Did you know that before cassette tapes and digital files, there were Dictabelts—flexible vinyl recordings that captured history in real-time?

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class="breadcrumb my-0"> <li class="breadcrumb-item"><a href="/news/">UA News Center</a></li> <li class="breadcrumb-item"><a href="/news/did-you-know/">Did You Know?</a></li> <li class="breadcrumb-item active">Did you know that before cassette tapes and digital files, there were Dictabelts—flexible vinyl recordings that captured history in real-time?</li> </ol> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="page-content news"> <div class="row newsArticle"> <div class="col"> <div class="newsArticle"> <h2 class="pb-2">Did you know that before cassette tapes and digital files, there were Dictabelts—flexible vinyl recordings that captured history in real-time?</h2> <p>February 11, 2025</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of Alaska’s greatest adventurers, Clyde “Slim” Williams, used this now-obscure format in 1955 to record his life’s wildest stories—his travels by dog team, his encounters with Indigenous communities, and his advocacy for an Alaska Highway long before it was built. Instead of writing his memoirs, he spoke them into a </span><b>Dictabelt recorder</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a once-popular device that etched sound onto a rotating vinyl belt.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams recorded </span><b>32 Dictabelts</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for his friend, writer Richard “Dick” Morenus, who later used them as the foundation for the 1956 book </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alaska Sourdough: The Story of Slim Williams</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. These recordings, now preserved in the </span><b>UAF Oral History Program</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, offer a rare firsthand account of a life spent exploring and surviving in the Alaskan wilderness.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dictabelts, or Memobelts were made from 5-mil thick transparent vinyl, they are about 3.5 inches wide and about 12 inches around. To record on the belts, the belts were loaded onto a pair of metal cylinders, put under tension and then were rotated. Audio was inscribed with an audio-signal-modulated helical groove by a stylus that moved slowly over the rotating belt. Each belt records approximately 15 minutes. This system was very popular in its day as they provided better audio capture than wax cylinders. The belts could be folded for storage and fit into a letter-size envelope.</span></p> <p> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="membelts" src="/news/images/memobelts.jpg" alt="Five red squares laid on a wooden table that loop like fruit roll ups" width="512" height="384"><em>Memobelts, or as more commonly known, Dictabelts were an analog audio recording medium <br></em></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>first introduced by the American Dictaphone Company in 1947. </em></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Oral History Program was established in 1981 to collect, preserve, and provide access to audio and video recordings that provide insight into Alaska's history and the people who have contributed to its heritage. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With more than </span><b>16,000 audio recordings</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the UAF Oral History Collection captures the voices and stories of Alaska’s past. Many of these recordings—including Slim’s—are available to explore online.</span></p> <hr> <h4>Archival images of Clyde "Slim" Williams courtesy of UAF Rasmuson Alaska and Polar Regions</h4> <div class="multicolumn-container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-3 mb-3"> <div class="ou-component-image-caption"> <figure class="figure float-left pr-3" style="width: 100%"> <img src="/news/images/slim.williams.1.jpg" class="figure-img img-fluid " alt="Slim Williams"> <figcaption class="figure-caption text-left">Williams with his dog team and sled on a stretch of dirt road. </figcaption> </figure> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-3 mb-3"> <div class="ou-component-image-caption"> <figure class="figure float-left pr-3" style="width: 100%"> <img src="/news/images/slim.williams.2.jpg" class="figure-img img-fluid " alt="Slim riding a bucking two-wheeler through the muskeg"> <figcaption class="figure-caption ">Slim riding a bucking two-wheeler through the muskeg</figcaption> </figure> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-3 mb-3"> <div class="ou-component-image-caption"> <figure class="figure float-left pr-3" style="width: 100%"> <img src="/news/images/slim.williams.3.jpg" class="figure-img img-fluid " alt="Slim Williams standing outside "the Alaska cabin""> <figcaption class="figure-caption text-left">Slim Williams standing outside "the Alaska cabin"</figcaption> </figure> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-3 mb-3"> <div class="ou-component-image-caption"> <figure class="figure float-left pr-3" style="width: 100%"> <img src="/news/images/slim.williams.4.jpg" class="figure-img img-fluid " alt="Slim Williams interviewed by reporter from radio station"> <figcaption class="figure-caption text-left">Slim Williams interviewed by reporter from radio station</figcaption> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </div> <hr> <h3><b>Want to listen for yourself?</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are three ways to access these and thousands of other historic recordings:</span></p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>UAF Library Catalog</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – Search the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">UAF Oral History Collection</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and stream digitized recordings.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">🔗</span><a href="https://anch.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/uaf"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">UAF Library Catalog</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Alaska & Polar Regions Digital Repository</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – Browse historical audio collections, including radio programs.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">🔗</span><a href="https://archives.library.uaf.edu/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alaska & Polar Regions Digital Repository</span></a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Project Jukebox</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – An interactive website integrating audio, transcripts, maps, and historic photographs.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">🔗</span><a href="https://jukebox.uaf.edu/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Project Jukebox</span></a></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Between 2023 and 2024, <strong>over 28,000 people</strong> visited Project Jukebox. The five most popular projects included the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Raven Story</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Exxon Valdez Project Jukebox</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dog Mushing in Alaska</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ethnobotany, Ethnomedicine and Traditional Healing</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Denali Mountaineering</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The unique glimpses into people's personal lives and memories provided through these oral history collections bring history and culture alive in ways that traditional history, public records and data cannot, adding depth to our understanding of the past by letting us experience it at an individual level. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Importantly, oral histories fill in missing narratives from communities that are under-documented through traditional papers and narratives, helping round out the story of our past, and giving voice to people who otherwise could have been forgotten in the narrative of history.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">🎥 Watch below to hear a few of Slim Williams’ stories from the digitized recordings.</span></p> <p style="text-align: left;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kEn8JoytzH4" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kP9y6EUC3-c" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Special thanks:</span></i></p> <ul> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dictabelts were digitized thanks to a grant from the Rasmuson Rare Book Endowment Fund.<br></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The UAF Elmer E. Rasmuson Library Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives faculty and staff.</span></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div class="spacer"></div> <footer class="page-footer center-on-small-only swFooter"> <div class="footerContainer"><div class="container-fluid custom-footer"><div class="row container mx-auto text-white"><div class="col-md"><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>University of Alaska Office of Public Affairs</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.alaska.edu/opa">www.alaska.edu/opa</a></strong></p><p style="text-align: center;">907-450-8100</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span>Butrovich Building Suite 209</span><br><span>2025 Yukon Drive</span><br><span>P.O. 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Did you know that before cassette tapes and digital files, there were Dictabelts—flexible vinyl recordings that captured history in real-time? | UA News Center