Sorry to contradict the prevailing sentiment, but FAX (Facsimile transmission) predates its modern “digital” version by a long shot.  It was the mainstay for newspapers to transmit photos for decades and required expensive equipment, hence was not a household item.  But it was there.  I would not be surprised if 1939 is correct.

Sometime listening to the radio pays off

Alex


> On Apr 30, 2018, at 2:45 PM, Michael Biel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Don't believe everything you hear on the radio!!!
> 
> 
> Mike Biel  [log in to unmask]
> 
>  -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Radio Facsimile
> From: Clark Johnsen <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, April 30, 2018 2:21 pm
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> This is not one of my topics, but I just heard someone on the radio (!)
> say
> that FAX was introduced to the public at the 1939 New York World's Fair
> ("The World of Tomorrow"), along with other amazing developments such
> as
> fluorescent bulbs, robots and flat-screen TVs.
> 
> I have not corroborated this, but simply offer it for consideration.
> 
> On Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 12:50 PM, Adam Schutzman
> <[log in to unmask]
>> wrote:
> 
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> I'm doing a presentation related to the history of radio facsimile in
> a
>> couple weeks at the ARSC conference and was wondering if any other
> ARSC
>> folks have done research related to this topic? or perhaps know of
> any
>> sound recordings of historic radio facsimile transmissions that might
> exist
>> somewhere? Anyhow, let me know. Either way, I'd love to hear from you
> and
>> connect before the conference. Thanks all!
>> 
>> Best,
>> 
>> Adam Schutzman
>> President, AMIA Student Chapter @ Simmons
>> Master of Library and Information Science candidate
>> Archives Management Concentration
>> Simmons College
>> 300 The Fenway
>> Boston, MA 02115
>> [log in to unmask]
>> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fadamschutzman&data=02%7C01%7Calexander.hartov%40DARTMOUTH.EDU%7C693c29fe5b8c4bb75d1208d5aecad05f%7C995b093648d640e5a31ebf689ec9446f%7C0%7C0%7C636607108459816786&sdata=AvMO1L3pvHDHwJKdfNDJh%2FNNGMDm7Xv4IRV%2BoDZXaQs%3D&reserved=0
>>