Author Archives: clem.law@usa.net

Phonographs at the Minnesota State Fair: 1919

This article appeared a hundred years ago this month in the September 1919 issue of Talking Machine World.

TALKING MACHINES AT THE BIG MINNESOTA STATE FAIR

Enormous Crowds Attracted-Exhibits of Edison, Pathé, Starr, Vista Phonographs Attract Much Attention-Exhibitors Well Repaid for Their Investment

MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL, September 6. Everybody went to the big Minnesota state fair, August 20 to September 6. It was the biggest fair ever held either in Minnesota or any other state. The attendance on Labor Day was 201,619 and with fine weather predicted the turnstile count for the show should have been in the neighborhood of 600 000.

Music was in the air throughout the eight days of the fair. Four big military bands, the “Million Dollar” Sunset Division band, the 151st Field Artillery band, the Minnesota State band and Thaviu’s concert band, with a score of smaller organizations and a hundred or more talking machines, kept music ringing in the ears of every visitor.

Library of Congress image.

Only a small number of the Twin City dealers deemed it to their advantage to make displays at the show, but those who were there were amply repaid for their efforts. In the first place the attendance was unprecedentedly large and then a change has come over the ruralites, for they are no longer afraid to spend money.

The exhibitors were Laurence H. Lucker and the Minnesota Phonograph Co., G. Sommers & Co., M. L. McGinnis & Co., the Northwestern Music House and the Vista Talking Machine Co. in connection with Hochman Bros., Minneapolis.

Wikipedia image.

A life-sized photograph of The Wizard himself attracted attention to “the phonograph with a soul” shown and demonstrated by Laurence H. Lucker and the Minnesota Phonograph Co. That the people of the Northwest are familiar with the Edison products was amply testified by the throngs about the booth. A very complete line of cabinet machines was on display together with some period cases.

The center of attraction in the Sommers booth was the new Pathé Actuelle. About twenty Pathé machines were on exhibition. Demonstrators expatiated upon the advantages of the Pathé Sapphire ball and the durability of the Pathé records.

Starr phonographs and Gennett records were shown by M. L McGinnis & Co. Mr. McGinnis, who is a veteran piano man, has now become a phonograph enthusiast and almost has been weaned away from his old love. Four fine types of the $300 models of the Starr machines formed the most conspicuous feature of the exhibit.

Linderman and Columbia phonographs, together with Boland band instruments and Mathushek pianos, completely filled the extensive space obtallied by the Northwestern Music Co. President Boland was in charge of the show and was full of enthusiasm for the success of his venture at the fair. His house, while handling a full line of Columbia Grafonolas and records, is pushing the Linderman phonograph, in the manufacture of which the company is interested.

New in the state fair field was the Vista talking machine, made at Port Washington, Wis., and six other places. The concern also makes the Paramount records. Its display at the fair was made in conjunction with Hochman Bros., dealers at 416 East Hennepin avenue, Minneapolis. P. F. Moses, of the Chicago headquarters, is taking the exhibit about the country and is signing Vista contracts with many merchants.

1944 Meterless VTVM

During the war, meter movements were extremely hard to come by, but a radio serviceman in need of an accurate measuring device could probably scrounge up a magic eye tube. This circuit on the cover of the September 1944 issue of Service magazine showed how to construct a very accurate vacuum tube voltmeter (VTVM) that didn’t actually require a meter. The switch was used to set the range, which could vary from 0-0.5 volts to 0-500 volts. Then, the 770 ohm potentiometer was adjusted to the point where the magic eye tube closed. The potentiometer was calibrated with the voltage, and the reading was obtained from that scale.

The magazine noted that the instrument was particularly good for tracking down transient or intermittent voltages that might not be seen because of the inertia of a standard meter movement. It noted that the instrument’s function was similar in many respects to an oscilloscope.

1919 Florida Keys Hurricane

Dallas Express, Sep 20, 1919.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane, which also had a major impact in Louisiana and Texas, in addition to the Caribbean. On September 7, 1919, the storm strengthened to hurricane intensity over the Bahamas, and continued to grow as it zeroed in on Key West. It ultimately strengthened to category 4 before making landfall at Dry Tortugas. The storm was the second strongest since 1851, and the ninth deadliest in U.S. history, with 772 fatalities.

