Bob Wilhelm’s Q&A

On Thursday, February 18, the FAH Behind the Steam program examines the Westinghouse Model RC Regenerative Radio currently on display in the Marshall Steam Museum. Known as the Radiola RC when Radio Corporation of America began selling the model, this radio was a collaboration between Westinghouse Electric Company and General Electric who commercially developed the “audion” or “valves” (what we refer to as electron vacuum tubes today) used within the radio. Featured guest for Behind the Steam will be Donna Acerra, Professor of Communication at Northampton Community College, discussing the early history of radio. 

Offered between 1920 and 1923, the Radola RC consisted of the Westinghouse RA Tuner and Westinghouse DA Detector-Amplifier packaged in a single enclosure, selling for $130 ($1,800 equivalent in 2020). It is estimated that approximately 145,000 units were produced at the start of the 1920s. Station KDKA of Pittsburgh, PA, the first commercial radio station (owned by Westinghouse Electric), might have been received on the Marshall Radiola RC at the start of the 1920s. Clarence probably chose a closer AM station (commercial FM radio would not happen until 1937) with a stronger signal for listening. What local radio stations might Clarence and Esther have listened to?

Answer
It is likely the Westinghouse Radiola RC was a wedding gift to Clarence and Ester in June 1921. There were numerous privately owned amateur radio stations broadcasting during daytime hours (random schedules and times) and at night listeners might tune into distant stations in Canada, South America, and Europe depending on ‘atmospherics’ and the state of the ‘ether’. In radio’s infancy, the ether or atmosphere above the clouds, was described as medium in which radio energy traveled between transmitter and receivers. The physical condition of the atmosphere, or atmospherics, on any given day affected early radio wave transmission and determined the quality and how well distant stations might be received.

In Wilmington, in 1920, the last year of licensed amateur-only radio before licensed commercial radio, there was 3RE operated by Joseph A. Barkley, 3WF operated by Albert Briggs, 3BE operated by Frederick R. Gooding, 3KK operated by David L. Ott, Jr., 3UO operated by Robert K. Pierson, 3NP operated by Leroy H. Ryan, and 3OX operated by Joseph S. Tatnall. These stations operated between 24 and 1,000 watts of transmitting power. Starting with a ‘3’, these stations were all in the nation’s 3^rd radio licensing district.

The U.S. Commerce Department began issuing commercial radio licenses in late December 1920 but it wasn’t until 1923 that several northern Delaware radio stations applied for commercial licensing. Wilmington had WHAV, WOAT, and WPAW by June 1923. WHAV and WOAT were 50-watt stations while WPAW was licensed as a 10-watt station. All three were limited-hours operations and short lived.

The closest radio stations ‘as the crow flies’ would have been those in Philadelphia, PA and Camden, NJ roughly 40 miles distant. These stations would have had the strongest signals (500-watt transmitters or higher) and thus been the easiest to tune in with the early vacuum tube regenerative technology. There were also stations in Baltimore and the nation’s capital which were more distant but still could be received in Yorklyn.

Four Philadelphia stations were associated with large department stores in downtown Philadelphia. Radio broadcast stations were popular with department stores as they supported the store’s radio department and could be used for store advertising. All three AM stations began operations in mid-March 1922 with two still operating today. Perhaps the best-known today is WIP Radio started by Gimbel Brothers atop their Philadelphia department store. WIP was Philadelphia’s first commercial radio broadcast station and lasted in various programming formats and frequencies until 2014 when it transitioned to being an FM broadcast station.

John Wanamaker’s WOO in Philadelphia was perhaps the most widely listened to. The first of two stations the department store chain operated; WOO offered daily programs on the world’s largest pipe organ with an orchestra. WOO is known to have been heard in South Africa, Norway, France, Germany as well as the west coast of the USA. While WOO lasted until February 1929, WWZ in Wanamaker’s New York City store operated until late 1923. Interestingly both of these AM radio stations began as American Marconi Morse Code stations (WHE in Philadelphia and WHI in New York City) in 1911 transmitting and receiving wireless telegraphy messaging of Wanamaker sales information until late 1921.

WDAR began operations in 1922 broadcasting from the Lit Brothers department store in Philadelphia and is now WJMX. The other AM station still existing today is WFI (now WFIL, a Christian based station). WFI’s license was originally granted to Strawbridge & Clothier department store.

Of the non-department store broadcast stations that operated in the Philadelphia and Camden area, one is still broadcasting in 2021. WCAU started in 1922, changed call letters on several occasions (WOGL, WGMP, WPTS) before becoming WPHT. WGL in Philadelphia operated between February 1922 and December 1924 while WRP in Camden, NJ operated from March 1922 until August 1923.

The next closest stations to Yorklyn, DE would have been those in Baltimore, MD (~75 miles distant) and in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. (~115 miles distant). WKC operated in Baltimore while nine stations were in operation in D.C. between 1921 and 1925; WDM, WDW, WEAS, WIL, WJH, WMU, and WPM. WCAO, and WEAR. Ten stations in New York City and Newark, NJ (~125 miles distant) might have been received by the Marshall Radiola RC including New York City stations WBAY, WDT, WEAF, WJX, WJZ* and WWZ along with Newark NJ stations WAAM, WBS, WDY, and WOR* (* – still operating today).

