It came to mind recently that, as I plan to acquire a new desktop computer, I should review what all I have stored in this old computer, such as documents and pictures. Therefore, what you are about to look at and read about is a group of photos I believe I’ve not shared previously. There is no particular theme except that, in most cases, two pictures are shared, which are connected in some way; so, let’s go!
While Major Edwin Armstrong is not the inventor of the radio as such, he did invent some elements that definitely helped refine the quality of AM radio’s receivers and their audio quality. Yet, more importantly, he is the inventor of frequency modulation (FM) radio, which took radio transmission to a whole new level in sound quality, eliminating static caused by electrical lines and lightning storms.
On the left above is a tower Major Armstrong had built in the 1930s for experimental purposes. It sits on the New Jersey palisades, the cliffs that border the west side of the Hudson River just above the George Washington Bridge; it still stands today, being used for a variety of communications purposes. And, some years ago, he was honored by the postal service with his own commemorative first-class stamp.
This promo sheet and photo about Arthur Godfrey was issued just weeks before he would gain national fame through his reporting on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s brief time in Washington following his death two days earlier. As published by the Library of Congress, author Christopher Sterling wrote:
FDR would be in Washington only briefly — about five hours laying in state in the White House’s East Room. What is remembered as his “funeral” was the brief procession from Washington’s Union Station to the White House and his brief laying in state. Arthur Godfrey was already a 15-year local radio veteran when, based on his role as the network’s morning man in the nation’s capital, he was added to CBS Radio’s team of journalists covering the FDR procession taking place on Saturday, April 14th. Positioned near the White House, overlooking the procession’s route, Godfrey gave a detailed and emotionally-wrought description, including of the caisson carrying the President’s body. He was providing what in sports events today is often termed ‘color,’ describing for those unable to see them, the people in the procession as well as those watching it go by, the overall scene, and some of the events of FDR’s brief, final stopover in Washington.
Christopher Sterling
At this point, it was just weeks before the European part of World War Two would be brought to a conclusion.
However, five years earlier, at the beginning of the 1940s, Great Britain and the members of the British Empire, such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, were gearing up for war with Germany. With many of the men of fighting age being called into the service, the plea was put out across the British Isles for non-disabled women to pick up the work previously being done by men.
While I’m talking about Great Britain, let’s stay over there. On the left is Joy Fox, the wife of acclaimed English musical conductor and arranger John Fox. In this 1981 photo, Joy is sitting in the front doorway of their home in the village of Banstead in Surrey, south of London.
John spent several years on the staff of the British Broadcasting Corporation and, in the 1980s, arranged and conducted more than 200 orchestral recordings of popular melodies for our company, Bonneville Broadcast Consultants, which were then heard in the programming of the more than 200 radio stations across the U. S. for which we provided musical programming and consulting services.
On the right, Joy is joined by my wife Alicia at what I am pretty sure is the wedding of Joy’s daughter, Marion … who had emigrated to the United States, following the “love of her life” who had earlier run off to America, which he believed offered better opportunities.
On one of my last visits to Rockland, Maine … which sits on the central coast just below the popular tourist destination of Camden, I spotted this historical marker.
And since it mentions the legendary Blues giant, which I had the pleasure of meeting just once, which now goes back nearly 20 years ago, I’ll again share this long-lost photo of yours truly with B. B. King … taken when B. B. visited the Bluesville channel studio at XM Satellite Radio in Washington, D. C. circa 2006. He asked to meet the person who programmed XM’s 1940s/ Big Band channel; as I was the guilty party, I was summoned to “Bluesville.” I had no complaints about going to meet this great man.
Closing out this part of Marlin’s Picture Show, I offer something for the rail aficionados within my readership.
While I have no idea how the photo on the left landed in my hands, I’ve been able to trace it to the 2009 Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, which is annually held in Harbin, China. However, I’ve found no information regarding the creators of this masterpiece. Obviously, it is just as strong as it is large, based on the person standing on a portion of it, as seen on the right side of the photo.
As for the scene on the right, the New England Historical Society tells it this way: “Deep in the heart of northern Maine’s Allagash region sit two ghost locomotives silently rusting in the wilderness. Only a few intrepid canoers, hikers, and snowmobilers can see the hulking machines miles from any road or railhead.
The last of the great independent loggers, King Ed Lacroix … built a 13-mile railroad in the middle of the Allagash — some would call it nowhere — to haul pulpwood to Maine paper mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket.
When the locomotives cooled down for the last time in 1933, they were simply left in the woods.” You can read the full story here.
