1945–1960s
Children, lessons and strangers, on wire and blank disc
Between the home disc and the tape recorder came the wire: a spool of steel thread thinner than a hair, running past a recording head at two feet a second on a Webster-Chicago machine. It was briefly the only way an amateur could record for half an hour without cutting anything, and it was almost immediately obsolete. What survives on wire is domestic in the purest sense. A four-year-old called Susan Clarke got hold of the machine in the late 1940s and recorded a message, apparently to herself later on. A father spent a reel teaching his daughter Diane to read, breaking off to sing along with the radio. A man was recorded, at length and with real authority, explaining how he makes bologna and summer sausage, and then discussing the recorder itself. Alongside them here are blank Audiodisc lacquers — the professional's cutting blank, sold to anyone — carrying a student's talk on Lincoln, a voice lesson, and singers nobody has ever identified.
13 recordings · 3 machines and stations
What cut them
9 October
No. 13
1948
Home recordings
1 min
A four-year-old girl records a message on a magnetic wire machine, possibly for her future self. The uploader dates it between 1945 and 1955 from the 1945 children's book she names. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 12
Home recordings
15 min
A father teaching his young daughter to read and talk, cut with him singing along to the radio, on a Webster-Chicago wire recorder. The uploader dates it to about 1948. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 11
Home recordings
18 min
A spool labelled only “Bologna”: a man explains how he makes bologna and summer sausage, then talks about the wire recorder itself. The uploader reads the machine as early-to-mid 1950s. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
1 January
No. 10
1949
Home recordings
28 min
A wire recording of KDNT Denton, Texas, made during one of the station's “Denton Story” programmes in 1949, opening with Dr Hubbard of what was then Texas State College for Women on the building of the Little Chapel-in-the-Woods. Held by Denton Public Library. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 9
Home recordings
7 min
A seven-inch aluminium-cored Audiodisc lacquer cut at 45rpm: what appears to be a school presentation about Abraham Lincoln, both sides joined and levelled by the uploader. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 8
Home recordings
2 min
An Audiodisc labelled “Voice Training”, in the name of Diane Shaver-Clemens of Wyoming, Ohio. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 7
Home recordings
2 min
A home Audiodisc found in a Seattle charity shop: two women singing badly and committing to it entirely. The disc is very worn and the hum was left alone. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 6
Home recordings
9 min
A home-cut Audiodisc lacquer, an unidentified man presenting in Hebrew. Found in a Boston thrift store; the holder suggests around the 1960s and asks for information. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 5
Home recordings
10 min
The reverse of the same lacquer. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 4
Home recordings
4 min
An Audiodisc blank with no date and no label, transferred with a one-mil stylus. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 3
Home recordings
3 min
The reverse, transferred with a three-mil stylus for a worn groove. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 2
Home recordings
2 min
An Audiodisc acetate with a completely blank label. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
Undated
No. 1
Home recordings
2 min
The reverse of the same blank-labelled acetate. Recording held by the Internet Archive;
On this shelf
Wire recordings and home-cut Audiodisc lacquers held by the Internet Archive. Where a date is not written on the spool or disc, the uploaders' own reasoning is quoted rather than replaced with a guess of ours.
