This is an unusual little instantaneous recording. It's a 5-Inch fiber-core Packard-Bell Phonocord.I've never seen a Phonocord of this design nor one of this size. Actually it's the smallest home recording acetate I've ever seen. It has the recognizable crest in Baby Blue on one side, and the red image above on the other. It's only marking is the numerals "1" and "2" in black oil crayon indicating sides. The disc also bears the two Packard-Bell branding statements For Record-Making Fun and Put Life's Big Moments On Record.
Phonocord #2
Despite the obvious fragility it is a two-sided recording. It has an inner edge start which is necessitated by the groove running out almost flush with the outer edge. An outter edge needle trip with no gap would be a logistical problem. Despite maximizing the limited space on a 5-inch record, there is still only total a playing time of 1 minute 30 seconds per side. Because it's so short I digitized both and edited them into one track.
The recording is a letter from a man to a woman whom he only refers to as "darling." It starts off as a love letter but degenerates into advice on finances and a story about a cat crapping in a sink and an unexplained request for a pair of tights. In the recording he even happens to give the time of day as 4:20, but not the date. At the end of side A he says "oops I better quit this side" realizing that the time has about run out, but before he lifts the record needle, you can briefly hear music. I've left this in in case anyone happens to recognize the fragment. I somewhat suspect the disc may have been used previously and that it was from that prior use.
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