House.

P.S.

Other important pennies:

1. Penny Marshall