Radio in the Schools: 1938

1938SepRadioCraftThe New York city high school students shown above are presenting Macbeth over the airwaves of WNYC. They are featured in an article in the September 1938 issue of Radio Craft, which notes that a new “R” has found its way into education. In addition to Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic, the schools now included Radio.

1938SepRadioCraft2The station presented two educational programs per day–one for elementary students, and one for the high schools. The fifth graders at P.S.92, Bronx, shown here are listening to one such program, which was picked up by an ordinary receiver in the room. Not all schools were yet equipped with radio, but the plan was for every classroom in the school system to have its very own radio in the near future.

The students appearing in the programs were selected by audition, and the magazine noted that there was no shortage of volunteers.

The same issue of the magazine also carried an editorial by Hugo Gernsback, who opined that schoolroom broadcasting would afford deserving young boys and girls and opportunity for self-expression never before available. He also reminded his readers that there was a very decent profit to be made by the enterprising radio man who goes after the business in education.



1954 Grocery Prices

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1954Sep16Pgh2In 1954, the Saturday Evening Post named Thorofare Markets of Pittsubrgh as the “Brand Name Retailer of the Year” for 1953. To commemorate the honor, the supermarket took out this ad in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette, Sept. 16, 1954, honoring the Post, and also serving as its newspaper ad for the week. As such, it give a snapshot of grocery prices in 1954. While these prices look low, keep in mind that there’s been a lot of inflation since 1954. According to this inflation calculator, one dollar in 1954 is the equivalent of $11.36 in 2023 dollars. So the Campbell’s tomato soup for 11-1/2 cents per can works out to about $1.30 per can. Sirloin steak was 79 cents per pound, but that’s the same as $8.97 per pound in today’s money.

What would you make for dinner in 1954 if you did your shopping at this store?  For a full-size copy of the ad, you can click on the images above.



Kadette Autime Clock Radio, 1938

1938SepRadioRetailingShown here is the earliest clock radio I’m aware of, the Kadette Autime, from the September 1938 issue of Radio Retailing. According to the ad, the combination of clock and radio working together was a veritable miracle! You could, for the first time ever, wake to music instead of a raucous gong. You could also use it to avoid missing a favorite program. The set would play for 90 minutes.

The clock was said to rival the costliest in accurate timekeeping, and the radio was said to have superb tone, all in a beautiful rich burl walnut cabinet.



1963 Student Experimental Licenses

1963SepPEShown here, in the September 1963 issue of Popular Electronics, is Albert Pabin (I believe with the headphones) and two other students demonstrating an audio console by using it during an actual broadcast. Pabin was a ninth-grade student at Utica Free Academy, Utica, NY. His science project was the console he designed and built, and he wanted to demonstrate it under actual broadcast conditions.

To do so legally, he procured an experimental license from the FCC, and was able to go on the air, on 27 MHz, with the call KF2XGJ. According to the magazine, the FCC rules made provision for student experimental licenses for students, seventh grade and above, who had “a good idea of what he is trying to show, and that he have older and more knowledgeable persons available to help him in case of difficulty.” In particular, “the FCC believes that a student’s instructors are fair judges of his motives and sincerity, and looks favorably on projects endorsed by an instructor.” Notice to the FCC Engineer-In-Charge for the district was also required.

The application required various technical descriptions of the transmitter, as well as a statement from the principal or faculty member, on school letterhead, stating that the project had he approval of the school. The magazine noted that the frequencies generally available were 27.23-27.28 MHz., 460-461 MHz, 462.525-467.475 MHz, and 2450-2500 MHz. Power was often (but not always) limited to 5 watts.

While experimental licenses are still provided for in Part 5 of the FCC Rules, there is no specific provision today for student experimental licenses.



TV Dinner Anniversary

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the TV Dinner.  On September 10, 1953, Swanson introduced its frozen dinners, dubbed the TV Dinner.  While that name brand was later abandoned, it has remained in the American vernacular as synonymous with frozen meals.

 



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1943 Barb-Wire Telephone

1943SepRadioCraftEighty years ago this month, the September 1943 issue of Radio Craft carried this circuit, dubbed the “barb-wire telephone.” It was sent in to the magazine by one Fred H. Randolph (from another submission to the magazine, apparently of Booneville, AR), who reported using it to communicate with a friend three miles away, courtesy of an iron fence wire. The circuit is nothing more than an audio amplifier using a carbon button mike, and puts out enough power to drive a speaker at the other end of the circuit, where an identical unit is located.



Courtney’s Radio Service, Stratford, CT, 1943

1943SepRadioRetailingThe cover of Radio Retailing, September 1943, was a tribute to the WWW. No, it had nothing to do with the internet–it was honoring Women War Workers, such as Mrs. Wallace Courtney of Courtney’s Radio Service, Stratford, CT.

Before the war, the shop was run by her husband, who had recently taken a job in a war plant installing radios in planes. Despite shortages of both parts and help, Mrs. Courtney, also the mother of a 12 year old boy, kept sets moving along as fast as possible.

The magazine noted that Mrs. Courtney was typical of a lot of American wives and mothers, who without any fuss or furor, had stepped calmly into their men’s places for the duration.



1963 Homemade Microphone

1963SepEIWe’ve previously shown (here, here, here, and here) other homemade microphones. This idea for a carbon mike appeared in Electronics Illustrated, September 1963. The mike element itself is made of carbon granules. These are obtained by cutting open an old carbon-zinc battery and removing the carbon rod.
You grind them up finely with a file, or by using a metal rod as a rolling pin. The resulting granules are placed in a plastic bottle cap, and wired to a battery and transformer. Almost any type of transformer can be used, either an audio transformer or power transformer. The larger winding is connected to the mike element. The cap is set on top of a paper tube 2-3 inches in diameter, into which you speak.



Alabama Schools Integrated: 1963

1963Sep5PghSixty years ago today, schools were desegregated in Alabama, as reported here in the September 5, 1963, issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  A hundred white persons were on hand to protest the two black children, Dwight and Floyd Armstrong, but according to the paper, the disorder was short lived.

Democratic Governor George Wallace didn’t intervene, but he did state that this was only the first battle.  About a week later, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed, killing four young girls.  Shortly thereafter, the church received over $300,000 (about $3 million in 2023 dollars) in unsolicited donations.



1923 Radio Walking Chair for Baby

1923SepPMA hundred years ago, this youngster is literally getting off on the right foot, thanks to this walking chair on which an eastern mother has installed a radio. Any station could be tuned in, and the child left to enjoy a concert or stories from the air. “Meanwhile, the child is able to push itself about and be entertained, and the cares of the mother are lightened.”

The photo appeared in the September 1923 issue of Popular Mechanics.