Picture obtained from devicepedia.com
In today’s digital world the reel to reel tape recorder is considered an antiquated piece of technology. But back in the day, that was the way we Joneses kept in touch. More specifically, tape recordings were the way daddy and Aunt Martha stayed in contact with their brother, Uncle Claudius, who lived in Florida.
When I think about all the recordings going back and forth between North Carolina and Florida, the thought of them brings a smile to my face and warms my heart. It always felt like we were right there with Uncle Claudius and my cousins. However, as a shy and sometimes withdrawn child, those reel to reel recordings were pure torture for me, also. Daddy and Aunt Martha always had me talking on them. I can still hear it today, “Come talk to your Uncle.” I never said much, usually only saying “Hi Uncle Claudius. This is Mavis.” Of course daddy and Aunt Martha were always standing there telling me to tell him about this or that (my good grades, playing the piano, whatever else was going on in my young life.) Whatever I said definitely had to be pulled out of me.
Like so many things that would be a treasured piece of the past, I’m afraid that none of those old recordings are left. As we moved from reel-to-reel to cassette tapes, the tapings became less and less frequent. The cassette tapes just weren’t the same and right now, I don’t ever remember us sending any of those back and forth. In addition, we never did keep the recording that was received. It was always taped over when doing the return tape. But wouldn’t it be fun if my cousin LaFrieda and I could figure out who sent the last recording and better yet, discover that it didn’t get taped over.
Until Next Time!
