Images and Thoughts to Inspire Your Intellect and Infuse Your Imagination!
A simple, visually compelling advertisement by Grumman aircraft. The innumerable silhouettes receding to the horizon are all of the same aircraft, probably representing the company’s F6F Hellcat fighter plane.
The emblem of the 7th War Loan would place the ad’s date at somewhere after May 7, 1945.
It’s late 1945. The war has just ended.
G.I.s are returning; many have already returned.
Consumer products are once again becoming available. In abundance. In quality. In variety.
Time for a return to normalcy. (Albeit, in the retrospect of 2017, a fortuitous, temporary, historically anomalous, overly romanticized normalcy. Hey, it was nice while it lasted.)
And so we encounter an optimistic, symbolic advertisement from Pilot Radio. The company was founded in 1919 in Brooklyn, New York by former test pilot Isidore Goldberg, as the Pilot Electronic Manufacturing Company, the name changing in 1932 to “Pilot Radio”. The company was acquired by Emerson Radio in 1965.
The advertisement is symbolic and optimistic, with the curious image of an hourglass – denoting the march of time – before a receding horizon. No actual products are promoted or described. Rather, the ad’s message is one of pride: “We’re back”…(note the “To Be Opened Soon” gift box) to manufacture radio and televisions for the consumer market.
A VETERAN THAT STOOD THE TEST OF SERVICE
Tested by time in countless homes throughout the world, Pilot Radio has scored a triumph for dependability and unfaltering performance through the war years. Let the satisfaction of present and past Pilot Radio owners be your guide to greater listening pleasure in the future.
Remember the Pilot Radio trademark. You’ll be seeing it soon on radio sets that combine the experience of many years in the science of electronics with the artistry of quality production. It will pay you to wait for a Pilot Radio.
Pilot Radio has also pioneered in television since 1928 and will soon bring you television in its most perfected form. If you would like to receive further information about Pilot Radio’s activities in television, fill out and mail the coupon below.
“Symbol of Quality”
PILOT RADIO
Pioneers in Frequency Modulation and Television
PILOT RADIO-PHONOGRAOH COMBINATIONS PILOT AM-FM RADIOS PILOT PORTABLE RADIOS PILOT RADIO-TELEVSION RECEIVERS
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Just Two Little References
Early Television Museum – Pilot Radio Corporation History (at Early Television)
Emerson Radio (at Wikipedia)
An advertisement for Motorola Radio, from 1945.
The Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (listed at the bottom of the advertisement) the actual progenitor of Motorola, was founded in 1928 in Chicago by brothers Paul V. and Joseph E. Galvin. They originated the name “Motorola” in 1930 by “…linking “motor” (for motorcar) with “ola” (from Victrola)”, selling their first Motorola brand name radio that year.
The text of the advertisement?…
electronics
Yes Sir… THIS WAS AN Electronic Instrument Too…
FUNNY-LOOKING gadget, that old-time radio set. Big, bulky horn…dials and more dials…squeaky and noisy as all get out. Not much like the radio now in your living-room or car. And yet the radio you buy not too long after the war may make your present-day set look and sound as antiquated as that early Electronic instrument looks now. Today Electronics is fighting for America and its Allies brilliantly and successfully. In battle it warns of approaching danger so can can destroy the enemy; in the electric eye it searches for and exposes flaws in heavy castings; in resistance-welding it doubles and triples production. These and countless others are Electronic achievements of vast importance now and for the future. The first Electronic instrument to benefit will be radio.
Motorola Engineers are making full use of the newest Electronic knowledge in the production and development of Radar and Communications Equipment now being used by American fighting men on every battle front. Soon after Victory gives the green light to civilian production, the “know-how” of Motorola Engineers will be switched to the production of civilian radios for home and car with the same all-out efficiency and perfection.
Expect the finest in radio from Motorola.
Your First Post-War Electronic Purchase Should be a Motorola Radio
Take good care of your radio. It is a vital wartime necessity. For service, consult your local classified telephone directory for a nearby Motorola Dealer.
Motorola Radio FOR HOME & CAR
GALVIN MFG. CORPORATION CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
YORK AUTOMOTIVE DITRIBUTING CO., NEW YORK CITY
Wholesale Distributor
For the continued development and production of Radio Communications and other special Electronic equipment for our Armed Forces, the Motorola organization has been awarded two stars for their Army-Navy “E” Flag. Motorola is proud of the part it has been privileged to play in the speeding of Victory.
