Old Radio Books, Treasure Trove of History

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Another FUN-filled weekend at my place, moving 40+ cartons of old books, magazines, and other recorded history of old radio, in preparation for storage. Several decades of scavenging, preserved in cardboard boxes. Hard to believe they all fit into one tiny closet, albeit floor-to-ceiling.

Found a bunch of cool stuff, including many boxes of old 'Radio News' mags, with covers showing all sorts of surplus and commercial amateur gear from the 30s-40s. Also my stash of Hugo Gernsback's 'Radio Craft' with interesting, brightly-colored covers. Early RADIO magazines from the 30s, Wireless News, Radio and ARRL Handbooks, all kinds of goodies I'd forgotten I had.

In one of the boxes was an interesting report from the FCC on the 1965 Northeast Blackout and its impact on communications. Should be amusing in contrast to today's world.

I'm curious to know what other folks have kicking around in the way of printed matter related to the golden era of radio? My passion for info (and packratting, interestingly) began back in the 70s when I first got exposed to radio and one of the locals named Gary, K1EN, gave me a bunch of old 73 magazines. They provided many hours of enjoyment and education. I was hooked! Other than a few bits here and there, the next big batch came along in the early 80s from the basement of W1NLO, Burtis Dean, broadcast engineer. All kinds of broadcast catalogs, even hardback versions from Gates. In the early 90s a bunch more arrived from the estate of W1MMV, Gerald Cunningham. Gerry was a radioman in the 1920s, Burt worked for Evans Radio as well as being an engineer. Judging by the contents and amount saved, both seemed equally appreciative of this historical 'stuff'(packrats).

The mix is interesting: from books to drawings, licenses to telegrams from the FCC about transmitter tests, even a record cut by a musical group about W1NLO and his engineering skills. Photos, equipment brochures, broadcast signal reports, pictures sent by children. All too often this stuff gets tossed aside by family, even by the estate hounds, in favor of the radios themselves. But there is a rich legacy of radio history buried within.

So - aside from the usual piles of QST, CQ, and 73 magazines, what does the AM gang have squirreled away, or hanging around the radio room? What amateur or broadcast radio history have you saved from oblivion?

[W9GT]

Wow Todd, it sounds like you have a lot of stuff!  Well, I have also built up a pretty big library over the years, but it worries me sometimes that it is a fire hazard.  Its certainly not as much fun or as nostalgic to consider archiving stuff on CDs or DVDs as opposed to browsing through old books and magazines, but I guess it might make sense as far as conserving space. I also have tons of old magazines including many old QSTs, 73s, and CQs.  The ones that I really enjoy are the old RADIO magazines from the 30's and early 40's.  I also have a complete set of the RADIO (West coast) Handbooks and most of the ARRL Handbooks back as far as the 30's.  The earlier (20's) issues are very expensive and, perhaps, more valuable as historical objects than reference material for things that I am most interested in or have the most need to reference.
 
I was extremely fortunate several years ago to discover and purchase at a library sale, the original library book that introduced me to radio and inspired me when I was a young kid.  The Boy's First Book of Radio and Electronics by Alfred Morgan.  I found the actual copy that I had borrowed from the library countless times.  I knew it was the exact copy because I had been bad and made a few notes in the margins on a couple of the pages.  I really treasure that book as a valuable part of my collection.

I also have a number of old textbooks by such notables as Terman, etc. and who could not love those old Audels Radioman's Handbooks?

I continue to marvel at the huge amount of great information that is in all those old books and mags and, it seems that I am always going back through them to get info for projects or just to trip through memory lane.

The library is an important aspect of any vintage radio collection!

73,  Jack, W9GT

[The Slab Bacon]

Boy, how similar we all are! Its funny most of us are fairly close to the same age. Share so many of the same interests. Got our starts in radio the same way!!

I also have fond memories of the Alfred Morgan book as a boy. I signed it out of out elementary school library so many times I just about wore it out. But the book that haunts me is the one that really taught me radio theory wuz the 1962 ARRL handbook. We actually had a new copy in our elementary school library. I wuz prolly the only one who signed it out. And I had it almost constantly. (yes I have a copy now!!) I read all of the theory chapters in the front and drooled over the advertising in the back as well as some of the projects. I guess I owe the majority of my interest in radio to those 2 books!!

