Category Archives: Scouting

Family Emergency Preparedness Tips from 1951

1951JulBL1The July 1951 issue of Boys’ Life carried some pointers for Scouts to help prepare their families for disasters, such as storm, flood, fire, or even enemy attack.  One of the ideas is shown above:  The family can schedule a “survival picnic” where they will grab their survival rations and head out to the countryside where they turn it into a tasty meal.

Other pointers are shown below.  The family should be prepared for emergency cooking, and emergency beds “if your regular bedroom can’t be used.”  The beds were simplicity themselves:  Pleated blankets were simply affixed to posts with big nails.

The survival picnic doesn’t sound like a bad idea.  Maybe we’ll need to break out the car survival kit and make an expedient meal with it using the emergency stove.

1951JulBL2



Vic Clark, W4KFC

1951JulBLSeventy years ago this month, the July 1951 issue of Boys’ Life carried a biography of Vic Clark, W4KFC.  Clark later went on to become president of the ARRL from 1982 until his death in 1983.  He was, however, already a well known ham in 1951.  His biggest claim to fame was taking first place in the 1948 November Sweepstakes.

According to the article, Clark’s interest in radio came when he happened to hear some hams on his family’s broadcast radio, and incident he said fired his interest.  He was licensed soon thereafter, as shown in the illustration above.  He went on to a career with the Civil Aviation Administration, later the Federal Aviation Administration.



1951 Crystal Set

1951MayBLSeventy years ago, the May 1951 issue of Boys’ Life carried these plans for “one of the prettiest radios you’ve ever seen.” The chassis was a plastic dinner plate, and the magazine specified that the dish should be yellow, with dashing red fittings. With a good antenna (at least 100 feet) and ground, the set would pull in medium power stations up to 25 miles away.

The coil was wound on a piece of dry wood. As Boys’ Life was sometimes prone to do, they forgot to mention that the enamel insulation would need to be sanded off the wire at the point where the slider contacted it.

If you need help sourcing the parts to recreate this or other crystal set designs, be sure to check out our crystal set parts page.



GE LB-530 Portable, 1941

1941MayBLEighty years ago, these young men, probably scouts, are sitting around the campfire pulling in a distant program, with their General Electric Model LB-530 portable.  The five tube (1A7GT 1N5GT 1N5GT 1H5GT 1Q5GT) set operated off an internal lead-acid battery, which could be charged from either a car or 120 volts, either while playing or when turned off. The two volt internal battery lit the filaments directly, and provided the B+ with a vibrator power supply.

We previously featured another ad for the same set. The set retailed for $39.95. This ad appeared in the May 1941 issue of Boys’ Life.



Iowa Scouts Build Car: 1921

1921AprPM2Shown here, in the April 1921 issue of Popular Mechanics are members of Boy Scout Troop 2 of Maxwell, Iowa. While it probably wouldn’t comply with the current edition of the Guide to Safe Scouting, the scouts put together this automobile.

The gears, frame, and axles came from different makes of cars, but they managed to put them together in a perfectly serviceable fashion. The power plant was a damaged stationary engine (or we should say, formerly stationary) which they acquired for $10. The engine was bolted to an old automobile wheel, which transmitted the power to a long shaft, which was in turn geared to a normal drive shaft.

“Speed was sacrificed in favor of reliability,” and the vehicle was capable of 10 miles per hour. The car had recently made a round trip to the Iowa State Fair, where it was said to have created a sensation.



Vinegar and Baking Soda Experiments: Beyond the Volcano

1951MarBLEvery self-respecting young mad scientist probably discovered as a toddler that many hours of fun could be had by mixing vinegar and baking soda. When the time comes for their first science fair in elementary school, many of them harken back to this early experiment and decide to make a vinegar and baking soda volcano. In fact, if you Google the words “science fair vinegar and baking soda volcano“, you will get over a million results, many of which we are sure are fine educational projects. But we also know that our readers, even the youngest ones, strive for a bit more. So if your young mad scientist is thinking of a science fair project involving these venerable home chemicals, here are a couple of more advanced projects, which appeared in Boys’ Life magazine 70 years ago this month, March 1951. They are just as easy (or even easier) than the stereotypical volcano that other kids will be bringing, but they demonstrate some additional scientific principles.

