Category Archives: World War 2

Col. Richard G. Rogers, 1943 POW Broadcast

We’ve previously written about the prisoner of war broadcasts of World War 2, and eighty years ago today, the Washington Evening Star of February 16, 1943, carried this report of one such broadcast. Col. Richard G. Rogers was being held prisoner in Formosa, and recorded a message to his family in America. As often happened, listeners in America sent news to his family. There were many such letters sent in these cases, as documented in the book Letters of Compassion, but this is the first case I’ve heard of where one listener sent a phonograph record of the broadcast, undoubtedly recorded on their Recordio.

British Auxiliary Territorial Service, 1943

This young British woman, shown on the cover of the February 1943 issue of Radio Craft is a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), and was tasked with spotting enemy planes. According to the magazine, she and her colleagues shared much of the credit for winning the Battle of Britain.

The young women of the ATS took over important “desk jobs,” freeing men to serve in combat. Their training was intense, and required intelligence and keen perceptive powers. In particular, the work shown here at a radiolocation station required keen senses of sight and hearing, as well as concentration and constant alertness.

Women in Radio, 1943

Eighty years ago this month, the February 1943 issue of Radio Retailing acknowledged that there had long been prejudice against women in the field of radio servicing. But the exigencies of war meant that the industry no longer had time for that luxury. Just as the armed services were incorporating women into their ranks, private industry was going to need to do the same thing. There was a war to be won, the men were overseas, and this meant that women would need to prove once and for all that they were capable of doing the work.

According to the magazine, “often we think of women as stenographers, clerks, small parts assemblers, and light machine operators. But that is no longer the case. Women are moving into the ranks of engineers, chemists, draftsmen and other technical and professional activities, as well as into any and every other occupation that once was reserved to men.” Just as there was a women’s corps in the armed services, the magazine stressed the need for a Women’s Corps for the Radio Store.

In hiring anyone, male or female, long experience was not required, but merely the proper training. And that training, more often than not, could take the form of friendly personal supervision, along with a free hand to exercise their natural talent for neatness and order.

The magazine concluded by noting that “women have made good in every occupation they have tackled, though it cannot be said that all employers have given women the same thoughtful selection, and training they have to men.”

Radio Facsimile: 1938

Eighty five years ago, they didn’t know it wasn’t going to catch on, but it looked like the next big thing was going to be facsimile. The January 1938 issue of Radio Retailing carried a feature discussing the state of the art. It acknowledged that television was right around the corner (and it was, with only a world war serving to delay it), but the magazine incorrectly predicted that facsimile equipment might find its way into American homes before television.

The idea seemed reasonable, since a number of stations were already licensed to send fax transmissions, as shown by the list at the right. In the Upper Midwest, both WHO Des Moines and KSTP Kansas City held licenses to broadcast with the new mode, on their standard broadcast frequencies.

The magazine acknowledged that standards had to be fixed before facsimile service became common. And testing needed to be done to see how well it worked in outlying areas. And it still wasn’t know if the receivers would be standalone units, or if a printer would plug into the loudspeaker output of a standard broadcast radio.

Shown above is a pioneer of facsimile transmission, W.G.H. Finch of Finch Telecommunications, Inc. Other contenders for a market share were R.C.A., Radio Pictures, and Fultograph. Facsimile service was seen as a way in which radio stations could take on the competition of newspapers. But when the War ended, television took off a lot faster than many people imagined, and radio facsimile service is relegated to a footnote in the history of radio.

US Navy Blimps of WW2

Like most veterans of World War II, my dad never spoke very much about his service, and it never occurred to me to ask about it. I know that he was a Machinist Mate in the U.S. Navy, and I know that he was assigned to a Blimp HedRon near the Caribean. He was one of about 12,499 Navy personnel assigned to blimps. He enlisted in 1943, so this article predates him, but the January 18, 1943 issue of Life magazine shows how blimps were used to patrol waters off the coast of the United States to scout for enemy submarine activity.

1943 Food Rationing Expands

Eighty years ago today, the January 11, 1943, issue of Life magazine showed these shoppers preparing to pay for their groceries with not just cash, but with ration coupons. And this would become a more common scene as more foods, such as those shown below, were to be rationed.

The magazine noted that canned goods had been an important part of warfare since the days of Napoleon, and this war was no different. Starting later in the month, a new ration book was to be issued, and those coupons would be required for the purchase of canned or bottled soups and juices, as well as most canned, dried, or frozen, fruits or vegetables.

