Merrill W. Bancroft
James Millen Display
at the
2001 AWA Conference

Pictured above is that of Merrill W. Bancroft standing beside his excellent display
of James Millen memorabilia at the 2001 Antique Wireless Association conference
in Rochester, NY. It was a matter of only a few months after Millen's death that
his estate was offered for auction. Much of Millen's property, including his original
1936 station had already been donated to the AWA before his death (see elsewhere
on this website for details.) This display won "The Display Award " and
finished first in the Vacuum Tube Transmitters and Receivers display category.
How did Merrill find all these Millen items? In his own words, "I live in Townsend,
Ma.My most significant collecting experience and luckiest day was the day of the
auction at Jim's estate at the end of Tarbox Lane, his private road in North Reading,
Ma. Three factors contributed to this day for me. First there was a meet at the
Rhode Island Wireless and Steam Museum that day and second, the temperature was
a record 98 degrees. Third, John Nagle had an auto breakdown on the way up from
Herndon, Va. and never made it. The end result was that there was nobody
interested in the stuff but me. I also should mention that that Sunday for some
reason, and the first time ever, I picked up a copy of the Boston Globe and saw
the notice of Jims estate auction. I'm sure it was well known that Jim had a very
complete collection of radio periodicals. Well the first lot that went up included
a complete set of QST's in binders with perhaps 50 extra pre 1920 issues. I started
off the bidding at $25 dollars and that is also where it ended! Suffice to say this
trend continued through the entire magazine auction to the extent that I had seven
pickup loads of bound material and other paper to take home. I hate to think what
would have happened to this stuff, especially the personal items such as the ME
degree if I hadn't gone because no one else was interested in any of it. I had two
regrets. All of the QSL cards that Jim had around the upper walls of his ham shack
(which were shown in the CQ article) were probably destroyed because I couldn't
take the time to get them down. The other was the DFP receiver prototypes some of
were offered to me but I had no room for. Remember that I had a huge pile of material
to get home in an open pickup and it was clouding up and it did rain just after
I unloaded the last load."
Merrill's story is not uncommon and would be a dream come true for many collectors.
At the AWA conference Merrill did mention that someday all this material will be
donated to the AWA museum so that it can live on for future generations of radio
collectors and Millen enthusiasts. It is a shame that some items may have found
the end of existance, including those rare DFP receiver prototypes. But perhaps
even those were saved and will resurface again someday.
Returning to the display. The large framed item in the center is Millen's original
Mechanical Engineering diploma from the Stevens Institute of Technology. Among the
paperwork are original letters to and from Millen and Clarence D. Tuska relating
to the patent on the famous National PW dial drive assembly, often refered to as
the HRO dial. For those Millen collectors is his original resignation letter to
the National Company and their return letter of acceptance. Both dated April 17,
1939.

Original letter from National's Board Chairman Warren B. Hopkins
accepting Millen's resignation.
After his resignation James Millen went on to form the James Millen
Manufacturing Company in Malden, MA. Jim's reasons for leaving National are addressed
in other articles available on this website.
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