Guide to the Ampex Collection Addenda
ARS.0109
Finding aid prepared by Franz Kunst
Archive of Recorded Sound
Braun Music Center
541 Lasuen Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, California, 94305-3076
650-723-9312
soundarchive@stanford.edu
© 2011
The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Ampex Collection Addenda
Dates: 1944-1998
Collection number: ARS.0109
Repository:
Archive of Recorded Sound
Collection size:
1 box
: 1 folder ; 17 open reel tapes (three 5" reels ; nine 7" reels ; four 10.5" reels ; one 12" reel)
Abstract: Various smaller collections related to the Ampex Corporation, the development of magnetic recording on tape, and stereophonic
sound.
Access
Open for research; material must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Archive for
assistance.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the creators or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound.
Preferred Citation
Ampex Collection Addenda, ARS-0109. Courtesy of the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
Sponsor
This finding aid was produced with generous financial support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Related Collections
Scope and Contents
This is a group of small collections, assembled from various donors, related to the history of the Ampex Corporation and its
role in the development of sound recording on tape and stereophonic sound. Stanford University Special Collections holds the
Ampex Corporation Records, and some artifacts described here are part of that collection, despite being housed at the Archive
of Recorded Sound. The Ampex Corporation, founded in 1944 by Russian émigré Alexander M. Poniatoff, began as military contractor
making components for radar, but became a pioneer in the magnetic tape recording industry through rather unusual circumstances.
In 1945, a soldier named John T. "Jack" Mullin was assigned by the U.S. Army Signal Corp to recover examples of Nazi technology
from the field. In a radio station near Frankfurt, Mullin confirmed that the Germans had developed a system of sound recording
and reproduction using paper and plastic tape. He returned to the United States with fifty reels of audio tape and two AEG
Magnetophon brand reel-to-reel machines on which to play them. Following a successful demonstration at an Institute of Radio
Engineers conference, Mullin, along with business partner Bill Palmer, approached entertainer Bing Crosby with a proposal
for using audio tape in the production of his radio program Philco Radio Time. Crosby thus became the most significant early
investor in Ampex's tape recording line. Mullin even worked on the Philco program himself, doing the editing using both the
German tape he brought back and with other American brands then in development.
The Ampex Collection Addenda includes two pages of a Philco Radio Time script, possibly with Mullin's notes on the back. The
collection also includes an original Magnetophon Tonschreiber tape case with reels and parts. There are also various tapes
which came from Jack Mullin via Ampex employee Jim Wheeler, some of which almost certainly came from this case, and miscellaneous
tapes from the estate of C.D. (Charles Dewitt) Du Bois, an executive at Ampex beginning in the late 1950s. Finally, there
are recordings made in 1998 at a gathering commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Ampex 200, the first tape recorder
made by the company.
Indexing Terms
Ampex Corporation.
Mullin, John T. (Jack), 1913-1999
Palmer, William A., 1911-1996
Sound--Recording and reproducing
Box 1
1. Ampex 200 Anniversary Party
1998-04-25
Physical Description:
3 10.5" open reel tapes
Scope and Contents
Ampex 200 Anniversary Party 4/25/98 in Pleasanton, California. Held at the home of Mark Drury. Among those present: Walter
Selsted, former chief engineer; John G. "Jay" McKnight, formerly of Ampex, then of Magnetic Reference Laboratories; and Peter
Hammar, founder and curator of the former Ampex Museum. Three open reel tapes, dubbed from the original DAT.
Source
Donated by David Dintenfass in 1998.
2. C.D. Du Bois tapes
Physical Description:
10 open reel tapes
: three 5" reels ; four 7" reels
Box 1
Professional Recorders in Education
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Scope and Contents
Demonstration tape, 2-track stereo. Recorded, Produced and Duplicated on Ampex Professional Recorders by Audio Distributors,
Inc. (Grand Rapids, Michigan address).
Box 1
Here Is The Ampex Home Music Center And This Is What It Can Do. Ampex Demonstration Tape, Catalog No. AT-20 (2 track stereo,
stacked heads, 7.5 ips)
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Groundbreaking - Ampex Audio, Sunnyvale
1959-01-28
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Scope and Contents
Date determined from Ampex Collection finding aid.
Box 1
John Halloran Choir. A Christmas Greeting In Stereophonic Sound. "To Mr. and Mrs. Dubois, From [C.AA Frey?], Your Ampex Dealer."
Physical Description:
1 5" open reel tape
Scope and Contents
From the printed tape box: "Here for your holiday listening are the voices of the renowned John Halloran Choir singing a group
of traditional Christmas carols. These were specially arranged by John Halloran for this tape made for Ampex's friends. This
stereophonic recording is sent as a personal Christmas greeting to you and is unavailable in any other form."
Box 1
"To Marketing. Bim Farrar, DeWitt DuBois. From: Gene Russell" (Irish brand tape)
Physical Description:
1 5" open reel tape
Box 1
"To Dube DuBois, From R. Sprague" (Ampex Corporation sticker with Chicago address, Scotch brand tape, 3 3/4 ips)
1959-04-03
Physical Description:
1 5" open reel tape
Box 1
Demon Drums. Concertapes Pre-release Copy (In-line heads, 7.5 ips)
1958
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Scope and Contents
Handwritten identification on circular tape case. Tape was released in 1958 as Duelin' Demon Drums, Featuring Richard Campbell
and Harry H. Coon, Concertapes 512(stereo)/411(mono).
3. Mullin tapes from Jim Wheeler
Physical Description:
6 open reel tapes
: four 7" reels ; one 10.5" reel ; one 12" reel
Box 1
#7 Hubless Reel: "early '48 Crosby Show from hubless reel"
1948
Physical Description:
1 12" open reel tape
Box 1
#10 Misc 4
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
#11 Misc 3: Rainier Herkimer Hamstrung
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
#1 Slot 8
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
#2 Slot 1 "short recording, voice and music"
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
#4 Slot 3 Tonschrieber Reel 3, Tails Out
Physical Description:
1 10.5" open reel tape
Box 1
4. Philco Radio Time script (portion)
1947-10
Physical Description:
1 folder
Scope and Contents
Two non-consecutive pages of a script for Bing Crosby's Philco Radio Time program, recorded October 3, 1947, and broadcast
October 15th. The guest is Dinah Shore. There are handwritten notes (possibly Mullin's) on the reverse sides.
Box 1
5. Ampex Corporation Around the World in Sterophonic Sound. 10th Anniversary of Ampex Recorders. Narration by Ross H. Snyder
1957
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Magnetophon Tonschreiber AEG Ton S.b.1 tape case
1944
Scope and Contents
This metal case was brought to the United States by Jack Mullin from Germany in 1945, and has been identified as part of a
AEG (Allgemeine-Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft) Magnetophon Tonschreiber. It measures 9.75" x 11.5" x 17" and has "Ton S.b. 1
(Zubehor)" printed on the top. The case held open reel tapes and supplies, and apparently fit next to the actual reel-to-reel
player. Inside there are slots for 10" reels. In three slots there are two reels in metal cases and one reel with German writing.
No tape is on the reels (see the Mullin tapes for what may be them). There is also a compartment on one side for tools and
supplies, including rubber rollers and vacuum tubes (there are two Telefunken LS50s and several smaller tubes in padded holes).
A powerful vinegar smell persists, even after seventy years.
