A Little Piece of Nostalgia: The Cassette Tape Lamp

Do you remember cassette tapes? They are little plastic rectangles that fit in a tape recorder, and they play music. Seriously, I bet there are people who read this blog that have never seen a cassette tape before. I know my son, who is 9 years old, has never seen one or even heard of one.

When I think of things that are retro, the first thing I always think of are old arcade games like Pac-Man. The second thing that always comes to my mind are cassette tapes. They are the quintessential symbol of the early 80’s. I remember when I was in about 9th grade and everything started to transition over to CDs. It sticks out in my mind because I remember my father asking me, “Why do we need CDs? We have cassette tapes.” I explained all the detailed differences to him (the beginnings of my geekness).

I don’t know about you, but a little part of me was sad when Sony discontinued the Walkman. It definitely signified the end of an era. Now it seems the cassette tape serves a different purpose in our lives. It’s now a source of inspiration for many artists in my generation who had the unique opportunity of experiencing its lifespan. I’ve written about cassette tape inspired products before. My favorite two are the cute little cassette tape wallets and this crazy cool cassette tape artwork. Today I want to share another cassette tape inspired product that was featured in the New York Times.

This is the Cassette Tape Lamp created by the designers at Transparent House. It is assembled by hand, and in sticking with the minimalist theme, it only consists of two materials – cut plexiglass and about 100 transparent cassette tapes. They are limiting production of this lamp to 2 or 3 per month. It sells here for $1,200. Dang, that’s a high price to pay for some nostalgia, but I still like it.

[via Cool Material]