Eighty years ago, this young man was exploring the short waves with his National NC-46 receiver. As the ad points out, he might be listening to ships or planes, to hams, or perhaps to a distant baseball game. While it looks like he’s an SWL right now, it would be a great start to his ham shack after he gets a license.
The receiver was ten tubes, and retailed for $107, so it would have meant cutting a lot of lawns. The ad appeared in the May 1946 issue of Boys’ Life magazine.
We were recently passing through the Badger State on the way home from the Michigan QSO Party, and decided that the trip warranted a slight detour through Wisconsin Dells, one of the state’s most famous tourist destinations. The main attraction is the scenic gorge along the Wisconsin River, but seemingly since time immemorial, the town has been the home to many tourist attractions. These include destination-class water parks, but also a number of more kitschy “tourist traps.” (And when we say tourist trap, we mean that in the kindest possible sense. For example, we consider Wall Drug, a beloved national landmark, to also be a tourist trap.)
In my opinion, the best tourist trap in Wisconsin Dells is Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. It is billed as
an “Odditorium,” and features a myriad of artifacts of the odd or unusual. I have to admit that I’ve always been a sucker for Ripley’s. As a kid, we didn’t have the daily cartoon feature in our newspaper, but it was a well-known brand. My family visited a similar museum in California, and Believe It Or Not books were readily available. For example, I owned a copy of the 14th Series, shown here. The egg shown on the cover illustrates the fact that if you hold an egg thusly (on the fingers, and not on the palm) and try to crush it with your fingers, it is impossible.
The preface of the book included a number of interesting facts about the number 14. The one that sticks with me over the years was about the French surname “Quatorze.” Like many surnames, this one represented an occupation. And the original Monsieur Quatorze was a professional 14th guest. If you were holding a dinner party and discovered to your horror that you had an unlucky 13 guests, you would just call Monsieur Quatorze, who would save the day. It’s a good job if you can get it, believe it or not. As a space filler, Ripley sometimes included unusual names found on grave stones, and this book contained the grave of Green Bean, found at the Bean family cemetery.
Now that we have the Internet, we can verify that there are two Green Bean graves, one of which is unmarked, although neither is located at the Bean family cemetery.
It had been at least ten years since I visited the Wisconsin Dells Ripley museum. It appears that they’re constantly making changes, and it did appear to be completely different from what I had experienced before. While the museum did cater to all ages, the modern version is probably more appropriate for young children than it previously was. In the past, the focus was more on things that younger children might have found scary. While they are still there (such as what is probably the most famous artifact, the shrunken head), they are not displayed quite as prominently. Also, the main mode of getting to the lower level of the museum (where most exhibits are located) consists of slides. There is also a stairway for older fans who don’t wish to slide. While it is not prominent, there is apparently an elevator, so all of the museum, other than a couple of very small portions, are fully accessible to persons with disabilities.) There’s also a ball pit tunnel, and guests are encouraged to touch all of the exhibits (unless they’re behind plexiglass, such as the shrunken head). So even though adults will find the museum good for an hour or two of browsing, even young kids will have fun.
The museum isn’t particularly cheap. The admission for adults over 10 years old is $29.11, and $21.83 for children 3-9. Despite a valiant search on my part, there don’t appear to be any discounts or coupon codes. (There are a couple of package deals to visit Ripley’s and other attractions owned by the same franchisee.) But it’s still a good value, as those of all ages will find themselves entertained and educated for a couple of hours.
We, of course, scoured the museum looking for oddities relating to radio history. Unfortunately, we are sad to report that we didn’t find any. For that, you’ll need to keep following this blog. I did learn one interesting fact, however, about one of the topics that sometimes discuss, namely, Scouting. There was a life-size replica of the tallest human to ever live, Robert Wardlow. What I didn’t know was that Wardlow was a Boy Scout, or to be specific, the tallest Boy Scout in history, since he was 7’4″ as a 13-year-old Scout.
If your travels take you to Wisconsin Dells, the Odditorium is worth a visit. If, like us, you were just passing through the area on Interstate 90-94, it’s worth stopping for a couple of hours. And if you are making the Dells a destination, it’s certainly worth including this attraction.
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Seventy-five years ago, this scout, shown in the May 1951 issue of Boys Life, took the scout motto seriously. As a result, his family was prepared for just about anything. The accompanying article asks “is your family ready,” and offers some pointers for family preparedness. Here, it notes that a basement shelter can be mighty useful in an emergency. The type of emergency isn’t specified, but they’re probably thinking of the A-bomb.
They are shown stocking it with food, battery radio, flashlight, alcohol stove, water, candles, blankets, simple furniture, and a few books.
