***Below are the notes for each of the six exhibits that were described on the Show!
1. Radio
In Ireland Philips, Bush and Pye were the bestselling valve radios
This PYE PJ501 Model would be like the one my father, Patrick Herbert who was raised in Rathnamagh, Ardagh near Crossmolina (North Mayo), would have first saw & heard it in his neighbour's house, aged 10
The Lammonds had bought a new *Wireless and all the village were invited for the occasion of the First All-Ireland Football Final to be played outside of Ireland, in the Polo Grounds, New York between Cavan & Kerry, on 14th September 1947
*(Radio was mostly known as Wireless in Ireland, as electrification was still ongoing - Wet or dry batteries were used for power)
The Magic Eye or tuning indicator allowed tuning to the best possible frequency and my dad was mesmorised on approaching the house as it lit up the night
When my father heard Michael O'Hehir’s commentary, he couldn't help wondering how his voice had travelled thousands of miles across the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean with no wires but a large aerial in the garden
He often joked later, that the experience had fried his brain and started a lifetimes obcession with Radio and Communications
1.a – Microphone
This 1940's Grampian MCR Dynamic Tabletop Microphone
1.b – 1947 Poster
Poster advertising “The World’s Greatest Football Game” @ The Polo Grounds, New York with admission being $2!
2. Television
TheBush TV62 14" Television was manufactured from 1955 until the mid-1960s in London
In Ireland we didn't have our own National TV Channel until Jan 1961, but we could receive some programmes from the UK on the East Coast
The outer case is made of Bakelite (hence it weighs 20kg/ 44lbs) and contains 19 valves
When launched in 1955 it cost the princely sum of £61 19s or £1,370.35 in todays money (Average industrial wage in 1955 was £10 17s 5d)
3. The Spark Gap Transmitter and The Birth of Radio
Nicholas Callan of Maynooth University invented the Induction Coil in 1836 as a way of generating stronger electricity. Michael Farraday and James Clerk-Maxwell ' The Royal Society in London, continued experimenting with electricity and the possibility of radio waves
In 1887 Heinrich Hertz built the first experimental Spark Gap Transmitter. It was an early radio transmitter which generated radio waves by means of an electric spark and were used up to the end of WW1. He was the first to send, receive and measure Radio waves
When Guglielmo (William) Marconi was invited by the Gill Family (Dublin Newspaper Barons who owned the Dublin Dail Express and The Evening Mail) to report on the Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) Regatta in July of 1898, Marconi had to borrow one from a Prof. Fitzgerald in Trinity College. This was originally Nicholas Callan's and now resides in the Maynooth University Museum
The idea was that with wireless telegraphy Marconi and his assistant Kemp would morse code the results from the finishing line 2.5 miles off Howth on the Flying Huntress boat, which was rented by the Gill Family for Marconi, on which he erected a 30 ft aerial (Ship to Shore)
When fog descended after the races began there was no way of viewing the races from shore. Marconi had set up a temporary station in the Harbourmasters Office in Kingstown and when transmission of the results came through, it was simple to telephone the results into the newspaper offices in the city
Before the boats returned, the newspaper printed the results in a special evening edition and sold out. The Gill family wanted to prove that printed news was still relevant in 1898, which they did. Marconi was invited to regattas all over the world and Kingstown Regatta really kick started his career
The Kingstown Regetta of 1898, was the first Journalistic/Sporting use of wireless telegraphy anywhere on the planet and became known as “The Birth of Radio”
By 1901, and aged only 27 years, Marconi conquered the Atlantic Ocean when he supervised a successful wireless telegraphy transmission from Newfoundland to Cornwall. This would mean Marconi became one of the first 20th Century superstars known the world over
By 1907 he had built a permanent wireless telegraphy radio station in Clifden, Co. Galway. In 1909 he was awarded The Nobel Prize for Physics, jointly with Karl Braun, for their contribution to Wireless Telegraphy
4. The original letter from Marconi
The letter was amongst a job lot which my father bought at a local car boot sale. It was at the same time as he was opening Ye Olde Hurdy Museum of Vintage Radio in April 2003 @ The Martello Tower #2, Howth
In the letter dated June 1st, 1919, to the Editor of the Dublin Express & Mail, Guglielmo Marconi recalls the Kingstown Regatta of 1898 fondly and thanked him for giving him the opportunity at the time
5. Edison Standard Phonograph
In December 1877, Thomas Edison and his team invented the first commercially viable Phonograph. Edison designed it for executives as a Dictaphone who could record letters so their secretaries could playback the recording and type the letter
Early on it became clear that artists, musicians & singers could hear back their voices and music for the first time. Groups crowding around the phonograph and doing their thing became commonplace. It changed how we heard ourselves
6. The Paris Aerial
In June 1940, Paris was occupied by the Nazis. One of the first things they did was to enter all homes and destroy any radios they found. The theory was to stop the Parisians listening to the Radio Paris, BBC, AFN & other stations
Many of the French radio stations went on the run to continue broadcasting, as the Nazi’s closed in on Paris. Control of the airwaves was key to controlling the Parisians
The resistance quickly created the Paris Aerial where a small radio receiver was fitted into the back of a picture frame. They would distribute them, and each family would choose a photo to be hung in the frame and then on the wall. In this case a Hollywood starlet is used to distract the soldier - Rita Hayworth
Up to this point, radios were big electronic items in big boxes. The Paris Aerial became a symbol of freedom after WW2 and was popular until the late 1960's
