In addition to lots of reel to reel tapes, I also collect home recorded and other one-of-a-kind acetates. These heavy records, often are recorded with the same sort of things that can be so fascinating on reel tapes, although usually with the opposite end of things in terms of sound quality. Here's an example, a pep talk for a sales team heading into a difficult sales period.
Here's what little is evident from what is said on the two-sided, eight minute recording (and on its label): A man named Cy held a position in management with the company that made the automatic coal stoker for furnaces known as The Iron Fireman. It was early winter. It had been an election year, and it was a war year - maybe 1942? 1944? Or possibly during the Korean War (a possibility which depends on whether that conflict was called a "war" at the time, or if it really was called a "police action" at the time).
Cy is trying to sound buddy-buddy with the guys, and also seems to want the talk to sound off-the-cuff and conversational. But he can't pull it off - it is painfully obvious that he's reading a script - he's just not that good at it. Travel back to another time and place, and see whether you would have had what it took to sell The Iron Fireman during winter:
The Iron Fireman: A Personal Word from Cy, Part One (MP3)
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