----- Original Message -----
From: <Mwcpc6@xxxxxxx>
The reason I am fascinated by archives is the ability to relive or imagine
what it was like to live at that time. The mundane daily events are of the
most
interest for this.
In 1956, after school each day, on my brand new tape recorder, I recorded
the
hourly five minute New York Times news bulletin from WQXR. I accumulated
several reels of tape at 1-7/8 "/sec with the thought that this would be
of
interest "someday."
Years later, older and wiser, I realized that no one would want to listen
to
old news programs and reused the tape. Now I wish they had been acetates,
because I would really like to sit back and relive those events that were
of such
importance in my formative years.
I fully agree! Further, it seems like it is the least important content that
generates the most interest, at least for me. The truly globally-important
events
can always be found in history books (though not in the same detail)...but
it
is the unimportant local items, and even the advertisements, which tell us
more
about how life was lived in the applicable "bygone days." As well, if you
happen
to be researching something obscure, you're more likely to find the data in
the
small print used for obscurities (or not at all...for example, the end of a
record
company may never have been covered at all!)
As well, I buy old tapes (r-2-r and cassette) whenever they turn up cheaply
at
thrift stores and yard sales; oftentimes they contain airchecks, sometimes
accidentally made!
Steven C. Barr