4, 5. How were phonograph records used, but what did they lack?

⁴ Recorded talks. In the 1930’s and into the 1940’s, publishers used recorded Bible lectures played on portable phonographs. Each recording lasted less than five minutes. Sometimes the records had short titles, such as “Trinity,” “Purgatory,” and “Kingdom.” How were those records used? Brother Clayton Woodworth, Jr., who was baptized in 1930 in the United States, said: “I carried a little suitcase-type phonograph, spring wound, with a portable arm that I had to set in just the right position at the edge of the record if it was to play properly. I would approach a door, open the case, set the arm in place, and push the doorbell. When the householder opened the door, I would say, ‘I have an important message I would like you to hear.’” What was the response? “Many times,” says Brother Woodworth, “the person responded favorably. At other times, people just shut the door. Occasionally, they thought that I was selling phonographs.”

⁵ By 1940, over 90 different recorded talks were available and over a million records had been made. John E. Barr, who was pioneering in Britain at that time and who later served on the Governing Body, said: “During the years 1936 to 1945, a phonograph was my constant companion. In fact, in those days I felt lost without one. To hear Brother Rutherford’s voice at the doorstep was ever so encouraging; it felt as though he were there in person. Of course, phonograph work still lacked the teaching aspect of the ministry, the ability to touch the hearts of people.”