1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer here 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: at how Stuff Works and I love all things tech. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: And today we're gonna talk about a person who was 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: very important in technology, although it was not acknowledged or 7 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: really widely known for many decades after her actual contribution. 8 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: And this comes from several listeners who have requested that 9 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: I cover Hetty Lamar. So from the nineteen thirties until 10 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:46,840 Speaker 1: ninety head vig Ava Keisler, better known in the United 11 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,520 Speaker 1: States as Hetty Lamar, appeared in feature films like Boomtown, 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: Lady of the Tropics, and Tortilla Flat. She played Delilah 13 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: in Samson and Delilah and the Cecil B. De Mill 14 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: epic film. He acted opposite people like Jimmy Stewart and 15 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: Judy Garland and Zigfried Girl or Zigfeld Girl, I should 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: say not Zigfried. She was in several films and TV shows, 17 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: but more importantly to text Stuff. She made important contributions 18 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: to technology that for decades was completely unknown by the 19 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: general public and only relatively recently has been part of 20 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: the general discussion essentially since about n or So. In 21 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: this episode, I'm going to talk a lot about hay 22 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: Lamar's life, not just her work in technology. And I'm 23 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: doing this because I think it's really important to get 24 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: an understanding of what her world was like and what 25 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: it must have been like to come up with a 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:45,839 Speaker 1: fiendishly clever and useful idea that would go unacknowledged for decades. 27 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: Her story is in many ways tragic, but to understand 28 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: that tragedy, we really need to learn about her life 29 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: in general. So Hetty Lamar was born on November nine 30 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: in Vienna, Austria, to a well to do Jewish family. 31 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: Her father was a banker and a technology enthusiast, and 32 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: as a child, Lamar was known to be really curious 33 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: and inquisitive and drawn to the sciences, particularly chemistry. She 34 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: enjoyed studying, and she enjoyed experimenting with stuff. At the 35 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: age of five, she took apart a music box to 36 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 1: see how it worked, and then meticulously reassembled it so 37 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: that it would work again. Reportedly, she spent a lot 38 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: of time talking with her father, emil Keisler, in an 39 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: effort to learn how stuff works. Sounds like she would 40 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: have really liked the website I wrote for. She wanted 41 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: to know stuff about electricity, how street cars worked, how 42 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: power plants work, and when she grew into a teenager, 43 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: she also noticed that people started treating her differently. She 44 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: was a beautiful young woman, and she could not help 45 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: but notice that she had a real effect on other 46 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: people when she was in their presence, particular really among men, 47 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: and she found she kind of liked having this sort 48 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: of power and effect on people. At the age of sixteen, 49 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,399 Speaker 1: she started modeling for photographers, including doing some nude modeling, 50 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: and in an interview, Lamar referred to herself as a 51 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: L'Enfant terrible child. In other words, as a French expression, 52 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,799 Speaker 1: and it typically means a child who speaks without any 53 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: kind of filter, someone who might just speak what they're 54 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: thinking immediately without considering it's a fact, and thus potentially 55 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: embarrassing an adult nearby. For example, it happened to me 56 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: personally when I was in a grocery store and a 57 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: mom and her little son are walking past me, and 58 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: the little son looks at me and looks at his 59 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: mom and says, Mommy, that man has no hair. Well, 60 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: that's true. I'm bald, but I know that I'm familiar 61 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: with it. It's not a shock to my system. I've 62 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: been living that way for two decades. But the mother 63 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: was horrified that her child would say something like that 64 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: in public, an earshot of me. I thought it was 65 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: funny because it was just an observation and it didn't 66 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: bother me at all. But that's sort of the kind 67 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: of thing they mean. But the expression can also refer 68 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: to someone in the creative arts, like an actor or 69 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: a dancer, or an artist or a photographer, someone who 70 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: thinks outside the norm, who is more avant garde and 71 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: more daring and potentially more offensive as a result, someone 72 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 1: who goes against the standard and therefore can end up 73 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: stirring up trouble. She referred to herself in this context. 74 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,600 Speaker 1: In n three, when she was just nineteen years old, 75 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: she was cast in a Czech Austrian film called Ecstasy. 76 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: This movie became infamous at the time for one thing. 77 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: Henny Lamar appears nude in the film and a couple 78 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: of different scenes, and there was also a sex singing 79 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: in that movie that was considered positively scandalous by the 80 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: standards of the day, Lamar would earn for herself a 81 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:12,720 Speaker 1: reputation that would follow her throughout her life, largely because 82 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: of that movie. Unfairly, i would say, especially when you 83 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: compare it to films today. It was nothing particularly uh 84 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 1: racy by a lot of today's R rated movie standards, 85 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: but at the time it was considered absolutely scandalous. She 86 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: also had to reconcile with her father, whom she loved dearly. 