X-Ray Film for Record Blanks

Eighty years ago, this couple owned a home recorder, visible in the background, for cutting their own 78 RPM records. It was probably a Wilcox-Gay Recordio like the one we previously featured.

The problem, however, was that you had to pay for the blank discs, and you could only use them once. The least expensive blanks were six for 75 cents for the 6-1/2 inch size, up to six for $2.25 for ten-inch discs. If you wanted to do some experimenting, it could prove expensive. And there was a war going on, so it wasn’t very patriotic just to make excessive use of resources.

This couple figured out that they could make their own blank discs by using used x-ray film. You could get this by asking your friendly family doctor, and in the days before HIPAA, he would gladly give you a bunch, since they would otherwise go in the trash.

Using an old blank disc as a guide, a wooden template was made for the spindle hole as well as a locking hole that held the disc in place while being cut. These were drilled out with a hand drill. Then, a divider was used to mark the edge, and scissor and a razor blade were used to cut the form. Since these were thinner than the standard blanks, you would put them on top of a standard blank while cutting. The magazine noted that the film records could be recorded on both sides.

According to the January 1943 issue of Popular Mechanics., these homemade blanks were ideal for practicing sound effects and making practice recordings before making the final cut on commercial blanks.

Soviet bone records. Wikipedia imagge.

I’ve never seen any other American use of this idea, but it did catch on in the Soviet Union, where “jazz on bones” (Джаз на костях) became a popular black-market method of producing records. For a ruble or two, and probably a bottle of vodka, the local physician could be talked into giving you old x-rays, which would have wound up in the trash anyway. These were used to produce bootleg copies of otherwise banned music.

1942 WERS Transceiver

This woman is providing civilian defense communications as part of the War Emergency Radio Service, using a 112 MHz transmitter-receiver shown in the December 1942 issue of Radio News.

The set was completely self-contained. It’s transmitter section put out a hefty ten watts, and the batteries and dynamotor were built in to the cabinet. Both the transmitter and receiver could tune the entire 112-120 MHz band.

Lonely Wife: 1942

Eighty years ago today, the December 21, 1942, issue of Life Magazine featured on its cover this portrait of a lonely wife whose husband had gone to war. The cover actually depicts a model, namely actress Joan Thorsen, playing the role of the lonely wife. But the accompanying feature details the plight of a number of real ones, along with advice from author Ethel Gorham, who had written a handbook for them, So Your Husband’s Gone to War.

The magazine noted that no two situations were the same, but it showed the example of one lonely wife who put many of the couple’s goods in storage and moved to a smaller apartment. But author Gorman stressed the importance of keeping the overall living style similar to that enjoyed before the war, since the husband will undoubtedly be home on furlough.

The book also provided pointers on finding a job. The woman shown in the Life article took a job in a record store, shown here. According to the magazine, work which involved meeting and talking to people was advisable for women living alone. She also had a civilian defense job answering the telephone in a New York precinct station house report center.

Science Fair Ideas: Fun With a Homemade Galvanometer

Eighty years ago, there was a war going on, but that didn’t stop young scientists on the home front from conducting experiments with the items available. If Junior’s science fair project is due tomorrow, he can take a cue, and whip together a great project from these ideas in the December 1942 issue of Popular Science.

Both experiments involve a galvanometer, and the magazine presupposes that young scientists know how to make one, because the instructions merely state to use “your homemade galvanometer.” But in case Junior doesn’t know, it’s easy enough. You just take a compass (a toy one from the dollar store will work just fine) and wrap a few turns of wire around it. The smallest of electric currents will cause the compass to move. If there’s a little extra time before the science fair, we’ve previously shown how to make a deluxe galvanometer.

In the first experiment, shown above, Junior can demonstrate that water, contrary to popular opinion, is an insulator. It’s only when a little bit of salt is added to the water that it starts to conduct electricity, and the compass moves. To accentuate the effect, we recommend starting with distilled water. And don’t worry about not being able to find the old-fashioned dry cell batteries. These experiments will work just as well with modern alkaline D cells, especially if you purchase battery holders for them.

The second experiment, shown below, shows how to make a thermocouple. Two pieces of wire–copper and iron (or steel)–are twisted together. When the twisted wires are put into a flame of a candle, the dissimilar metals produce an electric current, as shown by a movement of the compass. And as we always remind parents about experiments involving flames, don’t forget to give Junior a box of matches!

As with many of our projects, Junior is almost guaranteed to take home the blue ribbon, and the teacher won’t have a clue that the project was put off until the last minute.

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