"Father of Radio Control" John Hays Hammond Jr 3.5X1.75 Signed Card Mueller COA

Description

Up for auction a RARE!
"Father of Radio Control" John Hays Hammond Jr 3.5X1.75 Signed Card Dated 1928.
This piece is
authenticated
by Todd Mueller Autogrphs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES
- 0525
John Hays Hammond Jr.
(April 13, 1888 – February 12, 1965) was an American inventor known as "The Father of
Radio Control
". Hammond’s pioneering developments in electronic remote control are the foundation for all modern radio remote control devices, including modern missile guidance systems,
unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs), and the
unmanned combat aerial vehicle
(UCAVs). Of Hammond’s many individual inventions, the inventions which have seen the most significant application are the variable pitch or
controlled pitch propellers
and single dial radio tuning. He was the son of mining engineer
John Hays Hammond, Sr.
. Born in San Francisco, California, his family moved to
South Africa
and the
Transvaal
in 1893. His father was active as a mining engineer for
Cecil Rhodes
' mines in
South Africa
. In 1898, the family moved to England, where young Hammond fell in love with castles and life in earlier times. The family returned to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. At the age of twelve, Hammond accompanied his father on a business trip to
Thomas Edison
’s laboratory in
West Orange, New Jersey
. Upon being introduced to Edison, the boy asked so many questions that the inventor gave him a personal tour of the complex and assumed the role of mentor.The two would remain in contact for the rest of Edison’s life. While studying at the
Sheffield Scientific School
of
Yale University
, Hammond became interested in the new study of radio waves and he was taken under the wing of
Alexander Graham Bell
. Bell also became his mentor and the two would remain close friends until Bell’s death. After graduation from Yale in 1910, Hammond took a job in the
U.S. Patent Office
. His strategy was simple: having learned from Edison that "inventing had to be a money-making proposition, where better to learn what fields were up-and-coming than in the Patent Office?" After he became an authority on the patent process, he founded the Hammond Radio Research Laboratory on his father’s estate in
Gloucester, Massachusetts
. In total, he is credited with more than 800 foreign and domestic patents on more than 400 inventions (the exact number of inventions is vague due to how credit was listed on the forms) mostly in the fields of radio control and naval weaponry. He served on the Board of Directors of
RCA
and a listing of his professional colleagues and society friends reads like a
Who’s Who
of the rich and famous. Aside from his inherited wealth, his inventions brought Hammond an additional fortune. Between the years 1926 and 1929, he built a castle (including a drawbridge) which became his home, laboratory, and a showplace for his collection of Roman, medieval, and Renaissance artifacts. Hammond was also interested in the mechanism and workings of the pipe organ, and had a huge organ installed in the castle's Great Hall. Famous organists, including Richard Ellsasser and Virgil Fox, performed and made commercial recordings on this instrument, unfortunately no longer in operating condition (2015). Overlooking Gloucester Harbor in the North Shore region of Massachusetts,
Hammond Castle
is now a museum which offers self-guided tours throughout half the year and hosts fundraising events on a regular basis. Hammond was awarded the
Edward Longstreth Medal
from
The Franklin Institute
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in 1959.