[NJARC] Hands-on Radio History press release

[Alex Magoun]

Radios Alive!  Thrumming Theremins!  Rabbit fur and amber!  Hands-on Radio History
returns to the David Sarnoff Library, on July 24th, for a day of electronic
entertainment and education from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.  The program is free and open to the
public.  It will take place in Sarnoff Corporation’s Auditorium and at the David Sarnoff
Library, 201 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ.  Co-sponsored by the New Jersey Antique
Radio Club, the event promises something for all ages and all kinds of radio-curious
visitors.
    To begin with, the Radio Club offers a free clinic for radio repair and informal
appraisal.  Puzzling over the value, condition, or future of your grandparents’ old RCA
Victor, Philco, Zenith, or other antique radio from your attic, basement, or garage?
Call (609) 734-2636 to make an appointment on the hour for one-on-one attention. Many
radios can be fixed in less than 60 minutes, and the Club’s experts will do it for free!

    In addition, the Club’s experts offer informal presentations and hands-on learning
for all ages throughout the day, with no need to sign up in advance.  Alex Magoun will
explain who David Sarnoff was and how the RCA Laboratories came to Princeton in two
slideshows at 11 am and 2 pm.  Listen to one of the world’s finest thereminists, Scott
Marshall, who will introduce and play the very first electronic music synthesizer.   Try
your hand with Al Klase’s interactive demonstrations of “Radio from A-Z” to see for
yourself the natural electric and magnetic phenomena that make our wireless world
possible.
    If you harbor a warm spot in your heart for the 45 record and player, the world’s
leading authority, Phil Vourtsis, has loaned rare models and accessories from his
collection, which are on display with the world’s first 45, courtesy of Thomson/RCA.  A
working 45 record changer will play some of the music you want, when you want it, and
show why RCA switched from records made of slate powder and insect goo to discs made of
pure Vinylite!
    Noticed the all of the ads for new television sets and displays?  Compare them to
Ray Chase’s ads, magazines, and other mementos promoting or selling television from 1927
to 1947.  Remember where and how you used your first portable radio?  The Larry Boyer
collection will show you just how much radio sets have changed over time.  Smaller,
cheaper, sometimes better—it’s been a trend in consumer electronics for longer than you
think!
    Hey, where’s the remote?  Lots of knobs, only three channels, and small
screens—fifty years ago, you had to work to be a couch potato!  Alex Magoun promises
that visitors will be able to see themselves in living black and white through a 1951 TV
camera on RCA’s “million-proofed” 1948 set, and watch Mary Martin fly through the air in
the classic color Peter Pan musical of 1960 on a rare working model of RCA’s first color
set, the CT100, which celebrates its golden anniversary in 2004.

The David Sarnoff Library is located at 201 Washington Road, east of Route 1, or at the
end of Fisher Place off Route 1, north of the Washington Road traffic circle.  For more
information call 609-734-2636, or check the website at
http://www.sarnoff.com/contact/directions.asp.
oOo


--
Alexander B. Magoun Ph.D.
Executive Director
David Sarnoff Library
CN 5300
Princeton NJ 08543-5300

609-734-2636
f: 609-734-2339
amagoun at davidsarnoff.org
http://www.davidsarnoff.org/