Sam the Record Man and the golden age of vinyl
Sam Sniderman, better known as Sam the Record Man, passed away this week at the age of 92.
His legacy lives on in the memories of those of us who spent hours browsing in his flagship store on Yonge Street in Toronto, or shopping in one of many Sam’s stores in Canada.
My cousin and I would go downtown on Saturdays in the 60’s, for an afternoon of shopping at Eaton’s and Simpson’s, lunch, and record-hunting at Sam’s.
Yonge Street, 1960's. (Chuckman's Other Collection blogspot)
We knew we could always find the 45’s we wanted, for only $.79, or the newest Beatles album on the first day of release. As I got older and my musical tastes broadened, I would find jazz and folk albums upstairs, or favourite classical recordings, all at great prices.
How cool it was to just wander the store, looking at all the records displayed on the walls, sometimes judging… and buying… them for the look of the album cover alone!
If you couldn't find something, Sam was often in the store to advise.
Photo: Toronto Sun website
The store on Yonge Street closed in 2007, and the iconic spinning discs gave their last spin in 2008, as part of a Luminato event.
Sam the Record Man is gone, but vinyl lives on in the Toronto Reference Library!
You can listen to over 15,000 LPs here in the Arts department on the 5th floor. From classical to showtunes, jazz to field-collected world music, the selection is astonishing. If you want to find a specific song, you can do that too, using our LP song index.
While you're enjoying the music, take a look at some of these wonderful books about the history and resurgence of record cover art.
2 thoughts on “Sam the Record Man and the golden age of vinyl”
what happened to all the vinyl records from sam the record man’ store?
Hi, thanks for your question.
Over the years, as cassettes and then CDs became popular, vinyl got phased out. I don’t think there were any records in the store when it closed.