Popular Electronics Magazine, December 1955

The charming cover from December, 1955, Popular Electronics shows a father and son building one of the electronic toys featured in that issue.

Four simple construction projects were laid out in the article. The "Winking Clown" was a plywood clown face with orange eyes that blinked in alternation. The "Gadget Box" contained several lights, buzzers, and bells, with switches to turn them on and off. The "Electronic Piano" showed how to mount a crystal phonograph pickup inside the case of a conventional toy piano and send that output to a small amplifier. Finally, the "Electronic Maze" was similar to the familiar "Operation" game. A maze was cut from sheet metal or metal foil pieces, and the challenge was to move an electrified probe through the maze without touching the sides and setting off a buzzer.

The cover artist took a few liberties with safety for the sake of making an eye-catching picture. The painting portrays a pleasant father-and-son moment, but no technician in his right mind would recommend building electronic projects while squatting on the floor in front of the Christmas tree!

Other magazines in my collection with a Christmas theme include the December 1954 QST, December 1925 Radio News, January 1929 Radio News, January 1935 Short Wave Craft, and January 1936 Short Wave Craft.

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