Time Machine!

[Wild Root]

Magic!

Well, tonight I felt like taking a little jaunt to pick up some food… I had washed the car earlier tonight and felt it was just a beautiful night to go for a little ride.

I end up at Wendy’s and got some grub... I then drove over to a favorite parking spot in the north part of Arcadia just south of Sera Madre. It was on a very dark, quiet street, just the sounds of crickets… I parked the car and kept the motor idling I then hit play on my CD player in the glove box… I have a CD that is full of Goodman and Miller radio broadcasts… I skipped a head to some of the Moonlight Serenade broadcasts that played every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday… As the radio warmed up and the sound of Moonlight Serenade came over the original speaker of my car... looking at the soft glow of the radio dial and hearing that song and the announcer’s voice introducing Glenn… and hearing Glenn speak… it was as if I had transported back to the 40’s! I sat there eating my dinner as I heard a broadcast that was originally broadcasted on a Wednesday night… I know my car is a ’46 but, the radio they used in earlier models were pretty much the same… same with the dash board… not much difference between a ’42 and a ’46 Plymouth. Any ways, in the dark hearing that music over that old mono speaker… it was as if I was in the 40’s for that moment… Magic! I got serious chills down my back… it was eerie but, familiar… I felt so at peace… it almost brought a tear to my eyes… Wow, how beautiful that music was over a lousy mono 60 year old speaker… who needs stereo? Who needs bass and all that razzmatazz? Not me man, I love the sound it makes, the soft buzz of the radio’s vibrator and the sound of these old broadcasts, sitting in an old car in an old neighborhood late at night… that’s the closest thing to a time machine! Wow, I can’t describe just how amazing it was and how much more it made me feel a part of it!

For the guys out there with vintage cars who are looking for a fun way to play music in your autos… take the radio out and have someone hook up a coax cable with a regular CD player jack to the radio… there’s a way to by pass the radio when the CD player is plugged in… which turns the radio into an amplifier for the CD player. This will keep it cheap and also stock with out changing anything… you can feed the wire into the glove box very easily… just take a simple personal CD player and keep it in the glove box... you’ll just see how easy it is… all you’ll have to do is keep a pair of spare AA batteries on hand.

The end product is pure nostalgia! Nothing comes more close to how the big bands sounded live on the radio in the 40’s then this… it is amazing!

=WR=

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Boy, I think I'd get a little misty eyed as well. "Moonlight Serenade" in particular always casts my mind back to the young fellows who listened to it when it was first recorded and played on the radio, and who went off to war and didn't come back, including Miller himself.

Oh, and theres' a 1942 Plymouth Coupe on the Bay right now that was built at the old MoPar plant in Los Angeles and first sold just over the hill in Littlerock in October of 1941. Dang, I want it! Need to ask the boss for a raise...

 

[Wild Root]

Thanks for the post Tony, I feel the same way about most of Miller's music... that's one thing I love about it, it makes me think of all the guys who came home and who didn't... all the good times and bad... all these feelings rolled into one song... Moonlight Serenade! Powerful stuff this nostalgia!

Tony, that would be cool if you got a '42! Even more so one that has history to your area! How much is it at right now?

=WR=

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Reserve not met at $3,550, buy it now is $10,500. Ya know, it would be no trick to finance a new car for that much, but a '42? [huh]

Can't think of that now, I'd have to park it on the street, and even in a nice neighborhood like this one, naah.

 

[KAT]

im glad you have a radio in Jenny now...
and glad you got something to eat too

 

[CharlieH.]

Aaah! Nothing like Moonlight Serenade coming out of a vintage radio. It must be even more amazing when in a '46 Plymouth. Kinda reminds me of the first time I turned on my Philco on Christmas eve. First thing I heard was Bing Crosby, the Andrews sisters and then Doris Day... the best yuletide in my life!

Speaking of Glenn Miller broadcasts:

http://www.umkc.edu/lib/spec-col/ww2/Dday/bugle-boys-txt.htm#boogie-woogie

Scroll down to listen Miller's AEF band in and armed forces broadcast.... in german!

 

[The Reno Kid]

For the guys out there with vintage cars who are looking for a fun way to play music in your autos… take the radio out and have someone hook up a coax cable with a regular CD player jack to the radio…

I'm in the process of setting up a transmitter in my back yard to broadcast to my small collection of mid- to late-30s radios in my house. I'm going to be using old radio programs, golden era music, news broadcasts, etc. I've been thinking about a similar setup for my 39 Ford. Set up a small transmitter in the glovebox or the trunk and feed it with an mp3 player or cd player that will play mp3 files. That would allow me to get the effect without altering the car and the whole setup would fit in a very small box. As an added bonus, any car within 50 yards or so could also pick up the signal (good for cruise-ins, etc.). I gotta finish the home station first, though.

 

[Benny Holiday]

That's just pure magic, Root

I too have enjoyed this experience, and it's truly like being transported back to another time. (A time from which sometimes it feels we have been very much misplaced!).