To do the experiment shown above, you start with a tall glass of water and add a tablespoon of vinegar. You then slowly stir in a half teaspoon of baking soda. Finally, you put four or five mothballs in the glass. They’re heavier than water and will sink to the bottom, but after about a minute, they will rise to the surface. They’ll sink again and continue rising and falling for hours.

What’s happening is that the mothballs are only slightly heavier than water. Little carbon dioxide bubbles affix themselves to the surface, which gives just enough buoyancy for them to rise. At the surface, the bubbles pop, and the mothball sinks again. If you don’t have any mothballs around the house, I’m told that raisins will work just as well.

1951MarBL2If Junior likes playing with fire (and what kid doesn’t?), they will enjoy the experiment shown at the left. You start with a teaspoon of baking soda at the bottom of an empty glass. To this, you add a tablespoon of vinegar diluted with a tablespoon of water. When the mixture begins to fizz, you lower a lighted candle into the glass. Since carbon dioxide is heavier than air, it fills the glass. And since carbon dioxide doesn’t support a flame (which is why fire extinguishers use it), the flame extinguishes itself.

But there’s more! If you act quickly enough, you can lift the candle back out as soon as it goes out, and the flame will miraculously come back to life. This is because there is still vaporized wax, and the wick is still hot enough to ignite as soon as it gets back into sufficient oxygen.

The kid who made the volcano will undoubtedly go home with a nice participation ribbon. But armed with these simple experiments proving scientific principles, Junior will undoubtedly take home the blue ribbon.



1951 Crystal Set

1951FebBLSeventy years ago this month, the February 1951 issue of Boys’ Life magazine showed how to put together this simple “non-crystal crystal set”. Regular readers will recognize it was the venerable “foxhole radio,” which used a razor blade and pencil lead for the detector.

The coil is wound on a flat piece of wood, measuring 4 by 2 inches and a quarter inch thick. Paper clips are used for many of the components, such as the slider and connectors.

For ideas on sourcing some of the parts, see our crystal set parts page.



Scouts Listening to the Radio, 1941

1941FebRadioRetailingEighty years ago this month, the February 1941 issue of Radio Retailing showed these Boy Scouts tuning in a program. The magazine reminded dealers that every boy should have a radio in his room, and that this was particularly true for scouts, who needed versatile portable sets for use at home or in the woods.

The Scouts are not identified, other than being from Troop 132 somewhere. The uniforms don’t look quite right for BSA uniforms, and the pennant in the background has the letters “ORIA BC” visible. I’m guessing that it reads “Victoria, BC,” and these are actually Canadian scouts.



Transformer Science Project

 

1946FebBL75 years ago, this young man discovered the secret for meeting girls. That, of course, was explaining to them how transformers worked. This young woman is obviously mesmerized by his explanation.

He gained this skill by conducting the experiment shown below. He constructed his own transformer with two coils of wire wound around an iron core. To provide the alternating current, he runs one wire along the file.

1946FebBL2

These items appeared as part of an for Westinghouse in the February, 1946, issue of Boys’ Life.  It reminded readers to tune in to programs sponsored by the company, John Charles Thomas and Ted Malone.

The science project is easily duplicated today.  While the old-style dry cell battery is no longer available, an alkaline D cell, with suitable holder, would work just fine.  The other items needed are wire, the bulb (with socket to make the connections easier), an iron bar, and file.



1961 BSA Radio Gear

1961JanBLSixty years ago, the Boy Scout with an interest in radio could get everything he needed to get started from the BSA National Supply Division at his local official BSA dealer, as shown here in the January 1961 issue of Boys’ Life.

He would very likely be the first on his block to own a transistor radio by putting together one of three kits. The simplest one, which probably required an outdoor antenna, was a fixed diode plus one transistor, which would set him back $4.50. The two transistor model would pull in more stations for $8.95. And everyone would be impressed if he put together the $14.95 three-transistor set, which would give loudspeaker volume.

The beginner could put together the crystal set for only $2.96, complete with cardboard base. And to pull in the shortwaves, the tube set for $15.95 wouild get both broadcast and shortwave.

For code practice, there was a signal set for $1.95 each or $3.95 for two. If the Scout was good at math, he would realize he was paying a nickel more if he bought two, but that’s explained by the fact that it came with 30 feet of wire. And to get started, a code record could be had for $2.95.