Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who writes:
Hey Thomas, if you haven’t already covered this in the SWLing Post, this might be worth mentioning:
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/radio-hat-1931-1949-man-from-mars
TURNS OUT, LISTENING TO PODCASTS on your morning commute is nothing new. In 1931, the British cinemagazine Pathetone Weekly—which documented odd fashion trends during its run from 1930 to 1941—premiered a new invention: the Radio Hat.
In it, a man waiting for the bus decides to listen to the radio—via his straw hat, from which two large antennas poke out.
As a Pathetone Weekly title card read: “They say there’s nothing new under the sun—this little French idea to while away the bus waits, must surely be!”
According to an August 1930 issue of Modern Mechanix, a Berlin engineer invented the hat, which allowed its wearer to “listen to the Sunday sermon while motoring or playing golf, get the stock market returns at the ball game, or get the benefit of the daily dozen while on the way to work by merely tuning in.”
The video link in the article to a 1930’s British cinemagazine Pathetone Weekly-which documented odd fashion trends during its run from 1930 to 1941-shows a fascinating demonstration of the Radio Hat, which was way ahead of its time!
Very cool! Thank you for sharing, Ed. I love how the radio hat is so conspicuous–hey, I’d wear it!
How did they power this? Weren’t 1930s radios kind of large and power-hungry, and usually connected to the mains to allow them to power all the vacuum tubes? I also find it interesting how quickly the 1920s populace adopted radio listening–the article mentions a first attempt to create one of these as early as 1921, and I didn’t think there were really any routine radio stations at that point.
If he were born 100 ears later, Google would be a buyer.