“New York 1942”
Just a lovely, technically superb, extraordinarily evocative photo.
The Manhattan skyline at night, by Andreas Feininger.
You can view other examples from his oeuvre at gallerym, and, MOMA.
(This image was scanned from a postcard (yep!) – number PH 982 – published by Lombreuil.)
Here is another sign of – well, actually from, “The Times”. (The New York Times, that is) from 1946. An advertisement for DuMont Televisions.
Dumont – what the heck is that?
I’d heard of, seen, and viewed programs on, sets by RCA, Zenith, and Motorola. But, DuMont? What was DuMont? Who was Hildegarde?
A little searching (see the excerpts below) reveals the answers….
From Wikipedia: “The DuMont Television Network … was one of the world’s pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the United States. It began operation in 1946. It was owned by DuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and set manufacturer. The network was hindered by the prohibitive cost of broadcasting, by regulations imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which restricted the company’s growth, and even by the company’s partner, Paramount Pictures. Despite several innovations in broadcasting and the creation of one of television’s biggest stars of the 1950s (Jackie Gleason), the network never found itself on solid financial ground. Forced to expand on UHF channels during an era when UHF tuning was not yet a standard feature on television sets, DuMont fought an uphill battle for program clearances outside of their three owned-and-operated stations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, finally ending network operations in 1956.”
“DuMont Laboratories was an American television equipment manufacturer. The company was founded in 1931, in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, by inventor Allen B. DuMont. Among the company’s developments were durable cathode ray tubes that would be used for TV. Another product was a DuMont invention, the magic eye tube.”
But, who was Hildegarde?: “Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef (28 December 1925 – 1 February 2002) was a German actress, singer, and writer. She was billed in some English language films as Hildegard Neff or Hildegarde Neff.”
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Here’s the text of the ad:
HILDEGARDE SAYS:
“Darling, quel amour… ce magnifique Du Mont Teleset!”
Soon you will echo Hiledgarde’s rapturous sentiments. You’ll love seeing and hearing this vivacious chanteuse – especially on a DuMont Teleset.
For its superlative performance is more than mere chance. DuMont’s 14-year pioneering leadership in radio-electronics guarantees uncompromising craftsmanship … assures the things important to you. DuMont will give you incomparably clear pictures, exquisite FM tone, inspired cabinet artistry, technical dependability. These are tested attributes of DuMont-engineered Television-FM receivers. Soon they will be yours … soon you will realize the full richness of television’s tremendous promise if you remember this:
For the best in television, look and listen to a DuMont Teleset!
ALLEN B. DuMONT LABORATORIES, INC.
GENERAL OFFICES AND PLANT
2 MAIN AVENUE, PASSAIC, N.J.
TELEVISION STUDIOS AND STATION WABC
515 MADISON AVENUE
NEW YORK 22, NEW YORK
Here’s an advertisement from January 18, 1945 for a company that – refreshingly! – exists even today: American Car and Foundry.
Formed and incorporated in Jew Jersey in 1899, the firm is located today in Milton, Pennsylvania. According to the Wikipedia entry, the manufacturing facility, “…is capable of manufacturing railcars and all related railcar components. The plant is capable of producing pressure vessels in sizes 18,000–61,000 gwc, including propane tanks, compressed gas storage, LPG storage, and all related components, including heads. The plant, covering 48 acres, provides 500,000 square feet of covered work area and seven miles of storage tracks.”
Regarding the advertisement itself, the illustration is a very nice example of graphic art. Every major product manufactured by the company is presented, from (primarily) railroad cars, to naval vessels, to shells or bombs, and (it looks like…) tires, with every manufactured item “leading” back to a point on a simplified map showing the location of its relevant manufacturing facility. Above all, the use of light and shadow is quite striking.
The full text of the ad is presented below.
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In the service of AMERICA … and its RAILROADS
AWARE of the magnificent job American Railroads are doing, and aware too that THE WAR IS NOT YET OVER – a.c.f. pauses for an instant in its immense task of producing materials for our armed forces – Pauses to SALUTE THE RAILROADS, their men in maintenance, operations, and those who man the trains. They are truly a potent factor in the successful waging of war.
a.c.f., with sleeves rolled up, has well-laid plans for the future, for the wonder trains of tomorrow, and the facilities and “know how” that will help American’s Railroads attract and hold traffic.
