In natural colour

Frequency Modulation for radio broadcasting had been delayed by the onset of World War Two; since all manufacturers were fully committed to the U.S. military, there were no civilian radio sets available.

Shortly before the end of hostilities, radio brands start advertising the new technology and this contrived ad sums it up.

"Carmen Miranda's voice in natural color..." - confusing? you bet!

"Carmen Miranda", 1945
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Portable communicator

Motorola these days is associated with cellular phones and funky tablets; but they have a long history at building gadgets: they invented car radios in the 1930's and they also invented the earliest personal communication devices: the hand-held "Handie-Talkie", during World War 2.

Heavy and clumsy looking, but this makes for a really exciting collectable.

"Handie talkie", 1945
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The shadow touch

It doesn't exactly say what the shadow touch might be, other than a marketing ploy, but it's thanks to advertisements like this one that we know what the past was like.

Almost terrifying!

"Shadow touch", 1956
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