If you were in the market for a phonograph a hundred years ago in Alabama, then the place to go was the Clark & Jones Piano Company, 1913 Third Avenue, Birmingham. This ad appeared a hundred years ago today in the August 26, 1922, issue of the Birmingham Age Herald. They had outfits ranging from $25 to $350. You could take home this handsome model, along with ten records, for only $2 a week.
Yu can view a photo of the store’s display window at the website of the Birmingham Public Library.
In recent years, the ARRL has billed Amateur Radio as being the thing that will get through “when all else fails,” but this is not a new concept. Seventy-five years ago this month, the August 1947 issue of QST described how to build a little transmitter called “The Last Ditcher.”
According to the author, QST Technical Assistant John Paddon, VE3BLZ, most emergency situations saw the bulk of amateur traffic carried by stations running car batteries, storage batteries, or gasoline generators.
“But suppose an emergency appeared under conditions such that it was utterly impossible to reach the scene except on foot and that all gear had to be back-packed. An example might be a plane crash on a mountain in broken country or a spot in a flood that could only be reached by wading.” In other words, a rig was needed when all else failed.
The solution was the one-tube transmitter shown here, using a 1J6G tube, mounted in a steel card index file box. Two flashlight batteries powered the filament, and the B battery could be anywhere between 22.5 and 180 volts. The author reported making a number of successful QSOs running 135 volts at 17 mA, which works out to an input power of just over 2 watts. The set could cover either 80 or 40 meters.
According to the author, “with the ‘Last-Ditcher’ on the shelf you are ready to go should any emergency arise. Let it be hoped there never will be a call for it. When there is no emergency a surprising amount of fun can be had–if you have a yen to operate from a mountain top or a bush camp it is a lot easier to shove this little box in with the lunch. You won’t have to run leads into your car, unload storage batteries or drag out the gas putt-putt.”
The article didn’t mention which receiver you would take with you on foot, but as our readers know, there were many available options. One good choice would be the “one tube flashlight” set we previously described.
A hundred years ago, phonograph dealers started to realize that radio was, indeed, going to be a thing. And if they wanted to remain profitable, they would have to start selling radios.
The August 1922 issue of Talking Machine World included a number of radio ads, of which this one was typical. The general theme was that if you wanted to stay in business, then you should start selling the other kind of talking machine, namely, the radio.
This one, from the Harpanola Company of Celina Ohio, itself a phonograph maker (and before that, furniture maker) was typical. The time to act was now, and you couldn’t wait for the horse to be stolen before locking the barn door. There were radio stores out there, but the ad admonished the phonograph dealer to “let the radio stores sell the experimenters and the boys.” The phonograph dealer would be the place to go for those who wanted a “drawing room” radio, in a well-finished cabinet. The company promised that it would “show you the way to introduce cabinet radios successfully. The profits and volume of sales are going to set new records in money-making.”
A hundred years ago today, the August 22, 1922, issue of the Washington Evening S carried this ad for the radio department of Lansburgh’s Department Store.
The store was offering this complete crystal set for only $5. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $88 in 2022 dollars. But it was a bargain considering that it included the headphone. It was guaranteed to pull in the locally broadcast concerts, and I have no doubt that it would do so.
Of course, the store also carried a full line of sets, accessories, and parts.
A hundred years ago this month, the August 1922 issue of Science and Invention carried this self-explanatory radio idea, which had been sent in to the magazine by one Edward E. Young. The combination radio-table lamp was “more adapted for radio than for lighting purposes, but it will give sufficient light to enable a person to read.” The author noted that the Audion tube produced quite a bright light. He also noted that a crystal detector set could be built in the same fashion, with a regular lamp built on top, which would provide a distinct novelty.
A hundred years ago today, the young entrepreneur wishing to acquire a wide variety of interesting products couldn’t go wrong by getting him or herself into the bluing business, courtesy of this ad from the Washington Times, August 20, 1922. I suppose a few kids might have desired the football, the doll, or the dollhouse, but we would like to think that the more popular items were the telescope, the camera, the air rifle, or the moving picture machine. The “school box with fountain pen” is notable for the fact that it includes a knife. If a kid today showed up with a school box containing a pocket knife, the SWAT team would probably be called in, and the poor kid expelled. But a hundred years ago, it was perfectly normal for a kid to bring this useful tool with him to school.
Of course, the most interesting item available was the radio. According to the ad, this fine Radio Receiving Set was a genuine scientific instrument, made of first class material. It included the tuning coil, detector, and condenser and was capable of pulling in stations from 15-25 miles away. With it, the young salesman could catch messages, singing, lectures, and radio news of all sorts. The whole family would enjoy it.
