1934: AMAZING RADIO RECEPTION FROM AROUND THE WORLD!

As a licensed radio amateur, I have always been interested in radio. My army career with the super secret Army Security Agency had me using an incredible state of the art Collins "R-390" military radio receiver which back in the 1950's was state of the art. As a young boy I had an intense interest in radio, even experimenting with a very primitive "cat's whisker" receiver. Ask your grandfather to explain that antique receiving apparatus. As a teenager, I developed an addiction to what fellow radio buffs call "DX;" which is short for long distance radio or television reception. Thus this article from a 1934 TRENTON magazine telling the story of the revolutionary new radio receivers being sold by downtown Trenton department stores. I found this article completely captivating as will any of my fellow radio lovers; whether amateur such as I (WA2RVU) or just plain "DX'ers.

1950's REMEMBERING WHEN NBC NEWS REPORTED THE NEWS

"Goodnight, Chet; Goodnight David!" And then the last of the real newscasters went into retirement. I remember when NBC was the stalwart of news reporting. Today, the peacock has morphed into MSNBC, a progressive medium whose agenda like the NY Times, presents "All the news that fits." Are you old enough to remember Huntley-Brinkley, John Cameron Swayze, Douglas Edwards, Edward R. Murrow, Frank Singizer, and other newsmen who were in the national spotlight from WWII up until the mid 1960's when America's social values began to change?

1986: WBUD; WHERE ALL THE GOOD SONGS HAVE GONE

I posted this on Facebook, but they do not allow for large size graphics and the column I wrote back in 1986 would not allow for a legible read. Gone are the days of the old fashioned radio "disk jockey." William B. Williams on WNEW, Alan Freed on WABC, and locally on WBUD, Jack Pinto, Herb Brooks, Rusty Austin, Bernie Cosnoski, George Bannister. Jack Pinto and his little sidekick "Cheery the Gremlin" followed me to my 1812 North Olden Avenue job at the old Trenton Bearing Company for many years back in the early 1950's. How we teens waited for the noon day broadcast of Herb Brooks' "Big Top Ten!" THOSE WERE THE DAYS, MY FRIEND, WE THOUGHT THEY'D NEVER END. But they did. Ahh, the memories!

2012: I REMEMBER RADIO - BROADCAST, AMATEUR, AND INTERCEPT

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a41334d6a51324f54633d0d0a&blogview=true

(In order to read some of the text in the above slide show graphics, use the PAUSE ("II" button.)

I spent 3 years in Uncle Sam's Army back in the 1950's in Uncle's Super Secret Cloak and Dagger outfit, the ASA, which was better known and still known today as the Army Security Agency. I was trained as a radio intercept operator, originally assigned MOS 1717, and later changed to an MOS of 058.3. (The 3 being the level of proficiency in receiving Morse Code. I finished with 32 WPM (Words per Minute) and my buddy Eric Wilkinson beat me out with 35. The regular army guys didn't like us too much. To counter their disdain for us, we would sing this song every morning on our way to the big red signal school building at Fort Devens. It is to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean:"

"They call us the campus commandos,
Just Boy Scouts in Khaki are we,
But you ought to hear when we shudder,
Whenever they mention K P.
Boy Scouts, Boy Scouts, just boy scouts in khaki are we, are we,
Boy Scouts, Boy Scouts, just boy scouts in khaki are we."

I spent 9 months at Fort Devens, Massachusetts learning the ins and outs of the Collins R390 radio receiver and the various Hammerlund short wave receivers,at the same time learning to type as I learned the Morse code and upped my speed week by week. My typing speed had to keep up with my Morse receiving speed.....'twas a challenge, but being musically inclined, I was told by my instructor that my proficiency in reading Morse code was directly related to my musical abilities. I will be forever grateful to the U.S. Army for teaching me to type, for giving me the ability to get my amateur radio license, and for making a man out of me. GO ARMY!

2011: THOSE RADIO DAYS OF MY YOUTH

We are entering into the time of year when my still remarkably

efficient memory brings back vivid mental vignettes of growing up during the 40's and 50's. As I probe my memory, I recall steamy kitchen windows on a crisp fall afternoon as Mom Glover tends to a pot of chicken soup with a delightful aroma steaming temptingly though the kitchen. Next to that steaming delight is a skillet with 6 slices of Case's Pork Roll ready to be sandwiched in a Bond Bread hamburger roll. Out in the "dining room" (where we seldom dined) young Tommy Glover has just finished his homework and takes his "secret place" under the spindly legs of the Glover family's console radio, getting ready to listen to another nightly episode of the daring exploits of his radio hero, "Hop Harrigan, America's Ace of the Airways." Memories are indeed made of this!

