One hundred years ago this month, the January 1916 issue of Popular Mechanics showed the portable radio transmitter-receiver shown here.

The set was designed to be strapped to the waist, and was believed by the designer, Dr. H. Barringer Cox of Bedford Hills, New York, to be particularly suited for military use. While the full details had not been made public, the magazine revealed that the transmitter was powered by five dry cells going to a vibrator and transformer. The antenna and ground consisted of a wire of about four or five feet in length running to a “canelike metal rod.” For military use, the wire could run down a trouser leg to metal spurs in a soldier’s boots.

The receiver consisted of a drum encircled by a wire coil, with the detector on top. During testing, the set had a range of approximately 18 miles, although the normal expected operating radius was stated as being about 2-3 miles.

Click Here For Today’s Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Cartoon