Pictured is the UV-200 Detector electron vacuum tube (right, upper) and the UV-201 Amplifier electron vacuum tube (left, lower) used in the Westinghouse Radiola Model RC Regenerative Radio. One UV-200 and two UV-201 tubes were required for the Model RC. There were numerous manufacturers licensed to produce these tubes and they went through several mechanical changes (longer pins, change of base material, etc.) during the period they were manufactured. Both tubes were functionally equivalent in internal construction except that the UV-200 had a trace amount of Argon added to improve performance. The UV-201 and its variants was the most popular tube of the 1920s.

Nearly 1,000 products manufactured between 1920 and 1926 used one or both of these first-generation commercial vacuum tube types. They found use in radio frequency detectors and amplifiers and audio frequency amplifiers. Obviously no longer available, radio collectors have constructed modern electronic equivalent circuits that perform similar to two valves. The construction of such valve equivalents, the addition of a horn speaker, outdoor antenna, batteries or DC power supplies, and a sufficient ground connection would be all that is needed to have the Westinghouse Radiola RC sounding as Clarence once heard it.

Popcorn has been around for centuries. Ceremonial wreaths, necklaces, and ornaments on the statues of Aztec gods contained ears of popcorn, corn kernels, and popped flakes Native American dance rituals of various indigenous peoples included corsages and headdresses made with ears of popcorn, corn kernels, and the flowery petals of popped kernels. The Iroquois and other tribes believed that quiet, contented, spirits lived within each kernel. These spirits become angry when their peaceful kernel home became too hot. Exhibiting their displeasure, a popcorn spirit danced aggressively, resulting in the spirit’s kernel home jumping about. Eventually the corn kernel exploded as the outraged spirit exited his home in a flash of smoke (steam water vapor) to seek a more comforting kernel home.

Later this month, on January 21^st at 7 PM, the first program of 2021’s Behind the Steam series will occur. The topic is the Cretors Steam Popcorn Popper and how Charles Cretors’s first steam-powered peanut roasting machine, constructed in 1885, became the start of a family-owned business into the 21^st century. Pictured right: an electric Cretors Popcorn Machine at the F.G. Lindsay Store circa 1925, Washington, D.C. (Shorpy Photographs).

The worldwide popcorn market, including both ready-to-eat and pop-it-yourself categories, is projected to reach $15 billion by 2023. The popcorn we enjoy today is grown to ensure very few “old maids” (unpopped kernels) and that the endosperm (soft core material) within each pericarp (shell) explodes into the largest butterfly or mushroom shape possible. Americans love to lather on butter, caramel, salts, and seasonings to enjoy this tasty snack.

Without the benefit of Cretors’ machinery that revolutionized the consumption of popcorn, how did Native Americans and even early American settlers prepare popcorn?

Answer
Before the introduction of Charles Cretors’s machinery, popping corn was not a simple task. Ideally a harvested kernel stripped from a corn cob needs to contain around 14% moisture. A kernel’s typical popping temperature is near 350° Fahrenheit. As the kernel’s temperature rapidly rises past 212° Fahrenheit, the encapsulated endosperm moisture transforms to steam and pressure builds within the pericarp. When the steam pressure within the kernel reaches approximately 130 pounds per square inch, the shell violently ruptures while the steam entrapped within the endosperm explosively expands the soft endosperm material forming the classic mushroom or butterfly shape. A popped kernel is referred to as a “popcorn flake.”

Due to the pericarp’s impervious characteristics, the eating of unpopped popcorn kernels may break teeth and do not digest in our stomachs, resulting in intestinal pain and discomfort. Native Americans placed kernels in a mortar and crushed them with a pestle to form a flour. Sifted through coarse cloth to remove shell fragments and debris, the flour can be mixed with milk, honey, fruit, and similar flavorings and served as a morning meal. Popcorn soup made from the popped kernels was enjoyed by the Iroquois and other tribes. Popcorn flour was dried and mixed with honey to form a biscuit for consumption on hunting trips providing quick nourishment similar to a shack.

Native Americans formed large shallow flat clay pans that they could set on rocks atop a hot bed of embers. The bottom of the pan was lightly covered with corn kernels followed by covering the kernels with a thin layer of coarse sand or fine gravel to insure uniform heating of the kernels. An earthen or bark cover kept the kernels from leaving the vessel upon popping. Once the last of the ‘spirits’ vacated the kernels, the pan was removed and the popped corn kernels were picked out, the sand/gravel blown off, and eaten. Alternatively, a couple ears of corn might be placed in an earthen crock filled with coarse sand or fine gravel where the kernels popped on the cob (pictured).

