VOLUME 17               APRIL 2000                NUMBER  4

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

From Antique Radio Classified for April 2000
(Copyright 1996-2000 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

Our April issue always calls for a bit of foolery, and the advertising cartoon on our cover seemed to fill the bill. Since the drawing is half of an ink blotter (see the other half on page 21), we began to wonder how many of you even remember ink blotters. They were standard equipment in the days of quill pens, inkwells (ah, those "Palmer Method" days!) and, later, fountain pens.

Sitting at his desk, the owner of this blotter was constantly reminded that his radio needed batteries -- USLs, of course. Certainly the character on our cover is a foot-tapping, happy man with musical notes popping all around him, thanks to his being "on the right side" of battery choice. But, his sad counterpart on page 21 has been left without a USL battery and is steeped in static.

It's hard not to think of the hazard of having such an acid-filled, storage battery on the living room rug. The ladies of the times must have been relieved when battery eliminators became more available.

And since batteries are the theme of the moment, Robert Pinelli's article on rebuilding a portable radio battery fits right in. Rather than search for those hard-to-find B batteries, Robert decided to take the cases of the burnt-out batteries and install modern rechargeable batteries in them. Ray Bintliff adds some comments about rechargeable batteries and battery chargers.

Our lead article leaps a few decades ahead to the military equipment of World War II and beyond -- Part 3 of Hank Brown's report on the activities of the Military Radio Collectors Group and some of their impressive equipment. Though some collectors showed interest in this field as early as the 1950s, the time appears to be right for the serious preservation of its history.

Home brews are another aspect of radio collecting that is not as heavily pursued as that of name brands. However, when something unique comes along, like the air-frame variometers in Bill Corkutt's home brew, we all pay attention. Bill's pleasure in restoring his find reminds us that sometimes a home brew can be much more than a bargain.

And Ray Bintliff's fascination with a seemingly ordinary midget AC/DC set is another kind of nudge in the direction of not judging a book by its cover or a radio by its cabinet. An inquisitive engineer like Ray couldn't resist pursuing the answer to why this set has the unusual 5-pin socket on the rear apron of the chassis. You'll have to read the article to find out the result of his dogged search.

With each year, excitement over the Greater Boston Antique Radio Collector's Radio XXXI grows, and it has become the annual New England radio event. Such an event catches fire not just because of the display of interesting equipment but because of the people who make it all happen. This year we decided to set Dorothy Schecter, our managing editor, loose to interview folks around the hall. Her report shows how varied in age, gender, and specific radio interests the crowd is, and how this variety generates the excitement generally felt.

In addition to several interesting crystal sets, Photo Review depicts a rather unusual horn speaker. Also unusual is the Radiola III with its Balanced Amplifier mounted in a cabinet with a built-in horn speaker.

Radio Miscellanea contains an observation about an odd source of interference when testing old radios, along with a request for information concerning another area of radio not often addressed -- auto radios. We also have received feedback on articles about Rider's, radios as furniture, and Multivalve radios. And we're always grateful for notes of praise about the magazine, our services, and our Web site.

The Internet. After the April 2000 issue was released, Antique Radio Classified (A.R.C.) made the decision to change its Web site host/developer for classified ads and historical auction prices. All the other features of our Web site that you've grown to enjoy since 1995 remain the same.

As a result of this change, the classified ads and auction prices will be temporarily unavailable, and the April 2000 issue classified ads will not be posted online at this time. While we are switching hosts, our other proposed new features have been put on hold.

Coming Radio Events. Among the nearly 50 meets scheduled for April are the Colorado Radio Collectors Club's Annual Show & Sale in Colorado; and "Spring Fever" in West Virginia, jointly held by the Museum of Radio & Technology and the Pittsburgh Antique Radio Society. For our South American collectors, Antique Radios in Brazil is holding a 4-day show consisting of a swap meet, sale, and auction in Sao Roque, Brazil.

Look for A.R.C. at both the New England Antique Radio Club Swap Meet in Nashua, New Hampshire, and at the National Vintage Communications Fair in Birmingham, England.

Happy Collecting!

John V. Terrey, Editor

Oops -- The Hazards of E-mail! Radio Miscellanea in our March 2000 issue contained comments from an individual who had not given a postal address. Since we continue to use postal addresses in our magazine, we consulted our files and came up with the address of a subscriber of the same name. However, our subscriber, Mark Richardson, did not send the e-mail. We have apologized to Mark and have resolved in the future to verify the identity of all e-mail correspondents whose names might be published. The marvel of e-mail is diminished by the confusion resulting from people failing to use even full names, let alone postal addresses. In general, e-mail encourages anonymity. To counter this trend, the signature feature on some e-mail programs can add your identification automatically. If people wish to be heard, they should be willing to identify themselves completely.

ON THE COVER

Our cover is an example of humor in advertising in the 1920s. The drawing is the cartoon on the right half of an advertising ink blotter from your editor's collection and shown in full on page 21. USL batteries are the product being touted, and the slogans indicate that the Madison Ave. mindset was hard at work even then.