Did you know that “talking postcards” were once a thing? Back in the 1940s and 50s, tourists in the U.S. might pop into a coin-operated Voice-O-Graph booth to record themselves speaking about their trip, with their tales ending up on a lacquer-coated record that they could then mail to friends or relatives.
A BBC report this week revealed how one such Voice-O-Graph was recently reunited with its creator 70 years after she sent it.
British-born Valerie Stannard recorded the talking postcard in a Voice-O-Graph booth on the 90th floor of the Empire State Building in 1955. She sent the six-inch record to her parents back in the U.K., and decades later it ended up in a warehouse where it was discovered by record dealer Joel De’ath.
After listening to the recording, in which Valerie wishes her mother a happy birthday before saying how much she’s enjoying her trip, Joel felt motivated to find out more about the woman who sent it. He put the word out on social media, and before long he’d tracked down the 90-year-old Brit in her new home in Canada.
Valerie told the BBC she was astonished to receive the record after so many years, and said listening to it again “put a whole different perspective on my past life.”
She added: “It reminded me of who I used to be, and it was like regaining contact with my past life … it was a magical experience for me, to transform me back to that time.”
Asked why she’d opted to record a Voice-O-Graph rather than grab a pen and write something, Valerie explained that she wanted to send something “more personal than a postcard” because she knew her mother would receive it around her birthday.
Joel described the Voice-O-Graph as “a WhatsApp voice note that takes about a month to arrive,” adding, “I just find them absolutely fascinating, because as much as I’m a fan of rare records, this is a complete one-off.”
The record dealer — a man who knows more than most about valuable recordings — said: “Every record tells a story, and I think this one more so than most because it’s so unique. It’s just a little time capsule, and I’m so glad that I went to the effort to track down Valerie and to be able to share what she recorded 70 years ago. It’s been a great process to be a part of.”