87 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: In fact, she would later say in her life that 88 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: no man she ever was attached to could measure up 89 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: to her father. He was extremely upset by the film 90 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: and the scandal, and then, sort of as a way 91 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: to kind of redeem herself in a sense, she went 92 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: on to perform in a prestigious stage production, a very 93 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: respectful stage production, and that kind of helped heal her reputation, 94 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: at least for the time being. She also met and 95 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: then married a wealthy arms manufacturer named Fritz Mandel, who 96 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: was fourteen years older than she was, so she was nineteen, 97 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:16,359 Speaker 1: he was thirty three. According to interviews, several historians have 98 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: suggested that Lamar liked the thought of being an influential 99 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: man's wife. She found that idea appealing, but she soon 100 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: found Mandel to be controlling and domineering. He was also 101 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: supplying weapons to Germany, which meant he was weaponizing the 102 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: Nazi Party. This was early in the history of the 103 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: Nazi Party in Germany. Hitler would not become fewer until 104 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: August second, nineteen thirty four. Mandel, though Jewish, was seen 105 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 1: as incredibly important for Germany's plans, and while Hitler probably 106 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,160 Speaker 1: never visited Mandel's estate personally because he would not want 107 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: to be captured on film as associating with someone who 108 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: was Jewish, it is true that Mussolini was a house 109 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: guest of Mandel's. Fritz was reportedly a very jealous man, 110 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: constantly suspecting Hetty lamar Uh, suspecting his wife of infidelity, 111 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: and he tried to buy up all the prints of 112 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: the film Ecstasy in order to suppress the movie. He 113 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: didn't want other people seeing his wife nude on film, 114 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 1: but really that just gave the filmmakers more incentive to 115 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: make more prints of the negative because he kept on 116 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: buying them, so there was already made audience, even if 117 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: it was just a one person. He spent more than 118 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: a couple hundred thousand dollars buying up prints of this movie, 119 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: and they just kept printing up more, and so finally 120 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: he kind of gave up on that. The two remained 121 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: married for four years, but by nineteen thirty seven, tensions 122 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: were running high in Europe and in her household. Hitler 123 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: had already begun his anti Semitic policies by the time, 124 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: though Mandel was again sort of insulated and protected by 125 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: his occupation as an armament's manufacturer. But Hetty's father, Emil, 126 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: was distraught by what was going on in the world, 127 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: and the stress was really getting to him. He actually 128 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: would die of a heart attack that year, and that 129 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: devastated Hetty. Hetty had decided that by this time she 130 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: had to get away. She was scared, she was angry, 131 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: she was disgusted by what was happening in Europe and 132 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: Hitler's campaign against Jewish people, and so one evening she 133 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: decided to escape from Mandel's home and flee. And there 134 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,959 Speaker 1: are different accounts of how she managed this, including some 135 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: in which she supposedly drugged a maid, used some sleeping 136 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: powder mixed in a drink and gave it to the maid, 137 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: which made her fall unconscious, and then she ended up 138 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: switching places with the maid, dressing in the maid's outfit, 139 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: and then making her escape that night. Whatever that she used, 140 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:05,559 Speaker 1: she did flee to England. In England, she had the 141 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 1: good fortune to run into Louis B. Meyer, the co 142 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: founder of MGM Studios. Meyer was touring England looking for 143 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: European talent who were fleeing the continent. So he was 144 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: kind of taking advantage of a really bad situation and saying, hey, 145 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: if things are too hot here, you should come to America. 146 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: Sign with me, become an actor in my studio, and 147 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: I'll give you a living. So he offered Lamar the 148 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: princely sum of one five dollars per week if she 149 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: would sign on to a studio. Now, a quick word 150 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:43,559 Speaker 1: about this. From the nineteen twenties until about the nineteen sixties, 151 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 1: movie studios had sort of a death grip on film 152 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: stars and directors and movie theaters. Talent would sign contracts 153 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: with a specific movie studio and that would guarantee a 154 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: certain number of films or pictures for that studio, and 155 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: they would be locked in. They could not make movies 156 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: for competing studios unless there was an agreement between the 157 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,479 Speaker 1: two studios, and some sort of exchange. So the studios 158 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 1: also would own chains of theaters, and they would have 159 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,200 Speaker 1: their own films shown in those theaters and not their 160 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: competitors films. There were some independent theater owners in the 161 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,680 Speaker 1: United States at that time, but the movie studios would 162 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:28,199 Speaker 1: also end up leveraging their power over those independent outlets 163 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: as well. What they would do is something called a 164 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: a block booking deal. Block Booking was where let's say 165 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,679 Speaker 1: you're an independent film theater operator and you really want 166 