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MRL HANDBOOKS and LITERATURE. |
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| Since 1932 Modern
radio Laboratories have been foremost in recognizing
a definite and permanent class of Radio Fans devoted
to small set experimentation as a hobby. - Elmer
Osterhoudt |
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Below is a list of Modern Radio Laboratories®
literature (may be incomplete.) |
Note: Most of the following
MRL publications can be found
here.
Handbooks, Data Sheets and
Detail Prints can also be found
here.
Many missing publications
can be found on Page 11
here.
MRL Handbooks:
HB-1 Headphones: Operations and Repair
©1948
HB-2 No. 2 and 2-A Long Distance Crystal Sets
©1945
HB-3 Crystal Detectors
©1938,
1954
HB-4 1-Tube D.C. All Wave Receiver
©1953
HB-5 Crystal Set Construction
©1956
HB-6 How to Make Coils
©1957
HB-7 Experiments with Magnetism and Coils
©1957
HB-8 Radio Kinks and Quips
©1958
HB-9 Radio Notes No. 1
©1959
HB-10 Facts for Crystal Experimenters
©1960
HB-11 Radio Operating as a Career
©1961
HB-12 Radio Workbench Tips
©1962
HB-13 Radio Notes No. 2
©1964
HB-17 MRL 20 Crystal Set Circuits
©1951
HB-25 MRL 18 Crystal Set Circuits
©1947
MRL BLUE PRINTS No known
copies. Unknown number of issues.
These early documents were designated "BP" or "Blue
Print." It was common in the 1930s for radio
magazines to publish blueprints, though in Elmer's
case they were blue because they were mimeographed.
The mimeograph stencils for the MRL BP series wore
out, or in some cases, disintegrated.
| BP-1 |
Published in 1932. May
have described the MRL No. 1 crystal set.
(Not verified.) |
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| BP-2 |
"1 Tube D.C. All-Wave Receiver". Written in 1940, six pages long.
Replaced with
HB-4 in 1953. |
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| BP-3 |
"Crystal Detectors." Copyright
October 12, 1938.
Replaced with HB-3 in 1954. |
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BP-17 |
"18 DX Crystal Sets"
Published in 1934. The title of BP-17 was gleaned from a 1936
advertisement. It contained 18 circuits, according to "Radio Notes No. 2," page 18. Some
were vacuum tube hookups, according to HB-17.
Replaced with HB-17 "MRL 20 Crystal Set Circuits"
per the "Forward" on the inside front cover of
HB-17. |
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BP-25 |
Title unknown. Date unknown. Replaced with HB-25 "MRL 18 Crystal Set
Circuits" in 1947.
Based on the titles, one would think that
HB-25 replaced BP-17, but this does not seem
to be the case. |
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BP-?? |
The May 1933 edition of
"Short Wave Craft" listed an ad for a
blueprint of a "DX 2-Tube SW circuit." |
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| By 1934 there
were seven Blue Prints according to an ad in "Radio
World," but these could not have
included BP-2 or BP-3. |
MRL OSCILLATOR No known
copies.
MRL OSCILLATOR #1 Published 1933.
MRL OSCILLATOR #2 Published 1934.
MRL OSCILLATOR #3 Published 1934.
Magazine advertisements for the MRL OSCILLATOR ended
in 1934.
MRL Radio Builder & Hobbyist
(called "MRL Radio Builder"
prior to 1953 and "Radiobuilder" in MRL ads)
The first advertisement for Radio Builder
is found in the February 1936 issue of
Short Wave Craft.
Radio Builder 1 to 24 - No known copies.
Number 3 was
published in 1934.
Number 19 was published in 1941.
Radio Builder-25
Published in 1947.
Radio Builder-26, 30, 31 & 32 -
No known copies.
All replaced
with HB-13, "Radio Notes No. 2"
in 1964.
Radio Builder-27 No
known copies
Radio Builder-28 No
known copies
Radio Builder-29 No
known copies
Radio Builder-33 No
known copies
RB&H-34 Published in 1952. All unsold copies lost in 1959
while relocating. Replaced with HB-9,
"Radio Notes No. 1"
RB&H-35 Published in 1953
RB&H-36 Published in 1953 or '54
RB&H-37 Published in 1954
RB&H-38 Published in 1954
RB&H-39 Published in 1954
RB&H-40 Published in 1955
RB&H-41 Published in 1955
RB&H-42 Published in 1955
RB&H-43 Published in 1956
RB&H-44 Never
published
RB&H-45 Never
published
RB&H-46 Never
published, HB-7 given to subscribers in lieu of.