*************

Tom, these Hop Flying Club wings are available on e-bay for $29.95, 1940 vintage in brass. Quite handsome. The coffee table with a blanket became my shelter where Sgt. Preston and I weathered the blizzard. Then it was out under the forsythia where the lawn bench was flipped and a wide plank was drawn across it. Sky King and I would then search the mesa in the Cessna Bamboo Bomber, the trusty Songbird for Penny and the rustlers. The steam, the smell of the woolen mitts drying over the heat "grate" and sometimes just the right "cast of light" will bring the memories back.

Ed Millerick

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

MY CLASSMATE LEE BELARDINO WROTE:

Tommy:

Hop Harrigan to control tower"Coming in for a landing,"Control tower to Hop Harrigan" "All clear". One of the reasons I joined the Air force.Hop and Steve Canyon. Followed by CAPAAAATAIN MIDNIGHT.ALL AMERICAN. I lost my ring. Followed at night by Suspens, Inner sanctum, Murder at midnight. Who needed T.V.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

AHH, KINDRED SPIRITS! Those old radio programs played a major part in our character development. STEVE CANYON! I FORGOT ALL ABOUT HIM. HE WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE MILTON CANIFF COMIC CHARACTERS.

TOM

1949: BEFORE THERE WAS A WPST!

They played music on WTOA; contemporary music with lovely harmonious melodies and understandable lyrics. WTOA didn't place ALL of their emphasis on the 18 to 49 demographic group as is the norm in the current operation of FM radio stations today. Our musical tastes in America didn't change. What changed was the marketing. Stations wanted to target a specific listening audience. "Demographics" was the answer, and the younger generation was the answer. "Easy listening" was replaced with "Be-Bop," "Rock and Roll," and music with a rowdy "beat," Goodbye to Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Don Cornell, Andy Williams, Patti Page, Anne Murray, Dinah Shore, Rosemary Clooney and other singers of melodic music with understandable lyrics and musical beauty. Lawrence Welk's "ah one ah two a three" type music was replaced with very popular in your face vocalists with strobe lights, physical gyrations, and other talents which captured the imagination of a generation who has a much different perception of what constitutes music. As a card-carrying member of "wrinkle city," who are not fortunate enough to be in the "18 to 49" demographic, we are grateful that we have CD's and MP3 players; to each his own.

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM...I WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT ABOUT THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW. IN ALL THE YEARS THAT I'VE LISTENED TO SHOWS ON RADIO AND TV, I NEVER SAW OR HEARD ANYTHING THAT COULD COMPARE TO A PROGRAM THAT SHOWED THE TALENT DISPLAYED BY SO MANY PEOPLE DURING A SINGLE PROGRAM. YOU OFTEN MENTION YOUR LOVE OF MUSIC IN SCHOOL AND THE PROFESSIONAL SINGERS OF OUR TIME BUT THERE WAS A GROUP WHERE MOST OF THE PERFORMERS EXCELLED AT EVERYTHING. TODAY IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHAT;S WRONG WITH THIS WORLD. THEY DO NOT APPRECIATE WHAT THE OLDER GENERATION REPRESENTED. WHAT A SHAME

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Tom Glover said...

I AGREE WITH YOU COMPLETELY, RALPH. I DON'T EVEN WATCH THE JUNK THAT PASSES A "MUSIC" TODAY. IT IS A DISGRACE WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FROM THE 40'S AND 50'S. "DANCING WITH THE STARS" IS A GYMNASTIC DISPLAY.
TOM GLOVER

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Anonymous said...

Someone sent me a link to Johnny Mathis and his Twelfth of Never the other day. What struck me was that my son will never know such sweet sentiment. I was young then and only a year old when WTOA began so I don't remember it and doubt if we could afford an FM set in 1949! Rock was certainly the music of my generation but I was lucky enough to experience that lovely music through my parents.
I still have a hard time believing that Lawrence Welk was not Polish or Austrian with that accent; testament to the isolation of small Nebraska towns of that era.

Ed Millerick

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

HI ED: Without Googling, and if memory serves me, I seem to remember that Lawrence Welk was a native of North Dakota.

Tom Glover

2009: DENNIS WATERS, LAWRENCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

I received the above invitation to the lecture to be given by Mr. Waters, who will be telling the story of the fabled AT&T trans-oceanic radio station which took up a large piece of real estate during the time it was in operation. I can remember motoring past that site as a young boy, and marveling at the huge antenna farm that was part of the complex.

