Tag Archives: Radio History

This “sharp-eyed boy” is one of us

Al Capone’s Cell (Photo By Thesab via Wikimedia Commons)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Aaron Kuhn, who shared the following story from CBS News:

Recreated Al Capone cell inaccurate — and teen notices

PHILADELPHIA — A sharp-eyed boy who noticed that the vintage radio inside gangster Al Capone’s recreated Philadelphia prison cell wasn’t historically accurate has delivered a replacement.

Thirteen-year-old Joey Warchal — who collects antique radios — took a tour of Eastern State Penitentiary and noticed that the radio in Capone’s cell was wrong.

The Prohibition-era mobster spent time at Eastern State in 1929 and 1930. The radio was made in 1942.

The seventh-grader found a Philco Lowboy 64 from 1929 online for $300.

CBS Philadelphia reports the radios were swapped. The teen was given the 1940s radio as a token of appreciation by Eastern State. The replacement is pictured below, in the video.[…]

Click here to watch the video and read the full story at CBS News online.

Aaron noted, “One of us. One of us.”

Indeed, he is one of us! Thanks for the tip, Aaron!

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WI2XLQ: Brian Justin’s annual longwave broadcast Dec 24-26

648 kHz: Radio Caroline gets a permanent home on the MW broadcast band

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Radio Caroline circa 1960’s.

(Source: ARRL News via Eric McFadden, WD8RIF)

Radio Caroline, the latter-day incarnation of the famous shipboard pirate radio station that beamed rock music to the UK in the 1960s and 1970s, has obtained a license to operate permanently on 648 kHz at 1 kW ERP. A transmitter imported from Europe has been undergoing necessary modifications to suit the MW frequency, which falls between the 10-kHz-spaced AM Standard Broadcast Band frequencies in the US.[…]

Click here to read the full article on the ARRL website.

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Relive This Day In Radio History: When WJSV recorded an entire broadcast day

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Patalon, who reminds us that 78 years ago today (September 21, 1939) radio station WSJV made an audio recording of its entire 19 hour broadcast day. Bill points to these details from Wikipedia:

This undertaking was a collaboration between the station and the National Archives, and it was the first time that such a comprehensive recording of a radio broadcast had been made. The station then donated its original set of recording discs to the National Archives, giving it a rare and complete artifact from an era frequently called the Golden Age of Radio. Due to their historical significance, the United States Library of Congress has since added these sound recordings to its National Recording Registry.

https://www.radioarchives.com/WJSV_A_Day_in_Radio_History_p/ra140.htm

Let’s travel back in time…

If you would like to relive September 21, 1939, you can listen to all of the WSJV recording segments courtesy of Archive.org. I’ve embedded the full playlist below–simply press play at the top of the player and each segment will load automatically as long as this page is open. Note that in the very first segment, due to a WSJV equipment glitch, there is a period of silence. Enjoy:

Click here to view or download the full set of recordings on Archive.org.

Many thanks for sharing this bit of radio history, Bill! As a radio archivist, this sort of thing makes my day.

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Radio: “One of history’s most important inventions”

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(Source: CNN)

There are few more important inventions in the history of the world than the radio.

While in recent years it may have become less popular than television or the internet, it could be argued that the radio was the first electronic gadget to play a prominent part in people’s lives.

Radio is where the world first heard Britain declare war on Germany, where Orson Welles accidentally fooled the public into believing a real alien invasion was under way in his “War Of The Worlds” serial and where young people first heard Billy Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock,” spreading popular music around the world.

But it is not just an aural medium. Like all important pieces of technology, design has had an essential part to play in its evolution.[…]

Continue reading the full article on CNN’s website…

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Circa 1924 Parisian radio stockings

Radio Hats of Yore

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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.”

[Continue reading…]

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!