Aaron Smith's Live LPsFor Christmas 1946, employees at the printing and publishing company gave Aaron Smith a recording machine — a device that recorded audio onto 78 rpm records. Smith was ill that Christmas, but sent his thanks and greetings to the employees on a record created on the machine. Employees in turn recorded their Christmas party for Smith's amusement, since he could not attend. Later recordings include various family gatherings, usually accompanied by a piano and singing. In 2008, the records were converted to mp3 files. Use the controls below each title to play the file directly, or use the titles to download each segment to your computer. Be patient; people enjoyed a slower pace of life back then, and the files they left us to download are large. If you wonder who's doing the talking in the recordings, see these notes by Jim Branch, Aaron Smith's grandson. Smith's thank you address to employees - 1946 Employee Christmas party - 1946 Employee Christmas party presents 1 - 1946 Employee Christmas party presents 2 - 1946 Employee Christmas party presents 3 - 1946 Employee Christmas party presents 4 - 1946 Employee Christmas party songs - 1946 Christmas dinner at the Branches - 1946 Singing - Meekses 1 - Mothers Day 1947 Singing - Meekses 2 - Mothers Day 1947 Singing - Going home Mary 1 - Undated Singing - Going home Mary 2 - Undated Aaron 80th birthday greetings with neighbors - 1948 |