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We previously showed you a radio at left that was sure to delight the youngsters of 1939.  It featured a creepy face with eyes that lit up in time with the music.

Not to be outdone 23 years later, the publishers of Popular Mechanics published in the March 1962 issue the plans for the same general idea shown here. This time, the face, a clown, was a little bit less creepy, but it still had magic eye tubes in the place of eyeballs, and the eyes flashed in time with the music. The magazine gave two options for the project. If you didn’t have a radio to spare, then you could build the entire radio, which was basically a crystal set using 1N34 diode, with two tubes to provide loudspeaker volume. The magazine noted that this worked satisfactorily in downtown Chicago, and pulled in three different stations with a 50 foot antenna on the roof. According to the magazine, this simple circuit was “the minimum performance which might satisfy youngsters.”

But for better performance, it was recommended to just use an existing radio, and tap in the additional circuit, shown below, to flash the eyes. The magazine showed a template for cutting the clown face, but also noted that the prepunched chassis and clown face were available from the Experimenter’s Supply Co., 1924 W. Columbia Avenue, Chicago.

85 years ago, if you were an impecunious boy, girl, man, or woman, and wanted some luxury items in your life, then this advertisement would certainly appeal to you. You could earn any of the prizes shown on this page, with absolutely no cost other than a little old fashioned initiative. You could do this by getting into the seed business, and that was as simple as filling out the coupon and mailing it back to the Lancaster County Seed Company of Paradise, PA. Or if you were truly thrifty, you could copy the information on a penny postcard and get started that way.

No money had to change hands. The Lancaster County Seed Company trusted you, and as soon as they received the coupon, they would send you 24 beautifully colored packets of “Garden Spot” Seeds, which everybody planted, according to the ad, and they were guaranteed to grow. You would sell them for a dime each. Lots of people would buy five to ten packets. In fact, your own family, along with a few friends, would buy all of them.

After you sold the seeds, you would get a money order for the $2.40 proceeds, along with your prize selection. With the exception of the wrist watch, you could have any of the prizes shown on this page: The musically inclined could chose between the guitar, ukulele, or guitar. Sports enthusiasts could get the basketball or roller skates, or even the air rifle. The moving picture machine or spy glass would undoubtedly appeal to many boys. And the practically minded could chose between the bed spread, the curtains, the cooking set, or the clock. For those with their eyes on the wrist watch, they could pay an additional 99 cents, or just sell another 24 packets of seeds.

The ad emphasized that the company trusted you, and there was no need to send any money. Most of the entrepreneurs who signed up probably fulfilled their obligations, but this site shows a letter from the President of the company to those who didn’t promptly return the money. According to the letter, “we know you are perfectly honest and will want to pay whatever you owe.” It reminded the recipient to get a money order from the post office or RFD carrier and send it back right away. If the seeds hadn’t all been sold, then “you should make a final effort to do so.”

The letter assured the recipient that as soon as the money was in hand, the premium would be sent. For those who had given up hope, the letter asked them to send a money order for what they had sold along with the remaining seeds in good condition, and the company would follow through with a premium for the amount of work which you had done.

The ad appeared 85 years ago this month in the February 1937 issue of Radio Mirror.

Seventy years ago, the Novice license was new, and Boys’ Life took full advantage by showing scouts how they could get on the air. The January 1952 issue showed how to put together the one-tube 80 meter CW transmitter shown here. A previous issue had shown a suitable receiver, and the next month’s issue would show the power supply and antenna.

It hadn’t been announced yet, but eighty years ago today, the domestic production of radios and phonographs for civilian use would end in just over three months. So the prudent listener might consider getting a second radio for the bedroom, just in case the main set in the living room ran into trouble. And for $7.95, this one might fit the bill. It was a basic four-tube set, but it would pull in the local stations with war news. And if cash was short, you could get it for a quarter down, and a quarter per week.

If you had a bit more disposable income, then $32.95, or just a dollar a week, would get you this five-tube set with an automatic record changer. The ad for Kappels Jewelry, 535 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh,

The store closed in 1993, after over 70 years in business.

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Here are some of our previous posts covering this event:

• Broadcasting and Pearl Harbor.
• Pearl Harbor Radio Coverage.
• More Pearl Harbor Audio Clips.
• Keep indoors. Lie down. Turn off the lights. Turn on the radio.
• Remember Pearl Harbor, 1942

The clipping at left is from the December 20, 1941, issue of Radio Guide, the first to go to press after the attack. Very few blackouts were necessary in the Continental United States, but in the first days after Pearl Harbor, there were some fears that the Pacific Coast might be vulnerable to attack. So some radio stations went dark for a few nights in Washington, Oregon, and California. It probably wasn’t necessary after the 20th, but Radio Guide included this list of 50,000 watt stations throughout the country. If local stations went dark, this list could be consulted to find other stations carrying the same network programming.

Fifty years ago this month, the November 1971 issue of 73 magazine carried an article by Doug Gaines, W4AXE, detailing these plans for a three-element beam for 75 meters (3800 kHz). From his Florida QTH, he was tired of being outdone by stations in the Northeast, and decided to do a single-band entry into a DX contest on 75 meters. After various experiments, he decided to build a temporary 3-element Yagi, using his 125 foot tower, which at the time contained a 20 meter beam.

To manage this, he used the tower itself as the driven element, feeding it as shown with a gamma match, and with six quarter wave radials. The director and reflector consisted of vertical wires hanging from outriggers on the ends of the 20 meter beam, weighted down with bricks.

One incident involving the parisitic elements being tangled with the tower convinced him that the antenna should be turned slowly and only when necessary, but the system did work, and he reported 9 dB gain into Europe. The front-to-side ratio was 30 dB, and the front-to-back was 16 dB.

Seventy five years ago today, the August 12, 1946 issue of Life magazine carried this ad for the RCA model 56X and some variations. The set is a six-tube superhet covering the broadcast band, and retailed for $25.40 in its walnut plastic cabinet.  The same radio with the creamy ivory finish, model 56X2 sold for $27.50, and the 56X3 in a wooden cabinet had a list price of $33.95.

We’ve previously featured the 56X5, which added one shortwave band and earned the set the “12,000 Miler” moniker.  The shortwave set sold for $37.95.