Have you ever tapped out a message in Morse code over a telegraph wire? How about listened to music on a wax cylinder? Or played with a Tesla coil?

Well, you can do all of these things and more at the Vintage Radio & Communications Museum of Connecticut. Located just north of Hartford in Windsor, the museum is a treasure trove of artifacts about the history of communications, from the telegraph to modern computers.

The museum's director and founder, John Ellsworth (pictured above), took us on a tour of nearly every corner and item inside the warehouse tidily appointed with exhibits. Some of the highlights included learning the origin of the term "limelight"; before the advent of electric lighting, theaters would create light by igniting calcium oxide, or quick lime. The museum has a an example of a limelight rig likely used by a Vaudeville troupe around the turn of the century. We also got a chance to play with a Tesla coil, an experimental device invented by Nikola Tesla during his attempts to transmit electric power wirelessly (if you would like to learn more about this inventor and his connections to New York City, check out the Tesla Memorial Society of New York.)

The museum also lives up to its name as a museum of Connecticut communications innovations. There is a case containing photos and artifacts from an early 20th century radio manufacturer in Hartford, as well as radios built in former manufacturing centers of New Haven and Manchester. The museum also has an example of a monotype machine, a device invented to replace the linotype used in printing. The machine never caught on, and its failure bankrupted long-time Connecticut resident Mark Twain, forcing him to sell his Hartford home and move to Europe.

Mr. Ellsworth also told us the story of Edwin H. Armstrong, the inventor of FM radio, who conducted many of his experiments from Meriden's West Peak – due to its history and continued use as a broadcasting center, the area has been dubbed "Radio Mountain." W1XPW (now WCHN, a once great rock station that now plays adult contemporary), established in Meriden in 1938 under Armstrong's early FM standard of 42-50 MHz, was the first FM broadcaster in the state and one of the first in the country. Patent disputes with RCA over the standard – as well as the company's successful lobbying of the FCC to move the FM band to today's location of 88-108 MHz, rendering Armstrong's radios and transmitters obsolete – caused him to become deeply depressed, and he committed suicide in New York City in 1954.

And if you love radios, they've got a lot of them. From unamplified table radios to cabinet receivers to hi-fis, the museum has got some of the coolest sets I have ever seen. They even have a refrigerator with a built-in set, built by the 1940's car maker Crosley. The Crosley Shelvador was also the first fridge to have shelves built into the door, an idea for which Crosley paid $15,000 to the inventor – he turned down the initial offer of a 25-cent royalty on each unit sold, a deal which would have netted him over $1,000,000.

The museum has also developed an innovative way of supporting itself. In addition to the small admission fee visitors pay, the museum also generates income by repairing equipment and selling parts and schematics for vintage electronics. As most electronics have moved from vacuum tubes to solid-state components, these parts have become more and more difficult to find, and there are only a handful of factories in the world still making them. Luckily, the museum has tens of thousands of vacuum tubes for sale at very reasonable prices, and they can help you get your old radio back to playing crystal clear analog sound.

Even for someone who is not an electronics aficionado, the personal touch of the staff and volunteers make a visit to the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum a special experience. Its well-crafted hands-on exhibits make it an ideal place for children and school groups. The museum is a real treasure, and we encourage you to visit – and if you are in the market for equipment or parts, or looking to get rid of some old radios, your purchase or donation can be another great way to support them.

For questions or comments about this blog post, please contact andrewg@urbanoyster.com.

There are few things that will get me out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to drive out to Staten Island in the freezing cold. Apparently, a weather-predicting rodent is one of those things.

We made the pre-dawn trip across the Verrazano Bridge to see Staten Island Chuck, the city's official Groundhog Day mascot, at the Staten Island Zoo. Every year, Chuck is rousted from his lair by the mayor and asked whether or not he saw his shadow. The ceremony included a few brief speeches from city officials, who seemed to take great joy in rattling off corny jokes about Mayor Bloomberg's mishap last year, when Chuck took a small bite out of his finger when the mayor was trying the extricate him from his house. Though several speakers talked about what a great borough Staten Island is, no one made the obvious pun about the fact that they were about to coax a groundhog out of his "burrow." Now that's comedy gold.

The fracas last year, and the resulting media attention, did much to improve attendance this year; according to one reporter we talked to at the zoo, there were far more cameras and reporters on hand than at previous ceremonies (you can see a report from NY1 here). I guess they were all chasing the story every cub reporter dreams about, "Groundhog Bites Mayor." That's the stuff of Pulitzers and Local Emmys. Aside from the reporters and civil servants, we appeared to be the only adults there who weren't accompanying small children.

To avoid a repeat biting, the mayor sported a pair of heavy-duty gloves, and an expert animal handler was waiting in the wings should Chuck get frisky again. The prediction went off without incident, and the mayor did not have to use the boxing gloves that were given to him by the zoo's director for his "rematch" with Chuck. According to the mayor's translation of Goundhogese (the language in which all groundhogs relate their meteorological knowledge), Chuck did not see his shadow, meaning spring is fast approaching. This was in direct contradiction of the statement made by Punxsutawney Phil, easily the world's most famous groundhog, who did see his shadow, meaning much more winter is ahead.

But the field of groundhog weathermen is far larger than just Chuck and Phil – there are no less than 45 groundhogs across North America that are stirred from their winter slumber every February 2nd by men in silly hats, according to Groundhog Central. The two groundhogs on Long Island, Holtsville Hal and Malverne Mel, both called for six more weeks of winter; combine that with Wednesday's snow storm, and it looks like Chuck may have botched the call this year. Many joked last year that Chuck's bite was a rebuke to the mayor for seeking changes to the city charter that would allow him to run for a third term. Perhaps the canny rodent has found a much more effective political weapon against Bloomberg than his teeth – passing him bogus information to make him look bad. Though it could just be that Bloomberg's Goundhogese is getting rusty.

For questions or comments about this blog post, please contact andrewg@urbanoyster.com.