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: to UH exhibit Gone with the Wind, and you really 167 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:45,320 Speaker 1: need to have a print of Gone with the Wind 168 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: because you want to show it in your theater. Block 169 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: Booking would mean that if you wanted to show that movie, 170 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: the movie studio would say, all right, well, you can 171 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 1: buy Gone with the windprint for X amount of dollars, 172 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: but you also have to show these other four movies 173 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 1: that were bundling with that film, and you would be 174 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 1: forced to take on all those movies and try to 175 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: show all of those movies at your theater. That practice 176 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: is ultimately what brought down the whole studio system, because 177 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: there was an antitrust lawsuit in the UH well started 178 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: in the thirties, but really it didn't completely develop until 179 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: the fifties, and at that point the movie studio system 180 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: started to break apart, and eventually the studios had to 181 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 1: stop this practice, and so you no longer have this 182 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: system where a movie studio will sign an actor to 183 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: a certain number of pictures. You have franchises that will 184 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: do that, like Star Wars or the Marvel films, where 185 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:46,959 Speaker 1: they'll sign an actor and it will guarantee a certain 186 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: number of films within that franchise. But they are no 187 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:56,200 Speaker 1: longer a studio exclusive. They can still do films with 188 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: other film studios. But back in Hetty's day, that wasn't 189 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 1: the case, and a hud dollars a week did not 190 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,559 Speaker 1: seem like it was going to be enough for her. 191 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: Because here's a woman who came from a privileged background. 192 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: She grew up in a wealthy household in Austria. She 193 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 1: then married a wealthy man, the armament's manufacturer. She still 194 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:20,199 Speaker 1: had a great deal of money and jewels and really 195 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: nice clothing on her. She didn't just flee with the 196 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: clothes on her back. She really had pretty pretty swanky 197 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:33,079 Speaker 1: luggage on her at the same time. So she knew 198 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 1: that dollars wasn't gonna be That wasn't gonna cut it, 199 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: and so she told Meyer, no thanks, I'm not going 200 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: to take that deal. However, she did want to go 201 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: to America and she did want to work in movies. 202 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: So what she did was she found out what boat 203 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: Meyer was taking back from England to return to the 204 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: United States and booked herself on the same ship. Then 205 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 1: she made it a point to walk by him as 206 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: frequently as she hood in different outfits, including one where 207 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: she was just dressed to the nines, decked out in 208 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 1: the most amazing gown, and Meyer said, I have to 209 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: have this actress in my studio. So he went back 210 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: to her and gave her a new offer of five 211 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: dollars per week, which she accepted. In America, she took 212 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: on the stage name of Hetty Lamar, which they figured 213 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: was a better name. At the time, there was a 214 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 1: lot of fear on Myers part of having actors and 215 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: actresses who had Jewish last names, and this is just 216 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 1: an unfortunate side effect of the time, so she ended 217 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: up adopting the name Hetty Lamar as her stage name. 218 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:46,079 Speaker 1: She dated several prominent men, including Howard Hughes, the businessman, 219 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: pilot film director and later on kind of eccentric. I 220 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: guess is the word you use when you're that wealthy, 221 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: but he was famously odd. Hughes and Lamar struck up 222 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,319 Speaker 1: a friendship. Lamar had built an inventing table in her 223 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: own home. She still enjoyed experimenting and tinkering with stuff, 224 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: and when Howard Hughes found out, he ended up giving 225 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,360 Speaker 1: her a gift of a smaller inventing table, one that 226 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: was semi portable that she could set up in something 227 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 1: like a movie trailer, so when she was on a 228 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: movie shoot she could have a little inventing table in 229 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: her dressing room trailer and have a place to kind 230 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: of unwind and tinker with things. There's actually a story 231 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 1: about Hughes and Lamar that I want to mention before 232 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: I go to break. Hughes was working hard on building airplanes. 233 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: He was a pilot, but he also had a design 234 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: desire to create a plane that was really fast and maneuverable, 235 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: largely because he anticipated that the United States military was 236 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: going to have a need of them with the possibility 237 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: of war in Europe looming. But his designs were not 238 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: producing the results he wanted, so Lamar took a look 239 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: at these planes which had wings that ended in sort 240 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 1: of a squared off shape. They kind of look like 241 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: like flat rectangles extending out from the sides of the plane, 242 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: and then a it struck her as wrong. So she 243 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: went out and bought books on fish and birds and 244 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: started studying their fins and their wings respectively, and started 245 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: looking for the fastest animals in those categories, and then 246 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: looking at their wings and saying how are their fins 247 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: and saying how are they shaped? How does that help 248 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: this animal move through the air through the water. And 249 