 

[Sefton]

I'm in the process of setting up a transmitter in my back yard to broadcast to my small collection of mid- to late-30s radios in my house. I'm going to be using old radio programs, golden era music, news broadcasts, etc. I've been thinking about a similar setup for my 39 Ford. Set up a small transmitter in the glovebox or the trunk and feed it with an mp3 player or cd player that will play mp3 files. That would allow me to get the effect without altering the car and the whole setup would fit in a very small box. As an added bonus, any car within 50 yards or so could also pick up the signal (good for cruise-ins, etc.). I gotta finish the home station first, though.

Your own personal mini broadcasts! Neat! Isn't it illegal to broadcast without a license though? Is there an exception for such low power? I'd love to set up something in my apartment so that I could buy a tube radio from the 30s and listen to some Django Reinhardt and maybe a little Bing Crosby....

 

[The Reno Kid]

Your own personal mini broadcasts! Neat! Isn't it illegal to broadcast without a license though? Is there an exception for such low power? I'd love to set up something in my apartment so that I could buy a tube radio from the 30s and listen to some Django Reinhardt and maybe a little Bing Crosby....

It's perfectly legal to broadcast in the AM band as long as your transmitter puts out no more than 100 milliwatts. Actually, it's a little more complicated than that, but the FCC will allow you to broadcast at very low power subject to a few restrictions. Here's the transmitter I'm using: http://www.sstran.com/ . This site also gives some insight into the rules of micropower transmitting. I've finished the transmitter and I'm currently working on the antenna. There are also plans for a lot of "homebrew" transmitters on the web that aren't too hard to build. A lot of them even use vacuum tubes. It's a really fun way to make your vintage radios come to life. Some people are even setting up small community-based stations using micropower transmitters. I get a whole new perspective on Glenn Miller when he's playing out of my 1936 Fairbanks-Morse console.

 

[Michaelson]

I'm usually playing Doo Wap on my radio. It, too, sounds JUST right coming out of my 1950 Plymouth mono radio speaker while cruising down a Tennessee country backroad.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[Benny Holiday]

Another Doo-Wop fan

Michaelson, I love Doo-Wop! Can't get enough of it. I found 'Goodfellas' cheap on DVD a few weeks back and bought it. I hadn't watched it for a while, and there at the beginning of the movie I heard two or three Doo-Wop songs I haven't got in my collection. I was enjoying the music as much as the movie!

 

[Twitch]

Tony that's not bad if the car in in good original condition or restored to some degree. I paid $9500 for my Packard 2 years ago.

 

[funneman]

Hey Root..

...for those of us on a budget you can get almost the same effect by turning the Bass and Treble all the way off, and turning the mid-range all the way up.

 

[Wild Root]

Sound wise yes... but, you'll never get the full effect in a modern car with a modern radio.

I'm on a tight budget my self, I can't afford a modern car.lol

=WR=

 

[Absinthe_1900]

...for those of us on a budget you can get almost the same effect by turning the Bass and Treble all the way off, and turning the mid-range all the way up.

It will still lack the warmth you get from a real tube radio, they may not be a whiz bang stereo system, but there is something there, that is lacking when you try to replicate "that sound" with modern equipment.

 

[Wild Root]

It will still lack the warmth you get from a real tube radio, they may not be a whiz bang stereo system, but there is something there, that is lacking when you try to replicate "that sound" with modern equipment.

Amen brother! Not to mention the lack of a warm glow from an old radio dial vs a digital modern stereo and the sound coming from the plastic kick panel speaker covers... yeah, only one way to time travel!

=WR=

 

[Michaelson]

To this day, I'm STILL scratching my head about what the engineers at Chrysler were thinking when they mounted the tube box (separate from my radio head in my P20) on the inside firewall, directly beneath the hood vent?

I understand the method to the madness in terms of helping keep the tubes cool as the car moves down the road....but the first time the vent is left open in a rain, or the gasket finally fails, water goes straight THROUGH the tubes, and they all break, and/or the metal tube box starts to rust!

Seemed like really dumb engineering to me. Ah well.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[Wild Root]

You're so right! I have often wondered that my self. I'm happy with my P-15 802 model because it's mounted right into the dash and is just to one side of the cowl vent. A better design to say the least. I know in later years, this is the reason why the cowl vent was done away with in the mid 50's... I know some 50's Ford's had vents on each side of the front just aft of the wheels.

For Plymouth, the radios were mostly separate box styled units mounted under the dash or fire wall with a separate tuner mounted in the dash face. In 1940-1948 I believe they were mostly MoPar/Philco 800 model radios like I have in my '46. I've seen the radios in '40 to '42 Plymouths and they look almost the same as the 802 in my dash.

You should buy a P-15 lol

=WR=

 

[Michaelson]

Nah! I'll stick with my old Plymouth P20 locomotive, thank you. (grins)

Regards! Michaelson