Separated at Birth? 1954 Solar Cell

1954AugElecWorldAShe has an uncanny resemblance to Ted Baxter’s girlfriend Georgette, played by actress Georgia Engel.

But it’s actually Margaret Bagley, an employee of Bell Laboratories, and she’s showing off a light-powered transmitter on the cover of the August 1954 issue of Radio Electronics. The FM transmitter is being powered by an electric light bulb thanks to 39 silicon solar cells which had recently been developed by Bell Labs. The two-transistor transmitter circuit is shown below, and it’s being modulated by the RCA turntable, which is presumably running on AC power.

1954AugElecWorldB