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: then she sketched out a wing for an airplane based 250 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: on those shapes and told Hughes he would have better 251 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: luck with a similar design, and he said that she 252 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: was a genius. Now, in the next section, I'm going 253 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: to talk more about the technology that Lamar helped invent 254 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: and why it was so important, But first let's take 255 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: a quick break to thank our sponsor Hetty. Lamar would 256 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: then go on to marry a screenwriter named Gene Markis 257 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty nine. He would be the second of 258 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: six husbands. Lamar had a tendency to attract men to her, 259 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: but it seems most of those men didn't really know 260 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: her as a person. They saw her beauty. That's what 261 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: they fixated upon. So I'm not going to go through 262 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: each and every marriage because that would be excessive and 263 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: far beyond what we need to talk about in this show. 264 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: But I think it's good to know she had trouble 265 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: finding someone she fit with because it gives a sense 266 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: of the frustration and isolation she must have felt throughout 267 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: her life. We we had seen at this point that 268 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: war was inevitable. War had actually started to break out 269 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: in Europe, and by nine that war was well under way, 270 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: and Lamar was ordered by Meyer to never mention her religion. Remember, 271 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: Hetty Lamar grew up Jewish. Lamar seemed fine, at least 272 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: with leaving behind her Jewish identity. At least she didn't 273 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 1: seem to put up any kind of fuss about this 274 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: and never had a problem sort of moving beyond that. 275 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: But she did very much want to find a way 276 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: to have her mother or join her in the United States. 277 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:06,400 Speaker 1: Her mom had successfully fled Austria to arrive in England, 278 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: but she was kind of stuck there for the time being, 279 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: And meanwhile, German submarines were terrorizing the seas around Britain, 280 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:18,160 Speaker 1: with several high profile attacks, including one resulting in a 281 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: passenger ship being targeted and destroyed, with all the passengers 282 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: aboard passing away, including children. So Lamar began to think 283 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:32,199 Speaker 1: about ways that she might be able to help Britain. 284 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: Because at this time the United States was not in 285 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: World War Two. One of the big problems that the 286 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: Allies were facing at that point was that the submarines 287 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:44,920 Speaker 1: were able to avoid torpedoes effectively enough to pose as 288 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: a massive threat. So Hetty Lamar had this idea for 289 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 1: a radio controlled torpedo. The big challenge with radio communications 290 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 1: is that they aren't secure on their own. If I 291 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: am communicating with you on a radio, freak and see 292 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 1: anyone with a receiver can tune into that frequency and 293 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,959 Speaker 1: listen into that conversation. So unless I speak in some 294 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: sort of code, everything I say will be clearly heard 295 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: and understood on your end. Further, if someone else wants 296 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: to ruin my attempts to communicate with you, they could 297 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: start transmitting noise on that same frequency, uh, the one 298 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: that I am using to try and communicate with you. 299 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 1: And if they just use more transmitter power than I 300 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,920 Speaker 1: am using, whichever signal is the strongest will win out, 301 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,200 Speaker 1: so their signal will overpower mine, and that's what we 302 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: call jamming. Jamming just involves flooding the frequency band with 303 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: a stronger transmission signal. Now, that was the challenge that 304 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,120 Speaker 1: engineers were facing with radio controlled torpedoes. If they settled 305 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: on a control frequency and they sent the torpedo on 306 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: its way, and then they started to send commands like 307 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: rut or left or rut or right in order to 308 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: turn the torpedo, the Germans could potentially pick up on 309 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: at radio frequency and then start broadcasting on that same frequency, 310 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: and they could broadcast nonsense, jamming the signal and preventing 311 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 1: the Allies from being able to control this torpedo. Lamar's 312 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: idea was to use a system that would allow you 313 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: to change frequencies as you transmit information. So you might 314 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 1: start your commands using a frequency like three killer hurts, 315 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: then jump up the three hurts, then back down to 316 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 1: three hurts, and so on and so forth as you're transmitting. 317 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 1: And because you are varying the frequency rapidly, your enemies 318 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: are not likely to discover which frequency you're using at 319 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,880 Speaker 1: any given time, and they can't predict which frequency you're 320 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,679 Speaker 1: going to use next. So if you keep each section 321 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:46,240 Speaker 1: of transmission really short, you're able to send commands to 322 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: your torpedo without fear of the enemy jamming your signal 323 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: because they don't know which signal to use, which frequency 324 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: to use. But there's a big trick to this. You 325 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,919 Speaker 1: have to devise some way to have your receiver changed 326 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,359 Speaker 1: to tune into the podcast frequency at the same time. So, 327 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,240 Speaker 1: in other words, the transmitter and the receiver both need 328 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,439 Speaker 1: to be working on that same channel, and then you 329 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,199 Speaker 1: