Can you get me specific details on a recording service the USO offered
to soldiers during World War II?  The USO supposedly offered GI's the
opportunity to record messages for families, friends, loved ones, etc.
and then the USO put these messages on actualy records(like music
records) and shipped them to the appropriate party.  I want to know
when the USO did this, where they did it, how they did it and how many
records they created.

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 11 May 2004 08:46 PDT

CB35 --

We have one of those records, sent by my wife's father in 1943 from
Ft. Sheridan, IL.  They were apparently sent from USO facilities all
across the country but there are scant details on the Internet.

I can provide the following, if it's sufficient to be an answer:
*  what they were called
*  a physical description
*  pictures of the mailing envelope and record
*  who sponsored them
*  what company manufactured them
*  how much postage it took to mail them

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Clarification of Question by cb35-ga on 11 May 2004 09:36 PDT

Omnivorous-ga

I defintely want all the information you mentioned but for a complete
answer I'm also looking for information on how these records were
recorded.  Someone told me recording booths were set up on military
bases but I haven't been able to confirm that. Lastly, I'd like to
know how many of these records were made.

I hope this clarifies things a bit.

CB35 --

I'm going to pass along what I have, even knowing that we won't get
all of the information that you're seeking.

Lester Jacobs, of Peoria, IL, helped in answering this question.  At
the time he made his "Letter on a Record" in 1943 he was Sgt. Lester
Jacobs and was stationed in an Army replacement unit at Ft. Sheridan,
IL (Highwood-Highland Park, IL).  His letter was sent to his parents
in Bowen, IL.

The former Sgt. Jacobs reports that it was done in booths which were
commonly available at USO's across the country.  There was no charge
for the recording (some front line soldiers complained bitterly about
the Red Cross charging them for coffee and donuts when money had been
donated for the cause).  Jacobs made his recording and mailed it for 3
cents.

Sgt. Jacobs, who would later serve in France and name one of his
daughters after the town of Nancy, said, "Chicago was a great town for
servicemen: they'd do anything for you.  New York wasn't a great town:
they were just after your money."

The records are cardboard and were manufactured by Rainbo Record, of
Los Angeles.  They are 78 RPM disks and covered with an enamel.  It's
difficult to tell if they were perhaps recorded in a wax substrate and
enamelled -- or if the recording was done directly into the enamel.  I
believe that the records were coated in the process, as there is space
on the cardboard for a From/To address to be written.

This "Letter on a Record" was made at a USO club operated by the
National Catholic Community Service.  NOTE: There is precious little
about this USO service, either in USO service histories or elsewhere
on the web.  Efforts to search for "Rainbo Record" were also
unsuccessful.

A photograph of one such "Letter on a Record" Private Rene E. Bloch,
Fort McClellan, Alabama and sent to his mother in Lake Placid, NY:
http://www.donet.com/~mconrad/home7.htm

And one from to President of Notre Dame University from the USO at Ft.
McClellan, AL is in the archive of J. Hugh O'Donnell, who headed the
South Bend school from 1940-46:
http://www.archives.nd.edu/findaids/ead/index/PHO001.htm


Google search strategy:
"letter on a record" + USO
USO + "World War II" + services
Rainbo + USO + record


Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Thanks very much.  This was extremely helpful.