[Photo Album of RCA Wireless Communication Ships].

New York, Cuba, Mexico, North Sea andother locations: [Radio Corporation of America], 1919-1921. 7¼” x 11¼”. Commercial limp faux leather album, plastic post-bound and string-tied. 21 construction paper leaves with 52 B&W photographs, 1 clipping and 1 RPPC corner-mounted rectos + 7 photos and 2 negatives laid in + hand-drawn title page and the last 24 leaves are blank. Most photos 3¼” x 5½”. Album very good minus: front board loose, partially detached and lightly chipped at edges. Pages and photos very good plus with a touch of scattered spotting and waviness.

This is a fascinating collection of very well-composed photographs taken on marine journeys involved with international radio communications. It is full of tidy, entertaining captions showing voyages to Cuba, Mexico, Europe and New York, providing a glimpse into life on board.

The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) got its start in 1919 with a plan engineered by the United States Navy, the government and General Electric to take over the American interests of the Marconi Company. RCA's primary objectives at its founding were to provide equipment and services for seagoing vessels, and wireless communication to compete with existing international undersea telegraph cables.

A hand-drawn title page (clearly made by this album's compiler) shows the logo for “World Wide Wireless” (the name for both the RCA service and a publication they issued to promote it), surrounded by the names of eight ships. The vivid, well-made photos reveal ships at “Morro Castle” and “Havana Harbor,” Cuba; a “River Scene” and “Oil Works” at Tampico, Mexico; “Snow in Midatlantic” and “Propeller Damage” on a ship. A few depict the “1 Tube Broadcast Receiver” and “Radio Shack” on board the “S/S Corning,” we see “Rough Weather” in the North Sea and a few “Winter Scenes in New York.” Several shots show the ships, as well as the men, one woman and dog aboard them, with scenes of “Chief Carrol and Gang” involved in “A Fish Story – Tampico,” “Shark Fishing” at Key West, Florida, identified 2nd and 3rd mates and “Mexican Stevedores 'At Rest'.” A street view shows cars and factories in Panama, and three were taken on the Mississippi River. There is a portrait of Walter Tyler, radio operator on the SS “Chas. Pratt” and a photo of a group of “Cuban children” in Antilla. A clipping reveals “Radio Record Breaker” Tony Gerhard, “Winner of Radio Speed Receiving 56 W.P.M.” and there's a real photo postcard of the SS Stavangerfjord, which sailed an important passenger route between North America and Scandinavia for decades. Very good -. Item #1134

Price: $450.00