have to switch channels in a way that appears to 330 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 1: be random, but it has to be perfectly synchronized. Otherwise 331 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: your broadcast is going to start speaking in languages that 332 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: your receiver can't understand. So they both have to change 333 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,960 Speaker 1: to the same frequencies at the same time, and that 334 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: was a real challenge. How do you do that well? 335 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: Lamar may have gotten a little inspiration from a relatively 336 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: new technology back in the late nineteen thirties, the remote control, 337 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:39,320 Speaker 1: specifically the phil Co Mystery Remote Radio Control, which debuted 338 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty nine. It was the first wireless remote 339 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: for a radio. Previous manufacturers had played with wired remotes 340 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:50,399 Speaker 1: so they would still be connected to a radio by 341 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 1: a cable, and that would let you change stations without 342 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: you know, having to walk all the way across the 343 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: room to the actual radio set. The Philco Mystery radio 344 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: control looks a little bit like a wooden box with 345 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,119 Speaker 1: an old fashioned rotary telephone dial set into it, but 346 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: it didn't have a hand set, so it's not like 347 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: a telephone with a with a handset that you would 348 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,480 Speaker 1: hold and then you dial on this rotary dial. Instead, 349 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 1: it was just the box and the dial on it, 350 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 1: and depending on what you had, you might have labels 351 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 1: on that dial that correspond with the radio stations that 352 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: are in your area, So there would be the call 353 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: signs for each of those radio stations, and you would 354 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: put your finger in the hole for the radio station 355 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,159 Speaker 1: that you want and dial it, and that would tune 356 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:41,439 Speaker 1: the radio across the room to whatever the station was 357 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: of your choice. Lamar saw that and thought, well, if 358 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: we could come up with a means to allow a 359 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: uh A radio set to tune in this way, maybe 360 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: we could use that same sort of technology for a torpedo. 361 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: We would be in business if we could do this. 362 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: But while she had a great idea. She didn't have 363 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:02,119 Speaker 1: any mechanical engineering or ttrical engineering training, so she ran 364 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 1: up against the extent of her knowledge. However, she did 365 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,480 Speaker 1: talk about her idea with a friend of hers named 366 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 1: George An Tile, who would add another piece to this concept. 367 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: And Tile was born in nineteen hundred in Trenton, New Jersey. 368 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,360 Speaker 1: He also was not an electrical engineer or a mechanical engineer. 369 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,199 Speaker 1: He finished school or dropped out, depending upon how you 370 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: read it when he was fifteen years old. He was 371 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,680 Speaker 1: a musician and a composer. He became interested in avant 372 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: garde performances and eventually composed a piece called Le Ballet mechanique, 373 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 1: which was a piece scored for player pianos and other 374 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: devices as well as actual musicians. He wrote the piece 375 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty four, and it's a fairly jarring piece 376 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,640 Speaker 1: of music. You can actually find recordings of it online 377 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 1: and listen to it, and it's not easy listening. But 378 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: and Tile synchronized the player pianos so that they would 379 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,919 Speaker 1: play in time properly with each other and with the 380 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 1: rest of the musicians. And it was this idea that 381 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: would be valuable to Lamar's concept. And now I get 382 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:10,640 Speaker 1: to talk about how player pianos work, which I did 383 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: not anticipate when I chose this topic. So you may 384 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: have seen a player piano in person or on television 385 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,840 Speaker 1: or in films, particularly in movies set in the Old West. 386 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,360 Speaker 1: They tend to be on those These are the pianos 387 00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: that always have those rolls of paper in them. Uh. 388 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,000 Speaker 1: There there stand upright pianos, and you can see these 389 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: rolls of paper. The paper has little holes cut out 390 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: in patterns on it, and obviously those holes correspond with notes. 391 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: But how does it actually work in a classic player 392 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: piano or pianola. That's what they're also known as. Everything 393 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: is dependent upon new matics, which is a system that 394 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: uses air to move things mechanically. Typically, a player piano 395 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,360 Speaker 1: has foot pedals, and if you pump the foot pedals, 396 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: you power bellows that are inside the player piano. But 397 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 1: you're not pumping air into the system. You're actually create 398 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,360 Speaker 1: eating a vacuum. You're sucking air out of the system. 399 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,120 Speaker 1: And if you were to take the roll of paper 400 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:10,440 Speaker 1: off of the piano, you would see underneath it there's 401 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: kind of a horizontal bar that's mounted at about I height. 402 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,440 Speaker 1: Typically on player pianos and has a bunch of holes 403 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,120 Speaker 1: cut into the bar. It might be a brass bar 404 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 1: or something like that, and there will be little holes 405 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: cut in through this. Those holes will correspond with notes. 406 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: Each hole connects to a tube and the tube runs 407 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: to a specific note. More on that in a second. 408 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: So the paper acts as a seal over those holes. 