Outside of the Keys, the state of Florida was relatively unscathed, although communications south of Miami was cut off. After the storm crossed into the Gulf, there was a false rumor that it had turned toward Louisiana. This caused warnings to be taken down for Corpus Christi, Texas, the day before landfall. Although the warning was re-instituted, the city was unprepared for the storm surge as high as 16 feet.

Among the dead were 310 in Texas, as well as 488 persons aboard a steamer found sunk between Key West and the Dry Tortugas. One of the survivors of the storm was a six year old Robert Simpson, who did have one family member perish in the storm. He went on to become a meteorologist and along with Herbert Saffir devised the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

Amateur Radio was still off the air, since restrictions on transmitting were not removed until October 1, 1919. Receiving, however, had been allowed since April 15, and Houston amateur radio operator Clifford W. Vick became a bit of a celebrity in his hometown by copying radio traffic related to the storm and passing these dispatches on to the local newspapers. The clipping at left appeared in QST in December 19, and notes that Vick made the point to the Houston papers that he could have done more good if the transmitting restrictions had been lifted.

Corpus Christi after the storm. Wikipedia photo.

The Holy Grail: Loudspeaker Volume with No External Antenna

Sixty years ago this month, the September 1959 issue of Popular Electronics carried the plans for this three-transistor pocket transistor receiver with built-in antenna and speaker. It also pointed out the Holy Grail for the experimenter, and there’s more than a little bit of truth:

It is every hobbyist’s ambition one day to achieve loudspeaker operation using a single transistor and no external antenna.

The article noted that such a day was not here yet, but this three-transistor model was getting close. The internal loopstick antenna went to one stage of regenerative RF amplification, a diode served as detector, and two transistors provided loudspeaker volume.

Review of XioNiu Hand Crank Generator

When I placed another Amazon order, I decided to try one of these little hand crank generators. The XioNiu Hand Crank Generator is designed for use in an emergency to charge USB devices. The cost was so low, that I couldn’t really resist. You can see the current price at the Amazon link below. I believe it’s eligible for free Prime shipping. I got free shipping by combining it with a larger order:

It does work as advertised (at least until it gets broken), but you need to understand its limitations. The product is really more of a novelty than something that is particularly useful. I received it from China a couple of weeks after ordering it. The one I ordered was broken. I requested an exchange, which prompted a few e-mail exchanges from the seller in China. The seller didn’t want me to bother sending it back, and offered me a refund. I asked for a replacement rather than the refund, but the seller didn’t seem interested. The link I ordered from didn’t have any reviews, but I found another link for what appears to be the identical product, and a good portion of them seem to arrive broken. So it looks like the XioNiu factory has some quality control issues they need to resolve.

Finally, I agreed to a refund, and it was applied to my Amazon account promptly. Rather than throwing it away, I gave it to my son and asked him whether he could repair it.

Amazingly, he was able to fix it, at least for a while. The actual generator was slightly out of line inside the case, and didn’t connect to the gears attached to the crank. My son simply set it back in place and it started working. In the process, however, the plastic into which the screws go broke off, and we had to put the case back together with electrical tape. And after working for a day, it must have gotten jostled and stopped working again. He’ll probably be able to repair it again, although I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble.

There is a small red LED on the outside of the case which comes on when the crank is turned. This light is very small and red, so it’s not particularly useful as a flashlight. But in a pinch, it does provide some light, so if you’re trapped in utter darkness, you’ll at least have enough light to find your other flashlight.

The USB charger does seem to work. It would probably take forever to fully charge a device, but at least it would provide enough juice to make a call or two in an emergency situation.

Overall, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to keep one or two of these at home, and toss one into your vehicle or desk drawer at work. It does perform its intended function, assuming you get one that’s not broken. However, I wouldn’t want to rely upon one of these as my sole source of electric power in an emergency. Even though it works, it is cheaply made, and won’t last forever. Indeed, as my experience shows, it might not even survive being mailed here from China.

This charger contains a USB socket, so you will need the cable to connect to your phone or other device. I wouldn’t want to rely upon this charger in an emergency, but it is infinitely better than nothing. You probably have a phone and the connecting cable. Eventually, the battery will go dead, and this charger would at least allow you to use it for a few minutes.

