[78-L] November 9, 1921

[Donna Halper]

>Mister Mike wrote--
>
>But there WERE recording machines capable of recording broadcasts on
>cylinder and disc.  I have a cylinder box here (no cylinder
>unfortunately) of portions of a WGY broadcast that was recorded in Cape
>Town South Africa and sent to WGY sometime in the early 20s.

My point was not that it couldn't be done at all -- it wasn't 
commonly done by some of the earliest stations, based on what I've 
read about the subject.  Perhaps some of the individual entrepreneurs 
who got into the radio game in the early 20s had insufficient 
technical knowledge, plus the newspapers frequently reported on 
equipment failures of radio stations.  I am sure GE and Westinghouse 
could do it, but we don't have many recordings from back then, do we? 
Just recreations and assorted fakes, as well as a few brief snippets 
of recorded programs, unless I am mistaken (which wouldn't be the first time!).