(1957)
RB&H-47 Never
published
RB&H-48 Dated "Spring 1959."
RB&H-49 Last issue, dated "Summer 1959."
There is no explanation in RB&H-49 as to why it was
the last issue, though in the MRL catalog Elmer
stated it was necessary to devote more time to
Handbooks and other literature instead of RB&H.
Elmer wrote in previous issues that he needed more
subscribers in order to make the publication a
success. The price of
RB&H was 15¢ until 1955, when it went to 25¢.
MRL "Classified Ads" in RB&H were only 4¢
a word, so were not a significant source of revenue.
Note: In 1970, RB&H-25 to 40 were still available from MRL for 15¢ each. Issues 41, 42, 43, 48 and
49 were 25¢. Elmer
stated that no new
copies were being printed and supply was low. In
typical Elmer Osterhoudt form, the old issues
were sold at the old
price.
Circulation of RB&H was
over 3500 customers per issue.
MRL Experimenter’s Electronics
and Science
Very similar to RB&H but with a more polished
look. In booklet form.
Covers a variety of
topics in addition to radio.
ES-1
ES-2 Published 1961.
Only two editions published. Continuation of
articles found in ES-1 and ES-2 can be found in
MRL Data Sheets volumes 3, 4 and 5. For those
who subscribed for a year, HB-12 "Radio Workbench
Tips" was sent in lieu of ES-3 and ES-4.
MRL Data Sheets
These are similar to RB&H in content but
lack the "Editorial Noise Level" section.
Each one is twelve 8.5 x 11 inch pages of densely
packed text and diagrams.
DS-1 Published 1958
DS-2 Published 1959
DS-3 Published 1961
DS-4 Published 19??
DS-5 Published 1965
DS-6 Published 1966.
MRL Detail Print Files
Vol-1
©1958
Index (plus article on Static)
DP-1 MRL No.37 Push Button Crystal Set
DP-2 MRL No.33 Selective Crystal Set
DP-4 15 One-Tube DC circuits
DP-11 MRL Type D Antenna Coupler
DP-12 MRL 2 Stage Transistor Amp
DP-13 MRL All-wave Vario-Coupler
DP-14 MRL Transistor Small Set Amplifier
DP-22 MRL No. 2 Long Distance Crystal Set
DP-22A MRL No. 2-A (variation of above)
DP-23 MRL No.8 Crystal Set
DP-26 MRL No.1 DX Crystal Set
DP-28 Radio and Electrical Symbols
DP-30 Proper Aerial & Ground Construction
DP-34 MRL No.10 All Wave Crystal Set
DP-41 Code Short Cuts
Vol-2
©1961
Index (plus Regen info)
DP-16 MRL Portable Transistor Amplifier
DP-21 10 Tested Crystal Set Circuits
DP-24 MRL No.9 Selective Crystal Set
DP-25 The Flextal Crystal Set
DP-29 MRL 1-Tube Triode DC Short Wave Receiver
DP-31 MRL 2 Tube AC All Wave Receiver
DP-33 MRL Pocket Radios No's. 7-19-32
DP-38 MRL 6 Watt Class B Power Amplifier
DP-39 16 Tested Transistor Circuits
DP-43 MRL No.26 Single Dial All-Wave Crystal Set
DP-47 MRL No.28 All Wave Plug-in Coil Crystal Set
DP-57 MRL 1 Tube Shortwave Converter
DP-63 MRL 2 Tube All Wave DX Receiver
DP-64 MRL No.3 Selecto-dyne Crystal Set
DP-69 MRL No.12 Improved Slider Crystal Set
Vol-3
No
copyright
listed.
