One hundred years ago this month, this couple were enjoying some dance music courtesty of their Paragon receiver. In this ad in the January 1925 issue of Radio Retailing, the manufacturer, Adams Morgan Co., 14 Alvin Ave., Upper Montclair, NJ, reminded retailers that if they were not featuring Paragon, they were missing out on profit opportunities.
For a snapshot of grocery prices in 1968, this ad appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, January 22, 1968.
There’s been a lot of inflation since then. According to this online calculator, one dollar in 1968 is the equivalent of $9.07 in 2024. So the margarine is closer to $3 a pound, and the pork chops are over $6 per pound.
What would you make for dinner if you were buying the groceries in 1968?
Shown here, at the reins, is 73 Magazine publisher Wayne Green, operating some six-meter mobile. Seated next to him, in the raccoon coat, is Bob Cushman of Cushcraft, the maker of the Squalo antenna. Pulling the duo is Arabian stallion Alrun, said to be the pride of 73 farms.
The photo, taken by K2YDD, appeared on the cover of 73 Magazine, January 1965.
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Inauguration day 2025 marks a hundred years of the broadcast of presidential inaugurations. In 1925, the inauguration still took place on March 4 (the change to January 20 came in 1947), but on that day, an estimated 22 million Americans tuned in to hear Calvin “Silent Cal” Coolidge be sworn in and address the nation.
Among the listeners were millions of schoolchildren, whose classrooms had recently been equipped with radio receivers.
The broadcast also marked the first time that an address by the President was broadcast in a foreign country. WBZ Boston carried the broadcast with a telephone connection to Washington. Its signal was in turn picked up by CKAC in Montreal, which broadcast the entire proceeding. The fact is noted in this clipping from the Washington Evening Star, March 5, 1925.
Of course, loyal readers will remember that Charles Dawes, the first Native American to hold the office of Vice President, and the first Vice President to write a Top 40 song, was also sworn in that day.
One recurring theme during World War II was converting a car radio to operate indoors. This was because there was a shortage of receivers, due to production being stopped. And with gas and tire rationing, the car radio wasn’t getting much use. So it was only logical to bring it inside, and that’s what this gentleman was doing, following some pointers found in Popular Science for January 1945, eighty years ago this month.
The article discussed such things as replacing the speaker, since the car radio probably employed a 6-volt field coil, and it was easier to get a permanent magnet speaker. And, of course, a bit of rewiring would be necessary to get it to run off household current. The antenna was the easy part, since the car radio required only a short piece of wire.
Eighty years ago, the January 16, 1945, issue of Broadcasting put forth this idea that apparently never went anywhere. Suggested by one Joseph R. Spadea, the idea was that instead of carving up radio time into blocks of 15 or 30 minutes, blocks of 10 and 20 minutes could instead be used. The author noted that some 30 minute programs seemed to drag on a bit too much, and this could tighten things up.
When I was a kid, my family received a mail order catalog from an outfit called Sunset House. You can see an example at this eBay listing. The catalog was full of useful products you couldn’t find anywhere else, and one of them was a little blowtorch. The blowtorch had many uses, but the most practical, it seemed to me, was shown in the accompanying illustration, and that was for melting snow off the sidewalk. It seemed a lot simpler than shoveling, and I begged my parents to buy a blowtorch. They didn’t, and they pointed out one objection that I couldn’t counter–the water would just flow elsewhere and freeze. But still, it seems like a good idea, if you could just work this bug out.
And the idea has been around for at least a century, as shown by the cover of the January 1925 issue of Science and Invention. This one didn’t involve a flame, and the magazine didn’t think that my parents’ objection would be an issue, since it matter of factly stated that the snow would melt, “which runs off in the form of water.”
The magazine didn’t use a blowtorch. Instead, it used a method that might be of interest to young scientists in search of a science fair project. You simply sprinkle calcium carbide on the snow. It sinks in (you start the process by poking a few pieces into the snow) where it mixes with water, creating acetylene gas, which is highly flammable. You strike a match and set the snow on fire. You go forward sprinkling more calcium carbide ahead of the flames, and as the flames catch up, it sets fire to the snow you have sprinkled.
For the science fair, Junior simply finds a patch of snow outside the school, seeds it with calcium carbide, and sets it ablaze. It’s sure to take home the blue ribbon.
Junior does need to be reminded to be careful. The magazine article contained these warnings:
Great care must be exercised in sprinkling calcium carbide upon snow, so that when the gas is evolved and ignited, it will not set fire to shrubbery, trees or the house itself. Under no conditions should such a snow remover be used when a gale is blowing, and the individual drawing the mechanism over the road should always see to it that he heads into any slight breeze which may be blowing, so that his own clothes will not be ignited.
If Junior sets the school, or himself, on fire, then he’s unlikely to get the blue ribbon.
As with everything, Junior can get the calcium carbide on Amazon. If he wants to augment his project, he can explain how this chemical was used in miners’ lamps.
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1940 was one of those times when people dressed up to listen to the radio, especially if the radio came from Admiral. This two-page spread from the January 1940 issue of Radio Retailing
shows that company’s offerings in table radios, including both broadcast sets, and also two-band sets covering the short waves.
Broadcast sets started for only $9.95, and a shortwave set would set you back only $12.95. Most sets offer “television sound,” meaning only that they had an audio input jack on the back that could supposedly be hooked to a future television. All of the sets tuned up to 1730 kHz on the AM dial, meaning that they could pick up many police calls.
Shown in the ad are Admiral models 13-C5, 14-C5, 20-A6, 21-A6, 22A-6, 23-A6, 15-B5, 17-B5, 18-B5, 396-6M, 397-6M, 398-6M, 399-6M, and 25-Q5.
We don’t know exactly what this gentleman is working on, but it’s safe to say that he’s making use of his electronic test instruments. But one thing is for sure–if you’re a proper British gentleman, you put on a tie before getting to work in your electronic workshop.
This illustration appeared 70 years ago this month on the cover of the January 1955 issue of Practical Wireless.
Seventy five years ago, the January 1950 issue of Radio Electronics had a listing of all television stations on the air at that time. What makes this one unique is the fact that it includes a test pattern or identification slide for each of those stations. It was of service to TV DXers back in the day, but it is also a treasure trove of what those TV stations might have looked like back in the day.