IN WAR a.c.f. produces Combat Tanks, Shells, Bombs, Tractors, Landing Mats, Minesweepers, Net Tenders and many implements of War for our Army and Navy.
IN PEACE a.c.f. will again lead in Production of – Railway Passenger Cars, Streamliners, Freight Cars, Subway Cars, Mine Cars and a variety of other Products.
Whatever A.C.F. Builds – It is Known to Build Well!
AMERICAN CAR AND FOUNDARY COMPANY
NEW YORK * CHICAGO * ST. LOUIS * CLEVELAND * WASHINGTON * PHILADELPHIA * PITTSBURGH * ST. PAUL * SAN FRANCISCO
Just One Reference
Here’s an advertisement for Robinson Aviation / Robinson Airlines, from 1945, featuring a sketch of a Fairchild F24.
The airline was founded in 1945 by C.S. Robinson, and was based out of Ithaca Municipal Airport, at Ithaca, New York, servicing routes in the Mohawk Valley of New York State. Renamed Mohawk Airlines in 1952, the company survived until the early 1970s, when it merged with Allegheny Airlines.
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Announcing
FIRST DAILY NON-STOP
AIR SERVICE
between
ITHACA and NEW YORK CITY
RESERVATIONS and INFORMATION
ITHACA, SENECA BUILDING – PHONE: ITHACA 3-1576
NEW YORK, 730 FIFTH AVENUE – PHONE: CIRCLE 6-4546
| FLIGHT 2 | SCHEDULE | FLIGHT 1 |
| 8:OO A.M. Lv. | ITHACA | Ar. 6:55 P.M. |
| 9:45 A.M. Ar. | NEW YORK | Lv. 5:00 P.M. |
This service has been established to provide ITHACA INDUSTRY and CORNELL UNIVERSITY with direct air transportation to New York City. At present four-place Fairchild airplanes are being used to provide one round trip daily. Schedules will be adjusted and expanded as necessary.
ROBINSON AIRLINES
ITHACA, NEW YORK NEW YORK CITY
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This video, from the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) YouTube channel, provides great views of an F24 in flight. And on the ground, for that matter.
A late-WW II advertisement for Northwest Airlines (decades before its absorption by Delta) incorporating sketches of two Douglas DC-4s, one headed “west” and the other “east”.
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NOW!
NORTHWEST PASSAGE
ACROSS THE TOP OF THE COUNTRY
Coast-to-Coast air line flies direct from New York-Detroit to Seattle-Portland
Northwest Passage is here … to round out the nation’s air transport system, as the fourth coast-to-coast air line.
It brings – for the first time – the advantages of fast, direct coast-to-coast air service to the great cities across the top of the country.
NORTHWEST AIRLINES
Information and reservations at: 535 Fifth Avenue, New York, Telephone: VANderbilt 6-6360
This advertisement is really eye-catching in its use of light and dark, which visually symbolizes its message: An organization, operating regardless of day or night, producing vitally needed products for the military. The company? Reeves Sound Laboratories.
Located at 215 East 91st Street in Manhattan, the company, founded by Hazard E. Reeves, was a division of Reeves-Ely Laboratories, and conducted research into advanced gunfire control systems and computers, radar and tracking systems, guided missile controls, aircraft control instruments, flight trainers and aerodynamical computers, precision instruments, servo mechanisms, and, sound recording systems. By 1956, the company merged into the Dynamics Corporation of America.
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IT’S 4 A.M. IN TIMES SQUARE
AND OVER BERLIN – BOMBER
CREWS ARE USING A PRODUCT
MADE JUST OFF BROADWAY
Previously, the cutting of crystal oscillators had been an art known to only a few technicians. But then these New Yorkers pitched in: Debutantes, dancing teachers, actors, stenographers, artists, clerks, butcher boys, beauticians, models and others joined hands with housewives to show what they could do when a war industry came to Times Square.
Over a thousand workers (mostly women) came from the five boroughs and the suburbs. Everyone started from scratch. Management and workers were unskilled at the start. They learned the job together under the guidance of the United States Army Signal Corps experts. Production processes were studied and broken down into the simplest possible operations. X-Ray equipment and other highly scientific apparatus were brought in to help.
In the first month, only a few crystal were produced. Now a year later, these people are turning out many more crystals than was believed possible a year ago.
