Sending the initial voice mails involved utilizing envelopes.

In the early 1940s, a novelty machine named the Voice-O-Graph made its debut, revolutionising the way people communicated. This tall wooden cabinet, set up at common gathering places such as amusement parks, boardwalks, and transportation hubs, allowed individuals to record and send voice messages, popularising voice mail in the United States.

One such recording, addressed to "Folks" and named "Gene," was made in Dallas, Texas, in October 1954. The speaker, perhaps traveling and eager to complete their journey around Thanksgiving, expresses hope for receiving letters from their family. Another recording, made in Hot Springs, Texas, around the same time, also surfaced, revealing a snapshot of a bygone era.

During World War II, soldiers used voice mail to reassure loved ones with the sound of their voice. This cultural practice, ubiquitous yet now forgotten, saw millions of audio letters sent across the United States, South America, Europe, Russia, China, and many more locations worldwide.

Historical linguists find these voice mails intriguing as they provide some of the earliest-ever recorded samples of how regular people spoke. Professor Thomas Levin, the creator of the Princeton Phono-Post Project, maintains the world's only archive dedicated to "Phono-Post," a unique form of voice recording and transmission.

The advent of cassette tapes in the 1960s marked the decline of services like the Voice-O-Graph. However, people strangely, but with remarkable regularity, continued to talk about death in voice mail messages. Many voice mail messages, sent from far away, express longing, underscoring the deep emotional connection people felt with this form of communication.

The Princeton Phono-Post Archive serves as a testament to a chapter of media history, preserving remnants of a cultural practice that was once huge but has since been largely forgotten. For many people, these recordings were the first time they had ever recorded their own voice, making them a poignant reminder of a time when technology bridged the gap between loved ones, allowing them to hear each other's voices across vast distances.