2009: HAROLD VAN DYKE IS A SILENT KEY

One of my friends on the old DVRA 2 meter radio net was the gentleman above. "Van" was a dedicated radio man and a true gentleman. How I miss those guys and gals who were so much a part of the DVRA "Commuter Net" back in the 1970's. Rest in peace harold, and best 73's.

Tom Glover
WA2RVU

1971: The Transistor Radio

"Son, when I was your age, we didn't have them there newfangled I-Pods or whatever they call them things that play MP3 music. We had this invention known as a transistor radio. It was just about an inch bigger than a pack of king size Pall Mall cigarettes. It had AM, FM, and we were really hot stuff if we were walking around the neighborhood listening to "Wibbage." Ask your grand mom or grandpop what "Wibbage" was. I Bet they remember!"

1979: DELAWARE VALLEY RADIO ASSOCIATION CHRISTMAS MESSAGES

Can it be that nearly 30 years have gone by since we DVRA members trudged over to Quaker Bridge Mall and set up the annual amateur radio station? Mall walkers from all over the area stopped by to send a message to that relative, whether in nearby Princeton, or on the other side of the world in Australia. This photo brings back fond memories of the late Leon "Robby" Robinson (K3MNX), and the late Ernie Forte, whose call sign I can't seem to recall even after all those daily conversations we had on the W2ZQ repeater of the Delaware Valley Radio Association. Thankfully, Bob Schroeder is still with us. He has changed call signs from that old familair WA2JZF to today's N2HX. Mark "Markie" Holcombe (Wa2DWY) is also alive and well, even though he has moved out of the area. Those years I spent as an active member of the DVRA are full of very pleasant memories with amateur colleagues who were absolutely the very best. I will keep and treasure those memories until I become what we hams call a "silent key."

1973: ONE OF THE YEARS THE MUSIC DIED?

The gentleman in the ad above was probably one of the best disk jockeys in our local area. You will note that he was at WTTM during the early 70's, after making a name for himself as the premier talent at WBUD. Jack is and was one of my favorite disk jockeys back in the 50's as he drove to work with me every day with his little partner, "Cheery the Gremlin." We miss you, Jack, and we also miss the music.

WBUD: GOODBYE, SO LONG, FAREWELL

This was posted in a earlier post, but with the news that WBUD has abdicated their musical throne and gone to a sports-talk program, I felt a musical obit was in order. That coveted 18 to 49 demographic god that the media worships has taken another toll. I do have to find myself puzzled by the logic of catering to the fading 18 to 49 demographic. My research on the subject of demographics points to the so-called "golden demographic" target audience better known as the "baby boomers" as being the next target audience. Good bye dear friend, I will miss you. Jack Pinto. I still say you are among the best disk jockeys whoever came down the pike. I will still be a loyal listener to your 9 AM Sunday morning "Breakfast with Frank" program. Somehow I feel this decision isn't your cup of tea either.
========***********=========

OUT OF THE 50,000 PLUS HITS ON THIS SITE, I WOULD ASSUME THAT THERE ARE ABOUT 5 HITS THAT WERE DUE TO AN OLD TIMER (LIKE ME) IN THE OVER 70 GENERATION WHO IS INTO COMPUTING. THIS IS THEIR QUIZ. I LOVE THE MUSIC OF WORLD WAR II. PROBABLY BECAUSE I GREW UP WITH IT. EVEN THOUGH THE GENERATION IN WHICH I CAME OF AGE WAS THE 1950'S. HOW I LOVED TO LISTEN TO WBUD AND THE "BIG TOP TEN" AT MID DAY, AND MY FAVORITE DISK JOCKEY, JACK PINTO ON THE MORNING DRIVE. BUT ALAS, TIMES HAVE CHANGED THE "OLDIES" STATIONS THAT ONCE PLAYED THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC OF PERRY COMO, ANDY WILLIAMS, PATTI PAGE, DEAN MARTIN, DON CORNELL AND MANY OTHER WONDERFUL VOCALISTS, DON'T FIT INTO THE TARGETED YOUNGER SEGMENT OF LISTENERS WHICH IS SO COVETED BY COMMERCIAL BROADCASTERS. IT MAKES ONE WONDER WHY THE AIRWAVES CAN'T BE SHARED WITH ALL LISTENERS. WBUD'S 60'S MUSIC IS VERY LISTENABLE, BUT I SURE WOULD LIKE TO SEE JACK PINTO BRING BACK THE MUSIC OF HIS GENERATION. JACK'S SUNDAY MORNING'S "BREAKFAST WITH FRANK" IS WONDERFUL; I NEVER MISS IT...BUT I'D ALSO LIKE TO HAVE BREAKFAST WITH PERRY COMO, ANDY WILLIAMS, AND ALL OF OUR GREAT VOCAL TALENTS FROM THE 50'S. TO THEIR CREDIT, WBCB-AM (1490) IN LEVITTOWN SETS ASIDE PROGRAMMING SEGMENTS FOR ALL GENRES FROM POLISH, IRISH, COUNTRY, AND "OUR" MUSIC. I SELDOM MISS LISTENING TO GERALDINE MCSORLEY'S "IRISH AIRES" ON SATURDAY MORNINGS. BY THE WAY: I AM STILL BRINGING THOSE GREAT OLD SONGS BACK WITH MY COMPUTER ORCHESTRA PLAYING "THE MUSIC WE GREW UP WITH" AT KUSER FARM.

