Seventy years ago this month, the August 1951 issue of Radio Television Retailing reminded dealers that there was money to be made by selling clock radios, an item that readily sold to people in all income brackets.

The clock radio “looks just like any other table model set” to the customer, so some salesmanship was required. The salesman needed to be thoroughly familiar with the product, and emphasize the low price for something that could serve as a fine radio, an alarm clock, a timekeeper, and in many cases, an automatic outlet.

The magazine suggested that direct mail might be a profitable way to sell. Select customers could be sent a mailing offering a set on approval, and once in the home, the customer was very likely to keep the set.

This ad appeared in the Pittsburgh Press 85 years ago today, August 7, 1936, and it raises some interesting questions. It’s for the store of one S.H. DeRoy, 408 Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh.
It implores customers not to be confused by stores of a similar name, and points out that there is but one location for the S.H. DeRoy store. There was a picture of S.H. DeRoy in the window, and you were supposed to look for that before going in.

It appears that other relatives of S.H. DeRoy might have been operating their own competing stores, hence the warnings. This case from the U.S. Tax Court reveals that S.H. had been in partnership with his brother and father running a jewelry business, but the partnership went bankrupt in 1930. Another brother acquired the assets, formed a new corporation, and attempted to continue the business. But by 1937, it too had become insolvent. While it’s hard to tell for sure, it’s likely that other family members were in competition, hence the warnings.

According to the court decision, the company was primarily in the retail jewelry business, and it appears that much of their business was frames for eyeglasses.  In 1936, S.H. apparently branched out into radio, with the model shown here.  The court opinion notes that the jewelry was sold on credit, and the radio was as well, since you could take it home for only 25 cents per week, or buy it for $9.95 cash.

Despite the insistence on not being misled by similar names, it’s interesting to see the brand name of the radio being sold. This set, described only as receiving both longwave and shortwave, bears the brand name of Deroyla. That makes perfect sense, since it’s being sold by DeRoy. But it’s also suspiciously similar to Detrola, which was a major brand name at the time. The only other Deroyla radio I’ve been able to find is this ebay listing, which is for a model with a similar description by somewhat different front panel layout.

New Britain Herald, Aug. 6, 1921.

Forbes Field. Wikipedia image.

One hundred years ago today, August 5, 1921, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 at Pittsburgh, as duly recorded by the next morning’s newspapers. While nothing remarkable happened during the game, it was a landmark event, since it was the first time that a baseball game was broadcast by radio.

Harold Arlin provided the play by play over KDKA, which had just received its commercial license. He sat in a converted box seat at Forbes Field and spoke into a microphone that he described as looking like a tomato can lined with felt.

Hams:  To commemorate the event, KD3KA will be operating a special event station on August 7 and offering a commemorative QSL card.  Details are available at the ARRL website.

For the amateur radio enthusiast a hundred years ago, summer vacation didn’t mean a vacation from radio, and the August 1921 issue of Science and Invention contained some pointers on bringing the station along. Even if the method of getting there was canoe or motorcycle, the station shown here would prove very suitable. The transmitter-receiver combo is built into a compact case, with extra storage room for extra tubes, pencil, log, and whatever else was needed.

The kite antenna proved most suitable, and for much ordinary work, just a wire tossed over a tree would prove adequate.

A century later, the same general concepts apply, but the equipment looks a little different.  For some ideas, see some of our earlier posts about outdoor operating.

One hundred years ago this month, the July 1921 issue of Science and Invention proposed this idea of an early tracking device to prevent kidnappings. The photograph in the lower right hand corner served as the inspiration, as it showed a baby carriage equipped with a receiver to play lullabies sent by nearby amateur stations.

The magazine editors took the idea a step further and proposed a transmitter and tracking device, so that the kidnapper could quickly be brought to justice.

Eighty years ago, WLS in Chicago wanted to remind its advertisers of its importance to agriculture by running this ad in the July 28, 1941, issue of Broadcasting. The station knew that many farmers had a radio in the barn and listened to the station while they worked, so it asked them to write in and join the Radio in the Barn Club.

2000 farmers in 14 states responded, demonstrating that American farmers had come to depend on radio for its business value.