Telephone answering machines didn’t really become a thing until the 1970s, and even then, they were expensive and rare. At first, even their legality was dubious, since The Phone Company was jealous of anyone making any kind of direct electrical connection to the Public Switched Telephone Network.  I didn’t have an answering machine myself until well into the 1980s. Surprisingly, there was a time when the phone just kept ringing when nobody was home, and there was no way to leave a message. Similarly, if your phone rang, the only way to find out who was calling was to pick up the phone and talk to them.

For those who were unwilling to wait for the future, the February 1962 issue of Popular Science showed you how to put together your own answering machine. And since there was no direct connection to the phone line, you didn’t have to worry about provoking the ire of The Phone Company. When the phone rang, an inductive coil placed under the phone would sense it, and it would trigger a solenoid which would physically lift the button on the phone. It would also turn on the tape recorder, which had been left in the “play” position. The tape recorder would then play your outgoing message through the speaker, which was close to the telephone handset. At the end of the outgoing message on the tape, you had painted silver paint on the back of the tape. When this passed through an outboard sensor you had added to the recorder, it would trip a second solenoid, which would flip the switch on the tape recorder from “play” to “record”. The microphone was placed next to the receiver, and it would record for thirty seconds. At the end of this thirty-second piece of tape, there was another section of silver paint, which would reset the whole contraption for the next call.

You would need to prepare the tape in advance for as many calls as you expected to get, including multiple outgoing messages and silver paint sections.

For the outgoing message, you were instructed to tell the caller to leave their 30 second message when they heard the “click.” Presumably, the sound of the tape recorder switching over from playback to record would be sufficiently loud to serve as the cue.

To hear your messages, you would first glance at the tape to see if it had been used. If so, you would need to first remove the tape from the external switch, since running the tape through it unnecessarily would quickly remove the silver paint. You would then plug the tape recorder directly into the wall, rewind, and listen to the tape, which would include both your outgoing messages and the incoming messages.

As you can see from the schematic below, the control circuit used tubes, to switch the relays and solenoids. Since one of the relays was used to turn the tape recorder on and off, the tape recorder itself would need to be a solid state model, since there would not be time for the tubes to warm up.

After it was built, the device had to be adjusted. In particular, there was a sensitivity control for the circuit triggered by the ringer. In order to adjust it, the phone had to be ringing. And, of course, the only way to do that was to call someone else and ask them to call you.

There was a time, not so long ago, when an absolutely necessary skill for any kind of orator was the ability to project one’s voice. Entire books were written on the subject, such as this one that notes:

Bear in mind that as voice is dependent upon a copious supply of air, under the control of the will, so breathing is dependent upon pure blood, which, in turn owes its existence to proper and sufficent food and physical exercise.

Whenever you read a speech that predates electronic amplification, whether it is the Gettysburg Address or Teddy Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” speech, it is well to remember that if those in the crowd heard what the speaker was saying, it was only because they were able to hear the voice. This began to change in the 1930s and 1940s. For example, we previously reported, the legislative chambers of the Iowa State Capitol were first wired for sound in 1939. Before that date, the legislators had to project their voices so that they could be heard throughout the chamber.

And a member of the clergy had to have something besides a grasp of theology, Greek, and Hebrew. He had to have a strong enough voice. Eighty years ago this month, the October 1941 issue of Radio Retailing put it this way:

Many an earnest young divinity student was advised to leave the ministry because his voice was not considered strong enough.

But the magazine also noted that “today, this condition no longer applied,” and it presented an opportunity for the entrepreneur able to supply the requisite sound system.

The magazine carried the case study of Harbison Chapel at Grove City College, Pennsylvania, which was brought into the twentieth century by F.C. Millard’s Modern Sound Systems of Pittsburgh.

The Gothic chapel could seat 900 and was long, narrow, and tall. Millard was able to provide a satisfactory system at a cost of $632.80 (according to this inflation calculator, almost $12,000 in 2021 dollars), plus installation and wiring. The system consisted of two Western Electric 633A “saltsharker” microphones, one each at the pulpit and lectern, a 12-20 watt 124D amplifier, and a single horn speaker above the pulpit. A mixer was installed at the rear of the balcony.

The college’s president, Dr. Weir C. Ketler, noted that the system functioned so smoothly that the congregation could hear well yet be scarcely conscious that amplification was in use.

Sixty years ago this month, this stenographer dutifully takes down a verbatim transcript of her boss’s telephone conversation, thanks to a Lafayette telephone amplifier. The amp is connected to the phone through a telephone pickup coil, still readily available today. With it plugged into the amp, she can easily hear both sides of the conversation.

The unit was actually a kit. While it is not specified, we suspect that the secretary put it together herself, since it freed her of the need to use a headphone for such tasks, and probably made her work much easier.

The photo appeared in the December 1960 issue of Popular Mechanics, which highlighted a number of available kits, and pointed out how many, such as this one, could make things run more smoothly at the office.

With most of the world locked down due to the threat of COVID-19, places of worship have been scrambling to deliver the Word of God to the faithful at home. But long before Zoom and YouTube were a thing, churches have relied upon technology to connect with members, as shown by this illustration from a hundred years ago this month, in the May 1920 issue of Electrical Experimenter.

Zion English Baptist Church, Pen-y-cae, Wales, the likely origin of the 1920 transmissions.  Wikipedia photo.

Shown here is miner Sam Pritchard of Penycas, Ruabon, Wales. In 1919, he was injured by the fall of a rock. Undaunted, he was able to hear the service at the Baptist Church thanks to a telephone rigged by three of his friends.

A button microphone and batteries were strategically placed near the pulpit, with wires run to Mr. Pritchard’s bedside some distance away. A telephone receiver was strapped to his head, through which he was able to take part in the service. The magazine noted that the apparatus required was not expensive, and that such a setup could prove valuable in the northern or western United States where deep snows often cover the country.

Of course, over the years, churches have moved on to radio, then audio recordings, then television, and then the internet to deliver their message to those shut in at home. Incidentally, the OneTubeRadio Laboratories are currently hard at work preparing a 100 mW AM transmitter which will operate, with a 9 foot antenna, to broadcast church services within a parking lot. The internet works well for those who are at home, but everyone signal is slightly out of synch with everyone esle. At such time as it becomes possible to congregate a bit more closely, in parked cars, radio will allow everyone be able to listen simultaneously (or as simultaneously as the speed of light allows).  We have verified that the transmitter is up to the task, and today, we received the parts necessary to provide a high-fidelity audio feed.  We’ll post updates as the project is completed.