Home Page

Snapshots in Sound

Home Page

Welcome. This website will serve as both a companion to the radio program, Snapshots in Sound, and a source of information relating to Home Recordings produced (mainly) in the 1940s and 1950s.

Folks used record cutters in the privacy of their homes to capture family and friends singing songs, telling stories, performing skits, or celebrating birthdays or other holidays. Because of the portability of most cutters, the machines were also used in schools, churches, and bars - among numerous other locations.

Join me in a unique listening experience where stories and songs never intended to be heard outside of a family become memories personal to every listener.

Phil Nohl

Pictured above is a model 6A20 Wilcox-Gay Recordio record cutter with Astatic microphone and a supply of cutting needles. Millions of Home Recordings were cut in the mid-twentieth century. Over the next few decades, approximately 75% of all remaining discs will be lost due to neglect.

Many record cutters had the ability to record directly off of the radio. Some of this material, especially local programming, is unique to a Home Recording. Here's a disc a man cut as he simply flipped through the radio dial on his home cutting unit.