AT THE EXACT TIME that Itasca’s radiomen were trying to identify those generator sounds, Mabel Larremore was turning on her “very good shortwave set.” Mabel, a homemaker in Amarillo, Texas, had finally tucked her two small sons into bed for the night. Now she looked forward to relaxing and listening to some overseas radio programs.

But as she turned the dial, she suddenly heard Amelia Earhart calling for help. Mabel knew it was Amelia, having heard the aviator’s voice dozens of times before in radio interviews and in newsreels. And since Mabel’s radio signal was “very clear,” she had no trouble hearing Earhart’s message.

“Her message stated that the plane was down on an uncharted island,” Mabel later told the Amarillo Globe News. “[It] was partially on land, part in water. She gave the latitude and longitude of her location.” According to Mabel, Amelia also stated that her navigator, Fred Noonan, was seriously injured and needed a doctor. She, too, was hurt, but not as badly. “I listened to her for thirty or forty minutes after waking my family to listen,” recalled Mabel. But she didn’t contact any officials because she assumed “the government of the USA was taking care of everything.”

Was Mabel’s story true?

Could Amelia Earhart really be calling for help?

Radio 101

Before the invention of television, Americans gathered around the radio to listen to music, newscasts, dramas and comedy programs. These shows were broadcast from nearby AM stations and were the most common form of entertainment in the 1930s.

Many radios also included a second dial for the shortwave radio. The shortwave radio differed from the regular AM one. While the AM radio could pick up only low-frequency radio signals sent from nearby stations, the shortwave radio could pick up high-frequency signals. Because these high-frequency signals could travel long distances, listeners never knew what they might hear simply by turning the shortwave dial (signals were random, depending on variables such as the weather and the time of day). They might pick up a signal from Hawaii or Italy or even faraway Russia. Back in the 1930s, this was a common (and exciting) way to stay in touch with the rest of the world.

This radio, manufactured by Philco in 1937, was typical of those found in homes across the United States. The shortwave radio dial is in the center of the console. (picture credit 5.1)