1952 Hudson Auto Show

Next up on the blog, a disc that isn’t a radio transcription, but still has some historical interest.  I thought it might be a radio show when I saw it in an online auction a few months ago, but it turned out to be something more rare.

The disc appears to have been prepared for a display at an automobile show.  The narrator highlights features of the new 1952 Hudson, presumably as one or more of the actual cars were shown off, including “Hudsonaire Hard-Top Styling”, Hudson “Step-Down Design”, and Hudson’s “Triple-Safe Brakes”.

This makes the second time I’ve run into transcriptions that were pressed up for playback at public exhibitions.  A few years ago, I found two Columbia transcriptions made for exhibits at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.  It’s likely the Hudson disc was played for audiences as the cars were shown, perhaps with some live models showing off some of the features talked about on the disc.

Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen inch vinyl transcription pressed by RCA, matrix number E2-CM-2740.  You can’t really read the label in the image, but it’s very lightly typewritten and only reads “1952 Hudson Auto Show”.