Europe may have been at war 80 years ago, but it was still peacetime in America, and this happy couple was enjoying a radio program while on the go, thanks to this new portable receiver, said to resemble a camera. The manufacturer is not named, but it’s shown in the August 1940 issue of Popular Science.
The set resembled a camera in its outward appearance, and was available with either a carrying strap or handle. It weighed in at 4.5 pounds, and measured 4 by 5 by 8 inches. It employed miniature tubes, and used normal flashlight batteries for the “A” battery. The superheterodyne receiver featured a built-in aerial and dynamic speaker. It also had a connection for headphones for private listening or pulling in distant stations.
My view of the 2020 Minnesota State Fair Food Parade.
Like many large public events, the 2020 Minnesota State Fair was cancelled due to COVID-19. While we understand the decision, it was very disappointing, since I have attended every Minnesota State Fair since 1971, and most (or possibly all) of them from 1961-69. (I have slowly come to grips with the issues surrounding missing it in 1970. My family had just returned home from a month-long vacation, and even though we were home for the last day of the fair, they deiced not to go.)
The fair had been cancelled in 1945 due to wartime fuel shortages. Even though VJ Day came before the start date, by that point, I assume it was too late to plan it. It was cancelled in 1946 due to another public health emergency, namely, a polio epidemic. And this year, a solid run from 1947-2019 was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this year would be my 50th consecutive, it was disappointing when the news came down that it had been cancelled.
But even though it wasn’t the same, I still managed to attend twice this year, kind of. I did my best to keep my streak alive.
The first announcement came a few months ago that the fair’s fine art exhibition would take place as scheduled. Tickets were about $10 per person to get into the art exhibit, but most importantly, it would allow admission to the fairgrounds. Even though we were supposed to “proceed directly” from the outer gate to the art exhibit, we were able to take our time, and at least walk through the fairgrounds one time. Below, I have four videos that I shot during the visit my kids and I made. There were people about, but knowing that it was the second day of the fair, the absence of large crowds was eerie. In the videos, I do my best to narrate the sites visible along Cosgrove Avenue. If you want the opportunity to get in yourself, there are still a few hundred tickets available, which you can purchase at this link.
At the food parade, stay in your vehicle unless, well, it’s urgent.
After the art show was announced, there was another announcement of an opportunity to visit the fairgrounds. They conducted a “food parade,” in which you could enter the fairgrounds by car, and were able to purchase a limited selection of state fair food items from your car, similar to a drive-up window of a restaurant. Tickets to this well publicized event sold out immediately, but we were able to nab one from a neighbor on Nextdoor.
Between the two, my personal preference was the art show. One attraction of the fair is greasy expensive food, and the food parade provided that. But for me, the chance to walk the fairgrounds, even just a portion, made it feel like I’m now allowed to say that I attended for my 50th consecutive year.
I hope you enjoy the videos, and if you decide to go, there are a few hundred tickets left for the art show. You need to purchase tickets for a specific date and time. While the food parade is continuing, all of the available tickets were snatched up in minutes. While they might be available from scalpers at inflated prices, I don’t think they would be worth any premium over the face value. The art show, on the other hand, gives you the chance to say that you went to the State Fair in 2020, at a reasonable price. It will be a bittersweet visit, but better than nothing.
You can view some of my previous posts about the Minnesota State Fair at this link.
The woman shown above, in the August 1945 issue of Popular Mechanics, appears to be tuning in a program on her broadcast radio. But looks are deceiving, and the set actually tunes the prewar FM band, which covered 42-49 MHz. And she’s not listening to a radio station. Instead, she’s listening to a record being played by the gentleman at left, who is a few feet away.
Phono oscillators which played records over a standard AM broadcast radio were fairly common, but this one played the records over an FM radio. According to the article, no claim was made that the simple circuit would give absolutely perfect reproduction, but results from the Popular Mechanics laboratory were satisfactory. The set was more a challenge to the experimenter to open up the new field of FM radio.
The whole circuit was remarkably compact, and consisted of a 6C5 triode tube along with a few other components. Even with wartime parts shortages, most of the parts could probably be scrounged up fairly easily. The whole circuit mounted right on the tone arm, which was constructed of hardwood.
Fifty years ago, if a young Soviet comrade were ambitious, and perhaps had a better than average access to parts, he or she would be rewarded with this handsome 8 transistor superheterodyne radio that covered longwave, medium wave, and shortwave broadcast bands.
The plans appeared fifty years ago this month in the August 1970 issue of Юный техник (Young Technician) magazine.
Sixty years ago this month, the August 1960 issue of the British Practical Wireless magazine carried the plans for this handsome five-tube public address amplifier. The guiding principles behind the design were reliability, portability, and economy. It put out 10-12 watts at modest cost and weight. The built-in speaker was said to provide for dance music in a medium size hall, and in the open air, with reliable speakers, speech would be intelligible about 500 yards.
One hundred years ago, these two were tasked with bringing along the recorded music to their respective outdoor gatherings. The gentleman simply grabbed the phonograph from the parlour, along was as many records as he thought he could carry. As you can see, the results were anything but sastifactory.
The woman, however, was much more savvy, and brought along her Portrola Portable Phonograph. She undoubtedly used it at home, but it was also perfect for outings, particularly since the carrying case had a convenient compartment for holding the records. The instrument had a list price of $35 with a single spring motor or $45 for the double spring model.
The ad appeared a hundred years ago this month in the August 1920 issue of Talking Machine World.
Thankfully, nothing happened 75 years ago today, August 22, 1945. The war ended before the scheduled event could take place.
In 1944, the Japanese War Ministry issued orders to prison camp commandants for the “final disposition” of Allied prisoners of war. Under those orders, all POW’s were to be killed at such time as Allied forces landed in the territory in which they were being held. The rationale behind the order was to prevent the POW’s from being repatriated and becoming a part of the liberating force.
For example, on December 14, 1944, about 150 prisoners of war at Palawan in the Philippine Islands, were ordered to the air raid shelters, at first in apparent response to an actual air raid. But after the raid, because of a mistaken belief that an invasion of the island was underway, they were ordered to remain, at which time the wooden structure was doused with gasoline and set afire.
According to the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the date set for at least one camp on the home islands was 75 years ago today, August 22, 1945.
That book is the story of Louis Zamperini, a record-breaking track star of the 1930’s. Among his claims to fame was a personal meeting with Hitler at the 1936 Olympics. In 1943, his plane crashed in the Pacific and he drifted in a small raft for 47 days until his “rescue” by the Japanese. He remained a prisoner until the end of the war, enduring much torture. After the war, haunted by nightmares of his experience, he drifted into alcoholism until attending a Billy Graham crusade in California.
Because of the Japanese decision to surrender, motivated at least in part by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the orders to execute Zamperini and other prisoners in Japan were never carried out.
Eighty years ago, this couple couldn’t decide which portable set they were going to take to the beach, so they decided to take them all. The sets shown originated with RCA Victor, Automatic, Emerson, Sonora, Majestic, and Philco. The picture appeared on the cover of the August 1940 issue of Radio Retailing.
Europe may have been at war 80 years ago, but it was still peacetime in America, and this happy couple was enjoying a radio program while on the go, thanks to this new portable receiver, said to resemble a camera. The manufacturer is not named, but it’s shown in the August 1940 issue of Popular Science.
Like many large public events, the 2020 
by 
, the date set for at least one camp on the home islands was 75 years ago today, August 22, 1945.
