Webster-Chicago Corporation - Webster-Chicago Model 180-1 Audio recorder

Webster-Chicago Model 180-1 Webster-Chicago Corporation
Description
The magnetic wire recorder consists of a wooden box, covered with burgundy fabric and provided with a handle on the right side; the device is also fitted with a wooden lid, likewise covered in burgundy fabric. When the lid is attached, the unit takes the shape of a rectangular prism with rounded corners; without the lid, the recorder presents a metal top surface, with the front side inclined. Inside the base are the electric motor and the valve amplifier. The central part of the inclined front side houses the speaker enclosure, which widens up to the front edge of the horizontal panel. On the front side there are also four burgundy bakelite knobs, arranged vertically, two for each height of the enclosure: on the right are located the tone selector and the impulse output channel selector; on the left there are the volume control and the recording/playback mode switch. Also on the front side there is a warning light and two supports, one bipolar in output and one tripolar in input. The controls for recording/playback and fast rewinding of the wire are placed on the plane and consist of two burgundy bakelite pushbuttons, separated by a lever for stopping. To the right of the controls is a circular timer with a burgundy bakelite needle moving over a numbered dial from 0 to 60. The two reels, of different sizes, occupy the rear part of the horizontal plane. The phonorecording device is placed between the two reels, inside a circular-section burgundy bakelite element. At the back of the device is the bipolar power support, next to an air intake for the motor covered with burgundy fabric. A second air intake is located on the bottom. The recorder is equipped with a burgundy metal microphone, stored in a compartment in the front part of the lid; the lid also features three wire reels for magnetic wire.
Function: Recording sounds on magnetic wire and their playback
Mode of use: Connect the microphone to the designated input; plug the plug into the power outlet and turn on the recorder by rotating clockwise the "tone" knob. To record, set the switch to "record" and press the "run" button, adjusting the sensitivity with the "volume" knob; to play back the recording, set the switch to "listen" and press the "run" button.
Historical notes: Although the study of the electromagnetic properties of steel wire for sound recording dates back to the late 19th century, it was only between the late 1940s and the early 1950s that steel-wire recorders capable of achieving a certain level of popularity were developed. By the mid-1950s, however, steel-wire recorders began a rapid decline, occurring in parallel with the advent on the market of magnetic tape recorders.
Author: Webster-Chicago Corporation (manufacturer) (1914/ 1952)
Dating: post-1948 – pre-1949
Material and technique: metal; wood; bakelite; canvas
Category: industry, manufacturing, craftsmanship
Dimensions: 30 cm x 44 cm x 19 cm
Weight: 14 kg.

For further information, visit the sites:
https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/scienza-tecnologia/schede/ST120-00124/
https://www.nonsoloferrivecchi.it/2010/01/vecchio-registratore-su-filo-metallico-ebster-chicago/

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