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Arts and Crafts or Mission style radios?
I thought that I would look for an arts and crafts or mission style radio, but realized that radio had not really become omnipresent until after the peak of this movement. I figure thats why most 'antique' radios are in the art deco style. Having realized this, I also assume that instead of radios most people had record players for thier entertainment in the 1910's? Does this jive with everyone's understanding of this period? I like to furnish my home (1917) with period appropriate items, but I can't just listen to records. What radios does everyone else furnish their old homes with?
From Wikipedia:
The earliest radio stations were simply radiotelegraphy systems and did not carry audio. The first claimed audio transmission that could be termed a broadcast occurred on Christmas Eve in 1906, and was made by Reginald Fessenden. Whether this broadcast actually took place is disputed.[2] While many early experimenters attempted to create systems similar to radiotelephone devices by which only two parties were meant to communicate, there were others who intended to transmit to larger audiences. Charles Herrold started broadcasting in California in 1909 and was carrying audio by the next year. (Herrold's station eventually became KCBS).
For the next decade, radio tinkerers had to build their own radio receivers. In The Hague, the Netherlands, PCGG started broadcasting on November 6, 1919. In 1916, Frank Conrad, an employee for the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, began broadcasting from his Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania garage with the call letters 8XK. Later, the station was moved to the top of the Westinghouse factory building in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Westinghouse relaunched the station as KDKA on November 2, 1920, claiming to be "the world's first commercially licensed radio station".[3] The commercial broadcasting designation came from the type of broadcast license; advertisements did not air until years later. The first licensed broadcast in the United States came from KDKA itself: the results of the Harding/Cox Presidential Election. The Montreal station that became CFCF began broadcast programming on May 20, 1920, and the Detroit station that became WWJ began program broadcasts beginning on August 20, 1920, although neither held a license at the time.
Radio Argentina began regularly scheduled transmissions from the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires on August 27, 1920, making its own priority claim. The station got its license on November 19, 1923. The delay was due to the lack of official Argentine licensing procedures before that date. This station continued regular broadcasting of entertainment and cultural fare for several decades.[4]
Radio in education soon followed and colleges across the U.S. began adding radio broadcasting courses to their curricula. Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts introduced one of the first broadcasting majors in 1932 when the college teamed up with WLOE in Boston to have students broadcast programs.[5]
Tags: radio
Views: 88
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ken the Old House Guy on -
It is really great to hear of your concern to represent the period of your home accurately! My house is from 1910 and my decor ranged from apx 1900 through the 1930's. I do have a modern stereo but that is hidden away in a cabinet and speakers are also hidden away. A candlestick phone from 1920 is working and in view, but a modern phone is hidden in a cabinet below.
Having a period house and modern "items" here and there disrupts the flow and feeling of the house. I have written a page about it on my website. I also produced instructions for converting the appearance of your modern refrigerator into an antique icebox. Yes, I do have a real icebox, but I also converted my refrigerator to an icebox. It just would not look right next to an antique stove.
Remember that you are creating an experience for the visitor. A modern stereo or refrigerator among antiques in a vintage house disrupts what their mind expects. Check out my website photos on the My Restoration page and click on the link on the sidebar for info about iceboxes and its effect on an old house.http://www.oldhouseguy.com
Good luck with your house - I like your thinking!
Ken
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Permalink Reply by Marlin Schorr on -
In my bedroom, I have a Zenith 7H820 from 1948, like the one in 'War of The Worlds'...works fine in my private space; in the main part of the house, which is decorated @ 1908 style, I have a console victrola from around 1912, and a console radio made by GraybaR @ 1928?.
Here is a link to early to mid 20s radios which could work: Radios
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Permalink Reply by Sarah Felix Burns on -
I think you are right about record players being more common household fixtures in the 1910's than radios... check out this link: http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=57413
I have a Canadian Brunswick record player (table model) and it dates to about 1908. My dad found it and restored it - it worked really well for years until we moved and I somehow lost the crank!!!! If anyone knows where to get a replacement handle, let me know!
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Permalink Reply by Nick on
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I have 3 'vintage' looking radios with new guts that I use daily throughout the house and I have my great grandfather's crank record player with a tall stand that he built on his farm. That's in the dining room. I love both, but I do believe that having old radios in my home would be appropriate. I'm sure that people back then had both as well. Thanks for everyone's input.
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Runaas on -
The view I take while choosing pieces for my house is to have an obvious plausible history. While I try to have most things approx 1910 in my house, I feel that certain items are appropriate to have from a later period. Specifically, radios, kitchen mixers etc. simply didn't exist in 1910, at least in a common form, so I have tried to find the earliest usable examples for my home. As long as I try to stay earlier than the mid-1950s I don't find it too jarring to see a 30s deco radio in a teens home.
If this is an issue in your home, however, you might try to find a cabinet victrola (such as this: http://www.inkyfingers.com/RECORD/SANDERSEX/SandersVVXI.jpg )that has been stripped of its mechanics (I see them from time to time converted to liquor cabinets, etc). A small, quality radio (I hear those little Bose stereos are nice) could be placed inside. Simply raise the top and press play on the new stereo. Or, if you are or know any craftspeople, what about having a custom cabinet made in the style of a craftsman smoking cabinet with acoustical cloth for a back and place the radio inside that? The nice thing about acoustically transparent cloth is that much of it has a coarse open weave that would be very appropriate to an arts and crafts home.
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