The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I've come across an interesting quote by Emile Berliner who said, "I am carrying on a vocal correspondence with my friends in Europe, by means of small gramophone discs, which can be mailed in a good-sized letter envelope. . . . I could cite a number of instances where persons have been made happy by hearing and recognizing the voices of loved ones whom they had not seen in years, and the owners of which were thousands of miles away.” (Emile Berliner, “The Improved Gramophone”, paper read at the 52nd meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, New York, December 16th, 1890, p. 28.)

Does anyone know of the existence of any of Berliner's recorded correspondence? It reminds me of an acquaintance in the '70's who when traveling overseas, and not wanting to deal with international phone calls and time differences, used to record long accounts of his activities on cassette and simply mailed them home.

Robert

Hi Robert:

The Library of Congress has some -- "The Library of Congress possesses one of the largest collections of Berliner discs, including many zinc experimental discs, several zinc "letters" that apparently were mailed between Washington, D.C., and Hanover, Germany..." -- https://www.loc.gov/collections/emile-b ... ecordings/

OrthoFan

Orthofan,

Thanks for the info and link. With the prevalence of recorded music driven by a budding commercial industry, it's easy to overlook the significance of recordings of historical moments, and the very voices of history.

Much appreciated, Robert

I remember a letter on 12,5 cm zinc disc from commercial school director Manfred Berliner to his brother Emile, spoken in 1892 in Hannover. Among other things, Manfred reported on a cholera epidemic that had cost many lives in Hamburg at the time. Of her husband's family, Cora Berliner liked Manfred the best when she was in Hanover in 1889/90. Above all, he was supposedly the best looking. He liked his sister-in-law too and named his youngest daughter, born on 23 January 1890, after her.