Posted by admin on Mar 11, 2010 in
Communication History “Language: A Basic Form of Communication”
In the early 1980’s, PBS aired a nine part video series that gave the story of the English language, particularly how it developed into the language that we use in the United States today. It made a big impression on me, such that I wrote a paper summerizing each video in detail for my English Literature I Class at Polk Community College (now Polk State) in 1990.
I’ve never forgotten it, or the twenty points of extra credit that it garnered me. As I am once again pursuing a degree in Communication, I found myself wondering if the series was even still available. To my delight, I saw that you can buy new and used copies of the series.
It is my recommendation to any and all who are interested in Communication or History. The videos included so much information that I’d never heard before, and it was presented in a very interesting way. The makers of these videos traveled around the world and throughout the United States collecting this information. They included samples of the variations of the language, and how it was influenced and changed through the years.
For more information on obtaining this video series, go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Story-English-Programs-1-9VHS/dp/6302892058
Tags: Communication History, English language
Posted by admin on Mar 10, 2010 in
Communication History “Navajo Code Talkers”
During World War II, the military was having problems with their communications. Their codes were being broken easily by the Japanese, and anything that they couldn’t break took over two hours to compose, send, and get translated.
When Phillip Johnston heard of their plight, he thought he had the answer. The son of a Protestant missionary, he grew up on a Navajo reservation. He was one of less than 30 outsiders that were fluent in the Navajo language. Knowing that the language had no alphabet and that is was almost impossible to master without early exposure, Johnston proposed the use of Navajo servicemen to use the language to code the marine corp’s messages. He gave a very impressive demonstration to the top commanders and was given the go-ahead to develop and train the Native Americans.
In 1942, the elite unit was created. The “original 29″ began by using about 200 words to communicate, which developed into 600 before the end of the war. These soldiers were not allowed to write anything down, and had to have it all committed to memory. They developed words in their native language to describe military words that never existed in their language before. They did this in a very ingenious way, using words of animals that had similar characteristics to the term. Words like ‘turtle’ to mean tank, and ‘chicken hawk’ when referring to dive bombers.
Many of the Navajo had no birth certificate, so it was virtually impossible to verify ages. After the war, it was discovered that some of the enlistees were as young as 15 and as old as 35. They proved themselves extremely competent and did well during basic training because of their upbringing in the southwestern desert.
For many years after the war, no one was told about their efforts because the language was considered ‘top secret’ and was still being used. It was almost twenty years before the information was released to the public, and even longer before the “walking secret codes” received their medals and recognition.
I found this story amazing. If you are interested in this, you must go to two Web sites that I came across in my research. The first is:
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2.htm
and
http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/.
Tags: Code Talkers, Communication History, military history, Navajo, Phillip Johnston, World War II
Posted by admin on Mar 10, 2010 in
Communication History “A Short Lived But Legendary Communication Career”
Although it only lasted 19 months, the Pony Express has become a part of the legendary West. It began in April of 1860 and ended in October of 1861. The reason that it was created was that it took the mail a very long time to travel across the country in the usual stagecoach mode of shipping. With the Civil War on hand, the Postal Service needed a way to get the mail from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast faster. The Pony Express did it in 10 days by using riders instead of stage coaches, and finding a shorter route. Founded by William H. Russell, Alexander majors and William B. Waddell, the Central Overland California and Pike’s peak Express Company was a financial disaster.
The newspaper add requirements were that the riders be no older than 20, and weigh under 125 pounds. They also said that orphans were preferred. This is because the Paiute Indians didn’t like the way the white men were killing all their game, so they started attacking the Pony Express Stations. The job was a 24 hour straight ride, and paid $100.00 per month…quite a big sum in those days. The youngest Pony Express rider was 11 years old, and the oldest was 40.
One reason the horses of the Pony Express are believed to have been so fast is because they were grain fed rather than grass fed, and they had great conditioning. The Pony Express was completely put oout of business because of a new communication development called the telegraph.
If you want “just the facts,” the Web site to visit is:
http://www.americanwest.com/trails/pages/ponyexp1.htm
For “the rest of the story” check out:
http://www.essortment.com/all/ponyexpresshis_mmm.htm
Tags: American West, Communication History, History of the US Mail, Pony Express
Posted by admin on Mar 10, 2010 in
Communication History 
Do you know what the Rosetta Stone is? No, I’m not talking about the language learning program, but I am talking about the Rosetta Stone that they took their name from.
The Rosetta Stone is the key that helped modern man learn how to read and decipher hieroglyphics. The way it was found is a remarkable story in itself. Apparently, Napoleon wanted to conquer Egypt (his goal was to conquer the whole world). He took soldiers, and civilians with him and they got stuck there for three years with no way to return.
During that time, the civilians (artists, historians, scientists,etc.) were busy studying the Egyptian culture. The soldiers assignment was to build a fort. As many soldiers before them, when they started trying to build, they took some of the stones from previous buildings to build up their new place. The soldiers dug and dug. One day in 1799, one of them dug up the Rosetta Stone.
It was named the Rosetta Stone because it was found near the small city outside of Alexandria, Egypt named Rosetta. The stone had writing on it. There were three languages on the stone: hieroglyphics, Demotic Script (an ancient Egyptian script) and Ancient Greek. It turns out, the decree was a royal one, and it was stated on the stone that it should be written in the three languages used in Egypt at the time. The top two laguages were not known to the scholars, but Ancient Greek was still studied. If they knew what the Ancient Greek said, then it was possible to translate the other two languages. This stone helped scholars begin to understand the meanings of the hieroglyphics, which ultimately led to the deciphering of the hieroglyphic language.
