Category Archives: World War 2

Voice of America: 1944

Transmitter engineer flipping the switch at antenna farm to beam program to Europe.

Seventy-five years ago this month, the June 1944 issue of Popular Mechanics highlighted the shortwave broadcasting efforts of the Office of War Information (OWI). The magazine dubbed the American shortwave stations the “Voice of America,” a name which would become official in following years.

The magazine noted that the Nazis had a head start on the radio war, since Germany had over a hundred transmitters spewing propaganda to the world. The United States had only sixteen, all under private ownership. But even though it took some time to get going, the OWI wass directing a 24 hour flow of news and information around the world. The magazine noted that America strictly adhered to factual news.

Jamming was rampant, and broadcasts were normally read at a hundred words per minute to compensate. When poor conditions dictated, this was sometimes slowed to 80 words per minute. The OWI knew that there were listeners. After the liberation of parts of Italy, a survey indicated that one in ten families heard allied programs, despite severe penalties for tuning in.

1944 WERS Transceiver

Seventy five years ago this month, the May 1944 issue of QST carried a construction article for this 112 MHz transceiver for the War Emergency Radio Service (WERS). The article was unique in that it showed how to “mass produce” the set in a high school shop class.

The Altoona, PA, WERS organization operating under call sign WKYU, had little appropriate equipment. Compounding the problem was the fact that few skilled amateurs remained at home to do the building. The problem was solved by setting up construction of standardized transceivers by radio and electronics students in the vocational department of Altoona High School. The school benefitted by having interesting and worthwhile lab work, and WERS benefitted by having a source of the needed equipment. In addition, the students who were involved in WERS also had particular pride in using equipment they themselves had built.

The circuit is a familiar one for VHF transceivers of the era. A 6J5 served as oscillator and self-quenched superregenerative detector, although other tubes could be substituted. A 6G6 pentode served as modulator and audio amplifier. Since wartime shortages meant that some tubes were not available, the article suggested substitutions for each.

Life Magazine Japanese Skull: 1944

On this day 75 years ago, the May 22, 1944, issue of Life Magazine carried this photo of 20-year-old Natalie Nickerson of Phoenix, Arizona. According to the magazine, two years earlier she had said goodbye to a “big handsome Navy lieutenant” who “promised her a jap.” He obliged, and she received this skull of a Japanese serviceman signed by her boyfriend and 13 of his friends. The skull carried the inscription, “this is a good Jap–a dead one picked up on the New Guinea beach.”

The magazine added that “the armed forces disaprove strongly of this sort of thing.” Reaction to the photo by American readers was overwhelmingly condematory, and the officer was later reprimanded by the Navy. The photo was reprinted in Japan as an example of American barbarism.

D-Day Preparations

Seventy five years ago, the exact time and place of the D-Day invasion was a closely guarded military secret, but the fact that is was coming soon was no secret. 75 years ago today, the May 20, 1944, issue of the Milwaukee Journal carried this headline that Gen. Eisenhower had issued his first orders to the Underground.

The orders went out over American radio stations recently constructed on the continent. The commander-in-chief advised the underground to take minute and detailed note of every move of the enemy, with particular attention to the moves of his men, tanks, guns, as well as their markings and strength.

When this was published, the invasion was just over two weeks away.

Radio’s Geography

Eighty years ago, the May 15, 1939, issue of Life Magazine introduced readers to the sometimes counter-intuitive geography that comes from living on a globe. In particular, the magazine noted that it was important for shortwave broadcasting. For example, it pointed out that the first reaction on how to reach Manila from New York would be to point the antenna toward Mexico and the Pacific. But by looking at a globe or an azimuthal map centered on New York, it’s clear that the shortest path is over Alaska.

Similarly, the magazine notes that it’s easier for Berlin radio to reach South America than it is for New York. This is because to reach the entire continent, the American station needs to have a beam 40 degrees wide. The German station, on the other hand, can get by with only half the power, since most of the continent can be covered with a beam of only 20 degrees.

It’s not a coincidence that New York and Berlin were chosen as the examples. Shortwave radio was an important force in World War II. For more information, see our earlier post.

Wartime Diversification for Radio Dealers

With manufacture of civilian radios being suspended for the duration of the war in 1942, radio dealers had to seek other avenues to augment their income. Of course, servicing sets became especially important, but dealers also diversified, and that often meant selling records. Shown here, on the cover of the Radio Retailing for May 1944 is the colorful record display at Paramus Tire Exchange, 150 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, N.J. The unusual name for a radio store (much less a kids’ record store) is explained by the fact that owner Cy Jacoby had diversified into the radio business in the 1920’s. The article noted that he was one of the many automotive men who took on radio way back when lots of music merchants were not interested.”

The address proved to be a good one from a merchandising point of view. With the inability to sell radios (or tires) during the war, Jacoby put together this display. In fact, since the shop was wired with intercoms, he even put a speaker behind the display and would speak to kids as the looked at the display of books and records.

The magazine warned of another kind of diversification that was illegal. Some dealers were buying broken radios and using the parts to rebuild new sets. In some cases, the rebuilding consisted of putting a refurbished chassis into a new cabinet. But the magazine reported that the War Production Board had taken the position that this was illegal.

There had apparently been no prosecutions, although the magazine did note that there had been several cases of action taken against dealers who had converted automobile sets to home use. Presumably, making the conversion at home (as described at this post and this post) were OK, but a dealer could not do the conversion and sell the set.

1944 Car Tune-Up

A few weeks ago, we showed a snapshot of wartime grocery prices. Today, we show how much it cost to have your auto serviced 75 years ago. This ad appeared in the Milwaukee Journal on May 5, 1944.

Because of gasoline and tire shortages, it’s likely that most cars spent most of the war parked. But even if they got little mileage, they would need occasional service. And Sears Roebuck was there to help, with its Milwaukee service stations open until 9:00 every night except Sunday at 1337 W. Forest Home Ave. and 2100 W. North Ave.

A tune-up was $2.39 and included cleaning and inspecting the distributor, testing the coil condenser caps, and checking the spark plug wires for breakdown. The spark plugs would be cleaned and the gap checked.

In addition, the service included inspection of the fuel pump and adjusting the carburetor. The battery would be cleaned and refilled, and the generator, fan belt, and radiator would be inspected.

1944 Grocery Prices

Here’s a snapshot of grocery prices during World War II. This ad for National Tea Food Stores appeared in the Milwaukee Journal 75 years ago today, April 27, 1944.

Many items were rationed. For example, the beef and pork indicate how many points were needed, meaning that the shopper would need to redeem a ration coupon. Other items, such as chicken and fish, are advertised as “no points,” meaning that they were not rationed.

1944 Emergency Supplies for Downed Flyers

Seventy five years ago this month, the April 1944 issue of Popular Science showed this illustration of the survival items that could be dropped to airmen who were forced to make an emergency landing in the Arctic.

For a larger image, click twice on the image above from most browsers.

Signal Corps Recruiting Women, 1944

Seventy-five years ago today, the April 23, 1944, issue of the Milwaukee Journal carried this article noting that recruiters from the Signal Corps were in Milwaukee looking for women to take jobs in Arlington, Virginia.

It’s likely that the women thus employed were part of the operations of radio station WAR, such as the operator shown below.

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