If you’re thinking about making more serious preparations for a power outage, see my earlier post and some of the others linked to it. If you’re just looking for a good quality crank charger for your phone or other device, then I recommend the Midland Emergency Radio shown here. It’s larger and more expensive, but it seems to be very well made. It is first and foremost a radio, and a quite good one, pulling in all local AM and FM stations as well as any portable. At night, it does receive distant AM stations very well. It has a NOAA weather radio, and includes the alert feature, meaning that you can set it to sound an alarm in case of a severe weather warning. The flashlight is also excellent. It contains a built-in battery which can be charged in three ways. To keep it topped off before an emergency, you just need to occasionally plug it into a USB adapter. It also has a solar panel, so it should maintain its charge just with normal daylight. And it does have a hand crank that seems a lot more reliable than the cheap Chinese one I tried.

If you don’t mind taking it apart and fixing it occasionally, then by all means get one of the cheap hand crank generators shown at the top of the page. And it looks like many buyers luck out and get a working one, so it might be worth taking your chances. I would imagine that some of them are working when they arrive, and it is a good concept. However, this particular model is simply unreliable for emergency use, and should only be considered as an additional backup if your basic needs are already met.

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Phono for Dubbing Your Old 78’s

For those seeking to convert their 78 RPM records to a digital format, this product seems to fit the bill. I haven’t had an opportunity to try it, but this Victrola model V50-200-BLU turntable stands out as about the only modern turntable I’ve seen that will play 78 RPM records. Of course, it’s possible to use your vintage phonograph and run the audio into your computer’s sound card. But this is probably the only 78 RPM phonograph ever made with a USB connection to go directly to your computer.

Even if you use the unit to copy just a few old 78’s, the low price makes it worthwhile. It is available at Amazon. The set also includes CD player, AM-FM radio, and serves as a Bluetooth speaker.

Links on this page are affiliate links, meaning that this site is paid a small commission if you order after clicking on these links.

1939 Electronic Project Lab

The lucky young man shown here, now about 90 years old, is putting the finishing touches on an electronic project, courtesy of his miniature radio laboratory kit, as shown in the September 1939 issue of Popular Science.

The kit was packed compactly in a cardboard box with full instructions for making a radio receiver, a code practice set, a relay for turning on and off lights, and other projects. Included in the set was a soldering iron and spool of solder, allowing the set to teach a skill that “every amateur radio fan should learn to use.”

While such kits were arguably a lot cooler in 1939 when they came with a soldering iron and tubes, many such electronic project kits are still available, as shown by these Amazon links. (These are affiliate links, meaning that this site gets a small commission if you buy after clicking on them.)

Labor Day 1944: Ritz Crackers!

The final Labor Day of World War II fell on September 4, 1944, and that day’s issue of Life Magazine showed Americans how the holiday could be celebrated, namely, with Ritz Crackers!

The Nabisco ad in the issue included the illustration shown above of a of a Record Party. “Let the gang bring the records they like best … you supply the Ritz. Favorite bands and favorite cracker–what more could the ‘gaters’ want for a good time!” I’m not sure what a “gater” is, but the gaters shown here seem to be having fun. According to the ad, Ritz crackers were also suitable for a backyard picnic, or just a quiet evening at home.

World War II Begins: 1 Sept. 1939

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II. The late edition of the Milwaukee Journal for that day, shown above, carries this AP report:

German troops and warplanes invaded Poland Friday after Nazi annexation of Danzig was proclaimed.

Poland immediately called for aid from Great Britain and France.

Prime Minister Chamberlain announced that Britain and France would fulfill their obligations to Poland unless Germany withdraws immediately.

King George VI signed an order in council for complete British army, navy, and air force mobilization.

The attack was reported to have begun at 9:00 AM local time in Poland, 2:00 AM U.S. central time. Accordingly, the final edition of the paper shown above was preceded by the Extra edition shown below, which probably hit the streets in the early afternoon.

For more headlines, view our post from the 75th anniversary.

1939 Homemade Tractor

A few weeks ago, we featured a young man in 1944 driving around his California back yard in a tractor built by his father. And it’s not inconceivable that the father was inspired by this picture, which appeared in the August 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics.

The constructor of the 1939 version is described only as a “Maine radio man.” The tractor was put together for entertainment, as well as practical use in the garden. It measured five feet long and three feet high, and was powered by a two cycle 3/4 HP washing machine motor, with a three speed motorcycle transmission. Thus, the young man shown here was undoubtedly adept at using the clutch.

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