The Mississippi Historical Radio and Broadcasting Society
| Vol 2 #1 | January 15, 1992 |
News Letter
It's SHOWTIME!
When: Saturday, February 29, 1992, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
Where: The Jaycee's building Highway 39 North, Mississippi
Who: Everyone, public invited.
Admission: Members in good standing: Free. General Public: $1.00 per family.
Purpose: Have a good time; look, see, share and learn. Generate public interest; build club membership.
What:
- Mini-museum: Radios and related items from through-out the history of broadcasting will be shown in a large display area.
- Old time broadcasts: Many of the popular shows from Radio's Golden era wil be broadcast (AM and FM Stereo) all during the show.
- Equipment demonstrations: Working exhibits of Broadcasting technology from the turn of the century right up to modern devices.
- Swap-Meet: Tables will be available for those wishing to sell and swap.
- Membership Meeting. A business meeting of the membership will be held at 2 P.M. to elect officers for the coming year, etc.
Some radios etc. are already slated for display, but we need more. It costs nothing to display, so get with it. There is a lot of "neat" stuff out there, so let's show it. We need more stuff in the following areas:
Very early radios, 1887 - 1930 Catalins / Novelties / Art Deco Microphones, and other studio equipment. Early literature. Current Ham , S/W, Scanner equipment
If you've got something we can display, call Randy at (601) 482-4534 and we'll get it in the show. - Selling: There will be tables available for the sellers. Price is $5.00 per table. Any thing that is remotely Radio / Broadcast related is fine to sell. Please no wierd stuff like VegaMatics, etc.
The Rest of the News:
Empire of the Air
9 P.M. January 29 on PBS
There have been many books on the subject of the early pioneers in radio. Most have concentrated on one or another of those individuals; and often take on a tone of near hero worship for that individual. Empire of the Air takes a look at the three individuals who together, made a greater impact on broadcasting than all those before and since combined. Yet these same three were bitter enemies: usually locked in legal combat, over this discovery or that patent; never quite getting in a final mortal blow, yet often enough wounding the others to gain momentary superiority. Such is the story of DeForest, Armstrong and Sarnoff: Inventors - promoters - and characters all! This excellent book has now been made into a documentary movie by the same title. It will air on your local PBS station on January 29th. at 9 P.M. in both Mississippi and Alabama; others need to check their local listings. If the movie is anywhere near as good as the book, this should be a great hour of entertainment and education!
Tube Collecting is getting hot. Early tubes are starting to be priced out of common folks' reach. A DeForest Spherical Audion with open filament and broken leads recently sold at auction for just over $800. Even fairly common tubes like a dud '01A with brass base and tip are inching over the $10.00 mark. So if you've thought about getting some of those neat early tubes, it is probably a good time to get busy.
Book Review:
We recently received a book for review. It is a "specialty" book aimed at a very narrow segment of collectable radios. Lawlor's Radio Values
Catalin
Character
Mirrored
Novelty
Plastic
Bare Bones Press, $12.50, 32 pages
At first glance, I found myself doing that famous line from the pregnancy test-kit commercial where the lady looks at this tiny cup and says "you gotta be kidding!". This book is just that small, especially when compared to it's contemporaries like the Johnson's and/or Bunis' books. I mean Johnson's recent book at $16.95 weighs in at 192 pages / 3300 radios; Bunis' book (also $16.95) is 175 pages / 5000 radios. This book covers 175 models in 32 pages. No pictures. Closer examination shows that this book is actually a companion book to two others - Collins': Radios - The Golden Age ($25.00 Hard, $14.95 Soft) which is a photo directory of some 125 models of Plastic / Novelty / Art Deco Radios - and Sideli's similar treatment of some 50 models of catalins in his Classic Plastic Radios of the 1930's and 1940's ( $29.95 hard, 19.95 soft). This book prices all of the radios in the other two books. Keeping in mind that just the various color combinations of catalins runs the "radio" count up from the "model" count very fast, you find this book actually covers several hundred different radios. Careful reading shows that the author has taken a great deal of time getting his "facts" straight - and the prices indeed seem dead on target - a rarity in "price books". Dates are not nearly so accurate; but this is not a serious flaw as the exact age of these radios rarely matters. This is not a book to buy by itself. But if you are into Plastic / Catalin / etc. and have either or both the Collins / Sideli books, I would rate this companion book as a must have in spite of it's pricey $12.50 tag.
The Mississippi Historical Radio and Broadcasting Society Newsletter is published monthly by:
The Mississippi Historical Radio and Broadcasting Society
2412 C Street
Meridian, MS 39301
601 693-5958
President: Randy Guttery
Vice President: Ken Rainey
Secretary: Sherry Guttery
Treasurer: Randy Corbin
All time and materials are donated.
© 1992, The Mississippi Historical Radio and Broadcasting Society.
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