Somehow during my teenage years I found out women, cars and motorcycles and the rest iz history!!

As we are all getting older, we can get all sentimental and geeze together. 

                                       The Slab Bacon

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Jack, you're very fortunate to have obtained a book so dear to you. I was able to do that with the first radios I used, but the book ended up with a very-ex girlfriend who feigned interest in getting her license, but kept my book!

Terman is one of the standards, required reading, 'must have's, along with the Radiotron Designer's Handbook and a few others like the Radio Tube Vade-Mecum.

Mack, that MIL Handbook series you have reminds me of a Naval book along the same lines. No idea which box it's in. I already took about 20 boxes to storage from the downstairs bookcases, it was probably in those.

The QST references reminds me of yet another 'delayed' project of bygone days: The Great Radio Rag Swap! An opportunity for folks to fill out their library of QST, CQ, 73, and so on by swapping with others looking to do the same. It's been the better part of 20 years since I almost got this off the ground, the internet should help considerably. Of course, that will require an inventory. Did one for my handbooks and promptly misplaced (lost) it.

Yes, the whole 'easier to have it on CD' argument is nice, but a CD is hard to read in bed, without at least a laptop computer. There's just something about curling up with a book for a good read that doesn't make the conversion to digital. No doubt along the same lines of classic tube gear vs SS or digital/PC-driven, for some of us.

I've been amazed by some of the items found inside books as well, from four-leaf clovers to a partial page of radio tube stamps of some sort, with a shoulder tube design. Plenty of little notes, schematics and drawings, interesting tidbits stored away for decades, awaiting discovery.

Not quite to the Point of Geeze(PoG) yet, Slab. Still wrestling with the packrat vs lighten the load issues here. But I'll be watching you for pointers, 'OM'. Or should we change it to 'OG'?

OG Slab.....hmm.....dunno. The women might start referring to us all as 'Og'. Better stick with OM, at least they're familiar and comfortable with that. 

[k4kyv]

I have a complete archive of QST from 1925 to present, with just a few issues missing in the 70's and 80's era.  My incomplete collection goes back to about 1922.  I have the earliest ones on the ARRL CD, but its search feature is a piece of crap.

Also have RADIO, incomplete from the late 20's to early 30's, and complete from 1933 to the early months of WW2, and a few wartime issues.

My latest acquisition was R-9, mostly complete from late 1932 until 1936, when it merged with RADIO.

And my collection includes many of the IRE Proceedings with a complete run from the late 20's to sometime after they became IEEE.

BTW I have several duplicate runs of RADIO and some duplicates of my 1930's IRE Proceedings.  I had to buy up numerous collections with holes in them to get a complete run in good condition.

As soon as I finish cataloguing my duplicates, I plan to put them up for sale or preferably, trade.  My first attempt will be to exchange some of my loose dupes of RADIO and IRE Proceedings for missing issues of R-9, and/or to extend my run of RADIO.  Then I plan to put the rest up for sale or trade.  Need the space.  Will probably put the duplicate complete run of RADIO up as a package deal, since it would be a shame to split it up.

Most are in fair to good condition, but some are pretty raggy.  The most common form of deterioration is the paper turning brown around the outer edges of the pages - that damned acidic paper they used throughout most of the 20th century.  A few of the rarest issues are extremely fragile and hard to read without damaging the pages.

If anyone thinks they might be interested, pse let me know.  But I'm in no hurry...  and if I can't find the missing R-9 issues, photocopies would be acceptable.  Copying these wouldn't be too difficult, since most of them didn't have a tremendous number of pages.

                                             ***

These early out-of-print publications should all be made available on CD, like QST.  I'm not sure to what extent copyright issues would be involved.  I know QST jealously guards their early issues.  And CQ might be just as aggressive about early issues of RADIO and R-9, since CQ magazine was essentially the post WW2 amateur radio oriented continuation of RADIO, which had turned into an industrial electronics trade publication sometime during the War years.

[David, K3TUE]

I have an odd question about an old book and wonder if anyone of you have ever heard of it.  It was more of a story, but definitely qualifies as a spark of inspiration in my radio history, but I just don't recall the title.  It was a story of a kid who had to scratch and scrounge everything from nothing and nowhere.  One of the highlight points of help he received, as I recall, was getting old test tube from the neighborhood pharmacist and an old mercury vacuum pump from I don't remember where to make his own tubes from scratch.  Anyone else ever read this story and perhaps know what the title is?

