Lafayette Radio – A story about Lafayette Radio? Not the store that sold you that old quadraphonic tuner, but the one million watt station in France, as told by SoWP member Joe Hallock, 148-SSGP. Complete with photos.
WW II Tale by Unknown Author – What happened if you were on a US merchant ship mid-Pacific on December 7, 1941? A gripping first-hand account by an unidentified radioman describes the confusion, mistakes, and the terror of the Japanese attacks.
One Man Army – Buck Williford, 2114-V, a radiotelegrapher attached to the OSS, directed German troops to their doom and was the first to receive the Wehrmacht’s offer to surrender 2 million troops in Italy. Was he some kind of one-man army? Find out.
Buehler Story – In 1992 SoWP member Hans Buehler, 3028-M, was arrested in Iran, taken to a military prison, interrogated almost daily, and charged with espionage. He spent the next 9-1/2 months there, often in solitary confinement, before being released, and credited his Radio Officer’s training with helping him stay alive and sane. A fascinating story in his own words.
ED Stevens SF Earthquake – Old-time wireless operator and SoWP member E.D. Stevens was aboard the U.S.S. Chicago when it received a message for Admiral Goodrich describing the devastating earthquake in San Francisco. Read the century-old message here.
Mayes & Espenschied on DeForest – How much did Dr. Lee DeForest really get from AT&T for his patents on the triode? According to Lloyd Espenscheid it was much more than he claimed. Warning: Be prepared for DeForest disparagement!
About Maass – Memories of pioneer Charlie Maass, 580-P: what he accomplished from shipboard to Western Electric to Alaska, by Al Johnson.
Lewis Clement Bio – Alexander Seidl, the chief engineer at the Marconi spark stations in Bolinas and Kahuku, wrote of the passing of radio pioneer Lewis M. Clement, SGP-153 and gave us a short biography of this true pioneers life.
McCarty Letter 13Jan1905 – Letter said to be from Francis McCarty to his brother Ignatius. According to Tim Christen (TA-14), who sent this copy to SoWP, Ignatius was attending Santa Clara College (now Santa Clara University) where he must have studied with Father Bell, an early radio pioneer.
Christen Letter 25May1972 – Letter from Tim Christen (see above) to Bill Breniman explaining attached McCarty Wireless photos, letter, and how he obtained McCarty Wireless equipment at a “hippie store in SF”!
CTUA Strike Letter – The first strike by wireless operators (radiomen) was against the Marconi company by west coast operators back in 1913. Read about one man’s experiences with it at this link.
DeForest on Marconi – In 1920 radio engineer Robert Gowen, who worked for Lee DeForest, set new distance records for radio telephony from station 2XX in Ossining, New York. Read how DeForest compared this with Marconi accomplishments in his letter to New York newspapers on “An American Invention Which Marconi is Using” courtesy of the Ossining Historical Society Museum.
ON THE PACIFIC COAST – Early West Coast radio history as remembered many decades later by one of its pioneers, SoWP member Bernard Linden, 400-SGP.
Gordon Pascoe Reminiscences – A mutiny, a knife fight, firing at whales, radio operators lined up and shot, a junkie ship officer in need of a fix… Gordon Pascoe, 33-P, tells all in this fascinating account of his early adventures.
An Early Australian Radiotelegrapher Remembers – Ellis Henry Smellie, 2650-SSGP tells it like it was about landline versus Continental Morse, cracking a WWI German code, SOS adventures, and much more. His memoirs serve up a slice of a world Downunder now lost.
Almon Gray Story – What was it like to be catapulted off of a US Navy cruiser at 100 MPH on a biplane? To be the radioman on a 1930s US Navy scouting plane meant more than just handling the radio. Radioman Second Class (later Captain) Almon A. Gray tells us about it, complete with photographs in “Radio Operating the Hard Way.”
Clement Letter to Giesel – SoWP member Lewis Clement relates the story of how the Captain told him NOT to send an SOS as the S.S. Spokane began to sink in cold northern waters back in 1911, and what happened thereafter.
Johnstone Letter to Breniman – SoWP President Richard Johnstone on the Wapama radio room and Jane Morgan’s book “Electronics in the West: The First Fifty Years”
Underhill SoWP Letters – Charles R. Underhill Jr., 1900-P was an RCA executive, cancer survivor, and later a professional bee keeper who had personally known Professsor Hazeltine, Paul Godley, and David Sarnoff. Read his reminiscences to SoWP here.
Armstrong Underhill Letters – Correspondence between Charles Underhill Jr, his father, and Edwin Howard Armstrong about the crystal set that Armstrong had built for them back in 1908, which was being donated to a museum
Crystaloi Letter – Letter from the Eugene T. Turney Company to Haller-Cunningham Electric in San Francisco on their new CRYSTALOI WIRELESS DETECTOR
Pratt Letters – Early pioneer and later Presidential Adviser Haraden Pratt on the origins of PH and KPH, on guarding the station with a six-shooter, and a unique method for adjusting the resistance of a power rheostat. Radio history at its richest…
Haskell AARS – Don Haskell, 3437-P recalled his days of being a certified Army Amateur Radio Station (AARS) in the 1930s. See his reminiscences, certificate, and the many US Army Z-codes then in use
Breniman Letter to Brattland – Bill Breniman writes about unions and unionism with insights, realism, and compassion
Meister Letter to Geisel – George Meister, 445-P on the effect of hearing loss on a radioman’s career, the story of Theron Bean and the wreck of the SS Dumaru, and more
Egolf Letter to Breniman – SoWP member Richard Egolf, 71-SGP, relates how he came by photos and documents about early pioneer Ben Beckerman, most of which are now posted on this website
Stevens Letter to Beckerman – Radiomarine Corporation of America executive Thomas Stevens congratulates Ben Beckerman for his “timely escape from Davy Jones’ locker” in 1933
KHJ QSL Letter – Letter from KHJ Los Angeles station manager to SoWP member Charles Biele, 768-P, confirming his reception of the station 8000 miles away in New Zealand in 1924!