409 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: So when the paper turns and the holes in the 410 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,480 Speaker 1: paper line up with the holes in the bar mounted 411 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: on the piano, air can pass through from outside through 412 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,359 Speaker 1: the hole into the player piano. Because remember there's a 413 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: vacuum inside the system, so it's constantly sucking against that paper, 414 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:56,480 Speaker 1: So whenever there's a hole in the paper, air can 415 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: come through. The air travels through the tube to the 416 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: individual note and inflates a tiny bellows. Each note has 417 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,639 Speaker 1: its own set of bellows, and that in turn sets 418 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: forth a motion that is translated by several levered elements 419 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: that ultimately ends with a hammer striking the respective string 420 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 1: and producing the note. So each time a hole in 421 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 1: the paper passes over this bar, this happens. And some 422 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:25,040 Speaker 1: musicians like Antile began to compose music for player pianos, 423 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,360 Speaker 1: in particular because they could also play more notes at 424 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,439 Speaker 1: one time than a single human musician ever. Could you 425 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,159 Speaker 1: have eighty eight keys on a piano, You could do 426 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,400 Speaker 1: eighty eight holes next to each other, and you could 427 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:40,440 Speaker 1: have all eighty eight keys play at the same time, 428 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:42,640 Speaker 1: so you could play more notes than a human being 429 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:46,200 Speaker 1: could ever manage his or her own self. So some 430 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,640 Speaker 1: people began to use that as a means of composing 431 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 1: music for a piano that a human could never play, 432 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 1: at least not by themselves. So if you want to 433 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: hear one of my favorite versions of this, you can 434 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: search for Gershwin plays Gershwin and listen for Rhapsody in Blue, 435 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,240 Speaker 1: which is one of the Gershwin's most famous pieces. The 436 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 1: recording was made by taking a role of piano paper 437 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: that was designed by Gershwin himself of his famous composition, 438 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,439 Speaker 1: and then they digitized the information. They took all the 439 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,800 Speaker 1: information from the player piano role and they converted that 440 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 1: into digital information. They added in some dynamics because that 441 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,160 Speaker 1: was not in the player piano role. In other words, 442 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:28,199 Speaker 1: there was no way of telling the difference between a 443 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: hard note and a soft note, but they added the 444 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,439 Speaker 1: information in. So there's a little bit of extra info 445 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:35,920 Speaker 1: that was added into this stuff, and then they ended 446 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,720 Speaker 1: up playing it back on the equivalent of a high 447 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:42,160 Speaker 1: tech player piano, and it's pretty phenomenal stuff. An Tile 448 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: had synchronized player pianos simply by making sure the pianos 449 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:48,400 Speaker 1: were set up to the right speed, as you could 450 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,639 Speaker 1: use different levers to engage gears for a faster or 451 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,960 Speaker 1: slower rotation of the role of piano paper. That would 452 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: be dependent upon the needs of the piece. So, for example, 453 00:26:57,840 --> 00:26:59,719 Speaker 1: if you had something that needed to be played at 454 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,959 Speaker 1: a slight slower tempo, you could adjust the player piano 455 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,680 Speaker 1: to roll back the paper at a slower speed. If 456 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: you need something faster, you could change that up too. 457 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: And then he had to make sure that he was 458 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: starting all the pianos all at the same time. So 459 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: why not take this system one that worked for player 460 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: pianos and poured it over to a torpedo control system. 461 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: Instead of notes, the holes in the paper would correspond 462 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: with radio frequencies, specific frequencies in a whole band. The 463 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,679 Speaker 1: technology already existed to create the roles of paper because 464 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 1: they were used in in player pianos and lamar and 465 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: and Tile's proposal was to use those A eight radio frequencies, 466 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,639 Speaker 1: just like a piano has. A standard piano has eight 467 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,760 Speaker 1: eight keys, fifty two white keys, and thirty six black keys. 468 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,120 Speaker 1: Unlike a typical player piano song, you'd really only need 469 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,879 Speaker 1: to engage one frequency at a time, So it's not 470 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: like you would pull an actual song, uh that already 471 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,680 Speaker 1: existed in player piano form. You're not gonna take Mary 472 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: had a little lamb off the shelf and plug one 473 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:06,040 Speaker 1: copy into a torpedo and another into a guidance system 474 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: and then use that to steer your torpedo to a target. 475 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: But the basic idea was the same. Lamar and Antile 476 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,679 Speaker 1: sent their idea to the National Inventors Council in Washington, 477 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 1: d C. This organization grew out of the Department of 478 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 1: Commerce's Office of Technical Services. It was sort of a 479 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: predecessor for DARPA in some ways, as the inventions were 480 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,960 Speaker 1: meant to aid the efforts of national defense and the 481 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,199 Speaker 1: military in general. The Council liked what they saw in 482 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:36,200 Speaker 1: the proposal, and they put Antile and Lamar in touch 483 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:40,040 Speaker 1: with an electronics expert at cal Tech. Now we're gonna 484 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: take another quick break, but when we come back, I'll 485 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: talk more about what came of this collaboration and how 486 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: this incredible idea was treated in the world of the military. 