Spring 2008 [Pdf]

Volume 20, No. 2 April 2008 ANTENNA Newsletter of the Mercurians IN THIS ISSUE Special Interest Group Society for the History of Technology Publication costs met in part by support of the Shiers Memorial Fund IN THIS ISSUE WWW.MERCURIANS.ORG “Cablecasting to 2-8 the Victorians” by Duncan Fisher “The Araldo 9-14 Telefonico : Origins, Structures, and Models of Italian Broadcasting” By Gabriele Balbi “Historic (Bell) 15 Telephone Website: A Somewhat “Terrors of the Telephone,” [New York] Daily Graphic , 15 March Satirical Look” 1877. ANTENNA Page 2 April 2008 Cablecasting to the Victorians Duncan Fisher Cable broadcasting is a French invention from the 1877: The idea of worldwide telephone broad- 1880’s, that in its first few decades existed in casting exists, shown by the harried cartoon varying forms in France, Portugal, Britain, the performer in “Terrors of the Telephone,” in the United States, and Hungary. The reasonable New York magazine Daily Graphic . Popular song observer would expect such a thing in these out of St. Louis, “The Wondrous Telephone,” places, there being an affluent and consuming alludes to the idea of broadcasting lectures and public in all of them and also a maturing tele- music into the home. [3] phone system, through whose wires most of these enterprises could transmit. Telephones 1880: Clément Ader creates the Compagnie were good enough technically that Londoners, for générale des téléphones de Paris for the purpose example, could hear the French system if they of broadcasting by wire. chose to. And interest in entertainment by wire was well in place. Late-night line operators 1881: International Electrical Exposition in Paris improvised concerts for each other on quiet demonstrates Ader’s telephone system at the phone and telegraph lines routinely, as the Bos- Palais d'Industrie, with live performances from ton Herald reported in 1891, for example. So the Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and—with some there were numerous trials, some big and some technical difficulty—the Théàtre-Français. [4] It small. The Home Telephone Company of Paines- is in stereo, [5] and is sensitive enough for ville, Ohio, broadcast a live recital to a thousand listeners to hear the prompter. [6] French Presi- customers in 1905, and the New York Magna- dent Jules Grévy is so pleased with this system phone and Music Company broadcast a recorded that he has the Théàtre-Français piped into the one in 1912, for example.[1] Elysée Palace, along with the Opéra and the Scholarship that describes and explains all Odéon Theater as well. Victor Hugo is so this is spotty, focussing generally on the regional delighted with the demonstration that he takes technical variations, and concluding that the his children to see the system up close at the whole undertaking was doomed by the arrival of Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs.[7] broadcast radio, [2] though exactly what As Hugo later recalled the event in his happened at the end of the wired service is not diary: actually well documented. The scholarship ignores, in any case, the very basic and very “Nous sommes allés avec Alice et interesting question of why some systems did les deux enfants à l’hôtel du well and others did not. For they were not all the Ministre des Postes. A la porte, same. The Portuguese system died early; the nous avons rencontré [the chemist, American experiments never reached commercial Marcelin] Berthelot qui venait. sustainability, and though the French and British Nous sommes entrés. C’est très Théâtrophone and Electrophone appear to have curieux. On se met aux oreilles lasted through the Great War, their coverage was deux couvre-oreilles qui corre- never as close to universal as their designers had spondent avec le mur, et l’on hoped. The mighty Telefon Hirmondò in entend la représentation de Budapest by contrast was instantly and l’Opéra, on change de couvre- enduringly successful, eventually simulcasting oreilles et l’on entend le Théâtre- with radio, and staying popular with listeners Français, Coquelin, etc. On change until its destruction by the Second World War. encore et l’on entend l’Opéra- Why? What made Hungarian broadcasting Comique. so hearty, and its analogues in the west so Les enfants étaient charmés et sickly? The answer has nothing to do with moi aussi. Nous étions seuls avec broadcasting technicalities. It is a story of legal Berthelot, le ministre, son fils et sa and cultural differences instead. fille qui est fort jolie.” Overview of the Systems Also in 1881, in Budapest there are experimental ANTENNA Page 3 April 2008 Cablecasting to the Victorians Duncan Fisher (continued) opera broadcasts, to 12 subscribers at a time, The Mountebanks , a comic opera, from London’s over the six-month-old city. Lyric Theatre. The evening’s revenues pay for the launch of The London Electrophone 1884: Special transmission to the Ajuda Palace Company.