World’s First Ever Voice Mail
Voice in the mail is technically the world’s first voicemail it just might not be what you think! If you don’t know what voice in the mail is, then this is for you!
Many of us are accustomed to leaving voicemails these days because It is so easy if someone misses your call you can just quickly leave a voicemail and the person will be able to hear your message along with your voice with one touch, but what about a time where this didn’t exist, well you weren’t completely out of luck you could send your voice… in the actual mail.
So, what exactly does this mean?
Voice in the Mail was created in the early 20th century and was mostly used in the 1930’s and 40’s. This was an audio message that was created using a small record in which people would go into a recording booth, record their voices, and send them in an envelope to a recipient. This a good visual that depicts what these records looked like.
This way of communicating is very fascinating, and you may be wondering why not just write a letter and go through this whole process just for them to hear your voice. People used this as a more personal way to communicate and often were used as love letters or were meant for loved ones to hear their voice and play it. Once you recorded yourself on the record you could mail it and people could listen on a phonograph.
You could record yourself at a booth which could be stationed anywhere from parks to post offices, and kind of like a vending machine your record would be carved out and right in your hands. If you were lucky enough you could’ve recorded one at a post office and sent it right out through the post in one fell swoop.
Although these are very special and some can be found to this day and you can record them, with our advances in technology we are no longer able to use our cell phones and record ourselves in an instant and the voice will be delivered in a digital mailbox in seconds which is why this old form is extinct now. It would be an awesome experience to make that effort to get your voice letter to your friends or loved ones who don’t live close enough to hear it often!
Instagram Post:
This is a phonograph that was used back in the early and mid-1900s which allowed you to play a record, in this case, it allowed you to play your loved ones “voice in the mail”. Voice in the mail was your voice on a record sent by mail. I would have loved to use this if I had been born in that era! #voicemail
Twitter: Has anyone ever heard of voice in the mail, you could make a record of your voice and send it in a letter and someone around the world could listen to your voice on that record of someone leaving their message how cool! Now we can just leave voicemails which doesn’t seem as fun if you ask me!
Facebook: I found an old record at this vintage store and it was small and I wasn’t sure what it was, after doing some research I found out it was a record that recorded a message and was sent out through the mail in an actual envelope. Does anyone remember doing this I would love to see yours or hear about some stories.
Citations
https://portraitofwar.com/2013/06/13/a-voice-from-the-past-wwii-letter-on-a-record-digitized/