Recorded Bible discourses too had a prominent role during the 1930’s and early in the 1940’s. In 1934 some of the Witnesses began to take a portable phonograph with them when they went witnessing. The machine was rather heavy, so they might keep it in their automobile or leave it at a convenient place until they found people who were willing to listen to a recorded Bible discourse. Then, in 1937, use of a portable phonograph right on the doorstep was inaugurated. The procedure was simple: After stating that he had an important Bible message, the Witness would put the needle on the record and let it do the talking. Kasper Keim, a German pioneer serving in the Netherlands, was most grateful for his “Aaron,” as he called the phonograph, because he found it difficult to witness in Dutch. (Compare Exodus 4:14-16.) Out of curiosity entire families would sometimes listen to the records.

As of 1940, more than 40,000 phonographs were being used. That year a new vertical model designed and built by the Witnesses was introduced, and it was put to use especially in the Americas. It stirred up even greater curiosity because householders could not see the record as it was being played. Each record was 78 rpm and was four and a half minutes in length. The titles were short and to the point: “Kingdom,” “Prayer,” “Way to Life,” “Trinity,” “Purgatory,” “Why Clergy Oppose Truth.” Upwards of 90 different discourses were recorded; over a million records were put to use. The presentations were clear and easy to follow. Many householders listened appreciatively; a few reacted violently. But an effective and consistent witness was being given.

By 1933 they were making use of powerful transcription machines to play recordings of straightforward Bible discourses in public places. Brothers Smets and Poelmans mounted their equipment on a tricycle and stood by it as it boomed out the message in the marketplaces and near the churches in Liège, Belgium. They were often out there ten hours a day. People in Jamaica would readily gather when they heard music, so the brothers there played music first. When crowds would pour out of the bush areas to the main roads to see what was happening, they would find Jehovah’s Witnesses delivering the Kingdom message.

Some of that transcription equipment was installed in automobiles and on boats, with loudspeakers on the roof to make the sound carry farther. Bert and Vi Horton, in Australia, operated a van with a large sound horn mounted on top that was inscribed with the words “Kingdom Message.” One year they made almost every street in Melbourne resound with stirring exposures of false religion and heartwarming descriptions of the blessings of God’s Kingdom. During those years Claude Goodman was pioneering in India. Use of the sound car, with records in the local languages, enabled him to reach large crowds in bazaars, in parks, along the road—wherever people could be found.

When the brothers in Lebanon parked their sound car on a hill and broadcast lectures, the sound carried down into the valleys. People in the villages, not seeing the source of the voice, were sometimes frightened, thinking that God was speaking to them out of the heavens!

There were a few tense moments for the brothers, however. On one occasion, in Syria, a village priest left his dinner on the table, grabbed his big walking stick, and ran out into the crowd that was gathering to hear a Bible discourse broadcast from a sound car. Waving his stick angrily and shouting, he demanded: “Stop! I command you to stop!” But the brothers realized that not everyone agreed with him; there were those who wanted to hear. Soon, some of the crowd bodily picked up the priest and carried him back to his house, where they deposited him again at the dinner table! Despite clergy opposition, the Witnesses courageously saw to it that people had the opportunity to hear.