If you’d like to know the whole story, check it out at:
http://hieroglyphics/rosettastone.html
Tags: Communication History, Egypt, Hieroglyphics, Napoleon, rosetta stone
Posted by admin on Mar 10, 2010 in
Communication History 
“Homing Pigeon’s: Distance Communication”
Man’s quest for communication over distance resulted in the ingenious and complex developments of several systems of communication. From smoke signals to the Pony Express Riders, we have come up with ways to “get the message across.” One of these early methods of communication was the use of homing or carrrier pigeon.
The homing pigeon was first used more than 3,000 years ago by Egyptians and Persians. As early as 150, pigeons were used to carry messages in Baghdad. There are many of these types of examples found throughout history, and you can see a sample of them at Http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Homing_pigeon.
During World Wars I and II, over 200,000 carrier or homing pigeons were used by the Allied Forces to conduct surveilliance and relay messages to the front. The U.S. Army used specially trained homing pigeons to carry messages. The U.S. Army Pigeon Breeding and Training Center was located at Fort Monmouth, N.J. from 1917 until 1957.
For more information about how other countries used pigeons for communication purposes, go to:
http://militaryhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/carrier_pigeons_in_the_word_wars
Tags: Carrier pigeons, Communication History, early distance communication, Homing pigeons
Posted by admin on Mar 10, 2010 in
Communication History “Up In Smoke”
Smoke signals, a form
of visual communication, developed both in the Americas and in China. Covering a fire with a blanket or similar material and removing it quickly generates a puff of smoke. With some practice, “sizes, shape and timing” of the smoke puffs can be controlled.
Smoke can be seen miles away by anyone in visual range of it. Native Americans used stone bowls strategically placed to form a sort of signaling station. The Chinese, with the same concept, used the towers of the Great Wall of China for their own “signaling stations.”
There are no standardized code for smoke signals. Predetermined patterns of sender and receiver make smoke signaling very limited and only capable of simple messages. 
If you’d like to read more about the history of smoke signals, look at these sites.
http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Smoke-signal
Tags: American Indian, Communication History, Great Wall of China, Smoke, Telecommunications (early)
Posted by admin on Mar 10, 2010 in
Communication History “Interesting Web Sites”
While doing a little research on the history of commucation, I came across some info about CB uses in Australia. I thought it was interesting to note that it is still widely used in rural and outback areas there. I especially included it for my friend Katie, who is an American living in the Great Aussie-land and a student of Communication.
So, Katie, and anyone else interested in CB use, the web site is:
http://www.uhfcb.com/CB-Radio-History.php
Tags: CB radio/Australia/communication history/communication
Posted by admin on Mar 10, 2010 in
Communication History “Citizen’s Band (CB) Radio”
With towers in the most rural of places, the cell phone has become the constant companion and main (sometimes only) mode of communication to most of us in the U.S. However, it is not the first attempt at on-the-go communication. In the seventies and eighties, we had the CB radio.
See video at: http://www.history.com/shows/modern-marvels/videos/the-cb-radio
At 19, my new husband (22) moved us to the wilderness (otherwise known as rural Mississippi). We didn’t have a phone (everything further than a mile was considered long distance, so it didn’t pay for us to have one). There was no cable and the nearest town (with stores) was 10 miles from us.
My young husband got a job on the 3-11 shift at a plant an hour’s drive away. This meant that I was there alone in the woods, from 1:30 pm to around 12:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. I didn’t know anyone there, and the particular community that we lived in was a little “clickish.” I tried a few churches, but no one talked to me and I gave that up after a few tries. This was early 1977.
You can guess that I felt very alone and very afraid, especially after the television station (we only had reception for one) went off around midnight. My husband realized how afraid I was. He talked to his dad, who gave us an old base (home) station CB radio. The channels had increased from twenty three to forty, and he’d gotten himself a new one. We found an inexpensive mobile station at the Radio Shack in Starkville (where my husband worked) and put it in Nolan’s car.
My husband would talk to me when he got about 30 minutes from home. Somehow, his voice at the end of that radio made me feel safer (along with the 22 pistol laying in my lap that he’d also tuaght me to shoot).
That CB radio was my lifeline, my 911, and my “peace of mind.” I also knew that my father-in-law (who lived about twenty minutes away) kept his radio on a certain channel so that hear me if I called for help. He did have a telephone and could call the proper authorities.
Many of you are aware that truckers used them, and still do. It helps pass the time on those long stretches of highway. However, it was used in rural areas for years. Actually, in hilly areas where sometimes there’s no way for a signal to reach a cell tower, it is still the most realiable mode of communication.
Several years later, when we again moved to a rural area (this time it was Tennessee), we lived about thirty minutes from our church. When I went to a ladies church function or planning committe meeting, my husband would get a little concerned about me if I stood around and talked to people (which I frequently did). So, we pulled those CB’s back out and used them again. When I started home, I’d talk to my husband and son.
C.B. radios were very low cost. You didn’t have to pay any user fees, because the broadcasting was free. Many people bought big towers and other things to boost their signals. However, for a small amount of money you could purchase a CB and the tower to be able to talk at least back and forth for the thirty minute drive. It was a beneficial mobile communication, and I was very thankful for it!
For more information about the history of CB’s, look at the following sites:
http://www.cbgazette.com/history.html
Tags: C.B. radio, cell phone, communication, Mobile communication
