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In This New Field of Custom Recording Even Cows are Made to Talk Phonographs and Special Discs are being Widely Adopted by Many Branches of Industry as Effective Aids to Sales By James P. Davis Manager, Custom Record Division RCA Victor Division T. .IME was when cows were expected only to moo, auto- mobiles to honk their horns, and refrigerators to purr gently. Now you'll find some that talk. This phenomenon is an accomplishment of the RCA Victor Custom Record Division, which, among its other activities, has recorded some brisk sales talks for delivery by the most unlikely parties. For example, there is Car- melita, a cow associated with Kraft Foods, who spoke to customers in retail grocery stores around the country some months ago during a special promotion of the firm's caramels. There is also the Crosley refrigerator, which has intrigued customers in numerous showrooms by delivering its own commentary to anyone who opened its door. Now automobiles in the hands of certain deal- ers are preparing to do the same, and it is likely that the habit will spread among hitherto non-talking com- modities. It is, of course, the familiar phonograph record that is behind these unusual activities, and they simply con- firm that this time-honored means of sound communica- tion is making itself more useful than ever in modern sales promotion. Aside from these occasional spectacular phases, the custom-made record has been steadily moving up into a role of considerable importance in the business world. Last year, the RCA Victor Custom Record Division filled orders for millions of transcriptions, phonograph records and slide-film recordings for customers ranging from the International Civil Aviation Organization to an advertising concern promoting bridal photographs. This year, orders have been running at a rate 20% higher than in 1952. The recorded contents, aside from talking cows, automobiles and refrigerators, have run a gamut from animal calls to the conventional human voice. The array has been recorded on a wide variety of discs, from the 61/^-inch pure vinyl "spinner" to the l6-mm slide- film, designed for use with slides and filmstrips. Musical Recordings Predominate A large percentage of the custom record business consists of musical recordings for more than 100 com- mercial record companies who lack recording facilities of their own. But the growth of the versatile custom service since its establishment some eighteen years ago points also to the greater effectiveness of the spoken over the written word in numerous situations. A voice is peculiarly effective as a consumer attraction when it emerges from something that is not ordinarily expected to talk, although the bulk non-musical custom record buyers have called on the service as an extremely handy RADIO AGE 29