Author Archives: clem.law@usa.net

1944 Time Zone Converter

1944FebQST

If you are looking for a simple analog computer to calculate time zone differences, you can’t go wrong with this one, from the February 1944 issue of QST. It had been sent in to the magazine by one Lt. I.E. Slutzky, who found the need for a simple device for changing time at one location to any other location on the globe. Since this one had scales for “yesterday” and “tomorrow”, it would also simplify those vexing questions surrounding the International Date Line.

In 1944, you would have had to meticulously re-draw the design (or perhaps cut up your magazine). Today, however, you can easily print the image above on two pieces of cardstock. If Junior is in need of a science fair project, this one will allow him or her to construct an analog computer.



Give Your Boy Scout a Brownie, 1924

Screenshot 2024-02-12 12.56.33 PMIf you were in the market for a gift for your Boy Scout a hundred years ago to celebrate the anniversary of the BSA, you couldn’t go wrong by getting him a Brownie camera from the Eastman Kodak Company. And if you were in Omaha, the place to get it would be the Kodak counter of the Robert Dempster Co., 1813 Farnam Street, as seen in this ad from the February 13, 1924, issue of the Omaha Bee.



1949 Radio-Intercom

1949JanPMThis combination radio-intercom system was the latest thing 75 years ago. It could be used as a regular broadcast receiver, from either its own speaker, or the extension unit in another room. And at the push of a button, it could be used for two-way communications. The set had four tubes, said to be quick heating.

It appeared in the January 1949 issue of Popular Mechanics.



R.C. & L.F. Hall, Houston, 1944

1944FebRadioRetailingThe duo behind the counter here are Dick Hall, W5EIB, and his wife Lillian Hall, W5EUG, owners of R.C. & L.F. Hall, 1015 Caroline St., Houston, Texas.

Their business began when they found a lack of interest by local dealers for hams, and Dick began stocking a few parts in his home. As the stock started to overtake their entire house, they moved to a downtown location. As they anticipated American entry into the war, their business focused on industrial and marine parts. When war came, they knew the whereabouts of most amateur transmitters and receivers in the area, and facilitated sales of that equipment to the military.

The Halls discovered that dealers and hams don’t really mix. The dealer, seeking marine and industrial parts, knew just what he wanted, whereas the hams wanted a place that talked their language. They anticipated a big future for their business after the war, as hams came on the air, and as FM and TV stations would create new markets.

The picture and accompanying article appeared in Radio Retailing, Feburary 1944. This eBay listing shows a 1946 ad for their business, which by then had locations in Beaumont, Dallas, and Galveston, in addition to the Houston store, which was then at 1306 Clay Avenue.



The House Wired For Radio, 1939

1939FebRadioCraftEighty-five years ago, the February 1939 issue of Radio Craft shows how to wire your house for radio. And like Mr. Green, you could be serene knowing that there was one in every room. Actually, there was only one radio, a top-of-the-line RCA Victor model U-130. Speakers were mounted in each room. But in addition, the set allowed the use of a wired remote control, so controls were mounted on the walls of most rooms. But if walking over to the wall proved too stressful, there was also an armchair remote, which could be plugged in to a nearby socket.

The installation also incorporated a set of Model 446 Aristocrat “TELECHIMES” by General Kontrolar company, Inc., which could be used to elegantly page family members throughout the house.



1939 Code Practice Set

1939FebPMEighty-five years ago, it was customary to put on a tie before learning Morse code, and this young man honored that custom. He’s practicing with a self-explanatory device shown in the February 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics.

To hear perfect code, he simply runs the test lead over the cardboard cutout over a copper sheet, and the code sends itself. We’ve seen similar ideas before, such as here.



While London Burned: Scout Edward John Cox

EdwardJohnCoxThe February 1944 issue of Boys’ Life carried the stories of a number of British Scouts who had demonstrated bravery during World War II. Shown here is Scout Edward John Cox. During a heavy air raid, he was stationed at his post on the roof of St. George’s-in-the-East Church.

His mother and younger sisters had taken refuge in the crypt under the church. Incendiary bombs crashed around him, and he seized sandbags to quickly extinguish them. But as the raid continued, a big bomb blast into the church belfry, which almost immediately became a roaring mass of flames.

One of the men around him realized that eventually, the belfry would collapse, causing the massive bells to fall through the church and into the crypt. He raced down and gasped out the news to the marshal. Together, they started evacuating the mothers and children. Scout Cox kept going back again and again until all of the children were evacuated.

The last person had just been evacuated when the timbers of the belfry broke through the church and into the crypt.

The UK Scout Association awarded Scout Cox the Silver Cross, an award for acts of bravery in the face of danger where life has been at considerable risk.



1924 Telephone Workers: Risking Life and Limb

1924FebBLA hundred years ago, the telephone had become an essential part of American life, and the public had come to take it for granted as part of their normal business and social lives, as well as relying upon it in emergencies.

But The Telephone Company and its workers didn’t take it for granted. Despite fire or storm or flood, the telephone operator stuck to her switchboard. And the lineman and a quarter million employees risked life, limb, and even health to make sure that messages continued to go through.

All the public had to do for all of this was to pay the moderate cost.

This ad appeared in the February 1924 issue of Boys’ Life.



1939 British One-Tube Regen

1939FebPracMechThe plans for this one-tube–er, I mean one-valve–regenerative receiver appeared 85 years ago this month in the January 1939 issue of Practical Mechanics.

The article begins by noting that “the small receiver is apt to be despised in these days of 7 and 8 -valve superhets, there is still a very wide field of application for the simple one-valver. Many schoolmasters, for in- stance, have asked for details of a set which may be used as a demonstrating model, either for handycraft instruction, or to explain many of the theories underlying modern radio technique.”

The circuit relies upon a pre-made coil, which is no doubt unobtainium these days. But the article does describe how to make a very similar coil, which can be used with slight modification of the circuit. Either way, the set did tune both longwave and mediumwave bands, thanks to a band switch which shorted out the longwave portion of the coil. The set uses a D210, which is a British model, but almost any triode would probably work well.

1939FebPracMech2



1939 Typing Class

1939JanRadioRetailingAs shown here in the January 1939 issue of Radio Retailing, it looks like a few boys 85 years ago got the memo that the place to meet girls (and learn a useful skill) was to take typing class.

And this school was doing it right. Above the blackboard, you can see a loudspeaker, which is playing an amplified recording. The magazine notes that this delivers a rhythm, which is desirable for the student typists to develop a uniform touch.