Chapter 8

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Type 19 [...] Doerle Twinplex
The Doerle “Twinplex” regenerative radio receiver, a popular kit or DIY radio design in the mid-1930s, often sold by or associated with the Doerle Company. It used the Type 19 dual-triode vacuum tube.

an eye electrically fly
In 1930s slang, "fly" meant smart, sharp, hip, alert. So this phrase would mean "sharp, perceptive vision."

policy runners
“Policy” (also called the numbers game, policy racket, or policy wheel) was an illegal daily lottery. Players would choose a 3-digit number (usually from 000–999), wager a small sum (a penny, nickel, dime), and hope the number matched the “winning number” drawn that day — often based on horse-race results or stock exchange figures. A small bet could return big winnings — sometimes $60 on a nickel bet — so it was wildly popular among working-class people shut out of legitimate financial systems. Policy runners were the low-level agents who collected bets from players in homes, barber shops, taverns, and street corners. They “ran” the slips and money to a policy station or policy bank, where a “writer” or “clerk” logged them in and forwarded them up the chain to the “banker” — the operator who financed and controlled the operation.

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Mary Texanna Loomis's Radio College
Loomis (1880-1960) founded the Loomis Radio College in Washington, D.C., around 1920. Her goal was to train students not only in radio theory and operation but also in the practical craftsmanship and electrical skills behind the technology. The school included a workshop and a lab, where students built or repaired their own equipment. She required students to have hands-on experience: “No man … can graduate … until he learns how to make any part of the apparatus.” Courses included topics in radio theory, operating practice, drafting, basic electricity, shop work, and more. More...