In 1941, portable radios were becoming popular, and the June issue of Popular Science noted that “this summer there will be thousands of battery-operated portable radios in use on beaches, in parks, and on picnics and excursions everywhere. They will range from the camera-style midget or “personal” radios to the “twenty-pounders,” capable bringing in Europe on the short-wave band.”

To increase the versatility of any such set, the magazine showed how to make the battery-operated wireless phonograph shown here. “Phono oscillators” as they were sometimes called were fairly popular devices. They generally used only one tube to transmit the record audio to a nearby radio receiver. This was a cost-saving measure, since almost everybody owned at least one radio, and this scheme kept the parts count down. There was no need for a speaker or audio transformer. The record player described in this article simply followed the same concept in a portable. It used a single 1A7GT tube powered by a flashlight battery for filament voltage, and a 67.5 volt B battery. The other components included a standard plug-in coil for a receiver and a small variable condenser for tuning to an empty spot on the dial.

The phonograph motor and turntable was of the wind-up variety, which the article stated could be had secondhand for about $2.50. The entire player fir in a suitcase available for less than $1. Everything was mounted on a Masonite panel cut to fit snugly on top of the suitcase. An antenna wired of 7 feet was used, which was placed near the back of the radio. The article noted that this was legal because “the power of this transmitter is so small that it will not radiate signals beyond a few feet. It is the only type of transmitter that can be operated without a license under Federal Communications Commission regulations.”

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Here’s an idea from 75 years ago that apparently never caught on. It’s a QSL “card” in the form of a recording disc. Using a recorder such as the Wilcox-Gay Recordio, the operator would record the other station’s signal. Then, the traditional QSL data would be written in with a “special marking ink.” The blanks were from the National Recording Supply Co. of Hollywood, California. The manufacturer promised “unlimited playback with wide frequency response and a minimum of surface noise.” The blanks retailed for a dime each. This example was shown in the May 1941 issue of Radio News.

The disc is marked “Copyright Pend. National QSL Disc.” The magazine’s April 1941 issue provided more detail. It noted that “recent developments indicate that many amateurs now possess recording equipment and, instead of the old-time postcard, now use a disc to record other amateurs’ talks and send them through the mails.”

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Sixty years ago this month, Radio News, November 1955, carried this photo recreating an American living room sixty years before that, in the 1890’s.  The photograph was staged by NBC, and the photo taken by Jack Zwillinger.  It features an Edison Talking machine.

We’re at a distinct advantage over those in 1955, since we have the capability of listening to many of those early recordings.  In 1955, the fragile cylinders would have been too precious to play on the original equipment.  Fortunately, many of these recordings, some well over a century old, have been digitized and made available on the internet by the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive and others.  The Library of Congress also has thousands of recordings online, although most of their collection are discs recorded after the turn of the Twentieth Century.  To get an idea of what the woman in the photo might have been listening to, this link will allow you to play The Last Rose of Summer, an 1894 Edison recording.

While the ornate horn is obviously an upscale version of the instrument, a phonograph was already becoming affordable to Americans in the 1890’s, and the scene depicted here would not have been extraordinary.  By 1900, a basic Edison machine could be had for about $10, with the cylinders going for about $5 per dozen.

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If you were looking for a low-cost radio or phonograph 75 years ago today in Milwaukee, then Economy Boys would be the store to visit. In the store’s ad in the October 24, 1940, issue of the Milwaukee Journal,
we see this six-tube Grunow superhet broadcast receiver for just $8.77.

The phonograph, selling for just $9.45, is actually a “phono oscillator.” Instead of including an audio amplifier and speaker, this Karenola model contains a two-tube oscillator circuit, which broadcasts the radio sound to a nearby broadcast radio. Even if the radio is a low-price model without a phono jack, you simply tune to a blank spot on the dial to listen to your records.

At Economy Boys, you could take home either set for just a dollar a week.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to pin down the model number of either. Most Grunow radios I’ve seen had wood cabinets, and this one appears to be plastic or bakelite. The Karenola name is probably more familiar as Trav-Ler, since the phonograph was from the Trav-Ler Karenola company of Chicago.

Tenor Enrico Caruso died in 1921, but the January 1938 issue of All Wave Radio magazine noted that the program “The Music You Want to Hear When You Want It,” sponsored by RCA-Victor occasionally carried a “recreated Caruso record” with the voice of Caruso and a recreated orchestral accompaniment. Recording technology had advanced a great deal in the intervening years, as shown by the accompanying photograph of an early recording session, probably taken in the late 1910’s.

In Caruso’s day, it was necessary to record the entire performance thought a single horn. The article explains how the violins were placed near the horn for maximum pickup. The frequency range possible meant that the drums wouldn’t be picked up well anyway, so they were situated near the rear.

The soloist’s voice would, however, be picked up well, and the frequency range of the early recordings faithfully preserved Caruso’s voice. Therefore, it was possible to do a recreation broadcast. Using more modern electronic methods, the orchestra could be picked up well. A new live orchestra accompanied a perfect copy of the old recording for broadcast. The conductor wore headphones, listening to the recording as he conducted to keep perfect time.

The result was a new “live” broadcast of Caruso.