[WB3LEQ]

About four or five years ago I met an elderly ham at a local hamfest who was in the process of moving to Florida. He invited my wife and me over to his home to look at what he had and didn't want to pay to haul to Florida.  As I was leaving I asked if he had any old QST magazines available. He said he did but I was a bit too late.  Parked outside in the driveway was a large roll off dumpster container.  I crawled up on the side and looked inside the dumpster.  In the bottom was the entire QST collection he had dating back to the early 1930's covered by large discarded rugs, appliances, and other miscellaneous broken household items.  Everything was totally soaked from the rain from the prior day.  The magazines were soaked and swollen. I asked why he threw them away.  He said he figured there would be no interest in them since they were now available on CD's.  I guess they were just another victim of modern technology. 

[w3jn]

I bought a complete set of QSTs about 1929-1995, mostly complete set of 73 Magazine to 1982 or so, and complete CQ 1948-1960 or so, bunch of GE Ham News, Cornell Dublier "The Capacitor", and a ton of miscellaneous stuff some years ago.  Pretty much fills a 8X8 room in my garage.  Now almost all of it's available on CD ROM, which is a space save, but doesn't allow for convenient reading when sitting on the throne 

[W1UJR]

I have an odd question about an old book and wonder if anyone of you have ever heard of it.  It was more of a story, but definitely qualifies as a spark of inspiration in my radio history, but I just recall the title.  It was a story of a kid who had to scratch and scrounge everything from nothing and nowhere.  One of the highlight points of help he received, as I recall, was getting old test tube from the neighborhood pharmacist and an old mercury vacuum pump from I don't' remember where.  Anyone else ever read this story and perhaps know what the title is?

You may be thinking of the following book.

"The Boy With The U.S. Radio"
By Francis Rolt-Wheeler
Printed 1924

The boy's name was Hugh Cecil, and the story was based in "Ant's Hole Creek" in the Allegany Mountains.
The family was quite improvished, and Hugh learned about radio from a book that belonged to his grandfather.
Hugh's workshop was in the family barn or shed, building everything from scratch.
Excellent story.

[KL7OF]

I love al the old radio publications etc...I had to get rid of all that stuff a few years ago because there was some kind of mold that gets into that old paper that I seem to have a reaction to..I would open up and old copy of RADIOand the sneezing and nose dripping would start...more than I could bear...All that stuff got distributed among my AM pals that don't have a problem with old magazines.....

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Need reading material; I got enough to keep me going for awhile:

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Now almost all of it's available on CD ROM, which is a space save, but doesn't allow for convenient reading when sitting on the throne 

Now, there's an excellent point that I overlooked.  Sometimes it's the only 'quiet time' in the day! 

Was looking through a few more boxes this morning while the coffee was brewing. Discovered a set of small reference books, Hawkins Electronic encyclopedia or such. Also found the box of West Coast 'RADIO' handbooks, including examples from the 1930s and the Jones VHF/UHF handbook. One interesting find is a publication called 'SPARKS', which appears to have been put out by and for old Maritime CW ops.

Also discovered the Howard Sams collection in the basement, 1-1000+ complete an still in their folders. Next to them is somewhere between 100-200 of the *cough* Sams CB books. It's going to be so much fun hauling all those up the narrow cellar stairs.

Don, I wonder if we can get Gary to set up a 'Swap' section to help clear out duplicate publications and get them to others? One of the reasons it never went too far in the past was the need to use snail mail or coordinate at hamfests. My QST collection, though not complete, does go back to the late teens/early twenties with some dupes. One in particular sticks in my mind, a purple cover with what looks like a black haunted house, complete with antenna masts and wires overhead.

My goal has always been to make this material available to others, first through photocopying, now scanning would make it even easier and internet-friendly. The amount of stuff on CD is minute compared to what is out there.

Good to see that so many others are holding onto this stuff, too. I feel a bit less obsessive-compulsive now.

[WA1HZK]

Guys
Let's take some time with the best of these and start scanning them into Adobe files. We can post them on-line for all the guys. Those are getting sorts rare. I'm sure that there are people around that will take the time to do this. I'm one of them.
Keith
WA1HZK