Wireless Telephones in the 1940’s
One of my passions is obviously learning about wireless telephones and other forms of communications. One of my other passions, which isn’t quite as big, is history. As of late, I seem to be delving into the history of communications. Last week was a finding out about telephone exchanges, and that blog news can be found here.
This week I thought I’d find some information about cellular and wireless phones, how they came about and such. Here are just a few tidbits of historical information from 1939 to 1947.
- Did you know that in 1939 the first VHF radio bands were allocated for police use? However, because of World War II this radio network was delayed seven years.
- By 1946 there were so many VHF radio sets built for use in the war, the Metropolitan Police, covering the Great London area, were quick to learn the system with the help of the Army, and the radio network began.
- In 1947, a taxi company in Cambridge applied for the first business mobile radio. Eventually this start would create a major industry serving well over 50,000 users, with more than a half million radio sets. At that time, however, the entire boot (trunk) of the car was used for the power generator.
Thankfully, this equipment is a wee bit smaller now!
Is it me, or do I seem to be the only one who remembers the old clunky phones?