Time travel machines only exist in the fertile minds of science fiction writers – or so I always believed.
Yes, there are charlatans who advertise their existence, but they’re kin to those who offer the Brooklyn Bridge for sale. Now I’m not so sure. There is a niggling grain of belief in my head that perhaps, just perhaps, they do exist.
It came about one Sunday evening while fiddling with the station dial on the 1940 Philco floor model radio that has sat gathering dust in our basement for the better part of 25 years. It’s a large bulky wooden radio that 85 years ago no doubt served as a family entertainment centre. It’s really a piece of furniture rather than just a radio. Hidden in the back opening is a mixture of different-sized glass radio tubes. These electronic devices control the flow of electrical current in a vacuum and amplify signals which come to life when connected to electrical currents. Thinking the worst that could happen if I plugged it into an outlet would be a flipped electrical breaker, how could I resist! I plugged it in, and began journey back in time.
The next step was discovering how to turn it on. It had a row of three small knobs below a large disc-like semi-circle, which has various frequencies and the names of several radio stations such as CFCF and CBM highlighted. I twirled each of the knobs until I heard a click of what I thought would be the on-off knob and waited for it to warm up. At first nothing happened, Then the glass face glowed and static began to come through accompanied by a humming sound and an unusual odor, which I hoped was just from the tubes heating up. I turned the dial slowly and the static got louder & softer, louder & softer, but I wasn’t coming up with anything. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. Nothing. I was getting ready to quit when I heard a faint transmission. Then it became clearer. I was at CFCF and heard Ella Fitzgerald singing “A Tisket, A Tasket”. Not even the accompanying static could mar it. I thought this very strange as CFCF was no longer an operating station. Perhaps it was another broadcasting facility using the 600 frequency.
I had always enjoyed the warmth and emotion “Ella” put into her songs, and I sat there captivated by the smoothness of her voice. She was a unique, one-of-a-kind songstress who is still the benchmark in musical interpretation.
Her song was followed by an announcer, indicating that next would be Glenn Miller and Moonlight Serenade. Another of my favourite pieces. Both of these artists represented a remarkable musical period, and I soon lost track of time.
The 1940s were the “Golden Age of Radio“. A period of tremendous growth for a medium that produced news and entertainment during a time of economic depression and war.
I came back to reality when the music was followed by an ad for Gillette blades. While I hadn’t heard it in many years, the lyrics instantly came back to me.
“To look sharp,
Every time you shave.
To feel sharp,
And be on the ball,
Just be sharp,
Use Gillette blue blades
For the slickest quickest shave of all.“