A production miracle? Perhaps. But maybe it’s because these people are Americans – because they’re New Yorkers…or because a large percentage of the employees have relatives doing the toughest job of all – in the Armed Service of their country.
These workers have done their work so well that they have been awarded the Army-Navy “E” which they accept with this pledge:
“I promise to wear this pin as a promise to every man in our Armed Services that, until this war is won, I will devote my full energies to the cause for which they are giving their lives.”
First to fly above Times Square, this pennant will give promise of even greater things in store for ’44.
REEVES Sound Laboratories, Inc.
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For a fascinating glimpse into the Lab’s activities with a direct connection to the advertisement, watch the 1943 video Crystals Go To War, (at Antique Wireless Museum) – “narration by one of the research scientists of the U.S. Army Signal Corps” – produced for Reeves Sound Laboratories by Andre deLaVarre. The film’s also available at Archiv.org.
References
Industrial Research Laboratories of the United States – Including Consulting Research Laboratories (Bulletin of the National Research Council) Number 113; July, 1946. Compiled by Callie Hull, with the assistance of Mary Timms and Lois Wilson.
Hazard E. Reeves, at wikipedia
Reeves Instrument Corporation, at Wikipedia
Some advertisements focus on products.
Many advertisements focus upon – and intend to enhance – publicity.
But, a certain kind of advertisement takes pride in and specifically focuses upon people – employees – as the fundamental basis for an organization’s success, growth, and prominence. Such an example appears below: A 1944 (or ’45?) advertisement in The New York Times by the United Electronics Company, of Newark, New Jersey, announcing receipt of the Army and Navy “E” (for excellence) award in manufacture of war materials.
Cleverly and appropriately, the ad juxtaposes the faces of four employees – two women; two men – who are obviously in not military service, upon one of its products (an electron tube). Behind and above is the military’s “E” pennant.
The United Electronics Company was founded in 1934 and – though no longer in existence – was in business at least through 1958, as evidenced through the company’s 1959 product catalog, at Bunkerofdoom.com. In 1958, the company became part of the Ling Electronics, Group, Inc., at the time, “…being one of the first six or seven companies longest engaged in the design and manufacture of transmitting power tubes for the general market.”
The company’s headquarters and manufacturing facility which once stood at 42 Spring Street, in Newark, New Jersey, no longer exists.
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The electron tube displayed in the advertisement is a “Type 851 Modulator, A-F and R-F Power Amplifier, Oscillator”. The tube’s price in 1947 was $160, which – given the rate of inflation – would seventy-five later in 2022 be approximately $2,130. Now that’s a wonderful cumulative inflation rate of 1,230%.
Reliable sources indicate that the successor to the Type 851 Modulator was the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator. Though this component is mysteriously absent from United Electronics’ 1947 catalog, its capabilities are fully revealed in the following training film:
“Where’s the kaboom?! …
There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering kaboom!!”
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So Much … For So Many
by so Few*
Today the United Electronics Company receives the coveted Army and Navy “E” Award for excellence in production of war materials.
We accept the citation with pride – and grateful recognition of the skill and loyalty of each man and women of our company who has toiled tirelessly to make possible the achievement and the honor.
Yet, as the distinguished banner now flies over our plant, we shall be mindful that this is no symbol of a goal completely won. To us it will serve as a fresh daily inspiration in our aim for ever-faster and ever-better production of the communications equipment parts still urgently needed by our armed forces.
Under this new inspiration we pledge renewed and unceasing efforts. In the way we can serve the best, we shall keep faith with our friends and loved ones on the fighting fronts – with the constant hope that the instruments we make play a useful part in bringing our men home safe – and sooner.
UNITED
ELECTRONICS COMPANY
NEWARK NEW JERSEY
*United employees number hundreds, not thousands. Yet in terms of production per employee and relative overall company output, we believe these men and women have achieved a record unsurpassed in the nation.
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Here’s the “header” page of United Electronics’ 1947 Power Tube Catalog. Technical specifications for the Type 851 Modulator follow.
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Here’s an Oogle Earth view of 42 Spring Street in Newark, just north of Interstate 280 (Essex Freeway) and west of the Passaic River. There seems to be no evidence that United Electronics once existed there.
References
Ling-Temco-Vought, at Wikipedia
United Electronics Company Tube Catalog (1947), at Hathi Trust
United Electronics Company Tube Catalog (1959), at Bunker of Doom
U.S. Inflation Calculator, at InflationCalculator.com
