The future is arriving in 1926 New Britain, Connecticut, and it sounds like science fiction. Dr. E. F. W. Alexanderson of General Electric is promising that telephone calls will soon let you see the person you're talking to, thanks to something called a 'televisor.' Speaking in St. Louis, the consulting engineer described transmitting motion pictures by radio and predicted people might soon visually connect across the Atlantic Ocean. Other marvels he teased include an invisible ray for seeing in total darkness, airplanes that fold their wings like birds, and an electrical 'third degree' apparatus to catch criminals. Meanwhile, local politics are heating up as both Republican and Democratic leaders agree the city needs more police officers after eight holdups and a shooting this month resulted in only two arrests. The common council is preparing to ask the police board how many more patrolmen they need to handle the 'unlawful element.' In Washington, controversy swirls around Frank L. Smith's appointment as Illinois senator, with opponents citing his acceptance of $125,000 from public utilities magnate Samuel Insull during his campaign.

This December day captures America at a technological crossroads. The mid-1920s represented the golden age of invention and optimism, when radio was revolutionizing communication and visionaries like Alexanderson were laying groundwork for television. His predictions about seeing people while telephoning would prove remarkably prescient, though it would take decades to fully realize. The political corruption story reflects the era's ongoing struggle between Progressive reform ideals and entrenched machine politics. Samuel Insull's massive campaign contributions to Smith exemplified the cozy relationship between utilities and politicians that would eventually contribute to regulatory battles and, ultimately, economic instability leading to the Great Depression.

• Tonight, St. Louis street lights will be lit by radio — a remarkable feat of wireless technology in 1926 that sounds almost magical
• The New Britain Herald's average daily circulation was just 1,369 copies for the week ending December 11th, showing how small-town newspapers served tight-knit communities
• A woman named Mrs. Steve Sarisky was fined $100 for 'evading responsibility' after convincing a judge she, not her intoxicated husband, was driving during a car crash — an early example of spousal legal maneuvering
• Frank L. Smith's total campaign expenditures reached $458,782 in the Illinois senatorial primary, including $253,547 he spent personally — enormous sums for 1926 politics
• A 70-year-old Stamford woman died from gas fumes after complaining to authorities that local police were treating her unfairly because she'd married twice thinking her first husband was dead

• Dr. Alexanderson, predicting television here, had already invented the Alexanderson alternator that made the first transatlantic radio broadcasts possible — his wireless station would later broadcast the 1918 Armistice
• Samuel Insull, the utilities magnate who gave Smith $125,000, was building an empire that controlled electricity for millions — he'd become the inspiration for Citizen Kane before spectacularly crashing in 1932
• The 'televisor' Alexanderson described was likely inspired by John Logie Baird's recent demonstrations in London — just months earlier, Baird had transmitted the first recognizable human face by television
• The mention of airplanes folding their wings 'like birds' was remarkably prescient — variable-sweep wing aircraft wouldn't be successfully developed until the 1960s with planes like the F-111
• Those eight holdups plaguing New Britain reflected a nationwide crime wave during Prohibition, when organized crime was expanding beyond bootlegging into robbery and racketeering