Index (plus long wave article)
DP-6 MRL No.39 Selective Crystal Set
DP-18 MRL QRM Coil Transistor Set
DP-19 & 19A Navy Type Loose Coupler
DP-27 MRL No.15 Crystal Set
DP-35 MRL 2 Tube Long Wave Receiver
DP-36 MRL 2 Tube "EC" Long Wave Receiver
DP-44 MRL No.29 Variometer Crystal Set
DP-48 MRL No.35 Prize Selector Crystal Set
DP-49 MRL Heavy Duty "No Hum" Power Supply
DP-56 MRL No.11 DX All-Wave Crystal Set
DP-58 MRL No.4 Telefunken Crystal Set
DP-59 MRL All-Wave Crystal HiFi Adaptor
DP-61 MRL "50 in 1" Antenna Tuner
DP-73 Supplement to HB-4
December, 1968 (per 1972 MRL catalog
page Q-1)
DP-74 MI “Original Radio” Crystal Set. Described a
crystal set published in "Mechanics
Illustrated."
Written sometime around 1970, it seems
to be the last MRL
publication.
Miscellaneous Detail Prints - see Page 11
DP-32 MRL No.5 Double Crystal Set
DP-37 Crystal Set Amplifier
DP-42 AC Oscillator - Direct Type
DP-45 MRL No.22 "DX Marvel" Crystal Set (from BP-25)
DP-46 MRL No.30 DX Crystal Set (from BP-25)
DP-50 MRL No.21 Local Selective Crystal Set
DP-51 MRL No.23 Combination DX Crystal Set
DP-52 MRL No.13 Variable Selectivity Crystal Set
DP-53 MRL No.27 Variable Selectivity Crystal Set
DP-54 MRL No.34 Wired Wireless System
DP-55 MRL No.24 DX Regenerative Set
DP-60 2-Stage TRF Amplifier - All Wave
DP-62 (Page 6 of BP-17) Improved Capacity Coupled
Crystal Set
DP-65 MRL No.17 "Pinole Special" Crystal Set
DP-66 MRL No.20 Variable Selectivity Crystal Set
DP-67 MRL No.25 Selective Crystal Set
DP-76 Operator's Code Chart
In addition to the annual MRL
catalog, the "Radio Flyer" was published, which
included revisions to the catalog and "Random notes
from Modern Radio Labs."
Only Radio Flyer No. 1,
3, 6, 15 and 23 have been found.
Where are the missing publications, especially the
first 33 editions of "Radio Builder & Hobbyist?" After Elmer's
death over 100 wet and corroded printing plates were
found with his printing press. How they got wet is
not known, but what was on them is lost to us. Some
documents have been found and are published on
Page 11 here.
MRL Mystery: What was Elmer's method of numbering?
If there were 7 BP's in 1934, why is BP-2 dated
1940? In 1955 Elmer wrote that he had six handbooks.
They were # 1, 2, 3, 4, 17 and 25. Why did the
volume number jump from 4 to 17?
Above is an advertisement from the
November 1937 issue of Short Wave Craft. What
combination of publications gave you 36 crystal set
plans? What was "Radio Workbench?"
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A mimeograph machine made by the A. B. Dick
company. Elmer may have used a similar one in the 1930 and
'40s. |
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The MRL "business
plan" was simple. Elmer placed vaguely worded advertisements in various magazines, such as the one above
from a 1938 copy of "Popular Mechanics." What does
the word "year" mean? If you were interested, you sent your 25¢ to
"Laboratories."
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| You would then get "18 Crystal Set
Circuits," and a copy of "Radio Builder" in the mail, along with a catalog.
After 1947, "18 Circuits" was contained in HB-25. In 1952
"Radio Builder" evolved into "Radio Builder and Hobbyist." Three more "Radio Builder"
issues would follow during the year. |
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Contents of HB-25 |
Here is where
Elmer's knack for business comes in. All of the crystal sets
in the handbooks and "Radio Builder" used MRL parts! Though
Elmer gave detailed instructions on how to make the various
coils and gadgets, he also sold them. If you wanted to wind
the coils yourself, MRL sold the coil forms and wire. MRL
sold every part needed to make the radios listed above, and
also
sold the kits so you didn't have to order each part
separately. Of course, you'd need a nice pair of headphones,
too.
Elmer once wrote, "We've been accused of pushing our own
parts - (the very idea!)."
