Life, 1924-02-07 · page 12 of 40
Life — February 7, 1924 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is a humorous DIY guide for building a homemade radio receiver, written by Gottfried Dusenberry. The satirical framing—calling it a "deceiving set"—plays on the era's fascination with radio technology and the challenge of building working receivers from scratch. The cartoons illustrate practical obstacles: one shows frustrated people with a failed "Co-Respondent Circuit or Reno Frame-Up" (likely a pun on divorce proceedings, which were associated with Nevada); another depicts someone climbing through a clapboard to string an aerial wire outdoors. The humor derives from depicting radio construction as comically difficult and requiring absurd physical effort. This reflects the 1920s-30s period when amateur radio building was genuinely challenging and popular among enthusiasts despite frequent failures.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE’S RADIO SECTION How to Construct a Deceiving Set IT IS ALL IMPORTANT THAT YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT FRAME-UP | By Golfried Dusenberry ead away with the customary csc A PUT-UP JOB | sil: ¥ Amateurs will go crazy over it Ix building the Dusenberry setback, 2 ne Another ingenious layette is the Froe- the first thing to establish is the over fan and every husband lel Grade Circuit, subdivided into sec- head. Hence you must start on the roof wn. ondary, primary, and kindergarten. But If there happen be no stairway to the you must followmy instruct operating, care must be taken with sig- roof of your house, or if t decide cro: especially where tuck, access may had via the The me « ct primary; ney. In that case it is a good p " | : ith cui the injunction of the input and — wear a dark suit. However, if you pos will be retroactive. With this sess none, don't worry; you'll have a ning, however, the Froebel dark suit before you get through t any one may fuss with After you have Jay, or month. wn again for s and wire you forgot to bi aérial from the steeple. Either M » the neare ASSURES FREEDOM OF SCREECH or Baptist will do, th a water hazard. Insul. 1 connections ca For excitement in the home I recom This is the Co-respondent Cire ‘Go over c detective dedu then over the edge of the roof, fall ya Rex The tuning is the earth in natural folds. If nad. But 1 for shocks. the shock, you can rest assured that you Traine 1 de. have contact, yo od in their This is Pp. peaking confident i the market is a mix-up A BIRD IN THE HAND ted myself. In this mo. ardy generosity I'll tell you so that you may build one like his Dusenberry de be manufactured Now, with the aid of a friendly wood- pecker (they follow radio insects), bore a hole through the clapboard, insert a glass-eyelet, and ooze the wire into the t remember, I know, because THE CO-RESPONDENT CIRCUIT OR I've tried. RENO FRAME-UP ENTANGLING APPLIANCES WeLL, to go round abi he Dusenberry epoch begin with I constructing For economy the Loew power a iy T you need to book-ups may be resorted to. have greater frequencies b f piano wire magnetic attractions. e 3 ve Much used but still in fairly good A etnCns Ck Ali ah condition is the Barnum Three-Ring Cir 1 caboose coupler lean Sn i > Hudson tubes ntenna and slack wire Seine ee 1 tack 3 cyclometers 8 binding posts ADVANTAGEOUS CONNECTIONS > whipping posts volt-cructs catures and a tan bark ler one high tentsion. Bur the real radio insect (let's the word bug) will have a for onc vacillators of the newer cook-ups, such as the Todine 5 cold storage batteries (unless you Degenerative Cirev This compact ar can afford fresh ones d Ya a alt 17] WITH THE AID OF A FRIENDLY WOOD- PECKER BORE A HOLE THROUGH THE padded cell CLAPBOARD rangement fece solitary cell tion coil to th comicbooks.com