The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The title pretty much explains it, probably the rarest of all records we own: Home Recordings! It could be a brown wax Home recording circa 1899 or an acetate disc recording circa 1949. What are some of YOUR favorite home recordings you’ve come across during your collecting career of people’s daily lives long ago?

Since I own 0 home recordings on cylinder, I’ll share a couple acetates with you folks.

Here’s one I’ve uploaded to archive.org a 1940s recording of people singing “My Wild Irish Rose” and “Hail Hail The Gang’s All Here” followed by some drunk chatter on the other side of the disc:

https://archive.org/details/acetate-01 ... nd-talking

I’m planning on uploading another from my collection of a WWII sailor’s message to his family from 1945 soon.

I still need to transfer them to digital, but my grandfather recorded “The Lost Chord” and “April Showers” (a strange coupling) on a home recording. Although he worked other jobs to support himself, he did was professionally trained.and was a soloist for years at St, Michael’s Episcopal Church in NYC, The recordings, although imperfect, are a treasured memento of his musical career.

Bill

A recording made in the late 40's at a record store in Worcester Massachusetts, and one made in the late 30's at a store in Fitchburg Massachusetts. That one has a family singing Swedish folk songs.

A set of 3 inch reels of magnetic tape all from the same family- describing the goings on in Dewitt or Manlius during the blizzard of 1966. Very good audio quality !
And a set of 7 inch paper based lacquer discs that relate to a different family's goings on at Suburban Park - a long gone amusement park- in Manlius NY. Recorded in a booth in the penny arcade.
All of the recordings turned up at a flea market in Syracuse and bought for a dollar or less.

pallophotophone wrote: Fri May 28, 2021 3:23 pm A set of 3 inch reels of magnetic tape all from the same family- describing the goings on in Dewitt or Manlius during the blizzard of 1966. Very good audio quality !
And a set of 7 inch paper based lacquer discs that relate to a different family's goings on at Suburban Park - a long gone amusement park- in Manlius NY. Recorded in a booth in the penny arcade.
All of the recordings turned up at a flea market in Syracuse and bought for a dollar or less.

I’m amazed at the quality of some of the Reel to Reel tape I’ve acquired. I have some great stuff on my archive.org page and more to come!
https://archive.org/details/@oldradios90

Another favorite topic ( like I don't have enough already ). Like home movies, I have a compulsion to pick up home recordings. I can't stand the burning curiosity of not knowing what's on them. I have a couple with college students telling ribald jokes. Not too clever, but considering the repression of the time, any breath of the subject provoked amusement to them. There's a batch from 1942 of some junior high kids goofing off along with what I presume a couple older Family members running the recorder. One of them has a real gift of gab. The other could play a mean harmonica. Seems like it would be fun to hang out with them. Another is a family sending a letter to their brother in the service of WW2. In some recordings it gets so irritating when the parents are coercing their kids to say something, anything, where it gets to point you just want to call DHFS on them. In this one, someone is trying that for a little bit and the kid comes out with this retort that makes the whole room burst out in laughter. It's such a delight every time I hear it. It reminds me of the laughter we would hear at my extended family gatherings that I miss so much. On the other side the parents take their turn individually. The dad sounds a bit nervous. Maybe not knowing exactly what to say since it might not be his native language, or worried about the future of his son. The mother is trying to make cheerful conversation. It makes you wonder about what worry might be hiding under her facade. It also makes me wonder, did these ever get sent ? Or did the guy make it through and bring the recording back home ?
I also have an open reel tape from Argentina. One side has lively stories & laughter, and the other has a couple talented guitarists playing & singing local songs. I need to play it for someone I know who knows Spanish so I can get an idea of what's going on.
With all the news they put on about what people are doing to each other lately, it's refreshing to be reminded and hear about the beautiful members of our human family.
Another great topic brought up by Andy.

Here’s one of my favorite acetate recordings from my collection recorded May 7, 1945. Of a sailor’s message to his family on saying what he will do when he finally gets home and how much he misses his family. Followed by him and other sailor’s singing a few songs.

https://archive.org/details/acetate-01 ... e-5-7-1945

Not exactly home recordings perhaps, but a private recording companys's six record set of Sammy Wassermans' Bar Mitzvah. I wonder how these came to be found in a local junk shop? Perhaps discarded by mistake? I would love to find descendants and pass them on to the family.

Barry

Ok. Not a record but a Reel To Reel tape I bought in a lot on eBay dubbed from a record: apparently someone recorded a Friars Club roast of a director named Harry E Brown. It contains some quite blue material from George Jessel, George Burns, Art Linkletter, and Jack Benny. I guess someone there recorded this audio there and it managed to get leaked on a plain white label record and what I have is a dub of that record. Very rare and interesting find. I’ll probably digitize it and put on Archive.org if anyone’s interested in hearing Art Linkletter dropping an F bomb...

AmberolaAndy wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:56 pm .... if anyone’s interested in hearing Art Linkletter dropping an F bomb...

Apparently, it isn't just kids who say the darndest things