ABOUT THE GRAPHIC:

OVER THE MANY YEARS I HAVE BEEN A COLUMNIST FOR THE MERCER MESSENGER, THE PRINCETON PACKET (HAMILTON OBSERVER), AND THE TIMES OF TRENTON, MY QUIZZES HAVE BEEN VERY POPULAR. OF COURSE, THEY ARE TARGETED TO THOSE IN THE OVER 60 POPULATION. DON'T LOOK FOR ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ACID ROCK, HIP HOP, AND OTHER EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE USED TO CALL MUSIC. LET ME KNOW HOW YOU DID. I KNOW YOU'RE GONNA TAKE THE Test! OH YEAH! DON'T SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO THAT ADDRESS IN MY OLD COLUMN. IF YOU THINK YOUR MAN OR WOMAN ENOUGH, SEND THEM TO thomglo@verizon.net.

2008: ANOTHER TOM GLOVER WEBSITE

I HAVE JUST STARTED ANOTHER WEBSITE DEDICATED TO BOTH BROADCAST AND AMATEUR RADIO. AS WA2RVU, AN AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE HOLDER SINCE THE EARLY 1970'S I HAVE MET MANY WONDERFMPUL "HAMS" WHO HAVE MADE A LASTING IMPRESSION ON ME. MY INTEREST IN BROADCAST RADIO GOES BACK TO MY VERY EARLIEST CHILDHOOD. NOW IN MY MID 70'S MY GROWING COLLECTION OF OLD RADIO PROGRAMS ON MP3 LET ME ONCE AGAIN HEAR THE MUSIC OF GLENN MILLER, THE EXCITEMENT OF "THE SHADOW" AND "HOP HARRIGAN," AND THE WIT OF JEAN SHEPHERD, MY VERY FAVORITE SATIRIST.
CHECK OUT:

TOM GLOVER'S GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO
http://www.gloveradio.blogspot.com/

THANKS TO EUGENE BERGMANN FOR VISITING MY NEW WEBSITE, BUT MORE THANKS FOR CORRECTING MY MIS-SPELLING OF JEAN SHEPHERD. (I SPELLED HIS LAST NAME "SHEPARD.") THANKS FOR CORRECTING ME, EUGENE AND THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE.

MR. EUGENE BERGMANN WROTE:

Good to see that you will be commenting on broadcast radio and ham radio, especially on Jean Shepherd (note spelling). My book about his work, EXCELSIOR, YOU FATHEAD! THE ART AND ENIGMA OF JEAN SHEPHERD was published 3/2005.
Excelsior!

Eugene B. Bergmann

1940: NEW JERSEY AMATEUR RADIO "ROUTE MAP"

THIS AND THE FOLLOWING SCAN ARE FROM MY "RADIO" FOLDER. RADIO AND ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY ARE OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO ME. THE GRAPHIC ABOVE ILLUSTRATES THE EFFICIENT NETWORK SET UP BY AMATEUR OPERATORS BACK IN THE EARLY 40'S AND EVEN EARLIER.