487 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 1: But first, let's take a quick break and thank our sponsor, 488 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 1: Heavy Lamar, under the name Heady Keisler. Marquis filed for 489 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 1: a patent for her system as co inventor with George 490 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: Antile on June tenth one. The Patent Office would grant 491 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: the patent on August eleven, two and the title of 492 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:25,719 Speaker 1: the patent is secret Communication System. You can read it 493 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: if you like, you just go to a patent search. 494 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:33,840 Speaker 1: The number is two million, two seven. The patent is 495 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,239 Speaker 1: actually pretty easy to read compared to a lot of 496 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: other patents, particularly more recent ones. I've gone through a 497 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:44,680 Speaker 1: lot of patents as a podcaster of tech stuff, but 498 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: this one is pretty straightforward and incredibly clever. Here's how 499 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: their system would have worked both your transmitter and your 500 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:56,959 Speaker 1: receiver uh, which in this patent was a torpedo. Specifically, 501 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: they referred to it as a torpedo, but they also 502 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: explain within the patent itself that the system could be 503 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: adapted to other things. Would have identical rolls of paper 504 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 1: with holes in the paper representing specific frequencies up to 505 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 1: eighty eight in number. The paper rolls did not contain 506 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 1: any actual commands themselves. That wouldn't make any sense. They 507 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,120 Speaker 1: just made sure there was a channel of communication that 508 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 1: was open, so those holes would make sure the transmitter 509 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 1: and receiver were connected. Commands would actually be sent by 510 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 1: an operator. It wouldn't make any sense to pre program 511 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: commands in because it would all be situational. Right you're 512 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: you're trying to steer a torpedo. You can't predict in 513 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: advance which way you're going to need to steer the torpedoes. 514 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: So this was all about just creating that open channel 515 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: of communication that could not easily be jammed by the enemy. 516 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: The patent points out that the system could work not 517 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: only aboard a ship with a torpedo, but also a 518 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: plane and a torpedo. So you could have a plane 519 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: with a synchronized system issuing commands to the torpedo over 520 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: in the air. So you could have a plane monitoring 521 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,680 Speaker 1: the pathway of the torpedo and taking over and commanding 522 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: it to turn laughter, turn right, or however it needs 523 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: to go. To synchronize the two systems, the patent suggested 524 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 1: a method that would include solenoids held into place by 525 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 1: electric current. So a solenoid is a type of electro magnet. 526 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: It's typically a coil wound in a helix and it 527 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,040 Speaker 1: connect as a transducer that turns energy into linear motion. 528 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: So think of a piston and it has an electro 529 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,920 Speaker 1: magnet inside the piston. So when you have current running 530 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,959 Speaker 1: through the electro magnet, the coil moves to one end 531 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:42,880 Speaker 1: of the piston and sort of locks into place because 532 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,959 Speaker 1: that's where the magnetic force is pushing or pulling the coil. 533 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: If the electrical current is broken, the electro magnet turns 534 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 1: off and the solenoid is unlocked. It moves into the 535 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 1: opposite direction, and the patent the invention describes such a 536 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: solenoid that holds a pin in place, and when the 537 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,360 Speaker 1: pin is pulled out of the device, a clockwork motor 538 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 1: turns the paper roll. So a battery would provide current 539 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:12,080 Speaker 1: two pens in both the transmitting and the receiving stations, 540 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: so both aboard the ship or the plane and aboard 541 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: the torpedo. Upon firing the torpedo, this electrical connection breaks 542 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:23,240 Speaker 1: and the pens release, which start the electric motors in 543 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 1: both stations and spends the paper rolls in their respective 544 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,880 Speaker 1: UH spaces, whether it's on the plane or on the 545 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 1: ship or in the torpedo, at the same rate of speed, 546 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:39,240 Speaker 1: and that synchronizes them. Not all of those eight frequencies 547 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 1: wouldn't be necessary for the receiver. In fact, the patent 548 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: suggests that the transmitter include frequencies that the receiver cannot 549 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: physically detect. Now it's not so you send extra information. 550 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 1: It's actually, well, I guess in the way it is 551 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: to send extra information, but specifically to confuse the enemy. 552 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 1: So if the Germans were to pin up these signals, 553 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: they wouldn't know which signals represented a real open channel 554 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 1: between the ship and the torpedo, for example, or which 555 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,400 Speaker 1: ones were dummy frequencies that we're coming from the ship 556 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: but could not be picked up by the torpedo. By 557 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 1: transmitting across both, you would reduce the chance the enemy 558 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 1: would catch onto which signals are important, Which is similar 559 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,720 Speaker 1: to the way baseball players will use various signals to 560 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,760 Speaker 1: communicate with each other, such as when a pitching coach 561 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:31,200 Speaker 1: sends a message to a baseball pitcher. You'll see this 562 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 1: whole series of hand motions that get increasingly weird and bizarre. 