Their preference is for 'audio as convenient as it was in the 1950s', but they instead go on to describe a basic configuration issue with their use-case.
The reality of consumer audio in 1950s was closer to a physics lab than a residential convenience. The expectation for the end user was an understanding of impedence and ohms in order to pair up an amplifier with passive speakers, terminating bare copper wire with Spade/Pin Connectors or Binding Posts to connect same, dealing with phase cancellation and ground loop issues, maintaining and operating valve based equipment... and that's before we even get into the vagaries of the cartridge, stylus and associated maintenance for a record player and its media.
For reference, Vinyl only replaced Shellac records in the early 1950s - with the very first 12-inch 33⅓ RPM vinyl record released in 1948, and the first 45 in 1949. Similarly, it wasn't until the early 1960s that transistor based playback units superseded valve based.
Thus I wholly refute the claim that the OP would manage in a 'convenient' way when compared with a contemporary audio enthusiast, and that even with experience they would struggle to match the dynamic range and fidelity of a mono AM Radio with a significantly larger degree of hassle.
...or they could just buy a $5 adapter.