1943: AMATEUR RADIO IN HAMILTON DURING WWII

I HAVE POSTED A NUMBER OF GRAPHICS ON ONE OF MY FAVORITE SUBJECTS, AMATEUR RADIO. BACK IN THE EARLY 1970'S WHEN I OBTAINED MY WA2RVU CALL SIGN, I AND MANY OF MY FELLOW NEWCOMERS TO THE HAM FRATERNITY WERE SCORNFULLY REFERRED TO AS "APPLIANCE OPERATORS." TECHNICALLY, THE CHARGE WAS TRUE. THOSE OLD TIMERS BUILT THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT, WOUND THEIR OWN COILS AND ASSEMBLED THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT. AS CAN BE SEEN IN THE ACCOMPANYING ARTICLE, THOSE "OLD TIMERS" WERE READY, WILLING, AND QUITE ABLE TO PROVIDE THEIR COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO THE WAR EFFORT,

1947: HI TECH PORTABLE RADIOS

JUST BEFORE COMMERCIAL TELEVISION CAME ON THE SCENE IN THIS YEAR OF 1947, THE AMAZINGLY SMALL PORTABLE RADIO WAS MADE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. HOW THESE HI TECH MARVELS CHANGED IN THE ENSUING YEARS AS THE TRANSISTOR BROUGHT THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WOULD ALLOW FOR PORTABLE RADIOS THE SIZE OF A PACK OF CIGARETTES.

1947: DVRA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

BACK IN TRENTON'S GLORY YEARS, THE DELAWARE VALLEY RADIO ASSOCIATION HELD A DINNER MEETING IN THE HOTEL STACY TRENT IN DOWNTOWN TRENTON. THE LATE ED RASER, MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE ABOVE, WAS A TRENTON RADIO PIONEER AND A REAL GENTLEMAN.

1912: RADIO NEEDS A REFORMATION

ONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF DIGGING IN MY "HAMILTON SCRAPBOOK" IS GETTING HOOKED ON THE CONTENTS OF A SPECIFIC FOLDER; IN THIS CASE THE "RADIO" FOLDER. RADIO PLAYED A CRITICAL PART IN THE APRIL, 1912 TITANIC DISASTER .
THEN AS NOW, MORSE CODE WAS A RELIABLE METHOD OF COMMUNICATION. EXCEPT FOR A NUMBER OF AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS WHO STILL LOVE AND RESPECT MORSE CODE, THE CRAFT IS USED LESS AND LESS IN EVERYDAY COMMUNICATIONS. SATELLITES, CELL PHONES AND OTHER MODERN MODES OF COMMUNICATION HAVE PLACED IT ON THE SHELF TO GATHER COBWEBS . HOWEVER, IT WOULD STILL BE SUPERIOR TO THE NEW HI TECH APPLIANCES SHOULD THERE BE A CRIPPLING DISASTER.

AN INTERESTING ASIDE:

TODAY THE SIGNAL FOR A DISTRESS CALL IS "SOS."

BACK IN THE EARLY YEARS OF RADIO IT WAS "CQD."

1924: THE PORTABLE RADIO

FOUR YEARS OR SO EARLIER, BROADCAST RADIO BEGAN TO TAKE OFF. ALL OVER AMERICA,,THOUSANDS OF MEN WITH AN APTITUDE FOR RADIO BEGAN BUILDING THEIR OWN RADIO RECEIVERS. THE "BREADBOARD," FAMILIAR TO MANY OLD RADIO VETERANS, WAS A FAVORITE PROJECT FOR MANY MEN IN THE EARLY 20'S. THEN ALONG CAME THE "PORTABLE" RADIO; SURELY AM EXPENSIVE AND DESIRABLE ITEM WHICH WAS THE OBJECT OF AFFECTION FOR MANY RADIO LOVERS OF THE ERA.

1927: AMATEUR RADIO AT THE READY

AS USUAL, THE AMATEUR RADIO FRATERNITY WAS AT THE BECK AND CALL OF UNCLE SAM SHOULD THERE BE ANOTHER WAR. WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE CELL PHONE AND COMPUTERS, AMATEUR RADIO HAS LOST SOME FUNCTIONS WHICH IT DID SO SPLENDIDLY FOR OVER 100 YEARS. HOWEVER, IF THERE IS EVER A 9-11 TYPE DISASTER, THE AMATEURS CAN BE DEPENDED UPON TO SUPPLY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS WHEN THE CELL PHONES ARE SWAMPED. EVEN TODAY, OUR LOCAL GUARDIANS OF THE RADIO SPECTRUM HOLD REGULAR ON THE AIR EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS PRACTICES, ASSISTING POLICE AND FIRE, AND PASSING MESSAGES TO VICTIMS' FAMILIES. IT'S COMFORTING TO KNOW THAT THESE DEDICATED FOLKS ARE LIKE OUR VOLUNTEER FIREMEN, READY AT THE FIRST SIGNS OF A DISASTER.