563 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 1: Some of those signals are just filler. They're meant to 564 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: confound the imposing teams, so they don't know which of 565 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,240 Speaker 1: the signals are actually meaningful. In order to indicate which 566 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,440 Speaker 1: signals are real and which ones aren't, the invention also 567 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,920 Speaker 1: included a lamp for the transmitter station that would indicate 568 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,320 Speaker 1: if there was a real channel of communication open or not, 569 00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:58,480 Speaker 1: and operators were meant to keep an eye on the 570 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:00,680 Speaker 1: lamp so they would know whether the com munications with 571 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:05,280 Speaker 1: the receiver were really active. They could send commands during 572 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: times when the communication wasn't active in order to confound 573 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 1: the enemy, but they would have to keep in mind 574 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: those were not quote unquote real commands. They were going 575 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,880 Speaker 1: out to a deaf audience. It was only when the 576 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,359 Speaker 1: communication channel was complete on both sides that they could 577 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:22,920 Speaker 1: actually send a command to the torpedo that would be 578 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,919 Speaker 1: acted upon. As for the physical operations, they were remarkably 579 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,560 Speaker 1: similar to a player piano. They would use electric pumps 580 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,200 Speaker 1: to suck the air from the system, creating the same 581 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,320 Speaker 1: sort of vacuum as you would find in player pianos, 582 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 1: although those tended to be foot pedal and bellows type systems. 583 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:41,719 Speaker 1: When the holes in the paper would pass over their 584 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 1: respective holes in the bar in the system, air would 585 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,240 Speaker 1: pass through. On the other end of the transmitter side 586 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,840 Speaker 1: are a series of pistons with springs inside them. The 587 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:55,760 Speaker 1: springs are coiled with stored potential energy, but the vacuum 588 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: in the system prevents the springs from extending, so the 589 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:02,960 Speaker 1: pistons would be retracted against the springs because the vacuum 590 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: is sucking all of the pistons to their their compressed state. 591 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 1: When air would be allowed to pass through one of 592 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:17,239 Speaker 1: those pistons, the vacuum would be broken, the spring would extend, 593 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:20,239 Speaker 1: and that would cause the piston to move up and 594 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:25,120 Speaker 1: close a switch which would activate that specific frequency. And 595 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:28,840 Speaker 1: then once the hole would pass over, like once the 596 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:30,719 Speaker 1: hole in the paper would pass away and it would 597 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:34,279 Speaker 1: be sealed again, the vacuum would re establish and the 598 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,560 Speaker 1: piston would retract, and so it would change to a 599 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:41,200 Speaker 1: different frequency, whichever frequency was active for that specific moment. 600 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,520 Speaker 1: The design was an elegant solution to a very real problem, 601 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,839 Speaker 1: and Lamar and Until submitted their idea to the United 602 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 1: States Navy. In our next episode, we'll talk about what 603 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,720 Speaker 1: happened next and how that concept, which Lamar dubbed frequency hopping, 604 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:59,600 Speaker 1: would become a principle in multiple technologies today. There were 605 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 1: other people who had suggested concepts either similar to frequency 606 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:07,240 Speaker 1: hopping or pretty much the same idea, But hey, Lamar's 607 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:11,399 Speaker 1: presentation showed a practical approach as to how to accomplish this, 608 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:13,839 Speaker 1: And it takes a special kind of thinking to go 609 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,160 Speaker 1: from hypothetical concept to a practical idea. So I don't 610 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:21,320 Speaker 1: mean to suggest that Hetty Lamar's notion of frequency hopping 611 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,880 Speaker 1: was the one and only time anyone ever came up 612 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:28,440 Speaker 1: with us. There were earlier ones. They were not widely publicized, 613 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,000 Speaker 1: but they did exist if you knew where to look 614 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: for them. But it was still appears to me that 615 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:37,040 Speaker 1: Lamar pretty much came up with this idea on her own. 616 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:41,920 Speaker 1: She was not aware of these other uh hypothesized versions 617 00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:44,319 Speaker 1: of frequency hopping, and no one had called it that yet. 618 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:46,600 Speaker 1: Before I signed off in this episode, I wanted to 619 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:50,160 Speaker 1: mention one of the sources that I referenced heavily while 620 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:52,880 Speaker 1: I was putting together my research, and that is a 621 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:57,280 Speaker 1: documentary about Hetty Lamar's life called Bombshell, and it focuses 622 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:01,279 Speaker 1: not just on her work in developing equency hopping, but 623 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,359 Speaker 1: also her work as an actress, her life in Hollywood, 624 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:09,240 Speaker 1: her trials and tribulations, her various marriages, her family life, 625 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:14,319 Speaker 1: her struggle with drug addiction. It's a fascinating story. So 626 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,359 Speaker 1: if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend checking out 627 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:21,120 Speaker 1: the documentary. Again, it's called Bombshell. Well, that wraps up 628 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,720 Speaker 1: this particular episode. In our next one, we will continue 629 00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:26,879 Speaker 1: the story and we'll also look at some other interesting 630 00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: inventions that celebrities have have put forward over the years. 631 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,240 Speaker 1: If you guys have suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, 632 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,879 Speaker 1: send me a message. You can email me at tech 633 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,880 Speaker 1: Stuff at how stuff works dot com or drop me 634 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,239 Speaker 1: a message on Twitter or Facebook. The handle at both 635 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:45,560 Speaker 1: of those is tech Stuff hs W. Don't forget to 636 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:48,280 Speaker 1: follow us on Instagram and I'll talk to you again 637 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:57,600 Speaker 1: about Hey Lamar really soon for more on this and 638 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:10,319 Speaker 1: bathands of other topics. Is it how staff works dot com. 639 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:04,719 Speaker 1: W