Elmer threw in a
brief handwritten note and a random "Detail Print" with the
order to keep your interest piqued. Then three months later
the next issue of "Radio Builder" would arrive
in the mail, just in case life got in the way and you forgot
you were supposed to be building a radio. If you already
built one, "Radio Builder" would whet your appetite to build
another one! |
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The first page of the catalog covered postal rates,
followed by a small "Let's get acquainted" introduction to MRL.
The next page described the first three handbooks. |
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The following pages described more handbooks, after
that came the Detail Prints and other publications.
This went on for eleven pages!! |
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After Elmer wrote a Handbook, Mabel
Osterhoudt typed it on a Varitype machine. Elmer would then
print them with a lithographic printer. According to the text
in the picture,
this is just what they needed for all those catalogs and
handbooks.
In the 1930s Elmer referred to the publications as
"blueprints" because they were mimeographed. All of the
MRL publications are black and white (or blue and white). The
cover of the handbooks were usually
printed on a
colored piece of paper.
According to what Elmer wrote in the front of the MRL
catalog,
Mabel also sent out orders, typed and assembled the pages of the
Handbooks, turned boxes of parts into kits and kept the
company on schedule. Elmer did the bookkeeping, manufactured
parts, bought supplies and created the literature.
Almost all the surviving handbooks have a
copyright date from the 1940s and 1950s.
Some of the handbooks say they are
combinations of previous publications or that the mimeograph
or lithograph
plates wore out, so a new handbook was written. HB-3,
"CRYSTAL DETECTORS," states, "Copyrighted 1938. Re-written and
copyrighted 1954." It would be interesting to see the
1938 version of HB-3 if any still exist.
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This is a "Multilith" printer model 1250, the model
Elmer purchased around 1953. According to "Radio Builder and Hobbyist No. 35,"
the
printer cost him $2,400 and could print 6000 pages an hour. In the
1990s, Paul Nelson of MRL refurbished it into beautiful working
condition.
Elmer stated that MRL used over a ton of paper per year and that it
took three days to make one catalog page up from scratch before
printing it.
When he printed up a new batch of catalogs he sometimes did
1000 at a time. To print a 54 page catalog he had to feed
54,000 pages through the printer. The 28,000 pieces of paper
then had to be stacked in proper order and stapled together
into 1000 individual catalogs.
It would have taken 56 reams of paper, gallons of lithograph
ink and 1000 staples IF everything worked perfectly, which is
unlikely. |
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As time went by you'd end up with everything
Elmer printed, some of which is shown in this staged photo. |
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More marketing. On the backs of these ten handbooks
are descriptions of other handbooks!
From what Elmer related, all of this was typed by Mabel, but it must
have been a team effort. |
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Here's an example. This is the back cover of
"Facts For Crystal Experimenters." It describes HB-9, "MRL
Radio Notes No. 1." It states that the basis of the book was
Radio Builder #34, which is out of print.
The first of the "questions answered" is "Building an efficient
tuned Radio frequency stage for any type of radio. All wave.
Page 3."
(What? Really? I'll take a copy!)
Looking at the rest of the index there is something
that you'd want to read about, and it was only a buck in
1983.
You didn't know it but that 25¢
handbook, which was now a dollar, was half price due to
inflation. It should have been two dollars.
Elmer advertised MRL in MRL publications for MRL customers.
Click on it and see
what I'm sayin'. |
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The handbooks,
Detail Prints and Data Sheets were chock full of crystal set
circuits, many of which required multiple MRL coils. In "18
Crystal Set Circuits" there is an all-wave circuit requiring
a complete set of MRL plug-in coils. Another uses a MRL variometer.
Several use the MRL QRM coil ahead of the main circuit.
In HB-13, "RADIO NOTES NO. 2," on page 18 there is mention
of an "old Experimenter" who went into business for himself
after wearing out many MRL Handbooks. For more details you
need to get HB-11, "RADIO OPERATING AS A CAREER." If you
were interested you sent for HB-11 and since you were
sending for HB-11, you might as well send for a few others
and some coils and crystals and switches, etc. When your
order arrived you'd get a note from Elmer which made you
feel like a valued customer.
(In HB-11 there is no mention of that particular "old
Experimenter," much to my disappointment.)
