Greetings from Germany, 1960

I love the audio letters that come across. They always reflect the time and place in which they were recorded, and since new ones simply aren't made anymore, they always capture a very different era in communication.

Here's twenty minutes of tape from a German friend (Roland? - he says his name at about 19:05) to a friend in America (Larry , in Maine), recorded in the year I was born, 1960, specifically, October 14th of that year. It starts and ends with some German music, but aside from those three minutes, the rest of the tape is the sender's message.

This is a lovely little recording, the charms of which I'll leave you to discover. Hearing the speaker's voice, I was reminded of an older German neighbor, who lived a half block away from us, and whose lawn I cut every summer, during my late teens. The speaker struggles with English syntax here and there, but has no problem expressing himself in what is clearly a second language.

Whatever he was saying at the end of side one (just past the ten minute point) is lost, due to the end of the being mangled over the years. The rest of the tape is pretty much pristine.

Enjoy!

Download: Unknown - Audio Letter from Stuttgart, 1960
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Earl Nightingale Sells A Load of BS to Salesmen and their Wives

Here's a fascinating, if also obnoxious and at times cretinous, recording, featuring the once well-known radio personality, writer and motivational speaker, Earl Nightingale.

This tape is a professional recording, banded with leader between the tracks and recorded at 15 inches per second (one of two speeds usually found on professionally made tapes). Based on his text, it's clear that these two tracks were used as the two sides of a record.

In this case, that record was one which was to be distributed to salesmen working for the Liberty Investors Life Insurance brand - with a focus on those were fairly new to the company - with the b-side of the record directed at the wives of those salesmen.

I've heard quite a few of Nightingale's records, and I'll say that his worldview, opinion of what is important and general outlook were very different than mine are. But then, the idea of wanting or needing to listen to a motivational speaker - let alone being one - is about as far outside of my wheelhouse as one can get.

This record, being quite a bit shorter (two six minute blasts) and much more focused (on a specific job) than his other recordings, rises to a level on the bullshit meter many notches higher than that found in his typical speeches.

I mean, seriously, did he just say that the life insurance man might be the most important person who will ever walk into another person's place of business?. Is it possible he actually expressed the view that being a life insurance salesman is a calling "second in service only to the ministry"? Really?

But no matter, he quickly moves on to what really matters, and which is the focus of the remaining four minutes: How Much Money You Can Make. Whoopee.

I dunno - maybe some of you really dig this stuff, even in a non-ironic way. For me, this is one key example of what was so very wrong about the 1950's American mindset.

Download: Earl Nightingale - Message to Liberty Investors Life Salesmen
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Thank you, Johnson.

Here is the message to the wives. Please note that, after saying on the first side that her salesman is doing a job "second in service" only those in the clergy (many of whom, of course, don't marry), he spews forth the wisdom that a man is not complete without a wife. Literally: "A man without a woman to love is not a complete man", he tells us. Make up your mind, dude.

The remainder of the message to the little women is the familiar claptrap that was peddled everywhere in those days - be the little woman, let your man decide what's best, smile at him, and for God's sake don't give him chores to do! There is a lot more I could say - I really can't stand many things this recording stands for - but I'll stop now.

Download: Earl Nightingale - Message to Wives of Liberty Investors Life Salesmen
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