Webster-Chicago model 180-1 “Electronic Memory” magnetic wire recorder
date: label: date made
content: ca 1954
name: label: maker
content: Webster-Chicago
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: The model 180-1 was introduced by Webster-Chicago in 1949, using World War II technology licensed from Armour Research Foundation (ARF). Techniques for magnetically recording sound on steel wire, first developed around 1900 by Danish engineer Valdemar Poulson, were well developed prior to WWII. Commercial applications included telephone answering machines and recording of radio broadcasts. ARF was one of the three main US organizations to invest in developing the technology, and provided machines to the US military during the war. They licensed their patents to several manufacturers including Webster-Chicago to help meet wartime demand for recorders.
label: Description (Brief)
content: After the war, Webster-Chicago successfully marketed a series of wire recorders for consumer use. The nameplate on this unit acknowledges the patent license from ARF. The model 180-1 was a popular unit that also found use in commercial and institutional applications, including the Archives of American Art (AAA). Founded in Detroit in 1954, this wire recorder seems to have been an early equipment purchase for AAA, probably used for recording oral histories and other interviews. By the early 1960s, wire recording was losing market share as magnetic recording technology moved toward paper and plastic tapes. In 1983, staff at AAA disposed of the then-obsolete recorder by sending it to NMAH for addition to the collection.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from Smithsonian Archives of American Art
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2022.0116.01
label: accession number
content: 2022.0116
label: catalog number
content: 2022.0116.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: wire recorder
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 3/4 in x 12 in x 17 1/2 in; 19.685 cm x 30.48 cm x 44.45 cm