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Click for full cover page.
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If you placed an
order, an MRL RADIO FLYER would sometimes appear in your
mailbox. Radio Flyer No. 1 was a single page. Radio Flyer
No. 23 was a dozen pages of updates and
additions to the catalog. Tips for making your MRL radio
perform better were included, along with other small radio
related articles. Cartoons and jokes were placed
at various places so that it was entertaining to read.
If that wasn't enough, Elmer didn't like the Post
Office to make any extra money, so if your order weighed 1.5
pounds and the postage was 2 pounds, he'd stuff a half pound
of literature in the box. |
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No need to look for an envelope. MRL sent envelopes and order forms
to you with the catalog. |
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On the envelope was a drawing of the MRL 1-Tube radio
and the MRL No. 2 Crystal Set. |
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Around 2003 Paul Nelson restored Elmer's
Lithograph printer and printed the entire remaining catalog
of MRL documents on high quality, acid-free paper. The set
sold for $34, which was quite a bargain. |
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An interesting observation about the
handbooks is their size. A "standard, letter size" piece of printer paper is 8½ x
11 inches in dimension. The MRL handbooks, when opened, are
8¼ by 10½ inches. To make copies of
the handbooks, Paul Nelson had to cut every piece of paper to
8¼ by 10½.
Why are the handbooks this size? Another MRL mystery. To add
to the enigma, they are advertised as being 5½
x 8½. This is the size of standard printer paper when folded
in half! Were they printed on standard size paper at one
time? Did Elmer chance upon a large supply of off-size paper, and the price was right? We may never
know. |
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Because Paul Nelson made exact duplicates of
Elmer Osterhoudt's handbooks, it is sometimes hard to tell
them apart. An easy way is to look for the staples on the
back. Elmer's handbooks have a single staple. |
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Popular Science, June 1949. |
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standards. Popular Science charged 80¢
a word in 1949, so this ad was about $12.00. (Equivalent to $135.00 in the year 2021.)
Elmer needed 48 new customers just to pay for the
ad, and each customer got 3 issues of "Radio Builder"
and a catalog. After printing the publications,
adding order forms and envelopes and paying for the
postage, each new customer must have initially cost
(or lost)
him money. |
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Here's another Varityper machine, but more
sophisticated. A Varityper could type both left and right
justified print.
It was a marvel of engineering but this one looks like
a "creature from beyond space," eating a woman's fingers.
He must be her type! (Groan. That was awful.) |
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Friendly competitors: Leslie Hulet, Joe
Amorose, Alva Allen |
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Here's Leslie Hulet's ad from the back of Radio Builder & Hobbyist No. 41. What did you get if you wrote to him? In
Popular Mechanics, he offered "free information," but
most of his ads are
basically all the same as above. |
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After years of "Write Leslie Hulet" ads, he
finally placed an ad in the March 1945 edition of Popular
Science that showed what he was up to. What was
"Silverite" and "Goldite?" In 1946 he
offered a free illustrated catalog of crystal radio
supplies. |
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Hulet won 3rd prize in a contest by Short
Wave Craft in 1932, the same year Elmer started MRL. |
Page 349 |
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3000 miles
separated Elmer and Leslie, though this made no difference
to the casual reader of radio ads in a magazine. Elmer had a
philosophy that the radio parts sellers should stick
together and not compete. Les Hulet
made several contributions to "Radio Builder and Hobbyist."
The same relationship may have existed with two
other competitors, Joe Amarose and Alva Allen. |
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Joe Amorose's ad from RB&H No. 38, printed
by MRL in 1954. Amorose had been experimenting with crystal
radios since 1920 and contributed articles to Science and
Invention in the 1930s and Radio & Television News
in the 1940s.
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In RB&H #35, Elmer
published a letter written by Joe Amarose about an Amarose
crystal set. The set used MRL coils. The radio plan was published
in the October 1952 edition of Radio Electronics,
page 102. LINK |
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Alva F. Allen ( 06/19/1900 - 01/06/1987) had been making crystal sets
since the 1920s. An
edition of his newspaper, The Magic Crystal can be
found on page 11 here. In it, Allen states he is a
"manufacturer and distributer" and has hundreds of letters
in his files reporting long distance reception. |
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