A sampling of the author’s QSL’s.

Seventy-five years ago this month, the November 1940 issue of Boys’ Life carried a one-page plug for Amateur Radio entitled “DX Hams Do Get Around.” The author, Larry Le Kashman, W2IOP, starts by explaining how hams can “hold a conversation annihilating time and space by the touch of a switch,” and goes on to explain the licensing requirements. After a rundown of things like call signs and Q-signals, he moves to some of the exciting things that happen on Ham Radio, undoubtedly of interest to young scouts who wanted to Be Prepared. He tells a couple of tales (lacking in many details) such as that of a ham in California who was working a station in New Zealand until the latter suddenly left the air. The worried Californian managed to make contact with another station in the same town who investigated. The first New Zealander had been overcome by gas, and the quick actions of the California ham saved his life. Another unnamed station somewhere in the Midwest “was held up by thugs while his phone transmitter was on the air. The station he was talking to make a long distance telephone call and the distressed ham was rescued in short order by the police.”

Le Kashman included a few more corroborating details when talking about what hams did during hurricanes and floods. (However, many of the corroborating details for a flood “last winter” sounded suspiciously similar to what had actually happened in 1936.)  But the exact details were less important than the compelling story the article told:

Perhaps you were wondering what was happening in the cold Eastern states when flood waters started rising last winter. Had you turned on a short wave receiver you might have heard the first sharp signal pierce through the night with a frantic appeal–“QRR QRR,” the land SOS shattered the ominous stillness of the black night. Amateur activity ceased in an instant–from coast to coast ears were strained listening to the troubled frantic calls for help. With no wires, no roads, no power, the stricken cities were relying upon battery operated amateur stations. News services, starving for stories called on the radio amateurs.

Endless hours passed as the drama unfolded. At 2 A.M. the first flood missages came through. At 3:05 W8WBH, operating from the Pittsburgh area,  wired frantically for aid. All wires were down. Snatches of messages came through the interference, only to end in a tragic blurred whine, as power failed. Cold, gray dawn broke on operators racing against time. State after state went under the rushing, conquiring, relentless deluge, and their only link with the outside world was the isolated hams. An ominiously curtailed message from New Cannan read, “WATER 3 FEET STILL RISING.” At 10 A.M. a plane missing between Springfield and Albany was reported safe.

The author concludes that this “is the kind of stuff that makes amateur radio!”  And it turns out that the author knew a thing or two about amateur radio.   Born in 1921, Larry LeKashman was only about 19 when he penned this article, but he was already a prominent amateur. Until his death in 1978, he had held calls W2IOP, W8IOP, W9IOP, and W2AB. His career included serving as an editor of CQ magazine, and employment by RCA, Lafayette, and Bogen Electronics. In the 1950’s, he was the vice president of sales at Electro Voice, a position he held until his death.

The year before the Boys’ Life article, 1939, he had taken the top place in the ARRL CW Sweepstakes,  a feat he repeated in 1948, 1949, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1960, and 1963.  The connection with Boys’ Life isn’t suprising, since the National Eagle Scout Association database reveals that he became an Eagle Scout on September 11, 1934, in Troop 1, Oakland, Maine.

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Sixty years ago this month, Boys’ Life magazine, November 1955, carried an ad for this product.  It was almost certainly coveted by many of the readers, and I’m certain that Santa was flooded with requests for it that year.  It was the Huffy Radiobike:  A bicycle with a radio built in to the “tank”!   The ad promised that the radio was no toy, being rain-proof, tamper-proof, and shock-proof.  “You can drop your bike on the walk if you want to . . . but you probably won’t want to.”  The bike itself was well made, of the best materials, strong, speedy, and safe.

The ad also warned readers that “only one in ten thousand will have a Radiobike this Christmas.  Many stores will have only a handful all fall.  So the smart boy, or his dad, will call a Huffy dealer or write the Huffy Manufacturing Co. for catalog and dealer’s name, today.”

Wikipedia photo.

As noted in the ad, the radio itself was mounted in the “tank” of the bike and was a three-tube superhet, apparently manufactured by Yellow Springs Instrument Co. About 8500 units were manufactured. A schematic diagram of the radio is available at this link.

The tubes in the set were reflexed, with a 1R5 serving as converter, a 1U5 serving as IF amp, detector, and the first stage of audio, with a 3V4 serving as the final audio amplifier. The set was powered by a battery pack mounted behind the seat.

More information about the set can be found at nostalgic.net.

