Wartime parts shortages were the inspiration for this idea from the December 1944 issue of Popular Mechanics. If you were building a power supply, you might not be able to find filter chokes, but you did have an old doorbell or buzzer. As shown here, that could be turned into two inductors and used with capacitors to filter the output of a rectifier.
There was a time when people dressed up to listen to the radio, as shown from this picture in the December 1939 issue of Radio Today. This young woman is listening to her GE model HJ-628 six-tube radio-phono console with its walnut cabinet.
The set featured six pushbuttons, “feathertouch tuning keys” to be specific. The phonograph was automatic. Unfortunately, it didn’t tune the short waves; it covered only the standard broadcast band. For those wishing to tune in the war news straight from Europe, the Trav-Ler Radio & Television Corp. had just the thing they needed highlighted in the same magazine. Shown at left is the Trav-Ler “War Reporter,” a six-tube set designed specifically to pull in European broadcasts, in addition to the standard broadcast band.
This self-explanatory “television controlled machine gun” appeared on the cover of the December 1944 issue of Radio Craft. It was not, however, an existing weapon system. Instead, it was the vision of publisher Hugo Gernsback, who wrote the accompanying article describing the system.
It was intended for a defensive position, and Gernsback admitted that it might eventually be overrun. But when that happened, he noted, there would be no casualties. And a second and third layer could then take over.
Gernsback also anticipated active night vision equipment. He pointed out that his system could be used at night simply by installing some infrared floodlights, which the TV camera would pick up with no difficulty.
In 1944, with wartime bans in place, Hallicrafters didn’t have any equipment for sale to civilians. But they were gearing up for a postwar boom, and they figured a lot of Boy Scouts would be in the market for radio equipment as soon as the war was over.
This ad appeared 75 years ago this month in the December 1944 issue of Boys’ Life. It encourages young radio fans to send 25 cents to the ARRL to get the most recent edition of “How to Become a Radio Amateur,” a splendid book.
Shown here in 1944 is Maurice G. Goldberg, the owner of Beacon Radio Service Shop, 142 East Fourth St., St. Paul, MN. The shop had been in business for 20 years, and even before the war had concentrated on service. Indeed, the sign outside read, “if we can’t fix it, throw it away.”
Even with wartime parts shortages, the shop was living up to its reputation of being able to fix anything. And since new sets were not available for sale, his decision to concentrate on service proved profitable.
Goldberg had been able to keep many radios operating by interchanging tubes, with often meant having to rewire the set. He was so flooded with business that backlogs ran about three weeks. He did, however, prioritize oldtime customers. His reasoning was that when conditions returned to normal after the war, many customers would return to local dealers. But the long-term customers would appreciate the loyalty shown to them.
Greenberg also taught at the Dunwoody Institute in the Army training program. He did occasionally get students who were available to help out in the shop, but he did the bulk of the work himself, working long hours.
Goldberg was indeed a Minnesota radio pioneer. He’s listed as of 1924 as the licensee of KFOY, with broadcast 250 watts on 1350 kHz (222.1 meters). This frequency was shared with WAMD Minneapolis, licensed to one Stanley E. Hubbard. The stations were bought in 1928 by the National Battery Company, which merged them together under the new call sign KSTP, with Hubbard as general manager. Power increased to 25,000 watts, and Hubbard re-acquired a controlling interest in 1941.
The photo above appeared 75 years ago this month in the December 1944 issue of Radio Retailing.
Shown here on the cover of Life magazine, December 11, 1944, is 23-year-old truck driver Bud Shields of Webster City, Iowa. 97% of the nation’s agricultural products were carried by truck at some point in their journey, and Shields’ job was to get hogs from Webster City to Waterloo. His rig was a Chevrolet cab pulling a 32-foot semi trailer. He made the run about five days a week, starting out by putting wood shavings on the floor of the trailer to keep it clean, and setting off around sunset. The 93 mile trip took about 3-1/2 hours with a stop for food.
After delivering the hogs, he shoveled the shavings into a railroad car and hosed down the trailer. Then, “after a couple of beers, he starts off for home.”
This simple code practice oscillator appeared 75 years ago this month in the December 1944 issue of Radio Craft. The idea was sent in to the magazine by William McGee of Baltimore, MD, who noted that the idea required fewer parts than most other oscillators. The idea was self-explanatory, as it used “the principle of feedback which all sound men have to combat.” It consisted of a microphone set in front of the speaker of a radio. If the set had a phono jack, it could be connected there. If not, the submitter showed where to wire it into the radio.
No, this is not the scene from a horror movie of giants attacking a radio store. These women are working out a modern store layout, shown on the cover of the December 1944 issue of Radio Service Dealer. With the war still going, radios and appliances were not available. But the end was in sight, and the magazine admonished dealers that it was time to think about how best to display those items when they became available. These women are working out the best display thanks to a demonstration scale model of an average radio-appliance store, commissioned by the Admiral Corporation, 444 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, and realized by George Locks, a “Chicago specialist in miniatures.”
The four by ten foot scale model store represented a store measuring 35 by 90 feet. It came complete with scale models of radios, appliances, fixtures, and furniture.
USS Shaw at Pearl Harbor. Defense Department Photo.
Today marks the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Here are links to some of our earlier posts marking that event:
Shown above, in front of the Manitoba Legislative Building, are three members of the Women’s Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force. They are Airwomen Elsie Flynn of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Ricky Swedesky of Vancouver, and Dorothy Kidd of Winnipeg. They were all stationed at the No. 8 Repair Depot, Stevenson Field, Manitoba.
Elsie served as a cook in the sergeants’ mess. Ricky was a fabric worker, and repaired the skin covering the airframe of training aircraft. She also packed parachutes. Dorothy was en equipment assistant.
The photo appeared on the cover of the November 1944 issue of Manitoba Calling, the program guide for CKY Winnipeg, pointed out that the Women’s Division slogan was, “they serve that men may fly.” The appearance of women in the air force meant that men were freed up from various ground duties and moved to air training. The magazine pointed out that the Women’s Division included not only girls from every corner of Canada, but also from the United States, Newfoundland, and the West Indies.
Shown at left are Airwomen Olive Carlson of Nanaimo, B.C., Joyce Urie of Windsor, Ont., and “Petie” Houston of Hamilton, Ont. They are at the controls of radiotelephone equipment and tasked with maintaining contact between the ground and Canadian aircraft aloft.