Oral History Project
Oral History Project
For this oral presentation, I decided to interview one of my close friend’s grandmother. Her name is Mary Fonte and she was born in 1938. Ms. Mary was very knowledgeable about many things and our interview lasted over two hours. I found her to be very interesting and full of fascinating stories. She has witnessed many changes and experienced different eras in her lifetime. She has endured numerous progressions and countless advancement over the years. I found Ms. Mary to be a good interviewee because she was employed by AT&T as a call center operator for twenty seven years, so she is very familiar with the evolution of communication though the decades. Ms. Mary has an excellent memory and told me in detail about her experiences with media.
Her choice of music in her early teen years was artists such as Elvis Presley, Andy Williams, and The Beverly Brothers to name a few. Elvis Presley was her favorite. She explained to me that all music was acceptable and allowed by her parents. She said music was more “wholesome” in that time. She listened to records that she had to buy at the record store. She described the records as “33’s” and “45’s”. The 33’s consisted of a whole album of songs and the 45’s (which only cost 89 cents at the time) was only one song, very similar to what we call a “single” now days.
The device used in her home was a record player, radio, and television built in a wooden case, very much like a piece of furniture. This machine was made by Thilco and remained in her family for many years. The television had a black and white picture to view and her favorite programs to watch were The Little Rascals and American Bandstand. Although television was an enjoyed pastime, the unanimous preference in the home was the radio.
Everyone in the home had a radio in their room and Ms. Mary had a clock radio in her room however, she told me the clock never really worked. She listened to the radio because she enjoyed
For this oral presentation, I decided to interview one of my close friend’s grandmother. Her name is Mary Fonte and she was born in 1938. Ms. Mary was very knowledgeable about many things and our interview lasted over two hours. I found her to be very interesting and full of fascinating stories. She has witnessed many changes and experienced different eras in her lifetime. She has endured numerous progressions and countless advancement over the years. I found Ms. Mary to be a good interviewee because she was employed by AT&T as a call center operator for twenty seven years, so she is very familiar with the evolution of communication though the decades. Ms. Mary has an excellent memory and told me in detail about her experiences with media.
Her choice of music in her early teen years was artists such as Elvis Presley, Andy Williams, and The Beverly Brothers to name a few. Elvis Presley was her favorite. She explained to me that all music was acceptable and allowed by her parents. She said music was more “wholesome” in that time. She listened to records that she had to buy at the record store. She described the records as “33’s” and “45’s”. The 33’s consisted of a whole album of songs and the 45’s (which only cost 89 cents at the time) was only one song, very similar to what we call a “single” now days.
The device used in her home was a record player, radio, and television built in a wooden case, very much like a piece of furniture. This machine was made by Thilco and remained in her family for many years. The television had a black and white picture to view and her favorite programs to watch were The Little Rascals and American Bandstand. Although television was an enjoyed pastime, the unanimous preference in the home was the radio.
Everyone in the home had a radio in their room and Ms. Mary had a clock radio in her room however, she told me the clock never really worked. She listened to the radio because she enjoyed