1941–1951
What people recorded off their own radios
The home recorder had a second life its makers did not advertise: people used it to keep the radio. That accident is now a serious part of the record, because the networks themselves generally did not keep anything. A collector in Connecticut aimed a Wilcox-Gay Recordio at experimental FM stations — W53H in Hartford, W43B in Boston, WIXSN in Springfield — on 21 January 1943 and caught wartime news bulletins, station announcements and a local radio shop's advertisement, which is why some of the earliest FM audio that exists at all exists on a home blank. Somebody else caught the closing minutes of a Ray McKinley remote and part of a Sonny Dunham broadcast in October 1948. Another kept President Truman on a twelve-inch Audiodisc in the autumn of 1945, noting on the label that it went out over four networks at once.
24 recordings · 10 machines and stations
What cut them
21 January
No. 24
1943
Home recordings
3 min
From a Wilcox-Gay Recordio disc dated 21 January 1943: news from W53H (WTIC) FM, Hartford. Source material held by the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
21 January
No. 23
1943
Home recordings
3 min
Same Recordio disc of 21 January 1943: W53H Hartford relayed by W43B (WGTR) Boston. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
21 January
No. 22
1943
Home recordings
3 min
From the same disc of 21 January 1943: station advertising from WIXSN Springfield, W43B Boston and W65H (WDRC) Hartford, with an excerpt of a programme on Hitler. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
21 January
No. 21
1943
Home recordings
3 min
W65H (WDRC) FM, Hartford, from the same 21 January 1943 home disc. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 20
Home recordings
3 min
An undated Recordio disc of about 1944: a test programme for an East Hartford radio service shop, with the takes that were not used. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 19
Home recordings
3 min
The rest of the same disc. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
4 August
No. 18
1943
Home recordings
4 min
An undated Wilcox-Gay Recordio disc, catalogued as 4 August 1943: news of the coup against President Castillo, naming Ramírez. Possibly W53H (WTIC) FM. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 17
Home recordings
3 min
An undated Recordio disc of about 1944: an unidentified military band, two takes of the anthem and part of Sousa's El Capitan. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 16
Home recordings
8 min
An undated Wilcox-Gay Recordio transcription of unidentified radio organ playing, catalogued as about 1951 and possibly Mutual. From the estate of Allen Miller of Connecticut. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 15
Home recordings
8 min
The second side of the same home disc. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 October
No. 14
1948
Home recordings
5 min
The closing of a Ray McKinley remote of October 1948, transferred from the original Recordio disc, before he took on the Miller tribute band. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 October
No. 13
1948
Home recordings
3 min
From the same home-recorded remote, October 1948. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 October
No. 12
1948
Home recordings
2 min
From the same home-recorded remote, October 1948. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 October
No. 11
1948
Home recordings
6 min
Part of an October 1948 broadcast by Sonny Dunham and his Orchestra, transferred from a Recordio disc. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 October
No. 10
1948
Home recordings
3 min
From the same home-recorded remote, October 1948. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 October
No. 9
1948
Home recordings
3 min
From the same home-recorded remote, October 1948. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 October
No. 8
1948
Home recordings
3 min
From the same home-recorded remote, October 1948. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 October
No. 7
1945
Home recordings
9 min
A twelve-inch Audiodisc cut at 33rpm. The handwritten label reads: “Pres. Truman, c. Fall 1945, from White House, simulcast over 4 major networks (WNEW).” Recording held by the Internet Archive;
22 March
No. 6
1941
Home recordings
7 min
From a collection of Recordio discs of about 1941, cut off the air by an amateur: airchecks in various states of damage. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
22 April
No. 5
1941
Home recordings
3 min
From the same 1941 home aircheck collection; the uploader transcribes the labels as written. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
28 April
No. 4
1941
Home recordings
3 min
From the same 1941 home aircheck collection. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
12 April
No. 3
1941
Home recordings
3 min
From the same 1941 home aircheck collection. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 January
No. 2
1941
Home recordings
3 min
Caught off the air on a Recordio disc, about 1941. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
20 April
No. 1
1941
Home recordings
3 min
Label read as written by the uploader, who notes the handwriting is hard to make out. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
On this shelf
Home-cut Recordio and Audiodisc transfers of off-air radio, held by the Internet Archive from the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut, the estate of Allen Miller, and private collectors. Dates come from what is written on the discs.
