56 Nebraskaland • December 2024
local telephone exchange. In 1924, the Norfolk Daily News
reported that Nelson listened to broadcasts from Norfolk's
WJAG on a radio receiver that he made by mounting a tube
and dials on an old derby hat.
In 1932, when Prohibition was still the law of the land,
Nelson promoted his photography in the Ericson Journal in
an article formatted as if were a radio broadcast with Nelson
reading his customers' letters on the air. After a series of brief
letters praising the quality of his work, he threw in a bit of
self-deprecating humor:
"And here is one from my friend R. C. M., Chapman,
Nebraska: Dear Friend John, what have you been drinking?
You got my pictures numbered so much diff erent from the
negatives … I don't know just when you will get your money.
Well, I will forgive you this time, but don't let it happen again,
or I will be after coming up there."
Nelson replied, "This is serious. No, I don't mean to make
L.C. Avery, veterinarian, Spalding, Nebraska. NSHS RG3542-95-9
Outside a general store, 1910s.
NSHS RG3542-95-33