The official date for Arbor Day can vary from country to country, and even state to state. So for a website of international scope, we must decide on a date, and we’ve decided to go with Nebraska, which proudly proclaims that it is the home of Arbor Day, and where Arbor Day is a civic holiday. So today, the last Friday of April, we wish you a Happy Arbor Day!
The illustration above is from Boys’ Life, April 1926, and is in the column of Dan Beard. Beard first discusses the possibility of every patrol in the country planting a walnut tree with a walnut from the grave of Theodore Roosevelt, and Beard had distributed thousands of such walnuts, ready for planting. The BSA was also working with the proper authorities to procure walnuts from the grave of George Washington, so that those could be planted as well. There are trees around the United States from walnuts from Mount Vernon, so with some inquiries, this project would probably be quite possible today. For those desiring faster satisfaction, you can purchase a number of heirloom flower seeds directly from the estate.
The other idea shown in Beard’s article is shown above. It’s rather self-explanatory, and involves weaving the trunks of small trees together. Beard recommends species with smooth bark, such as beech, willow, or soft maple. He had some success with chestnuts, but he noted that was the boundary, as species with a rougher bark would not cooperate. For students with a long timeframe, it might make a good science fair project, but “it only takes a few years to get results.” (Emphasis added.) The process is known scientifically as insoculation.
Eighty years ago this month, the April 1946 issue of Practical Mechanics showed how to build this 8-foot canoe, described as a “serviceable craft for young people.” Canvas-covered boats were apparently more common in this size, but the magazine noted that the framework required sound knowledge and woodwork experience, and not everyone was up to the job. This craft, on the other hand, was made of all wood, and was recommended for boys 12-14.
It was built with watertight compartments fore and aft, so there was no likelihood of it sinking should it capsize. But just to be safe, we recommend wearing an approved life vest.
The boat had a flat bottom, making it suitable for shallow waters. Most of the lumber was 7/8 inch thickness, and was described as shelving. A coat of creosote, and then paint, rendered the vessel waterproof. The magazine noted that the completed boat might be somewhat awkward to move around on land. It suggested temporarily affixing tram wheels and axle to the stern.
In most states in the U.S., a vessel thus constructed does not require registration. For example, in Minnesota, no registration is required if the craft is less than ten feet. You are required to have aboard the aforementioned life vest, and we recommend that you wear it. Interestingly, in Minnesota (and probably most other states), you are required to have aboard a whistle or other noisemaker, as well as a flashlight. The article explains how you can make your own paddles, but at Amazon, you can find these nifty telescoping paddles.
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One hundred years ago this month, the March 1926 issue of Boys’ Life showed how to build a crystal set for only 80 cents. And the radio editor, Zeh Bouck, even suggested some ideas for shaving that cost to a little less. (He also pointed out that the headphones could be had for $3.) Tuning was accomplished by a slider on the coil, and the author points out the importance of making sure the slider makes contact with only a single wire. One tip was to wind thread between individual windings.
We were unaware that Pedro, the longtime mascot of Boys’ Life magazine until his retirement in 2022, apparently had his ham ticket, although he had become somewhat inactive in the 1970s. But when he read in Boys’ Life that there was going to be a Scout radio net, he decided to get back on the air, as documented here, in the February 1976 issue of Boys’ Life.
Elsewhere in the magazine, it was noted that the suggested time was 8:00 – 10:00 PM local time on Wednesdays, and 10:00 AM to noon Saturdays on 3940, 7290, and 14290 kHz. Scouts were encouraged to call CQ SCOUT RADIO NET.
Seventy-five years ago, it was kind of a given that a scout might have a crystal set or a one or two-tube radio. So it was only logical that the January 1956 issue of Boys’ Life would contain pointers on putting up an outdoor antenna.
Sixty years ago, as today, a Scout is Thrifty, and General Electric provided some advice for Scouts looking to buy a new radio, in the December 1965 issue of Boys’ Life.
The ad pointed out that getting a new radio wasn’t easy, and entailed a lot of saving and waiting. So when you spent all of the money, you wouldn’t want to wind up with one that sounded tinny or burned through batteries. Fortunately, GE made radios that weren’t expensive, and they are shown here.
The Model P1800 Personal Size portable could be had for less than $11 and featured big sound. For those who liked classical music or jazz, the P1820 gave both AM and FM for less than $28.
The C-545 clock radio would put you to sleep and wake you to music. Finally, if you had less than $8 to spend, the P1710 pocket portable had big clear GE sound.
Seventy years ago this month, the December 1955 issue of Boys’ Life carried this ad encouraging boys to drop hints for an Arvin radio for Christmas. The ad featured the model 952P four-tube portable, the 848T four-tube clock radio, and the “unbreakable” and economical 840T, available in six sharp colors with, you guessed it, four tubes.