Colony Kinsley Letter – Colony Kinsley Parrott letter summarizing her father’s contributions to early wireless and explaining enclosures
Kinsley Witness Letter – Witnessing document by Walter Taylor on having seen Carl Kinsley’s wireless setup working “in a perfect manner” in 1899
Kinsley Letter 26Sep1900 – Letter from Carl Kinsley averring that his system “is entirely different from Marconi’s”
Churchill M Letter to Kinsley – Letter from M. Churchill thanking Kinsley for his Radio Intelligence Service work, from 1919
Ray Green 1928 Diary – The trials and tribulations of installing early aviation radio equipment in South Florida by Ray Green, 395-SGP
Fall River Line – Breaking into wireless on Massie-equipped steamboats in 1913 by spark gap pioneer Ray Green. Reprinted from Sparks Journal Vol 3, No. 1.
Lusitania Letterhead – Letter from Don Templeton to Arthur Jacoby dated June 6, 1917, notable not so much for what it says but what it says it on. Note: the Lusitania was sunk in 1915, so this letterhead must have been taken from the ship and used a few years later.
Music For Brasspounder – What one heard through one’s headphones as Radio Officer aboard Pan Am’s China Clipper, by Floyd Penning, 3060-P
Ray Green Pan Am Letters – Extracts from the adventures of Ray Green, 395-SGP, in setting up Pan Am’s first radio and RDF facilities in South Florida and Cuba in 1928
C. B. Cooper Biography – Early radio pioneer, builder of United Wireless stations, proponent of US Navy ownership of radio, C.B. Cooper bio by SoWP member Bob Palmer
KPH History Letter – Contains an account of the first US mainland to Hawaii wireless transmission, October 12, 1918
Sauerwine Sea Diary Excerpts Part 1 – Fixing the wireless and dodging torpedoes aboard the USS Missouri as it steams across the Atlantic in World War One
Old Salt Letter – Letter from RH Mattox in 1983 with a truly harrowing tale…
RHG Mathews Letter 022475 – Letter from RHG Mathews accompanying his SoWP application form
RHG Mathews Letter 011775 – Letter from RHG Mathews in Mexico to Bill Breniman inquiring about SoWP membership
Letters on DeForest – Exchange of letters between Wm. Breniman and Thorne Mayes in March, 1971 concerning Dr. Lee DeForest and his contributions to radio
George Hubbard on UW 1960 – Memories of United Wireless, with hookup schematic
George Hubbard Letter 6 Nov 1960 – Letter to Ed Marriner detailing his career, SOS adventure in 1911
George Hubbard Postcard 10 Mar 1961 – Mentioning get-together with Dickow, old-timers before there was a SoWP
George Hubbard Letter 29 Mar 1961 – Hubbard updates Ed Marriner on status of many old-time radio operators
AF Krenke Letter 30 Jan 1961 Pt 1 – Letter to Ed Marriner on early wireless manufacturers, Amazon wireless!
AF Krenke Letter 30 Jan 1961 Pt 2. pdf – Krenke’s career in wireless going back to Avalon (Catalina Island) station in 1903
AF Krenke Letter 17 Feb 1961 – Krenke letter to Ed Marriner describing early wireless station photos (unfortunately not attached)
Gale Johnson Letter Undated – Gale H. Johnson letter to Ed Marriner describing wireless station NPZ
Dorchester Letter 26 Aug 1961 – Alfred W. Dorchester describes his work for Dr. Lee DeForest in 1905 through 1912
Joe Hallock Letter Undated – Joe Hallock, 148-SGP on his career with United Wireless station DZ, ships, FCC. Radio amateur from 1907!
Vincent Kraft Letter Undated – Kraft letter to Ed Marriner on United Wireless and early Canadian government stations
Hugo Gernsback Letter 22 Dec 1960 – Hugo Gernsback letter to Ed Marriner on the availability of articles on United Wireless in MODERN ELECTRICS
AudioTron Letter 21 Feb 1916 – Letter from AudioTron Sales, San Francisco, dealing with DeForest patent suit and AudioTron availability. Buy now or never…
Packard Reminiscences Part 1 – Account by radioman Lyman W. Packard of his experiences on the SS Antietam (KONR) in 1924
Packard Reminiscences Part 2 – Account by radioman Lyman W. Packard of his experiences on the MS Lio (KDSO) in 1926
Packard Reminiscences Part 3 – Account by radioman Lyman W. Packard of his experiences in India, the Phillipines, etc. in 1926-7. “Signed off the Solana, which ends my sea career.”
Carl Lindh Letters – Letters about Carl Lindh, 676-SGP, his seagoing adventures and radio career, sent to Waldo Boyd from his son, Carl
More About SoWP – Letter from Executive Secretary Waldo Boyd to the IRS regarding the change in SoWP status from fraternal to educational organization
