Shown here as it appeared at the time of America’s entry into the War is the control room of Boston shortwave station WRUL. The image appeared in the December 15, 1941, issue of Life Magazine.

The magazine was obviously put together immediately after the attack of December 7, since most of the articles refer to an America that was preparing for war, but still at peace. Only a middle section of the magazine includes images of the attack.

This image is from an article profiling the shortwave station which, according to the magazine, the Nazis hated and feared.

It was billed as the nation’s most powerful shortwave transmitter, and was “waging a mighty war of propaganda against Adolf Hitler and his allies.” The station’s transmitters were 50,000 and 20,000 watts, with plans to increase. Programs went out day and night in 24 languages.

The station had come on the air in 1927 under experimental license W1XAL. With the outbreak of war in Europe, unbeknownst to the staff, the station came largely under the control of British Intelligence. With America’s involvement in the war, the station was leased to the U.S. Government. In 1962, under new ownership, the call letters were changed to WNYW for “Radio New York Worldwide,” with studios in New York and the transmitter reamining in Scituate, Mass. In 1973, the station was acquired by religious broadcaster Family Stations, Inc., and operated as WYFR until that station moved its transmitters to Okeechobee, Florida, in 1979.

The November 1943 issue of Popular Mechanics carried the plans for this wartime emergency receiver. Built in a cigar box, the set was an updated version of the “Hurricane Receiver” previously published by the magazine and featured here earlier.

The article noted that the set could be used under blackout conditions in areas where a power line would be unavailable. Both the filaments and B+ were provided by six volts, which could come either from dry cells, or obtained from the nearest automobile. For portable use in shelter conditions, the article suggested a wood carrying case such as shown here for transporting the battery.

The set was said to be of considerably more volume and greater range than the original model. It employed two 6G6-G tubes, and the article noted that these tubes were commonly found in the junk boxes of radio students, experimenters, and servicemen. The set employed one tube as the regenerative detector, with the second one serving as audio amplifier.

The coil was wound on a cardboard tube, and the wire could be salvaged from a burned out choke or audio transformer. A ground connection was recommended for maximum results, and a 20 foot indoor antenna could be used for local stations, although a longer outdoor antenna would pull in stronger signals.

With this set and a 6 volt battery, the owner would be able to listen to local stations for emergency safety and blackout instructions.

This simple idea for a code practice oscillator appeared in the January 1944 issue of Radio Craft magazine.

No doubt inspired by wartime parts shortages, the audio feedback loop could be created with an old telephone receiver and microphone placed next to each other. The idea was sent in to the magazine by one Mr. Ivan H. Walker of Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin.

Seventy-five years ago, the United States was less than a month away from entering the war, but Canada had been at war with Germany since 1939.  In this ad from this date’s issue of Broadcasting magazine, November 10, 1941, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reminded potential American advertisers that Canada was carrying on.  Despite wartime conditions, industry was at capacity, new factories were coming online, employment was at a peak, and most important for advertisers, retail sales were showing gains.

The CBC was serving wartime duties, and it reminded advertisers that it provided complete broadcast services to reach the Canadian market.

Seventy five years ago this month, Pearl Harbor was still a month away, and the end of civilian radio production was still five months away. But radio retailers were starting to feel shortages, since many parts were in short supply due to wartime material priorities, and in some cases, the numbers of new sets available didn’t meet demand.

This led many retailers to take a closer look at selling used sets. Trade-ins were often viewed as a headache, and little effort was made to realize a profit from them. But the wartime economy made many retailers consider selling used radios. The November 1941 issue of Radio Retailing carried advice from the experience of M.M. Law, the proprietor of Radio Bargain House of Birmingham.  Law got into the radio business by accident when running a hotel.  A hotel guest turned a radio over to him for sale, and he placed a classified ad in the paper.  He received fifteen calls in response to the ad.  When he eventually lost the lease on the hotel, he decided to get into the radio business.

Law typically made a net profit of about $2 on each set.  He often bought in bulk from other dealers looking to unload their trade-ins, sometimes as low as $1 per set.  He typically invested about $3 fixing up each set, and quickly sold many for $6.95.  He estimated that his average sale was between $12 and $15.

He continued advertising in the classified ads, since his experience was that this was where bargain shoppers looked.  He always kept a set outside his shop, marked “today’s special,” and reported that he would often sell this set, with the buyer not bothering to look for others.  In other cases, however, the set outside would entice a buyer to come in the store to buy a better set on the floor.