Hi All While not really "genealogical" the following event sounds like fun and could be useful for adding some background into what things were like "back when..." even if "back when" isn't all THAT far back! Regards, Joan Joan M. Lowry mailto:jmlowry@earthlink.net > -----Original Message----- > From: > Date: Jul 10, 2005 7:45 PM > > David Sarnoff Library Open House > When: Saturday, July 16, 2005, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. > Where: Sarnoff Corporation Lounge and Auditorium and the David Sarnoff Library > What: Radio repair clinic, lectures, old-time radio for children, exhibits on innovations that changed the world > Why: To promote and appreciate the innovative spirit > Cost: Free (not including parts), contributions welcome > > Once again the David Sarnoff Library opens its doors and offers a > variety of experiences that refire the innovative spirit in visitors. > "Almost 100 years ago, David Sarnoff saw the future in electronic > communications," says Executive Director Dr. Alex Magoun. "He and > countless engineers, scientists, and staff at RCA and related companies > have worked since then to make that future happen. We're pleased to show > off some of their accomplishments and have visitors experience some of > the cultural changes that resulted from their innovations." > > Dr. Magoun will give an illustrated lecture on that theme, David Sarnoff > and the Innovative Spirit, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Auditorium. The > basis for the coming redesign of the Library's exhibits, the lecture > shows how Sarnoff expanded the possibilities for electronic media > throughout his life and through the legacy of Princeton's David Sarnoff > Research Center. > > There were will be numerous other activities as well, including > > 1. Gary Wilson, Public Information Officer of the American Radio Relay > League, will offer a display and offer visitors use of an amateur radio > station. Amateur radio volunteers and their technology operate emergency > communications in networks throughout the world wherever power lines > have failed; they also use the technology for Morse and voice > communications as a hobby that dates back to the beginning of Sarnoff's > career one hundred years ago. > > 2. Visitors can compare radio culture for children in the 1920s and > 1930s with the electronic entertainments that they enjoy today through > computer games and DVDs, courtesy of Friends of the Library Jerry and > Marsha Simkin. What did people listen to on the radio 50-70 years ago? > Hear for yourself on a variety of working antiques... > > 3. Puzzling over the value, condition, or future of your old radio? The > New Jersey Antique Radio Club offers a free clinic. Call (609) 734-2636 > with the make and model to make an appointment on the hour for > one-on-one attention. Many radios can be fixed in less than 60 minutes, > and the New Jersey Antique Radio Club's experts will do it for free! > Parts are not included but are generally surprisingly inexpensive. > > 4. The museum will be open and include the following exhibits. > > A. Sarnoff's career started with radio, which looked quite different > from today's products. RCA's first radio from 1922 would have a hard > time fitting on your bedside table, or in your car or pocket. The 1928 > RCA-Victor home entertainment system that Sarnoff conceived of, > combining record player and radio, probably wouldn't fit with the decor > in your home either, and it doesn't play digital media. > > B. Remember records? You can see an exhibit showing the iPod of its > generation, RCA Victor's revolutionary record changer from 1949 and the > seven colors that 45s first appeared in. The world's first 45, invented > in Camden, in a Columbia cylinder Graphophone, which will play some of > the sounds you want, when you want it. > > C. Electronics became smaller with Bell Labs' invention of the > transistor, and researchers in Princeton improved on it to make possible > the smaller and versatile devices on which we rely today. See the > world's first transistor radio and the first solid-state video camera, > designed and built at the David Sarnoff Research Center in the early > 1950s. See yourself in living black and white through a 1951 TV camera > on the 1948 RCA television--both built in Camden--that started America's > video age. > > D. RCA's first color television, the CT100, is rarer than a Stradivarius > violin but you can watch Mary Martin fly through the air in the classic > color Peter Pan musical of 1960, as well as other color movies during > the day. > > E. Why do televisions have to be so boxy? Former DSRC researcher George > Heilmeier just won the Kyoto Prize for leading a team in the invention > of the first liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in 1968, based on a > discovery about liquid crystals' electro-optic properties by the DSRC's > Richard Williams. The RCA LCDs inspired researchers around the world to > develop the flat panel screens we use in everything from cell phones to > wall-size video. You can see the notebooks and early LCDs on display. > > Call (609) 734-2636 for more information, and visit davidsarnoff.org for > directions. > > This event is made possible in part through a general operating support > grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, Department of State. > > -- > Alexander B. Magoun, Ph.D. > David Sarnoff Library > 201 Washington Road, CN 5300 > Princeton, NJ 08543-5300 > <snip> > www.davidsarnoff.org >