Electronics-Themed Comics
November 1940 Radio News

November 1940 Radio News

[Table of Contents] Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Radio & Television News, published 1919-1959. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

It's about time for another bunch of technical-themed comics from my vintage electronics magazines. These four are from a 1940 issue of Radio News. With many of them (these and others - see huge list of links at the bottom), you might need to have a little insight into the radio communications consumer and military markets of the era to fully appreciate the humor, but with most you can infer the meaning even if you don't know the specifics. Some themes still apply today, like the influence of your body adding capacitance to the tuning circuit of a radio to the extent that a station comes in loud and clear while your fingers are on the dial or while you are near the radio, then fades once you move away. It then becomes a challenge to detune a bit to one side or the other, then move away and see if the station comes in clear. If not, you detune in the other direction and see if that works. Sometimes, the only solution is to situate yourself near the radio to get a good signal. 30 minutes later, everything can change and you go through the ritual all over again. Integrated circuit tuners have largely eliminated that problem, but there are still many around affected by body capacitance.

Electronics Themed Comics

"Say, how can I repair this using signal-tracing if I ain't got a map?"
(Page 11)

"Hello, Radio Repair? Why is it that after six trips my radio still doesn't work well?"
(Page 33)

"This is my new invention to off-set all hand capacity when tuning.
(Page 36)

"Sory! Can't rescue you! We are in a hurry to go to the big council dance at the Sherman Hotel, Oct. 26 - You had better swim there! Going to be a swell affair! "
(Page 38)

Posted March 24, 2022