Spending an Hour in 1952

From a lovely and ancient little five inch reel in a Scotch Recording Tape box comes a series of wondrous school and home recordings from 1952, lasting in total just over an hour.

There are definitely some little gems buried in the various recordings here - I always wonder about the people on tapes of this vintage - are they still alive? Where are they now? Wouldn't they love to hear these tapes? How did this tape end up being given away?

First up is a program from a sixth grade class, presenting what they've learned about China. The program lasts just over a half hour. It sounds like it was going to continue with some music, but whoever was recording it didn't care to capture that part of the program:

Download: 1952 Tape - Sixth Grade Class Presentation on China
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Next up, we've returned home with whoever it is that owned the tape recorder, and, as the mother from the family indicates, it's time for Wayne's 14th Birthday Spaghetti Luncheon (that phrase sounds like a song title by an alternative band to me). This segment runs just under 25 minutes.

Download: 1952 Tape - Wayne's 14th Birthday Spaghetti Luncheon
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Those youngsters, including Wayne, would be at or around 78 years old nowadays. Happy Birthday, fellas!

Finally, there is another tape recording made around the table. It's certainly possible that this is a continuation of the above, but there seem to be some other people present now, so I'm guessing it was made some time later, even if just later that day. This segment continues until the tape runs out, and is just under ten minutes in length.


Download: 1952 Tape - More Chat Around the Table
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