Category Archives: World War 2

Wartime Radio Battery Shortages, 1943

Radio batteries had become almost impossible to find 75 years ago.

This posed a particular problem for farm listeners, many of whom relied on battery sets for weather and farm news, in addition to entertainment. The March 29, 1943, issue of Broadcasting magazine carries an article by the news director of WMT Radio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who wrote that many of his station’s listeners no longer had this vital link to the outside world, since their batteries had gone dead. According to the War Production Board, before the war, 4.5 million batteries were produced annually for the nation’s 2.2 million battery sets. But production had dropped to just 2.4 million batteries, for an estimated 3.2 million sets in rural homes. WPB was working on adjusting quotas, but for the time being, many battery radios were silent.

For those with electric current, the battery radio was a luxury that had to be put on the shelf for the war years. The April 1943 issue of Radio Craft carried two projects which were relevant. First of all, for those who wanted a portable radio, albeit one that could be used only where household power was available, it carried the plans for the small portable radio shown above. With batteries unavailable, and many tube types also unavailable, this set was designed with parts availability in mind.

The simple circuit used a 12SL7GT as a regenerative detector, with a 70L7GT as audio amplifier and rectifier. With a 15 foot antenna, the set would pull in local stations as well as strong stations 50-100 miles away.

The other project, shown here, was for those who had a battery portable sitting on the shelf. This power supply would allow it to be put back in service. It used two two 50Y6GT rectifiers to rectify directly from the AC line. Dropping resistors were used on the output to provide either 67.5 or 45 volts to replace the B batery, as well as filament voltage to replace the A battery. The completed power supply is shown above next to the author’s Crosley model 45-BV “Commuter” portable.

1943 Top Ten

Here are the top ten songs of the week 75 years ago, according to the March 29, 1943, issue of Broadcasting magazine. For your listening pleasure, here are links to the songs:

I’ve Heard That Song Before (Harry James/Helen Forrest)
Taking a Chance on Love (Benny Goodman/Helen Forrest)
That Old Black Magic (Glenn Miller/Skip Nelson)
You’d Be So Nice to Come Home to (Dinah Shore)
As Time Goes By (Rudy Vallee)
Brazil (Xavier Cugat)
It Can’t Be Wrong (Dick Haymes)
Weep No More My Lady (Frank Sinatra)
I Just Kissed Your Picture Goodnight (Dennis Day)
Please Think of Me (Shep Fields)

1943 Test Equipment

One item that was in short supply 75 years ago were meter movements. There was a backlog in their manufacture to the point where hams were being encouraged to sell their old ones, as shown from the form at left from the April 1942 issue of QST.

But the absence of a meter didn’t have to mean that it was impossible to measure things. The device shown above was a simple bridge circuit for measuring the values of resistors, capacitors, and inductors. The circuit was contained in an article in the March 1943 issue of QST, submitted by W.J. Mertz, VE4UN, using whatever was available. An audio signal is fed into the input, and the potentiometer adusted until the circuit is in balance, at which point the audio output disappears. By calibrating the dial with a few known values, the unknown value can be quickly determined.

The author didn’t have an audio oscillator, so he instead used the device by feeding in the squeal from a regenerative receiver. And in the absence of anything else to make the dial pointer, he used the handle of a broken toothbrush.

While inexpensive multimeters such as the one shown at the left make this project less necessary today, it could serve as the basis for an interesting science fair project for relatively advanced students. For information about the theory involved, a trip to Wikipedia will provide the necessary background.

1943 Dymaxion Map

Fuller and the Dymaxion map.

Seventy-five years ago today, the pages of Life Magazine, March 1, 1943, included a craft project, in the form of a Dymaxion map of the world. A flat map of the round earth is always distorted, in either scale, direction, or shape. For example, the familiar Mercator projection accurately shows direction, but scale is greatly distorted close to the poles, which explains why Greenland looks much larger than it really is.

Wikipedia animation.

The Dymaxion map, designed by R. Buckmisnter Fuller, seeks to compromise to make all of these distortions as minimal as possible. It is a cube with the corners cut off, and is formed from six squares and eight triangles. The transformation from a round globe to a flat map is shown in the animation at right.

The magazine contained all of these sections, some of which are shown above, with instructions for pasting them to cardboard and assembling them. When assembled, they could be laid out flat in various configurations, or put together completely as a squared-off globe. For those wishing to duplicate the 1943 globe, it would be an easy process to print the pages on cardstock and assemble them following the directions. (You can download the magazine at this link,)

An interesting science fair project could be made comparing a globe, a Mercator projection, and the Dymaxion projection.

February 25, 1943 Radio Listings

Here’s a snapshot of what was on the air 75 years ago today, from the radio listings of the Pittsburgh Press, February 25, 1943.

1943 Steel Penny

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of production of the 1943 steel U.S. cent coin on February 23, 1943.

Wartime shortages of copper forced the mint to look into alternatives, and the final choice was to produce the 1943 cent with zinc-coated steel.

The coin was not a popular success. People confused them with dimes, and the lack of zinc plating on the edges gave the coins a tendency to rust. And becasue they were magnetic, the coins would not work in vending machines. For 1944, the mint began using recycled shell casings with a small amount of copper, resulting in an alloy similar to that used before the war.

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Life Savers Go To War

Seventy-five years ago today, the February 22, 1943, issue of Life Magazine carried this important announcement.

The armed forces had just ordered a large shipment of Life Savers for censored, censored, and censored, meaning that the civilian supply might have been short in some areas. It reminded customers that if they couldn’t find their favorite flavor, they should remember that some soldier, sailor, or marine was enjoying it somewhere.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day from OneTubeRadio.com!

The caption of this drawing from a 1943 Valentine’s Day themed ad reads: “Today! Right now! In February! Country-Style Frying Chickens!”

The magazine ad notes that in those days of meat shortages, Birds Eye frozen chicken was a wonderful way to bring novelty into your meals.

1943 One-Tube Combination Code Oscillator/Regenerative Receiver

Seventy-five years ago this month, the February 1943 issue of Popular Science carried the plans for this one-tube combination receiver and code practice oscillator. The construction article, by Arthur C. Miller, noted that thousands of young men and women were learning code for civil defense purposes or prior to enlistment in the Signal Corps. A code oscillator was then impossible to buy.

A single switch changed the set from receiver to code oscillator. As a radio, the set ran on 45 volts, but the code oscillator required only 4.5 volts.

The Immortal Chaplains: 1943

Stained glass window, Pentagon. Wikipedia image.

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the troop carrier SS Dorchester, February 3, 1943.

The ship, constructed in 1926, originally carried cargo and passengers between Miami and Boston. She was put into wartime service in 1942 and was converted to a troop carrier. In January 1943, she left New York in convoy bound for Narsarsuak, Greenland. She was torpedoed in the early morning hours of February 3 by a German submarine, which caused severe damage, and the ship sank in about 20 minutes. 672 died, many of hypothermia.

Sinking of the Dorchester. Wikipedia image.

Four relatively new Army chaplains were aboard, First Liuetenants Reverend George L. Fox (Methodist), Reform Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Roman Catholic priest Father John P. Washington, and Reformed Church in America minister the Reverend Clark V. Poling. Collectively, they came to be known as the Immortal Chaplains.

As the ship was going down, they helped other soldiers board lifeboats. When the supply of life jackets ran out, they gave up their own. They joined arms, said prayers, and sang hymns as they went down with the ship.