magnetic disk recorder/player ca 195x???

[unclejed613]

ok, this is probably going to sound very strange, but when i was about 10yrs old, i found a machine in my grandparent's attic that looked like a record player. it actually was a magnetic disk recorder/player. the disks were 10" or 12" paper disks with a magnetic coating (they looked like heavy carbon paper). there was a plastic grooved "puck" that went on the spindle. the spiral groove guided the tonearm on the disk. the tonearm had a magnetic head in the end where a phonograph would have a regular cartridge. the machine was finished in somewhat bright colored plastic, white with red trim and red tonearm, so i'm thinking mid '50's manufacture. the idea was you could record an audio " letter", fold it up and put it in an envelope and mail it to somebody else with a like machine to play it on.

has anybody ever seen one of these before, and who made them?

 

[Mooly]

You are right... it does sound strange 😀 I've never heard of them before, however...


You might get some answers here if you are interested (look at post #5) ,
Magnetic Disc Recorders - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Mail-A-Voice BK-501 R-Player Brush Development Co.; Clevelan

 

[unclejed613]

thanks.... yes that is the one, and i was right about the time frame it was made.... that forum post had this link Timex Magnetic Disc Recorder

i'm actually kind of surprised there weren't more variations on that idea.

 

[Mooly]

Pleased it was helpful. Interesting to see the price, which these days would buy you a couple of mobile phones...

Great stuff 🙂

 

[unclejed613]

so, reading further in that thread, it appears there were a few variations on that device, most of them being Dictaphone devices. i thought the one about the Dictaphone magnetic drum was interesting, because i had actually messed with a few Dictaphone wax cylinder recorders when i was young, and can see how the magnetic sleeve would have been a very convenient retrofit for an existing Dictaphone wax cylinder recorder... especially if you could take the magnetic sleeve off, and fold it flat into a mailing envelope instead of sticking a heavy wax cylinder into a mailing tube. it was also during the 40's, 50's, and 60's that magnetic digital storage was being developed, some by IBM, but mostly by small 3rd party companies that were selling the storage devices to companies like IBM, Burroughs, and later DEC, CDC, and Wang.