Youngsters won’t appreciate the perils involved in watching television back in the day. Here, we see the effects of bad horizontal hold. The image appeared in the April 1950 issue of Radio News.
Bad Horizontal Hold, 1950
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1940: Learning Code for Scouts
Eighty-five years ago this month, the April 1940 issue of Boys’ Life contained some pointers from William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt for Scouts to learn the Morse Code, which was then a requirement for First Class. The best way was to sit down with a buddy and learn the letters with a buzzer telegraph set, and the simple instructions for making such an instrument are shown below. Then, you could continue your signaling in the great out-of-doors.
Visie-Talkie, 1945
Eighty years ago today, April 1, 1945, Radio Craft magazine introduced what is properly the ancestor of the modern cell phone. It was the next logical progression after the walkie talkie and the handie-talkie, namely the visie-talkie.
The extreme miniaturization was possible due to the elimination of a needless step in television, namely, scanning. The article correctly pointed out that the human eye, just like a TV camera, contains a lens. But that’s where the similarity ends, since the TV camera has a complicated scanning mechanism. The human eye has a retina, and the article explains how this was duplicated with the use of condensinators.
Undoubtedly, the idea was put on hold due to the war, and not used again for many decades. But eighty years ago, this device demonstrated that convenient handheld video communication was possible.
1955 CONELRAD Markings
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Seventy years ago this month, the March 1955 issue of Popular Mechanics showed off Chrysler’s “defense minded” radios. The dials were “especially designed to enable motorists to tune in quickly for emergency Civil Defense instructions.” As far as I can tell, that meant that the dials had the required CONELRAD markings on 640 and 1240.
Science Fair Idea: Molecular Theory of Magnetism
If Junior is looking for a fast science fair project for the deadline tomorrow, this one (and others) involving magnetism appeared 80 years ago this month in the March 1945 issue of Popular Science.
You’ll need a magnet, a compass, a needle, a clothespin (or some similar object to hold the needle) and some method of generating fire, such as a lighter.
Magnetize the needle by rubbing it on the magnet. After doing so, hold it near the compass, and the compass needle will point toward it. To demonstrate the molecular theory of magnetism, then heat the needle up to red hot. Hold it toward the compass again, and it will have no effect, or only a weak effect.
This is because the needle became magnetized because all of the molecules within became magnetized in the same direction. When the needle is heated, the atoms can move more freely, and are aligned in random directions.
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EU Urges Citizens to Prepare for Emergencies
Today, the EU launches its new #Preparedness Strategy.
“Ready for anything” — this must be our new European way of life. Our motto and #hashtag. pic.twitter.com/fA1z8ZvMDA
— Hadja Lahbib (@hadjalahbib) March 26, 2025
We reported a few days ago that France is encouraging all of its citizens to prepare a 72-hour emergency kit. Now, the same advice is coming down from the European Union. The X video above is from Hadja Lahbib, the EU Commissioner of “Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.” The recommendations are familiar to most of our readers. Every citizen of the EU should have a survival kit consisting of:
- Eyeglasses
- Documents in waterproof pouch
- Flashlight
- Matches or lighter
- Water
- Swiss Army Knife
- Medications
- Food
- Cash
- Charger and power bank
- Playing cards
- Radio
We like to think that most of our readers are prepared in excess of these bare minimums. But even so, it doesn’t hurt to look through a list like this, and make sure you have these items available at home, at work, in your car, at school, or wherever you might find yourself when disaster strikes.
Some of the links above are to inexpensive sources on Amazon. Some of the links are to our prior posts where we go into more detail. You can click here for all of our posts on the subject of emergency preparedness.
We hope there won’t be a war. But it doesn’t hurt to take at least some minimal preparations to help you should there be one, or even a more mundane emergency.
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1945 One Tube Radio
Eighty years ago, the March 1945 issue of Radio Craft showed this circuit for a one-tube radio that actually had four stages. The tube is a 1D8GT, which appears to be at first glance a double tube. But it’s actually a triple tube. On the left is a pentode and on the right is a triode. Down in the lower right side of the tube there is what appears to be a cathode, but it’s actually the plate of the third part of the tube, a diode.
The circuit first amplifies the RF signal with the pentode, and then sends it to the diode to be detected. Then, the pentode is reflexed and serves as AF amplifier. Finally, the triode is used as a second stage of AF amplification. So the single tube actually takes the place of four tubes.
The circuit had been sent in to the magazine by one Sgt. L.R. Blattner, of Tinker Field, Ohio.
1987 Grocery Prices
For a snapshot of the 1987 cost of living, this ad appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on March 26, 1987. While the prices look low, there has been a lot of inflation since 1987. According to this online calculator, one dollar in 1987 works out to $2.81 in 2025 dollars.
So the 79 cent box of Sunshine crackers works out to about $2.22. How does that compare to today’s actual price? You can find the price for the Amazon store brand at this link.
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1925 Wireless
I’m not sure exactly what’s going on in this picture, but this British gentleman a century ago obviously took radio construction seriously. The illustration appeared on the cover of the March 1925 issue of The Wireless Magazine.
TV Behind the Scenes, 1950
Seventy-five years ago this month, the March 1950 issue of Radio News went into details of what went on behind the scenes to put a television program on the air. The cover image is a color shot of the scene.
The program they were airing was Howdy Doody, on New York station WNBT.