Eighty-five years ago, this gentleman is teaching himself Morse code thanks to a one-tube code oscillator shown in the August 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics.

It used a single 12A7 tube, and for the filament, it used a “curtain burner” line cord to drop the voltage to 12 volts.  The article suggested learning the code by sending from the attached chart, and then having someone else, preferably someone already skilled at the code, to send faster and faster.

Seventy-five years ago, Cordes Electric Co., at the corner of Union and Natural Bridge, St. Louis, MO, discovered a great way to sell televisions–to rent them out. If a customer was on the fence, the store learned that the best way to close the sale was to enlist other family members to convince the customer of the need. To do that, they had to get the set into the house, and they did that by renting 10 inch sets for $10.50 per week. The rental fee could be applied to the purchase of a new set, although this was for a limited time, to encourage a quick decision. In most cases, the customers kept the set, or traded it for a larger model.

In rare cases, the customer decided that television wasn’t for them, and had it taken back. But even in those cases, the customer called back later to have it returned. Once again, it was the family members who clamored for its return.

The picture an accompanying article appeared in the August 1949 issue of Radio Retailing.

Eighty-five years ago, this happy homemaker is listening to a program while working in the kitchen, thanks to a four-tube TRF set described in the August 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics.

The set could be put together for only $4.75 (less tubes and cabinet), and would operate on 110 volts, either AC or DC. It put out two watts of audio power.

A hundred years ago, these dancers were getting their dance music courtesy of the airwaves. The image appeared on the cover of the July, 1924, issue of Radio Age.

Sixty years ago, British television had at least one viewer in Holland, namely, Jan Adama, PA0FB of the Hague. He tuned in to British telecasts with an antenna 45 feet above ground level. For UHF, he used a 52 element antenna, and a German UHF converter.

Since the British television signal had the audio modulation on a different frequency than used by his continental TV, he used an external Hallicrafters receiver connected to the IF stage of the TV.

The article above is from the June 1964 issue of Radio Constructor.

Seventy years ago, this couple are pulling in a program on the short waves, thanks to the shortwave converter described in the June 1954 issue of Popular Mechanics.

According to the magazine, the setup was ideal for experimenters who were intersted in shortwave reception, but didn’t want to invest in a communications receiver or mess around with the proper tuning of a regenerative set. It could be used with any standard broadcast receiver, and the magazine explained how to make the connection to the set’s antenna coil if an external antenna were not present.

With two sets of plug-in coils, the combination would tune 3-20 MHz.

A hundred years ago, Marie Lohre was named the most beautiful girl at the Real American celebration in Seattle Washington, as shown here in the June 16, 1924 issue of the Washington Evening Star.   The festival was apparently named after the Native American Newspaper of the same name, as Miss Lohre was featured as the previous year’s queen in the March 6, 1925, issue of the paper, pictured at left.

According to both sources, Miss Lohre was a member of the Quinault nation, and she was a student at some unnamed Indian high school.

We found no more information about her. Occasionally, people Google the names of their ancestors. We always appreciate hearing from the descendants of people we feature here, to follow up on these images from the past.

Taking your radio out for a spin around the pond was popular on both sides of, well, the Pond, as evidenced by this British couple illustrated on the cover of Modern Wireless, June 1924.

For an idea of what they might have been listening to, we can consult the program schedules in the same magazine. Perhaps they were tuned to the Eiffel Tower on 2600 meters. If so, at 10:50 AM, they could listen to the fish prices in the Paris markets at 10:50 AM.

Or, if they stay out until 9:00 PM, at 450 meters, they might be able to tune in an evening concert from the station of the Ecole Supérieure des Postes et Teléraphes.

A hundred years ago this month, the June 1944 issue of Popular Science published some pointers on taking your radio with you on vacation. The magazine quoted Hiram Percy Maxim as predicting that within five years, most automobiles would be equipped with a radio. In the meantime, the magazine offered some suggestions.

The most critical element was the antenna, and it noted that a long aerial would always outperform a loop, especially if your vacation took you a long distance from the closest station. Fortunately, there was almost always something available for getting the wire in the air, as long as you used a bit of ingenuity. The photo above shows a radio fan who got his set working on a fishing expedition along the Green River near Seattle.