This is President John F. Kennedy’s Dictaphone machine that he used to dictate speeches, memoranda, and notes as well as to record some of his telephone calls in his collection of secret White House tapes. It’s one of the artifacts in the holdings of the JFK Library & Museum.
The model is a Dictaphone “Time-Master” 117000 type P6. It’s constructed of metal and plastic and measures (overall) 2 3/4 x 12 x 10 1/2 in. (7 x 30.5 x 26.7 cm). It was made in New York by Dictaphone. Recordings were made by cutting grooves on to cylindrical plastic belts known as Dictabelts.
Photo by Joel Benjamin / JFK Library. (MO 63.6129)
Photo by Joel Benjamin / JFK Library. (MO 63.6129)
Photo by Joel Benjamin / JFK Library. (MO 63.6129)
You can find more about JFK’s secret White House tapes here.
And here is a 1959 print ad for the Dictaphone “Time-Master” that focuses on the time-saving (and cost-saving) that the new technology promised.
A print advertisement for the Dictaphone Time-Master personal dictation and recording system. At bottom right, in red, is an example of a Dictaphone Dictabelt Record. One can also be seen installed around the drum in the main photo. This advertisement appeared in National Geographic in 1959.