Found one at a yard sale back in the 60s. The company who made it was called Webster, was quite large tan brown color and it recorded sound on some kind of wire?
"Webster Chicago" was perhaps the largest maker of wire recorders (The medium that preceded tape) While it was an American product, The best demo of one is from an English bloke: th-cam.com/video/90ihiTwJPCc/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Techmoan
Magnetic tape was just making the scene. In three or four years, mag tape was a regular way to record. In 1946, only the Germans had practical machines.
Hi Graham, we did no colorization. This is how the 16 mm film looked. Might be Kodachrome film, it was 1940's stock. Not certain, but that's a possibility. Other TH-cam films of that time period often have similar strong color look. Good question, thanks!
@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Kodachrome is a very good possibility since there appears to be very little color shift and the "pastel-ness" of certain colors such as skin tones definitely point in that direction in my opinion.
No. This was a color film (Likely 16mm) Old Color films look odd due to the dyes degrading over time. This makes the colors "shift", sometimes to the point where it looks unnatural. I have seen this myself in my own lifetime. The 8mm color fllms that I "shot" in the 1970s now have a reddish cast that they did not have when new.
I wonder if the dictaphone was directly wired to the phone line in that era? The phone company didn't like devices directly connected untill "the carterphone decision" enabled direct connection. Modems in the 300 baud days used acoustic couplers for years. Too bad for Nixon his worked quite well.
The "Dictaphone" was specifically permitted for direct connection by the FCC (Yeah, there WAS only ONE phone company, BUT They STILL had to "answer" to the FCC!) in the late 1940s, the "classic" BEEP every few seconds was required to let everyone on the line know that the call was being recorded.
So this must be before all the really weird dictation formats came out (discs, belts etc.) I'm surprised it's a cylinder though! Was expecting a wire recorder. I wonder if this could be played back without an amplifier, would keep things nice and simple I guess... just don't mess up the cylinder. And so I guess they would have had cylinder filing storage as well in some places.
Hi wdavem, Dictaphone loved the cylinder technology for many years. The Dictaphone Belt recording method came out in 1947, probably just after this film was made. You are right, don't mess up the cylinder. They should have mentioned the care and storage of cylinders, that would have been a nice addition. Thanks! ~
Their lunch was only a quarter dollar? Or was it dollar coin that he put on the table at 1:38? Either way, Inflation inflation inflation especially after the gold standard was dropped....
As long as the dozy secratary remembered to hit record. LOL.
Great film.
That was really pretty cool. I would love to see the unabridged version.
So iconic of a brand. it's name is mentioned in song! "Blinded by the Light" (Bruce Springsteen/Manfred Mann).
2:20 Wile E Coyote was on the line.
Did the FBI have to hide that huge thing in the house when they tapped the phone.
Thank you
So good.
Perhaps if Baker had been in work instead of swanning around at that restaurant with his dodgy journalist friend he'd have had not missed the call ;)
the guy who left a $.25 tip? what a cheapo
Perhaps... it might have been a 50 cent piece. Lunch for two in 1946 might have been under $5.00. A 10% tip. Perhaps not unusual for that time period.
Why does everyone have to be a comedian?
@@jimmyday9536 because we know it’s better than being a sour puss
His secretary wasn't doing her job. Maybe she had too many martinis for lunch.
Found one at a yard sale back in the 60s. The company who made it was called Webster, was quite large tan brown color and it recorded sound on some kind of wire?
"Webster Chicago" was perhaps the largest maker of wire recorders (The medium that preceded tape) While it was an American product, The best demo of one is from an English bloke: th-cam.com/video/90ihiTwJPCc/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Techmoan
Wow, I'm surprised they were still using cylinders. We had magnetic tape, radars, digital computers, and nuclear weapons.
Magnetic tape was just making the scene. In three or four years, mag tape was a regular way to record. In 1946, only the Germans had practical machines.
The old Dictaphones I saw used a magnetic belt type of thing.
@@jamie1707 But, they were'nt a thing until the mid 50's at the earliest.
@@jamie1707 The belts were NOT magnetic. They were acoustic records!
@@frankowalker4662 Dictabelts came out in the late 1940s actually about year or so after THIS film. And Dictabelts were used into the 1980s!
Has this footage been colourised? That poor secretary who was out for lunch looks very ill ;)
Hi Graham, we did no colorization. This is how the 16 mm film looked. Might be Kodachrome film, it was 1940's stock. Not certain, but that's a possibility. Other TH-cam films of that time period often have similar strong color look. Good question, thanks!
@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Kodachrome is a very good possibility since there appears to be very little color shift and the "pastel-ness" of certain colors such as skin tones definitely point in that direction in my opinion.
@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Thank you
@@NipkowDisk Thank you
No. This was a color film (Likely 16mm) Old Color films look odd due to the dyes degrading over time. This makes the colors "shift", sometimes to the point where it looks unnatural. I have seen this myself in my own lifetime. The 8mm color fllms that I "shot" in the 1970s now have a reddish cast that they did not have when new.
I wonder if the dictaphone was directly wired to the phone line in that era? The phone company didn't like devices directly connected untill "the carterphone decision" enabled direct connection. Modems in the 300 baud days used acoustic couplers for years. Too bad for Nixon his worked quite well.
The "Dictaphone" was specifically permitted for direct connection by the FCC (Yeah, there WAS only ONE phone company, BUT They STILL had to "answer" to the FCC!) in the late 1940s, the "classic" BEEP every few seconds was required to let everyone on the line know that the call was being recorded.
A quarter was enough for a tip!!
So this must be before all the really weird dictation formats came out (discs, belts etc.) I'm surprised it's a cylinder though! Was expecting a wire recorder. I wonder if this could be played back without an amplifier, would keep things nice and simple I guess... just don't mess up the cylinder. And so I guess they would have had cylinder filing storage as well in some places.
Hi wdavem, Dictaphone loved the cylinder technology for many years. The Dictaphone Belt recording method came out in 1947, probably just after this film was made. You are right, don't mess up the cylinder. They should have mentioned the care and storage of cylinders, that would have been a nice addition. Thanks! ~
I wonder if the beep tone had to be placed on the phone line to inform the caller that the conversation was being recorded?
Yes, And the "Dictaphone" specifically was permitted by the FCC in the late 1940s.
Very interesting👍 Thank you ☺️
Glad you enjoyed it!
Their lunch was only a quarter dollar? Or was it dollar coin that he put on the table at 1:38? Either way, Inflation inflation inflation especially after the gold standard was dropped....
That was probably the tip. It looked like he was taking the check to the cashier to pay for the meal.
Robert, I think you nailed it! And the coin drop sounded like a 50 cent piece. (I am old enough to remember carrying these around in my pocket.) : )
@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Yep! Not a quarter. A "half-dollar" had the THUD we hear in the film!
Email took over the dicta phone
Dude paid for breakfast for 2 ppl with one coin?