While only the wealthiest American settlers might have access to one of Benjamin Thompson’s (inventor of the thermos bottle as well!) early 1800’s stove designs, cast iron stoves became widely available in the mid-19^th century, consuming wood or coal for fuel. For most Americans, cooking was performed at open hearth fireplaces or at a classic campfire-type configuration until the 1900s. Popcorn was often cooked over an open fire, including a cabin fireplace heating the structure, in enclosed wire baskets. Where covered pans were used, in place of sand or gravel, animal derived oils of the day such as bacon fat, lard, or tallow were used. Cretors’ invention was based around a steam engine continuously agitating the corn kernels at a controlled temperature in a pan containing special blend of fats, oils, and ingredients. The cooking aroma from Cretors’s secret blend of bacon fat, butter, salt, and seasonings transformed popcorn from a novelty to a mainstream snack food. Cretors graduated popcorn to being about the sights, sounds, and smells of it being prepared as well as the taste of the salty flakes.

Today we have all sorts of flavorings to enhance our popped flakes. Southwest Native Americans, such as the Navajo, Hopi, and Ute, gathered peanuts, which were heated along with the corn kernels in the sand-filled pans. A small blend of roasted and shelled peanuts, placed in a stone mortar, were ground to a butter-like consistency with a pestle. Added to the mortar’s peanut butter might be honey or Boxelder Tree sap (a southwestern native of the Maple Tree with a unique taste more reminiscent of caramel than maple), ground rock salt, and other finely ground native plant seeds, berries, and leaves. As the popcorn flakes and peanuts were picked from the popping pan, they are dipped in the mortar’s “flavoring” before eating.

For FAH volunteers who have worked on one or more of the collection’s Stanleys, it is learned early on that some of the screw and bolt fasteners used on various parts of the engine and body are not standard thread sizes found in common use today. In checking the author’s copy of List of Parts Used to Make a Complete Model 735 Car,  issued by the Stanley Motor Carriage Co. of Newton, Massachusetts, on April 1, 1918, we find various lengths of ^#5-32 Round Head Machine Screws and ¼”-30 Fillister Head Machine Screws listed (the first number is the diameter, the second number is the threads per inch). Today, the common sizes in use would be ^#5-40 or ^#5-44 and ¼”-20 or ¼”-28.

Pictured below is a Craftsman Vanadium-series open-end wrench or spanner, as it is referenced in Britain. Sears Roebuck & Company (owned by Stanley Black & Decker since 2017) contracted with various tool manufacturers to produce the Craftsman line sold through Sears-branded catalogs beginning in 1927. In 1932, Craftsman introduced “Vanadium Steel” wrenches that tested 50% lighter yet 200% stronger than their previously offered wrenches.

Note that the open-end wrench pictured below is marked 3/8 W and 7/16 W. A quick check using a ruler reveals the openings physically measure 11/16″ and 13/16″ wide, respectively. While the wrench and others in the set were produced long after Stanley steam car production ceased, what sort of fastener is the wrench designed for?

Answer
In the 1800s, as the Industrial Revolution was taking hold worldwide, screw and bolt fasteners were manufactured by any number of ironworking shops. One can only imagine the diversity of screws and bolts produced. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, at the urging of Congress, released a report in 1861 defining a set of fastener standards based on the work of William Sellers that the U.S. Congress adopted as the “United States Thread” standard. The U.S. Navy, as well as many of this nation’s railroads, converted to using only United States Thread-compliant screws, bolts, and nuts by 1870. The great advantage being that compliance ensured screws and bolts, and their associated nuts, were interchangeable between manufacturers.

After World War I, it was realized that while a standard existed, there were issues that needed addressing. The National Screw Thread Commission was established by an Act of Congress in 1918 and by 1921 issued a preliminary report of the Commission’s recommendations. As a result, the “American National Standard” form of screw thread was born based on the existing standard. The American National Standard includes two series: National Coarse-Thread and National Fine-Thread, both in use today. In 1948 the National Standard Thread was changed to the Unified National Standard Thread, when the U.S. standard was adopted by Britain and Canada for use on war equipment.

In developing the National Standard screw thread, the Commission adopted many of the principals and specifications of the Whitworth Thread, which was used by British railways and industry. The Whitworth system, defined by Joseph Whitworth in 1841, became the world’s first screw thread standard and was the British standard until replaced with British Association Standard Thread. A difference not adopted was maintaining Sellers’s 60-degree thread angle instead of the 55-degrees used on Whitworth threads. Whitworth rounded the peaks and valleys of the thread, which Sellers left flat. The rounded edges and corners reduce stress points where fractures often originate providing Whitworth threads superior fatigue strength. The Whitworth thread was a preferred choice for many American locomotive builders for firebox stay bolts in the 1800s and early 1900s due to strength advantages while Sellers threads were extensively found throughout the rest of the locomotive.

The wrench pictured in our question is for Whitworth bolts! The Whitworth system defines a bolt based on the diameter of the bolt shaft and not the dimensions across the flats of the bolt’s head or matching nut, as is current practice in the United States. Thus, the wrench pictured will work for either a 3/8″ or 7/16″ diameter Whitworth Thread bolt. The U.S. National Standard would use a 9/16″ wrench (the distance across the flats of the bolt’s head or nut) for a 3/8″ diameter bolt with either National Coarse or National Fine threads.