Miller’s 1940 project going together.

No, he didn’t write Death of a Salesman. That was a different Arthur Miller, as was the cinematographer. Instead, the byline of Arthur C. Miller appeared in numerous radio articles in Popular Science in the 1930’s and 1940’s. While most of his how-to articles appeared in Popular Science, he did write for other magazines, such as the “world’s smallest 3 tube receiver” shown here in the December, 1936 issue of Radio Craft.

Miller’s specialty was construction articles, usually aimed at the relative beginner to the radio art. A good example of his writing appeared 75 years ago this month, in the September 1940 issue of Popular Science.

This was the start of a series entitled “Get Started in Radio for $8.95.” Miller provides a parts list for a beginner to put together his own electronics laboratory kit. In the series of articles, the reader would put together a simple circuit, and in later installments, modify or add to it. In the process, the reader would put together six different circuits to provide a course in both construction and theory. The first circuit was a two-tube earphone receiver. Over the months, it would grow to a four-tube receiver with speaker. The circuits would also include an audio amplifier for use with a phonograph. All of the circuits were designed to use the same parts, allowing the reader to build them, take them apart, and build something else, making the most of the initial assortment of parts.

The series was essentially the same concept as the “Progressive Edu-Kit,” which appeared in radio publications for decades. A good description of that kit can be found at KB8TAD’s page.

Despite the fact that Miller was a fairly prolific author of radio articles, I’ve been unable to find much information about him. In the preface of the magazine’s book Radio for the Millions, Miller is identified as being from New York. The 1938 call book lists no Arthur Miller in the second call area, and I’ve never seen a call sign in his byline. Therefore, it’s safe to say that he wasn’t a licensed ham. In the 1960’s, an Arthur C. Miller served as production editor of Electronics magazine, although I don’t know if that’s one and the same. If anyone has further information about this author, I would appreciate if you could share it, either in the comments or by e-mail.

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