Norman Baker (inventor)
| Norman G. Baker | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 27, 1882 Muscatine, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | September 10, 1958 (aged 75) Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Cirrhosis |
| Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Charles Welch |
| Occupation | Radio broadcaster and personality, inventor, entrepreneur |
Norman G. Baker (November 27, 1882 – September 10, 1958) was an early American radio broadcaster, entrepreneur and inventor who secured fame as well as state and federal prison terms by promoting a supposed cure for cancer in the 1930s. He operated radio stations KTNT in Muscatine, Iowa and the border blaster XENT in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. Baker was also the creator of the Tangley calliaphone (an air blown musical instrument similar to a calliope).
Baker was born to a wealthy family in the small Mississippi river town of Muscatine, Iowa. He was the tenth and last child of locally prominent parents. His father, John Baker, had reportedly patented 126 inventions, and his mother, Frances Mary (née Anshulz), was a writer before she married.
Although Baker is usually described as having begun his career as a vaudeville performer, he showed early promise as an inventor and a machinist.
Norman Baker invented and, through his Tangley Company, successfully manufactured and sold the Tangley Automatic Air Calliope or calliaphone, a variation of the then-common steam organ. This mobile, stentorian contrivance was much in demand for fairgrounds and circuses. Baker also formed numerous local businesses under the Tangley or Baker name. By 1904, Baker became intrigued by travelling shows presenting "mentalists" and other vaudeville performers to the public. He set up his own troupe and, as "Charles Welch," travelled the country with it. A persona of the show, regardless of her actual identity, remained the "mind-reader Pearl Tangley."
In 1924, convinced of the potential of the burgeoning field of radio broadcasting, Baker asked the town of Muscatine to permit a station that would make the town famous across the Midwest. In operation by November 1925, the station received the call sign KTNT, chosen for its explosive connotations but explained as "Know The Naked Truth." It broadcast with 500 watts on 256.3 meters or 1170 kc/s. It used the calliaphone for a sign-on signal, and Baker put his skills as a veteran carnival barker to exquisite use as a radio promoter and announcer. Baker immediately began agitating vociferously against an alleged "cartel" of broadcasters aimed at independent stations. This was before the broadcast spectrum was regulated, and the many new stations interfered frequently. By 1925, Baker was president of American Broadcasters Association, a short-lived lobbying group (to 1927) against "monopolists." In particular, Baker railed against AT&T, which then (thru Western Electric) had a de facto monopoly on radio station transmitters.
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