Everybody has heard that in the early days of radio broadcasting, there were people who received broadcasts through their teeth. A psychologist who is writing about it in a forthcoming book told me that he could find no actual or authentic case. I recall the play Something for the Boys in 1944 with Ethel Merman, and the movie of the play with Carmen Miranda, in which the actresses pretended they heard broadcasts. Indefatigable researcher that I am, I finally located an item in the 1934 New York Times index, “Ukrainian complains his ears register broadcast sounds.” Is there anything to such stories or are the human receiving sets candidates for the loony bin? –David Shulman, New York
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Hey, sometimes my ears register broadcast sounds. But usually I just yell to turn the damn thing down. Apparently that wasn’t an option for the Ukrainian (no name given) mentioned in the two-paragraph Times item you cited. A resident of the Brazilian state of Parana, he was seeking medical help because “his ears, radio-like, register broadcast sounds; in fact, he is a walking antenna.”
Case number 1. George, of suburban Chicago, lost a front tooth at the age of 12. A year or so later, in about 1961, he was fitted with a cap that was attached to the tooth stump with what George recalls as a brass wire. Thereafter he began hearing music in his head, generally popular tunes of the day, usually while he was outdoors. The music was soft but distinct. He never heard an announcer’s voice or commercials and was unable to identify what radio station, if any, he was hearing. After a year or two of this a new dentist put in a cap without a wire and the tunes stopped.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration/Slug Signorino.
