Singing Through the Post: The Voice-o-gram of Doreen and Tom Howell
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Brighton, Ontario, Canada in 1946. WWII is finally over. Streets are alive with the hum of optimism. Families and friends are reunited, sharing dreams of a better life. In a small booth at the local YMCA, a young couple leans close to a microphone. The recording needle scratches into motion, and they begin to sing.
This is the melody captured on a vinyl record found in the Cambridge Museum’s Hewett Collection. It is a “voice-o-gram” made by Doreen and Tom Howell. Far from a novelty, voice-o-grams were once a popular way of sending “audio letters” through the post. From the 1930s to the 1950s, hundreds of thousands were made across Europe and the Americas, preserving laughter, greetings, songs and messages.
On this recording, Doreen chooses I’ll Buy That Dream, a popular hit from the 1945 film Sing Your Way Home. Her voice carries all the excitement of a world ready to move on, to build, to believe in comfort and joy after years of sacrifice. Tom answers with The Mountains of Mourne, a wistful ballad that imagines London through the eyes of an Irish emigrant. At the end, the couple laugh together as he cannot remember the last verse.
Poster for the American romantic comedy film “Sing Your Way Home”, released in 1945 which features the song, I’ll Buy That Dream.
Intimate voice letters like these have lain forgotten in family drawers and archives. Few remember the time when it was possible to record messages on vinyl to send to family and friends. When we posted about the Howells on our Facebook page, we were contacted by Princeton University professor, Thomas Levin who has created the phenomenal Princeton Phono-Post Project which is the first systematic attempt to document this important yet neglected chapter of media history.
Today, this recording reminds us of the intimacy of sound. Unlike a letter, the voice carries inflection, emotion and breath, the living presence of someone far away. For the Howells, it was a way of saying we’re here, together and full of hope. You can listen to Doreen singing on the Cambridge Museum’s website here.