A Voicemail Valentine

Radio Diaries : A Voicemail Valentine Image
Radio Diaries : A Voicemail Valentine Image

A Voicemail Valentine

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Nowadays we’re very accustomed to recording and hearing the sound of our own voices. But in the 1930s many people were doing it for the first time. And a surprising trend began. People started sending their voices to each other, through the postal service. It was literally: voice-mail.

We recently combed through a large collection of early voicemail at the Phono Post Archive, and we discovered that many of these audio letters are about the same thing: Love.

***

This episode is supported by Robinhood, an investing app that lets you buy and sell stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptos, all commission-free. Sign up and get a free stock at diaries.robinhood.com.