NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1936)

4 NBC TRANSMITTER, AUGUST, 1936 STAMP CLUB NOTES ■ Among recent contributions to the NBC Stamp Club’s collection is an unusually interesting and valuable item presented by Alfred F. Lichtenstein, one of the foremost philatelists in the world. It is the "forerunner of the postage stamp,” the "Mulready” envelope (pictured above), companion pieces to the first postage stamp presented by Theodore Steinway. Long before postage stamps came into existence in 1840, Great Britain maintained a postal service in which the recipient paid delivery charges. So frequently were persons obliged to pay postage on letters not worth the price that in time the accumulation of refused and undelivered letters became a serious problem. A man by the name of William Mulready conceived the idea of the sender paying the postage. He designed an envelope for Post Offices throughout the British Empire to sell for this purpose. These were designed in One Penny and Two Pence denominations. The idea was accepted by the British postal authorities. While these were being prepaid for sale, Mulready also conceived the idea of separate adhesives to be sold where the postage rates were greater than Two Pence. His design for such an adhesive was also accepted and it was issued concurrently with the Mulready envelopes on May 6, 1840. And thus the present system of international postal service came into existence. Though the first stamp and the first postal envelopes made their appearance on the same day, the envelopes were the forerunner of the postage stamp in conception. Both this first stamp and these first envelopes have been given to the NBC Stamp Club and will be included in the collection which will be placed on permanent display in our Studio Section in the near future. Among other recent acquisitions has been a set of Austria’s "Great Composers.” presented by Dr. Frank Black. • Our heartfelt regrets are extended to Enid Beaupre (Sales Promotion) upon receipt of news that her father passed away on July 14. ■ Dick Anderson (Press) took a day off to recuperate from the ordeal he went through in becoming the happy father of a 5-lb. 12-oz. baby girl on July 14. ■ Don Goddard, formerly of the WorldTelegram, has replaced Bob Carley, resigned, at the Esso News desk in our Press Dept. STATIC Hello, again! ! This is Static! remember? They didn’t need any filler last edition, so they lined the drawer with me. But the voice of the people cried out in protest. The editor certainly rued the day he left me out. He was the recipient of scorching letters of disapproval from my following of readers, hoth of ’em. Thank you. Mother and DadJ Thank you! Sic Semper Tyrannis! i 1 i Lo, the Poor Guide! Two rather hard looking members of the so-called weaker sex snuggled up to Guide Roger von Roth at the conclusion of a Radio City NBC Tour, and rasped: "Say, Snowshoes, how about a couple of passes to a broadcast?” Ill Prayer of the Constant Phone User— I’d like to break the bones Of those who slam their phones. y We’ve heard it— so help me! A lady asked Charles Whalen if it was necessary to walk up to the Observation roof. And ihen there was the man who wanted to know the list price of tour tickets. Ill The Day’s Haze! They tell of the new page who was sent to Sound Effects to get a yard of blue network and a nemo switch. / r »■ Oh yes! And just to while away the time try this. It’s a new language. After each vowel put an I and an /. Then repeat the vowels. Like This: How are you today’ Holfow alfare youlfou tolfodalfay. Come in handy for making love on a bus. If you don’t understand it, don’t worry; neither do I. . . . No pig latin— no love on a bus! That’s All! LET US GET A C Q U A I N T E D B YOU ought to know Lester F. Miles, of the NBC Studio Engineers. because ... he edits the magazine A.T.E., a journal by, for and in the interests of broadcast engineers. This is not the first of his journalistic endeavors. Thirty-six of his articles of both a technical and nontechnical nature have appeared in print during the past five years. because ... as an engineer, he draws upon a world of experience. He has handled "gain” in a half-dozen stations up and down the coast. because ... his story reads like a travellog. Australia is the only continent which he has yet to visit. During the period between 1920 and 1926, he averaged fifty thousand miles of travel a year. because . . . the few spare hours which are left when he is done with his duties on the magazine, are taken up with boating. because ... at the ripe old age of fifteen he was chasing rum runners as a member of the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter, Manhattan. because ... at the WHP transmitter in Harrisburg, Pa., he was bolted by five thousand volts and he is still taming the ergs, joules and amperes . . . We give you Lester F. Miles . . . "w-o-o-f.” ■ Much confetti and a big electric roaster were showered on Mary Jane Grandstaff (Transcribing), by her friends in Statistical, Tabulating, and Mimeographing, upon receipt of news that Mary Jane would become Mrs. Bob Kriebel (nonNBC) on Saturday, July 18, 1936. ■ Marjorie Geddes (Audience Mail) becomes the bride of Albert Knievel on September 5. Marjorie was given a miscellaneous shower by her many friends in the Mail Dept., as a fitting send-off. ■ Production’s Howard Wiley has become the proud father of a bouncing baby boy.