Washington, D.C., circa 1919. "George Parezo & Co., Ninth Street N.W." An electrical appliance store in the early years of that retail category (top sellers included irons, coffeepots, vacuums, table lamps and toasters), on the eve of the emergence of a new a mass communications medium. "Wireless" transmissions, at first mostly marine and military telegraphy, now included civilian audio broadcasts heard on crystal-set headphones. Before long loudspeakers connected to vacuum tube receivers entered the mainstream, and "radio" was born. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

I was watching Ken Burns' "Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio" tonight and remembered a radio catalog that had belonged to my late Uncle that was sent to me by my brother when my husband and I were trying to buy a radio station some years back. Uncle was a certified pack rat and I recall actually listening to one of these old beauties in one of his ancient little resort cabins "up at the lake" back in the 60's. I have no idea when Uncle bought said "resort", but it became our family's blue collar Hyannisport of sorts, replete and rustic with outhouses, kerosene lamps, hand pumps and fabulous antiques of all strokes---stuff that I assumed everyone experienced on their own vacations. I was still convinced of it into the 70's. Even the soap was old.

Sadly, Uncle (born 1913) quietly sold the crazy little place just to get by in his retirement and live in a trailer down in Florida before he died.

Scanned from a 15 cent Sears catalog with a radio timetable.

Washington, D.C., 1920. "National Radio School, Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Circa 1880-1899. "Majestic Building, Detroit." And a good view of one of the "moonlight tower" arc lamp standards whose base can be seen in the previous post. Some of these towers are said to have made their way to Austin, Texas, where they are the sole remaining examples of their kind. View full size.

October 2, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Ford Target Computor. Capt. H.E. Ely." An electro-mechanical approach to the aiming of large artillery pieces. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

July 10, 1924. Washington, D.C. "Radio at Wardman Park Hotel pool" -- 85 years ago today. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

A device for measuring and recording the magnetization parameters in thin magnetic films used for computer storage elements. It was designed and built in the Burroughs Corporation's Paoli, Pennsylvania Research Laboratories ca. 1963 by my grandfather and his research group and patented in 1966 (patent No. 3254298). One of four photographs of the device recovered from my grandfather's lab notebooks. View full size.