just about all of us who read this post have had the
sounds of our childhood recorded and preserved

these sounds are sitting somewhere in a box that
is gathering dust

for some of us, this box contains DVDs, MiniDiscs,
Digital Audio Tape, VHS or Betamax Tapes

those who grew up in the 1950s may still have
the original reel to reel magnetic tapes that captured
the sounds of their childhood

but what about those of us who grew up in the first half
of the 20th century?

if not magnetic tape, what recording medium held,
and may still hold, their childhood hoots and hollers?

the most likely candidate is steel wire -

7,200 feet of hair-thin wire that is wound on a reel
that looks like this



for more on this extinct and almost forgotten recording
medium, check out the video below; its audio track is an
excerpt from a WNYC The Next Big Thing Podcast