Heroes of Radio and Television at The Henry Ford
12 artifacts in this set
This expert set is brought to you by:
The staff at The Henry Ford
De Forest Singing Arc Type Radiophone Transmitter, 1907
Radiophone
Lee de Forest was a telecommunications inventor, responsible for the Audion vacuum tube. In 1907, his "radiophone" allowed phonograph music and human voice to broadcast wirelessly. The device used a "singing arc" to generate radio carrier signals. The US Navy purchased six radiotelephones for installation on the Great White Fleet. This is one of the earliest radiotelephones made by de Forest.
Lee De Forest Visiting Greenfield Village during Light's Golden Jubilee, October 21, 1929
Photographic print
Lee De Forest was an inventor, engineer, and the self-styled "Father of Radio." In 1906, he invented the Audion tube, allowing the detection and amplification of weak radio signals. In this image, De Forest is shown visiting Greenfield Village during the Light's Golden Jubilee event--a celebration held to honor Edison's invention of the incandescent lamp.
DeForest Audion Tube, Type D-01A, circa 1924
Vacuum tube
Dr. Lee De Forest was an inventor, engineer, and the self-styled "Father of Radio." In 1906, De Forest invented the Audion tube, allowing the detection and amplification of weak radio signals. As the first triode vacuum tube, the Audion revolutionized radio broadcasting--and made it more practical. By the late 1920s, vacuum tube radios were the widespread in people's homes.
De Forest Audion Tube, circa 1908
Vacuum Tube
Dr. Lee De Forest was an inventor, engineer, and the self-styled "Father of Radio." In 1906, De Forest invented the Audion tube, allowing the detection and amplification of weak radio signals. As the first triode vacuum tube, the Audion revolutionized radio broadcasting--and made it more practical. By the late 1920s, vacuum tube radios were the widespread in people's homes.
De Forest Audion Tube, 1910-1914
Vacuum Tube
Dr. Lee De Forest was an inventor, engineer, and the self-styled "Father of Radio." In 1906, De Forest invented the Audion tube, allowing the detection and amplification of weak radio signals. As the first triode vacuum tube, the Audion revolutionized radio broadcasting--and made it more practical. By the late 1920s, vacuum tube radios were the widespread in people's homes.
First Portable Superheterodyne Radio Receiver, Made by Edwin Howard Armstrong, 1923
Radio receiver
Edwin H. Armstrong was a pioneer of radio engineering, credited as the inventor of FM radio. In 1918 he filed a patent for the superheterodyne radio circuit. This technology increased the sensitivity and selectivity of radio receivers. The radio depicted is the first portable superheterodyne radio receiver ever made. Armstrong gave it to his wife, Marion, on their 1923 honeymoon.
Marion Armstrong Presents the First Portable Superheterodyne Radio Receiver to Henry Ford Museum, September 22, 1967
Negative (Photograph)
This photograph shows the first portable superheterodyne radio receiver, designed by Edwin Armstrong. Superheterodying was a major communications discovery made by Armstrong. High and low frequencies were mixed to produce powerful, selective radio waves. Following his untimely death, Edwin's wife Marion Armstrong continued to preserve his legacy; she donated this radio to The Henry Ford museum in 1967.
David Sarnoff Introduces Television as a New Industry at the New York World's Fair, April 20, 1939
Negative (Photograph)
David Sarnoff, president of the Radio Corporation of America, is pictured here introducing monochrome television at the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 1946, he similarly introduced electronic color television. Sarnoff was a technology advocate and credited as the "father of broadcasting"--the idea that radio could serve as mass communication--rather than messages sent between one operator and another.
Dr. Vladimir Zworykin Showing a Vidicon Television Camera Tube, Dearborn, Michigan, 1958
Negative (Photograph)
Vladimir Zworykin was an early pioneer of television development, employed by Westinghouse and the Radio Corporation of America. Here he presents a Vidicon camera tube, to be donated to the museum. Vidicon tubes allowed bulky, expensive broadcast television cameras to become smaller and cheaper beginning in the 1950s. Zworykin's iconoscope and kinescope picture tubes were breakthroughs in television history.
Dr. Vladimir Zworykin Presenting Donald Shelley with a Vidicon Television Camera Tube, Dearborn, Michigan, 1958
Negative (Photograph)
Vladimir Zworykin was an early pioneer of television development, employed by Westinghouse and the Radio Corporation of America. Here he presents a Vidicon camera tube, to be donated to the museum. Vidicon tubes allowed bulky, expensive broadcast television cameras to become smaller and cheaper beginning in the 1950s. Zworykin's iconoscope and kinescope picture tubes were breakthroughs in television history.
Dr. Vladimir Zworykin with a Portable Television Camera, Dearborn, Michigan, 1958
Negative (Photograph)
Vladimir Zworykin was an early pioneer of television development, employed by Westinghouse and the Radio Corporation of America. Zworykin's iconoscope and kinescope picture tubes were breakthroughs in television history. Together they allowed electronic television to become a viable technology. Zworykin also headed the creation of the electron microscope and infrared tubes used in night vision "sniperscopes" during WWII.
Portrait of Vladimir. K. Zworykin, 1930-1950
Photographic print
Vladimir Zworykin was an early pioneer of television development, employed by Westinghouse and the Radio Corporation of America. Zworykin's iconoscope and kinescope picture tubes were breakthroughs in television history. Together they allowed electronic television to become a viable technology. Zworykin also headed the creation of the electron microscope and infrared tubes used in night vision "sniperscopes" during WWII.