Newly Found Recording Featuring 1933 Century of Progress Arcturus Ceremony Now Available from Record Wonderland
Schaumburg, IL (PRWEB) November 29, 2013 -- Many have seen pictures of the Century of Progress International Exhibition held in Chicago in 1933, but few have heard the sounds. That is changing as Record Wonderland releases audio from the legendary world's fair.
"We were fortunate to stumble on this recording," said Steve Young, owner of Record Wonderland. "With the interest that the Century of Progress continues to generate, we felt it would be of interest to other history buffs."
On May 27, 1933, A Century of Progress opened on Chicago's lakefront. That evening, the switch thrown to illuminate the fairgrounds was triggered from light pulses captured from the star Arcturus, originally generated by the star at roughly the same time as Chicago's 1893 Columbian Exposition.
To commemorate this event, the first public display of photovoltaic switching, a ceremony was held on the fairgrounds that night, with speeches by Rufus C. Dawes, president of the fair, Edwin Frost, head of the University of Chicago's astronomy department at the Yerkes Observatory on Lake Geneva, WI, - the man who conceived of the idea - and Philip Fox, director Chicago's Adler Planetarium.
In one of the earliest examples of "in the field" audio recording, Philip Fox had the event recorded on acetate discs, which he kept in his personal library. Copies of these discs were made in 1940, but the original acetates and the 1940's copy were lost to history.
Fortunately, a second copy was made in the early 1950's on an audio-disc record, which too was lost only until this past year when it was discovered by Record Wonderland in an estate sale record collection.
"Aware of the historical significance of this recording, we are proud to present this modern re-recording, in the more contemporary formats of MP3 and CD," said Young.
Now is your chance to be among the first to experience this event decades as no other discs have been made available to the public.
"The ceremony has been split into 2 parts for the MP3, each selling for a dollar," said Young. "If you like it, you may want to get the CD too."
The CD is priced at $19.99, but is on sale for just $15.99 with free domestic shipping through Dec. 2.
Part 1 and Part 2 of the MP3 files are available through Selz.com.
Steve Young, Ew Publishing, +1 630-254-8243, [email protected]
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