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 In
the early 1920's, A.C. Gilbert was a radio pioneer. He was
the owner of WCJ, the first broadcast radio station in
Connecticut. Gilbert launched his broadcasts from the
factory and that was the reason for the erection of the
Erector Tower. An antenna was strung from the tower to an
existing smokestack. Gilbert even did a sports program about
current sports figures.
In the Summer of 1922, Gilbert attempted to publicize his
products using the allure of the latest scientific advance,
radio broadcasting. He decorated a railroad car he had hired
from the New Haven Railroad in a gaudy circus style and set
out to tour the Northeastern U.S. The unique feature of the
"radio car" was to receive the broadcasts sent from the
factory radio station. This worked fairly well in most of
New England, but not so well in upstate New York and in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the signal strength of
the station was too weak for the receivers of the day. In
those areas A.C. cheated a bit. He hid someone in the toilet
of the car with a microphone to read the same report that
was being broadcast by the station at the designated time.
In The Man Who Lives in Paradise, Gilbert's autobiography,
he says, "It wasn't quite honest, of course, but it made a
wonderful show." As an interesting side note, Gilbert was
prepared to use this practice 38 years later in 1960, when
Gilbert attempted to use a satellite signal to start trains
in an Empire State Building train layout. Someone was under
the table just in case the satellite signal didn't work.
(Remember he was a magician.) Photos of the car's exterior
and interior are included in the slide show below.
Gilbert had also been selling radio receivers made by
another radio pioneer, Clarence D. Tuska, but they were sold
bearing a Gilbert name. This came to an end when RCA
prevailed in their claim that the license they had granted
to Tuska could not be used to manufacture radios for other
companies. After that Gilbert's radio station soon ceased
broadcasting. Although the radio station and the need for
the tower was short lived, it stayed up until it was knocked
down in a storm in 1978.
Car Interior - Museum Section |
Car Interior - Meeting Section |
Promotional Advertising in preparation for
the visit of the car |
Learn more about
the Ray Mohrlang Collection
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