[78-L] stereo, ca. 1932

[Michael Biel]

Steven C. Barr wrote:
>> I can recall (I think 1959 or 1960) hearing a local (Peoria)
>> "stereo"  program broadcast by a station which had both an
>> AM and FM service; they broadcast one channel on AM and one on FM! 

By the late 50s the use of two radio stations for stereo became so
common that manufacturers made tuners with separate AM and FM sections
that could be operated simultaneously for stereo.  My brother-in-law in
Birmingham built the one that HeathKit produced, and I even borrowed it
for a time.  I have a mono recording of the first stereo episode of The
Northerners in 1953 on WMAQ radio in Chicago where they describe how to
listen to it.  I wouldn't be surprised if there is a stereo tape of it
in the Burt Whyte collection.  In NYC we had a nightly program on WNBC
in stereo at 10 PM called "Jazz, Voices, and Strings."

From: "joe at salerno.com" <jsalerno at earthlink.net>
> I recall an attempt to do something similar, but it was
> a TV station, one channel on TV and the other on AM radio.
> By placing a portable radio in the same room with the TV
> you could make stereo.   joe salerno

The full 1955-56 season of Lawrence Welk's Dodge TV show was broadcast
in stereo on ABC-TV and radio.  In NYC in 56 there was Art Ford's local
jazz program in stereo on Channel 5 and WNEW radio.  In the fall of 1958
there was a special George Gobel program on NBC-TV promoting RCA Victor
stereo and color.  In addition to the stereo audio there was a fold-out
in TV Guide that week that showed the layout they planned for one of the
commercials which you could put over the lower half of your TV screen
and see what you were missing if you only had a B&W TV.  Of course if
you had a color set you could see how screwed up the colors were on your
set!  And in 1959 there was a special 90 minute episode of Disneyland on
ABC-TV in three channel stereo (using both your ABC AM and FM
affiliates).  It was the life of Tchaikowski as a promotion for the
release of the Disney cartoon of Sleeping Beauty. 

A slight correction to Joe's earlier posting about the 1932 Bell Labs
stereo recordings of Stokowski.  THey are not of broadcasts.  Bell Labs
was recording during most of the concerts and rehearsals that year.  The
radio broadcasts were in mono.  

Another correction to the two articles about those stereo recordings. 
They claim that the April recording is the earliest stereo musical
stereo recording in existence.  The Ellington program transcriptions in
accidental stereo are earlier, Feb 3 and 9, 1932, and it is believed
that Victor and HMV were doing this occasionally for 4 or 5 years. 
Also, Arthur Keller of Bell Labs was doing experiments in purposeful
stereo recording at the Capitol Theatre in 27 or 28 but the masters are
somehow missing.

From: "Mark Durenberger" <Mark4 at durenberger.com>
>>> In 1925, radio station WBAJ in New Haven Connecticut began
>>> experimenting with AM Stereo.using two frequencies fed by
>>> two microphones in the music studio.   Also see:
>>> http://www.durenberger.com/resources/documents/MULTI-CHANNELRADIO0822.pdf

This 1922 Radio News article is fascinating, but even this proposal was
predated by an actual demonstration of stereo telephones in Paris in
1888!

Mike Biel   mbiel at mbiel.com