Radio today (Jan-Mar 1939)

JUutic OuuettukUies Ahead Radios everywhere. Pocket receivers. Office radios. Facsimile and television. Personal wavelengths. Universal communication. Extending other senses. Purchase of a new radio was far from the mind of Joe Doakes as he left his office on a fall day in 1941. Joe's gray matter was concerned only with the fact that the World Series and a business trip to Boston conflicted. Joe liked baseball, but he wanted his job, too. All of which didn't stop him from muttering under his breath at such ill luck. Thinking dolefully of a world in which business cut such a wide swath out of pleasure, Doakes turned into Larry Mahon's radio shop, figuring on hearing an inning or so before catching his train. "Just my luck, Larry," he grumbled. "Here are the Yanks and Giants practically locked in deadly combat, and my boss flags me for Boston." The radio man grinned in sympathy, then reached for a tiny package on a display stand. It was no bigger than a prayer book. Mahon flicked a button on it, pressed it to the ear of his disgruntled friend. "Say — it's a radio," he cried. "And I can hear the Series ! Oh, boy ! Score's three-two in the fifth.'' Doakes clutched the miniature radio to his ear. "Gosh, this is just the thing for my trip !" "And you can have it, too — for ten dollars," the radio man replied. Doakes didn't hesitate a moment. He pulled a ten-spot out of his pocket and tossed it to the dealer. "Just what I've always wanted." he shouted, dashing for his train. RADIOS GREATEST YEAR His excited customer gone, Radioman Mahon smiled to himself. Pocket radios certainly were going like the proverbial hot cakes, and it looked as though they'd furnish a nice share of 1941 profits. Besides, there were television receivers, still in the class field, but going better each year. Combina Pocket receiver employing bantam junior tubes, being used experimentally by Salem (Mass.) police. tions and records were selling well and people had caught on to the idea of "radio in every room" and were Iniying small sets for just that purpose. And to round out things nicely, records were selling faster than they could be pressed. "It's a great year," mused Mahon. "This business is getting better every day." And he was right. Industry statisticians in October. 1941, predicted a 15-million-set year. Pocket radio had swept the country; television stations were being erected in all large cities, and a million video receivers had been sold. Of course they hadn't displaced radio receivers, which were 1 ictter than ever — with a tuning attachment that had captured the public's fancy. From his armchair, the radio owner had merely to announce the call letters of the station he wanted to hear, and the set automatically tuned to the corresponding wavelength ! On television stations throughout the country, news and stage programs were being broadcast each night. In sound broadcasting four giant networks were sending out elaborate radio programs. But the chain system hadn't hurt local stations. Advertisers found "spot" announcements to their advantage in districts where their product had special appeal. More than a dozen super-stations of 500 kilowatt strength, flung their signals to the air. FACSIMILE ARRIVES, TOO Facsimile had become an active factor in American life. Newspapers of the air were broadcast on a subscription basis to homes in suburbs and country. City folk who couldn't wait for papers also subscribed to this service that printed the news right in their home, hot off the linotype. Reporters groaned — for "sooops" were less than minute wonders. Exclusive news was quickly grabbed up by the opposition, flashed in radio broadcasts and in facsimile. Auto radio was at a new peak for reception and compactness, and was standard equipment on even the lowest priced cars. One manufacturer was rumoring that next year, 1942. he would put out an automobile television set. Farm radios graced every rural home, many with facsimile attachments. Portable sets were now considered a necessity in every comfortable home. RADIOS EVERYWHERE i Office radios, too, had become a potent sales factor, a million of them being sold early in 1941 when the Soviet Russia-Germany crisis developed. While peace trembled in the balance, radio again proved its vital necessity to American life — even as it The RCA Building at "The World of Tomorrow" — New York World's Fair — is in form of a radio tube. RADIO TODAY