Green Record Shop, Chambersburg, PA, 1947

Shown here is Judy Rohrer, sales clerk at Green Record Shop, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The November 1947 issue of Radio Retailing profiled the store. Despite the town having a population of 15,000, the store grossed sales of $75,000 per year, thanks to the marketing efforts of owner Raymond L. Green. The store had a marketing plan which included utilizing every inch of available wall space, taking advantage of the album covers, which were designed as attention getters. The store also got the name and address of each new customer and recorded their musical likes. When new records came in that might interest them, the store followed up with a handwritten postcard.

Radio ads were also important, and the store advertised over WCHA, a 1000 watt station with listeners as far away as Harrisburg. The shop assistants, Judy Rohrer shown here and Wilma Barnes, were billed as “Punch and Judy,” and new customers often asked for them by name. In other words, the store personnel were turned into well-known personalities.

Green had custom built the store’s fixtures for displaying albums, making the most of the store’s long, narrow layout. Record salesmen took note, and he had a sideline of building fixtures for other stores.

A neighboring town was the site of a “wealthy preparatory school,” and Green set up a table and album rack at a store in that town twice a week. This practice made him an institution among the record-hungry students.

In addition to records, the store also sold radios and radio-phono combos.

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Hunt the Bleeper Game: 1972

If you need to liven up Junior’s next party, you can put together this circuit for a fun game of “hunt the bleeper,” as described in the November 1972 issue of Practical Wireless.

The magazine noted that British children love noise, and this is equally true on this side of the Atlantic. The beeper, which draws only 600 microamps, puts out a high pitched tone at a low level. The device was to be hidden, and the children would be split into two teams to find it. There were two strategies available: They could concentrate on finding the device, or they could make so much noise to keep the other side from hearing it.

The cost was said to be 50 pence, which didn’t include the case, which was one of the then-ubiquitous 35mm film can, which was deemed to be free. Even though they’re no longer free, like everything else, you can find them on Amazon.

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1942: Car Radios for Slow Driving

On this date 80 years ago, the November 7, 1942, issue of Radio Guide carried this ad for Motorola car radios. Production of civilian radios had ceased on April 22, 1942, but Motorola dealers still had prewar sets in stock.

We previously featured ideas for bringing the car radio inside. With gas being strictly rationed, the radio would do more good inside. But Motorola took another view: Since you had to drive slowly to conserve gas and rubber, the radio would make the slow drive more enjoyable.

But those prewar stocks wouldn’t last forever, so you were reminded to get yours before they were gone, because there would be no more for the duration.

1947 TV Microwave Relay

Seventy-five years ago, this microwave relay station was under construction atop Jackie Jones Mountain near Haverstraw, NY. It was one of seven microwave relay stations linking Boston and New York, delivering television programs with a 1 watt signal on 4000 MHz.

It is pictured here on the cover of the November 1947 issue or Radio News.

Air Raid Alarm: 1942

We’ve previously shown (here and here) this air raid alarm that could be attached to a radio, the Model AR-101 Air Raid Alarm from National Union Radio Corp., 57 State Street, Newark, NJ. The simple device would activate a siren-like sound if the station to which it was tuned left the air, which would presumably be because an air raid was in progress.

Here, in this illustration from the November 1942 issue of Popular Mechanics, we see it in action. While Junior looks on, Mom gathers the flashlight and shovel that Dad will use in his duties as air raid warden.

Adjusting Your TV Antenna: 1952

We don’t believe that this gentleman was permanently stationed up on the roof. Instead, he’s doing some experiments to figure out the best spot for the TV antennna. Presumably, someone is watching the TV down below, and shouting reports as to how the picture looks.

The November 1952 issue of Popular Science carried a number of pointers on how to ensure the best TV reception, and this was one of them. It suggested putting the antenna on a broom handle, raising the antenna as high as possible, and then lowering it. Somewhere within that range you would find the sweet spot for best reception. The magazine cautioned that you should check all channels before settling on the final position.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from OneTubeRadio.com!

If you were getting ready for Halloween a hundred years ago, the place to go was Loft, whose trademark was “penny a pound profit.” Both chocolates and hard candies (with the characteristic orange tint) went for about 54-59 cents per pound (which works out to $9.54 to $10.42 after in 2022 dollars, after inflation.)

The store was said to have an immense assortment and the lowest prices in the city, which formed a combination that defied all forms of competition. The “high grade” 59 cent chocolates came in an attractively decorated container in keeping with that great night of mysterious doings. For tholse on a budget, you could get six pumpkin head scarecrow lollipos or six marshmallow jelly funny faces for 19 cents.

For exact store locations, readers were directed to the telephone directory. The ad appeared in the New York Evening World, October 27, 1922.

1922: Radio Sweeps Nation

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A hundred years ago, radio was sweeping the nation, and the Sunday Amarillo (Texas) Daily News for October 29, 1922, had to devote an entire pictorial page to the phenomenon. Bread trucks were getting equipped with radio, voices were heard across the Atlantic, and everything seemed to revolve around radio.

1937 Tent Stove

For those wishing to extend the camping season into the cold months, the October 1937 issue of Popular Science showed how to make this lightweight wood stove for your tent. If you need a lightweight wood stove for use in emergencies, it would serve that purpose as well.

It’s designed to burn with low oxygen, so when you get it started with kindling, you put in logs, and they give off most of their heat after they’re turned into charcoal. The result is that you can build the fire at night, it will keep you warm all night, and then you can cook your pancakes in the morning. The stove also features a small oven compartment.

It’s made out of sheet metal and riveted together, so it’s lightweight.

If you don’t feel up to building your own, the one shown here is available on Amazon at a reasonable price. And if you don’t want to cut a hole in your tent for the chimney, you can get a propane or kerosene heater that’s safe for indoor use. For more details, you can see our earlier post.

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1922 Zenith Ad

This Zenith ad ran a hundred years ago today in the October 26, 1922, issue of the Richmond (Ind.) Palladium and Sun-Telegram. It asks the reader what they’re going to do that night, and speculates that they might play an uninteresting game of cards, sit in an uninteresting conversation, or spend the night in some time-killing chore or lukewarm hobby.

But real, diversified entertainment was at hand, in the form of radio! To find out more, all you had to do was call the Weisbrod’s music store, the town’s Zenith dealer, and set up an appointment to come into the store and see what their sets could pull in.

(Click on the ad to see a full size version.)