Memory Project: The Crystal Set

A crystal radio receiver, also called a crystal set, is a simple radio receiver popular in the early days of radio. It uses only the power of the received radio signal to produce sound, needing no external power. It is named for its most important component, a crystal detector, originally made from a piece of crystalline mineral such as Galena. This component is now called a diode.

Crystal radios are the simplest type of radio receiver and can be made with a few inexpensive parts, such as a wire for an antenna, a coil of wire, a capacitor, a crystal detector, and earphones. Crystal radios are passive receivers, while other radios use an amplifier powered by current from a battery or wall outlet to make the radio signal louder. Thus, crystal sets produce rather weak sound and must be listened to with sensitive earphones, and can only receive stations within a limited range. - Wikipedia

My parents’ radio was positioned on the record cabinet in the lounge. This cabinet had been custom made in Fish Hoek by Percy Webb and was designed to take the record turntable on a pull-out shelf. The collection of vinyl records stood in the compartments below. I think they could get the BBC on shortwave but they listened mostly to the SABC English Program on medium wave.

Alan also had a radio. His bed was in the corner of his room, had an iron frame and stood high off the ground. It was similar to the houseboy’s bed, only it had a better mattress. Next to the bed and facing the window was a blue painted table that served as his homework desk. The large, old-fashioned radio that had been bought second hand sat on the side of the table facing the bed.

He liked to lie in bed at night and listen to English football commentary and comedy programs like ‘Round the Horne,’ ‘The Glums,’ ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ and his favorite, ‘The Goon Show.’ We were treated to sweets on a Friday night and he would chew toffees while listening and then throw the wrappers under the table. When my parents objected to this slovenly habit he preferred to stand on a chair and push the sweet papers through a triangular tear in the metal ceiling rather than put them in the dustbin. Another of his practices was to pick his nose and stick the ‘bogeys’ to the underside of the table, where they dried out and became quite a collection. I know this because I used to join him in bed for some of the comedy programs and witnessed the procedure on numerous occasions.

Like many young children I sucked my thumb. This was mildly discouraged, but when I was nearly seven and still doing it my parents became concerned and decided to try and cure me of it with some bribery. If I were to quit the habit they would buy me a crystal set.

The one they bought for me consisted of a small cream and red plastic case that could be pulled apart to reveal the rudimentary components, a pair of second hand earphones and a long piece of insulated copper wire. This wire was the aerial and was strung from my bedroom window to the tall syringa in the corner of the plot. There was a tuning dial but no volume control, there being no power source to amplify the signal.

I continued to suck my thumb for another year or so, but less and less frequently and only in secret. It seems that I was a rather pathetic little shit at that time.

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