[11] The Electrophone exchange is for the king and queen of Portugal, who wished private, housed in a building adjoining the to attend the premiere of “Laureana” at the San General Post Office exchange in Gerrard Street; Carlo Opera House, Lisbon, but are unable to there is a listening salon here.[12] attend, being in mourning for the princess of Saxony. Edison director Gower Bell, who man- 1893: The Telefon Hirmondò , or “Telephone Her- aged the feat, is awarded the Military Order of ald” (the expression is Magyar), is launched in Christ. A Munich theater manager runs a tele- Budapest, as a telephonic newspaper, direct to phone line to his villa on the Starnberger See to several thousand ready subscribers.[13] Home monitor the success of his shows. The Berlin subscribers can listen through their municipal Philharmonic is connected by phone to its own telephones if they have them, [14] or special opera house. The opera in Antwerp is heard by earphones would be strung into their houses.[15] ministers 30 miles away in Brussels. 1896: Private connections extend to a variety of 1885: The San Carlo Opera, Lisbon, offers sub- London venues, but still only for the affluent: it scriptions by wire to its 90 seasonal perform- costs £5 to install the equipment in one's house, ances; the putative audience extends as far as and £10 to keep the wire live for the year. Palhavã, Olivais, and Braça de Prata. 1897: The wired entertainment service grows in 1889: Ader’s system is first called the Théâtro- popularity in England. The Electrophone Com- phone . pany works in concert with the National Tele- phone Company, so that it is necessary that 1890: First successful commercial telephone- home subscribers be connected with the tele- based entertainment service, the Compagnie du phone system in order to communicate with the Théâtrophone , set up by M. M. Marinovitch and Electrophone Company's switch room. The Elec- Szaravady—all by coin-op boxes, placed in wait- trophone receiver is generally fitted as an exten- ing rooms and restaurants around Paris.[8] sion to the household telephone apparatus. Individual subscriptions offered to the Compagnie There are also now sixpence-operated listening du Théâtrophone for hookups to five Paris ven- boxes in public venues like the Café Royal and ues. The cost is steep, at 180 francs for the the Piccadilly Restaurant: you put your coin in year, and 15 more each time the system was and wound up a clockwork timer that kept the used. Across the Atlantic, at the electrical exhibi- connection open for several minutes. It is popu- tion in the Lenox Lyceum, Americans hear bits of lar music, for the most part, running during thea- comic opera from New York theatres, and also tre hours; a remote-control pointer on the box instrumental music, speeches, and recitations indicates which venue is playing at the moment. from Boston and Philadelphia.[9] No commercial Service is now so popular that it originates even service exactly like the Théâtrophone in the in popular churches (where the microphones are United States, however.[10] disguised as dummy Bibles and hassocks). The Company invites public inspection at their Soho 1891: London: the Universal Telephone headquarters and at the Victorian Era Exhibition, Company puts 50 microphones into the Royal Earl's Court.[16] Italian Opera House in Covent Garden, and 50 more into the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, all for 1899: The Queen at Windsor Castle hears the the sole use of Sir Augustus Harris, at St John’s Electrophone for the first time, when cadets and Wood, who even has a special extension to his schoolboys sing to her from Her Majesty's Thea- stables. tre in London. She and guests then listen to a concert at St. James’ Hall.[17] 1892: Demonstration telephone performance of ANTENNA Page 4 April 2008 Cablecasting to the Victorians Duncan Fisher (continued) 1901: Hirmondò experiments with coin-operated mondò studios or occasionally at the home of public listening posts.[18] Thomas Denison particularly famous writers.[21] observes in passing that there is still nothing like The winner also provided the service on this system in the United States. The popularity the cheap. The cost to Hungarian subscribers of the Electrophone in England still increasing, was about a penny a day, about a fourth of what and rates are dropping, by more than 75%. the English paid. The company supplied and Gone are installation charges, too. And the installed the equipment for free.[22] The £15 equipment is getting better. The Company now that Queen Victoria shortly paid for her annual offers a loudspeaker, able to fill an entire room home service bought a year’s worth of coal for a with sound. And they are proposing to introduce professional man’s family.[23] A reason that the service to moving railway cars.[19] Hirmondò was so cheap was that, like a newspaper, it ran advertisements, at a goodly rate, too: 1913: In celebration of the Entente Cordiale 1 florin for 12 seconds.

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