Saturday, September 07, 2019
Off the grid, 1952 style
Lately I've been listening to episodes of Truth or Consequences at bedtime. As with most shows, we only have a few scattered remnants.
This episode from 1952 features a stunt that brought out a unique talent. A man named George Lindner agreed to be sealed up in a hotel room with no way to determine the time for a week. He was supplied with non-connected entertainment like a record player and a movie projector and books. The week was meant to last from one episode to the next, and he was supposed to push a buzzer during the show at the end of the week, specifically from 8:30 to 8:55 so that the win or loss could be discussed during the last 5 minutes. He missed by a couple minutes, pushing at 8:57.
What makes it interesting is Lindner's description of how he managed to make his own clocks, using the marked time on records, multiplying the record to calibrate a homemade hourglass, and so on. Presumably he planned and rehearsed those techniques before the stunt started.
A real talent for metrology!
Labels: Metrology
¶ 12:41 AM