To earn the radio, the youngster would need to sell 28 packages of bluing at 10 cents each. Now, if that youngster reads the ad carefully, he will notice that the ad doesn’t say anything about a headphone being included. So unless Junior happened to already own a headphone, he would need to sell 28 more packages of bluing to earn the radio ear piece.
But still, making sales totaling $5.60 seems pretty reasonable and achievable. So to get started, the young salesperson just needed to write to the Bluine Mfg. Co., 150 Mill St., Concord Junction, Mass.
Perhaps some readers have gotten this far and don’t know what “bluing” is. It was more common back in the day, but it’s not used so much any more. “Bluing” is simply a blue dye, a small amount of which is added to the rinse water when washing white items. The effect is to make the whites whiter, since they turn grey or yellow with age. The blue dye covers up these colors, giving the illusion that the cotton fabric is whiter. The bluing provided by the Bluine Mfg. Co. was impregnated into pieces of paper, which were sold a dozen to the package. Therefore, they were easy not only to toss in the wash, but also to send through the mail, making the product ideal for this type of distribution.
Even though it’s less popular today, to the point where most people haven’t heard of it, the laws of physics haven’t changed since 1922, and adding a bit of bluing to the whites will still have the same effect of making them whiter. And as with everything else, you can still buy it on Amazon at the links below. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be available impregnated in small pieces of paper. Instead, it comes in a liquid, or in a small solid square. You cut off a small piece and mix with warm water to make your own liquid. Since you use only a few drops, and of these will probably last the typical household years.
Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after using the link.
Life Magazine for this day 75 years ago, August 18, 1947, carried this ad featuring Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens extolling the virtues of General Electric’s “natural color tone” line of radios.
All of the models shown featured automatic record changers with GE’s “electronic reproducer” cartridge which magnetically recreated the full recorded sound, without the need to change needles. The model 417A and 502 consoles featured FM and shortwave in addition to standard broadcast. Both models covered both the prewar and postwar FM bands. The 502’s shortwave coverage was 9.4-9.8, 11.5-12, and 14.8-15.5 MHz, meaning that there was good bandspread on the 31, 25, and 19 meter bands. The 417A had the same coverage on 31 and 25 meters, but no 19 meter coverage.
The model 326 console covered broadcast and shortwave.
Rounding out the lineup was the model 304
For a snapshot of the cost of food during the Depression, this ad for A&P Stores appeared in the Washington Evening Star, August 17, 1933. The prices look like bargains, but money was scarce during the Depression, and there has been a lot of inflation in the years since then. According to this inflation calculator, one dollar in 1933 is the equivalent of $22.79 in 2022 dollars. So six cans of beans for 25 cents sounds like it would be a cheap way to eat, but that works out to about 95 cents a can today. According to this report, a coal miner in 1932 earned $13.91 per week, so even those four cents would be significant, and that assumes that someone had a job at all.
A six pack of beer was 75 cents for Pabst, or 50 cents for a brand called Michel. A pack of cigarettes cost a dime. Butter was 2 pounds for 49 cents, which works out to $5.58 per pound in today’s money. A pound of peanut butter was 12 cents, or about $2.73 in today’s money.
So even though the prices look low, pictures like that shown below were not uncommon either.
Seventy-five years ago, the gentleman shown here wanted one of the new soldering guns, but didn’t want to pay the high prices they were then commanding. So he did what anyone would have done, namely, make his own. He started with a power transformer, and removed the secondary windings by cutting them with a hacksaw, leaving the primary winding in place. He then added a new secondary winding of Number 4 stranded wire, with enough turns to provide a voltage of 1/2 volt. Since the voltage was stepped down by a factor of 240, the secondary current was stepped up by the same amount, which was short circuited through a 12 gauge copper wire, which served as the heating element. The author reported that in 10 seconds, the tip was ready to be tinned.
Fortunately, today, the costs are low enough that it’s not necessary to make your own tool. As you can see below, equivalent soldering guns are quite reasonably priced. And for those of us who prefer an old-school iron, the cost can be even lower.
The plans appeared in Radio Craft, August 1947.
Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after using the link.
Shown here 80 years ago is NBC broadcaster Maria Luisa Sierra. The Mexico City native broadcast her commentaries from New York over the network’s shortwave service, covering the activities of American women in wartime.
The photo appeared in Radio Guide, August 15, 1942.
