Author Archives: clem.law@usa.net

Television Controlled Machine Gun: 1944

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This self-explanatory “television controlled machine gun” appeared on the cover of the December 1944 issue of Radio Craft.  It was not, however, an existing weapon system.  Instead, it was the vision of publisher Hugo Gernsback, who wrote the accompanying article describing the system.

It was intended for a defensive position, and Gernsback admitted that it might eventually be overrun.  But when that happened, he noted, there would be no casualties.  And a second and third layer could then take over.

Gernsback also anticipated active night vision equipment.  He pointed out that his system could be used at night simply by installing some infrared floodlights, which the TV camera would pick up with no difficulty.



1944 Boys’ Life Hallicrafters Ad

1944DecBLIn 1944, with wartime bans in place, Hallicrafters didn’t have any equipment for sale to civilians. But they were gearing up for a postwar boom, and they figured a lot of Boy Scouts would be in the market for radio equipment as soon as the war was over.

This ad appeared 75 years ago this month in the December 1944 issue of Boys’ Life. It encourages young radio fans to send 25 cents to the ARRL to get the most recent edition of “How to Become a Radio Amateur,” a splendid book.



Maurice Goldberg: Minnesota Radio Pioneer

1944DecRadioRetailingShown here in 1944 is Maurice G. Goldberg, the owner of Beacon Radio Service Shop, 142 East Fourth St., St. Paul, MN. The shop had been in business for 20 years, and even before the war had concentrated on service. Indeed, the sign outside read, “if we can’t fix it, throw it away.”

Even with wartime parts shortages, the shop was living up to its reputation of being able to fix anything. And since new sets were not available for sale, his decision to concentrate on service proved profitable.

Goldberg had been able to keep many radios operating by interchanging tubes, with often meant having to rewire the set. He was so flooded with business that backlogs ran about three weeks. He did, however, prioritize oldtime customers. His reasoning was that when conditions returned to normal after the war, many customers would return to local dealers. But the long-term customers would appreciate the loyalty shown to them.

Greenberg also taught at the Dunwoody Institute in the Army training program. He did occasionally get students who were available to help out in the shop, but he did the bulk of the work himself, working long hours.

Goldberg was indeed a Minnesota radio pioneer. He’s listed as of 1924 as the licensee of KFOY, with broadcast 250 watts on 1350 kHz (222.1 meters). This frequency was shared with WAMD Minneapolis, licensed to one Stanley E. Hubbard. The stations were bought in 1928 by the National Battery Company, which merged them together under the new call sign KSTP, with Hubbard as general manager. Power increased to 25,000 watts, and Hubbard re-acquired a controlling interest in 1941.

The photo above appeared 75 years ago this month in the December 1944 issue of Radio Retailing.



Printed Circuits: 1959

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These two television servicemen, pictured on the cover of Radio-Electronics, December 1959, realize that printed circuits are here to stay.  Fortunately for them, as the magazine explains, the boards are becoming very reliable, and are designed to make servicing of television sets easier.



Skiing With the Portable Radio, 1939

1939DecRadioToday2Eighty years ago, this skier didn’t want to be out of the loop when she hit the slopes, so she brought along this Philco portable radio.  She appeared in the December 1939 issue of Radio Today, which noted that the well-equipped ski fan now carries along a portable radio.  It also pointed out that such persons are a new prospect for dealers.



Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

This evening, I took the kids to see the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train as it made a stop in Northeast Minneapolis, a neighborhood in which the railroad has a large footprint, in the 260-acre Shoreham Yard site just west of Central Avenue.  The stop was at Lions’ Park, a small triangle at 37th Avenue and Stinson Boulevard, near the confluence of Minneapolis, Columbia Heights, and St. Anthony Village.

The train is brightly decorated with lights, and after it pulls into the stop, a stage opens from the side of one of the cars for a 30 minute concert to a lively crowd braving the 5° F cold.

At this stop, the concert featured country singers Meghan Patrick and Kelly Prescott, and Canadian soul and R&B singer Tanika Charles.

The three were backed up by a versatile band that seemed to be at home with the different genres, and the three artists did a few numbers together. Prescott commented that she had seen the Holiday Train as a youth as it passed through her hometown, and that she had come full circle by being able to be on the boxcar stage herself.

Each stop is a benefit for a local food shelf, and at this stop, the railroad made a $15,000 donation to East Side Neighborhood Services, a social service charity rooted in my old neighborhood of Northeast Minneapolis, and serving clients there and elsewhere in Hennepin County. Donations from the event were earmarked to their food programs, which concentrate on helping senior citizens and residents of high rise low-income housing. Other stops of the CP Holiday Train benefit similar food banks in the cities the train visits in the U.S. and Canada.

