Tom Yagley expressed how moved he was by the Birthday song. Tomorrow, there's a car show at Fitzsimmons from 9 to 12, and the following week, another car show will take place here at the VFW Hall. Tom is seeking assistance for Flag Day next Friday. If you're available, please arrive at 6:30, before the meeting, to help with raising the flags.

 

Mark Metevia introduces our speaker.  Gordon Close is the curator of the Rocky Mountain Music Museum.  He spoke to us some 4 years ago and is happy to be back.

The Rocky Mountain Music Museum is an interesting place and Gordon invites us all to stop by for a visit.  The museum is located at 3535 S Irving Street, in Englewood.  Gordon is hoping for the city of Englewood to help them move into a better location.  Gordon also notes that there is another fine museum in Vermillion South Dakota, and it is exceptional.

Now let’s explore some of the interesting items featured in the museum.   In 1884 a gentleman in France invented how to record music but was unable to play it back.  Gordon brought down a Victrola, which is an antique from 1908, and plays the cylinder style record, and it works! Incredible. Columbia also came out with a version, and it works.  He also has a portable player that plays a record.  Gordon has an old suitcase full of treasures.  The next invention was the Edison record, which is quite thick and heavy. Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction and was an important and successful company in the early recording industry.

The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's foundation of the Edison Phonograph Company in the same year.

The record Gordon shows us contains 2 songs, 1 on each side.  These were found in mercantile stores in the 1920’s.   Gordon then shows us a thinner version containing 4 songs on each side.  This is the old style 78 record.  They then invented a machine that could play this as well as one that people could record their own voice, which was a way for people to send messages to each other.  Gordon shows us a 45, that many of us recognize.  Gordon shows us a newer version of an lp, which was played at 33 rpm.  You record that on a 1” tape, called a Master, which is then pressed from the top. In his days as a musician, Gordon was able to go down to the manufacturing site to help them quality control his albums that were being pressed.  This came after he received copies of one of his albums and noticed they were all skipping.  During the manufacturing process, they found that the wipe down process, had not been done correctly.

During WWII, voices and music were recorded on wire, serving a practical purpose, including use in airplanes' Black Boxes. Gordon presents the 8-Track, the forerunner of the cassette tape. He then reveals a portable device from the 60s that could play an entire album through headphones. Lastly, he displays a chip capable of storing thousands of songs, illustrating the evolution of music playback. Truly remarkable.

Gordon then picks up the Harvest Guitar, a jazz model, and plays a tune for us. It is wonderful.

 Do we have a drawing?  2 of Clubs is the lucky card.  $20 is in the Pot.  Those who take a cup include Mike White, Ken Jeung, Karl Geil, Michael Chavez, Greg Holt, your editor.

Drawing: Allen Malask draws a winner! Phil Perington tells me 2 of Clubs is the lowest card in the deck.

We recite the Creed and go forth to promote Optimism.