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April 1956 Popular Electronics
 Table
of Contents
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles
from
Popular Electronics,
published October 1954 - April 1985. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.
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 When
I first saw this picture of Dr. Martin L. Klein, I though he was Superman.
No, it doesn't take a superman to teach electronics on television, but the familiarity
of George Reeves as the star of the "Adventures of Superman"
series in from 1953 through 1958 would have been a good reason to use him in the
"Wires and Pliers" TV show. Dr. Klein and his techie sidekick Aram Solomonian
performed a weekly show presenting basic electronics to the audience. BTW, as long
as I am on a roll with misidentifications, I also looked up whether Dr. Klein
is related to the Klein
Tools family. Klein has long been a producer of very high quality hand tools
for electricians (and others), hence, wires and pliers. Alas, wrong on that one,
too. I still own and use the Klein lineman's pliers, dikes, screwdrivers, etc.,
that I bought nearly five decades ago when first entering the realm of electricianhood
[sic].
TV Show Features "Wires and Pliers"
Part of each program is devoted to explaining the function of
involved electronic apparatus.
 They're trying a new experiment on TV in
Los Angeles. Every Saturday, those who want to see popular electronics at work can
watch Dr. Martin L. Klein on the "Wires and Pliers" show, Station KCOP. Dr. Klein,
a well-known electronics designer, and Harry C. Morgan, another electronics engineer,
have found a novel way to interest viewers in the subject. Morgan designed a complete
series of simple useful circuits, each one costing less than five dollars to build.
With the help of a super-fast electronics technician, Aram Solomonian, they have
put together on the program a crystal radio (this took Solomonian five minutes),
a transistor amplifier (seven minutes), and an electronic puzzle (eight minutes).
What's more, they then prove to the audience that the circuits really work. And
the Electronic Engineering Company of California, sponsor of the show, is packaging
the circuits in kit form at nominal cost.
Posted June 28, 2024
(updated from original post
on 2/21/2017)
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