Canadian Pacific actually has two holiday trains, with stops in Quebec, New York, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. Even though the two trains are halfway through their trek across the continent, there are still stops coming up in Minnesota, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.

If you live in one of the states or provinces where the Holiday Train is still coming, I encourage you to attend and support your local food shelf. We brought along the proverbial non-perishable food item to donate, but forgot it in the car. So when we got home, we went to the East Side Neighborhood Services website and made a monetary donation.  If you don’t know of a local food charity in your community for such a donation (or in addition to it), we encourage you to do the same.

Photo credit: Canadian Pacific.

Photo credit: Canadian Pacific.



Radio: A God-sent mission that all other man-made wonders have totally failed to do.

Oak Point School, Oak Point, MB. Manitoba Historical Society.

Oak Point School, Oak Point, MB. Manitoba Historical Society.

Seventy-five years ago this month, the December 1944 issue of Manitoba Calling, the program guide for CKY Winnipeg, carried this reminiscence of the early days of radio and what it meant to rural residents.

What Radio Means To Me

By Mrs. R. Howard, Oak Point, Man.

It all began with a tiny crystal set, and a couple of pairs of headphones, back in the days of depression, when owning a radio was simply out of the question. Even that little set brought untold pleasure to a couple of country dwellers, in the evenings when the children were quietly abed. It brought in only one station, but that suited us alright, and we were satisfied except when it suddenly went off sometimes when a joke was just getting to the point.

We always enjoyed the hockey games most, because Foster Hewitt‘s voice was one you could always hear. But this is developing into rambling reminiscences when I merely want to say that even the simplest form of radio can bring a great deal of pleasure into life, especially when you live where there is no other form of amusement. Now that we do possess a real radio, of course, the enjoyment is doubled many times, and the children, growing up, can share in it, too. It would be impossible for me to cover the whole territory of its meaning in one short essay.

Radio has banished the “hick” from rural life. Radio is the connecting link which is being forged between country and city, and it should establish much greater unity and understanding between the two, and eventually, let us hope, between all peoples of the world. If radio can -and I believe it can -play a major role in creating that understanding throughout the world which is necessary to the establishment of peace and goodwill on earth, it will indeed have accomplished a God-sent mission that all other man-made wonders have totally failed to do. Let us wish it God-speed on this greatest of all services to mankind!



Truck Driver: 1944

1944Dec11LifeShown here on the cover of Life magazine, December 11, 1944, is 23-year-old truck driver Bud Shields of Webster City, Iowa. 97% of the nation’s agricultural products were carried by truck at some point in their journey, and Shields’ job was to get hogs from Webster City to Waterloo. His rig was a Chevrolet cab pulling a 32-foot semi trailer. He made the run about five days a week, starting out by putting wood shavings on the floor of the trailer to keep it clean, and setting off around sunset. The 93 mile trip took about 3-1/2 hours with a stop for food.

After delivering the hogs, he shoveled the shavings into a railroad car and hosed down the trailer. Then, “after a couple of beers, he starts off for home.”



1944 Code Practice Oscillator

1944DecRadioCraftThis simple code practice oscillator appeared 75 years ago this month in the December 1944 issue of Radio Craft. The idea was sent in to the magazine by William McGee of Baltimore, MD, who noted that the idea required fewer parts than most other oscillators. The idea was self-explanatory, as it used “the principle of feedback which all sound men have to combat.” It consisted of a microphone set in front of the speaker of a radio. If the set had a phono jack, it could be connected there. If not, the submitter showed where to wire it into the radio.



Science Fair Idea: What Melts Faster–Clean or Dirty Snow?

1939DecPSIf Junior’s science fair project is due tomorrow, there’s plenty of time for him to take home the blue ribbon, as long as there is snow on the ground. The science teacher demands that the experiment answer a question, so Junior’s question will be: “Which melts faster–clean snow or dirty snow.”

It turns out that the dirty snow will melt faster. This is because the dark particles soak up heat, while the pure white snow reflects it. To prove it, Junior can set up the experiment shown above.

You will need a table lamp with an old-fashioned incandescent bulb. For this experiment, you do not want an “energy efficient” bulb. They are energy efficient because they generate less waste heat, but for this experiment, you want to generate heat. So the most inefficient bulb wins.

To accurately measure the rate of melting, the snow is placed on a piece of screen on top of a glass. There are two ways Junior can do the experiment. He can wait until all of the snow melts, and see which one melts first. Or, he can stop the experiment after a certain time and measure the water to see which one has more.

The teacher will be most impressed with Junior’s ingenuity. He or she will think that many weeks of planning went into it. Actually, 80 years of planning went into it, since the experiment appeared in the December 1939 issue of Popular Science.