This machine was introduced in 1977, and I was technically a dealer although I never sold one (which explains the Cybertronics label on the cover page). Prices ranged from $16K-70K, and it was a radical foray into the world of “small business computers” for a long-established company that had been focused on numerical-control machines and…

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This wonderful relic from the dawn of speech synthesis is a 2-minute recording from Bell Laboratories, first published in 1962, showcasing the work of John L. Kelly and Louis J. Gerstman for the Visual and Acoustics Research Department.  I acquired this 45 RPM soundsheet in 1966, in the 9th grade, when I began working on…

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My father, Edward H. Roberts, was a lifelong member of SPE, designing plastic parts and ice cube trays for GE Erie Works in the 1940s and moving on to household refrigeration (AP5) at Appliance Park in Louisville in the early 1950s. Among his effects was a small batch of treasures from the Society of Plastics…

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Ever wonder where the aluminum ice cube tray came from? When I was a kid in the ’50s and ’60s, my father, Edward H. Roberts, was a design engineer at General Electric… first at Erie Works, then at Appliance Park in Louisville where we moved when I was about 3. Obviously, ice cube trays weren’t…

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The day after they were married in New York, my parents, Phyllis and Ed, flew to Bermuda for their honeymoon. Family archives include a few treasures from this 1946 romantic adventure, and this page is devoted to them… beginning with a 16-minute home movie taken by my dad: Here was their ticket on a Pan…

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They met on the Manitoba during a Lake Superior cruise in August, and were married in November (much to the concern of parents and friends) at the Little Church Around the Corner. Here, Phyllis (in white) was introducing her new beau to her sister Barbara and her husband, Frank (along with kids, Patty and Bruce).…

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Caption to colorized 1946 photo above: Certificate and lapel emblem are awarded to Edward H. Roberts, refrigerator cabinet engineering section, for his contributions to research and development of plastics products for the Navy during the war. The award was made in Pittsfield March 25, by Captain Ralph O. Phillips, Naval Ordnance, Washington, D. C, shown…

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Here is a little glimpse of the nautical dreams of 75 years ago… this was in the October, 1943 issue of YACHTING. The little sheaf of pages saved by my father, who was sailing a Star named Dabih in Lake Erie at the time, are a treasure… and this boat ad from World War II…

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scanned by Steven K. Roberts from family archives on Oct 6, 2016 When my mother was living at the Barbizon in 1939-40 (read this wonderful letter of recommendation), she took the test required by the state of New York under Section 166 of the Election Law… and received this certificate (click to embiggen): This is posted…

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In the late 1930s, my mother, Phyllis McCarthy, was working for the Powers Agency in New York City and living a high society lifestyle as a model. Six years before she met my father on a Lake Superior cruise, she did a photo shoot for this catalog by Stern & Company of Philadelphia. Timed for…

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