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A hundred years ago this month, Boys’ Life Magazine carried this ad for a “special station for receiving time signals.” For six dollars, the set included the transformer, loading coil and condenser in a mahogany case. Switches were mounted on the front, with a sensitive cat whisker detector on the top. This set came complete with headphone with silk cord and leather covered headband. The ad reported that other sets were avalable starting at two dollars.

The set was supplied by the S. & K. Electric & Mfg. Co., of 302 Sackett Street, Brooklyn, New York.  From the picture, the set appears to be well made, and would undoubtedly pull in the signals from NAA within several hundred miles of Arlington.

Radio and scouting have a long association, as shown by these two photos from 75 years ago this month, in the October 1940 issue of Boys’ LifeThe first shows scout Edwin Parkerson of Troop 50, Houston, Texas, listening to music in this set he built to bring to camp.  A scout is kind, and Parkerson undoubtedly let his friends take a turn listening shortly after this picture was taken.

Assuming he did share the headphones, it was probably good for a bit of karma.  Sixteen years later, one Edwin Parkerson of Houston renewed his hospitalization insurance policy, but due, no doubt, to some little mix-up, the premium check bounced.  The insurance company apparently put the check through a second time without incident.  But during the intervening time, Mr. Parkerson’s wife was taken to the hospital, and the insurance company claimed that the policy wasn’t in effect and denied coverage.  The Texas Court of Civil Appeals ruled that the policy was in effect.  Parkerson v. American Hospital Life Ins. Co., 322 S.W.2d 26 (Tex. Civ. App. 1959).

While scout Parkerson was listening to the radio through headphones, the scouts in Nashville were probably getting ready to build a loudspeaker set, since they’re shown here getting some pointers from the staff of WSM.  The caption reports that nearly a hundred Nashville scouts had formed a radio patrol, and were getting technical lessons from the station’s technical staff.

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The April 1941 issue of Boys’ Life carried this photo of W2MTL, the club station of Explorer Troop (what would later be called a Post) 1035, sponsored by the New York City YMHA, which is today known as the 92nd Street Y.  According to the sign in the background, the licensee of the station was the “Y Scout Amateur Radio Club.”  Boys’ Life notes that the explorer troop was “one unit of the Scout family” sponsored by the YMHA.  From the barely visible flag, it appears that another unit was Boy Scout Troop 635.  The pennant appears to have been awarded to a “den,” indicating that the organization also chartered a Cub Scout pack.

The club must have been fairly new, since the call was not listed in the 1938 call book.  It was still listed as late as 1960.

The call was no longer listed in the  1969 or 1972 call book, although a 1972 Jewish Community Center Program Guide still listed them as having such a program.  At the time the picture was taken, Troop 635 already had a long history in Scouting.  It was organized in 1913, and had the distinction of being the first troop organized by a Jewish community center.

The June 16, 1941, issue of Broadcasting reveals that the station was under the leadership of Jack Trapkin, W2CD, transmitter engineer of WWRL.  In 1942, Trapkin moved to the engineering staff of the CBS network.

W2MTL obviously had a very well equipped station by prewar standards, and I’m sure there’s much more to the story.  If you have any additional details or can lead me to other sources, please share them, either in the comments or by e-mail.

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One hundred years ago, a Boy Scout interested in wireless could get this complete receiving station for only $2.85, as advertised in the August 1915 issue of Boys’ Life.  It’s unclear whether the headphone was included for that price. While a headphone is shown in the picture, it’s not mentioned in the description, which leads me to suspect that a few Scouts might have learned the disappointing phrase “sold separately” after placing the order.

In any event, the set was probably capable of picking up the time and weather signals of NAA, at least for those within a few hundred miles of Arlington, Virginia. The set is described as consisting of “bare wire wound double slide tuner, our new two cup triple action cat whisker detector, tubular fixed condenser, buzzer and switch to tell if your detector is working, a silk wire wound high 6-capacity loading coil that allows you to get Arlington, Va., and the long wave stations.”

In addition to the possibly missing headphones, the owner of the set would need to come up with some wire for an antenna and ground connection. But the set appears to be capable of picking up NAA and other stations. As the ad mentions, the test buzzer would be helpful in making sure the cat whisker was set to a “sweet spot” on the crystal. A battery would also be necessary to operate the test buzzer.

The set was offered by the Handel Electric Company of 138-140 Centre Street, New York.

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Seventy-five years ago, this unnamed California Boy Scout decided to bring his radio to camp. The set was one he built himself in a cigar box. The caption in this picture from the August 1940 issue of Boys’ Life reveals that the picture was taken at the Camporee of the BSA’s Oakland Area Council.

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