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Archive: October 2014 (10 Posts)

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Mark Twain Sort of Speaks to Us

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

This week’s recorded sound update is a guest post by Jan McKee, Reference Librarian, Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress. Mark Twain was known to have made recordings on three occasions; unfortunately none of them are known to have survived. The earliest recording was made by Thomas Edison in 1888.  In 1891, the author himself …

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When Polio Was Defeated by a Vaccine…and a Seven-Year-Old Girl

Posted by: Mike Mashon

She remembers the “hot packs”–towels soaked in boiling water, wrung out, then wrapped around her legs. She remembers the blisters. She remembers the endless hours of physical therapy, the manipulation of her limbs, especially her right leg, the one affected by polio. She also remembers the kindness of her doctors and nurses, the friendships she …

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Now Playing at the Packard Campus Theater (October 30 — November 1, 2014)

Posted by: Mike Mashon

Thursday, October 30 (7:30 p.m.) The Witching Hour (Paramount, 1923) In this second of three film adaptations (1916, 1923 and 1934) of Augustus Thomas’ hit Broadway play, Jack Brookfield (Elliot Dexter)–a gambler with clairvoyant and hypnotic powers–is able to win at cards through his unique gift. However, when he inadvertently hypnotizes young Clay Whipple (future …

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A Look Inside the National Jukebox

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

What follows is a guest post by Carla Arton and Harrison Behl, processing technicians in the Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress   In May 2013, the staff-led Packard Campus Institute (PCI) hosted a presentation on the National Jukebox by Gene DeAnna, Head of the Recorded Sound Section at the Library of Congress. In his presentation, Gene showcases …

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The “Thriller” at the Packard Campus Theater

Posted by: Mike Mashon

The following is a guest post by Cary O’Dell, Assistant to the National Recording Preservation Board. Sometimes TV comes full circle. Certainly this is true among certain small screen genres. For example, Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, which debuted over the tube on December 6, 1948 and picked its weekly winning singer/comic/dancer via an in-studio applause-o-meter, …

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A Fake Audio Butterfly

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

This is a guest post by Janet McKee, Recorded Sound Reference Librarian in the Library’s Recorded Sound Section.    Repeatedly over the years a recording purporting to be the voice of Walt Whitman has surfaced.  Sadly, it has long been the opinion of the reference staff at the Library of Congress that the recording, like …

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Now Playing at the Packard Campus Theater (October 9, 2014)

Posted by: Mike Mashon

Thursday, October 9 (7:30 p.m.) James Garner on Television Maverick (ABC, 1957-1962) Although he had already appeared in several movies, Maverick is generally credited with launching James Garner’s career. He starred as Bret Maverick, a cardsharp from Texas who traveled across the Old West and on Mississippi riverboats, regularly getting in and out of trouble. …