# Time-traveler in 1928 Charlie Chaplin film **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330 "2010-10-25T20:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brix11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@brix11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brix11)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/1 "2010-10-25T20:39:56Z")
George Clarke has found some footage from the premiere of a 1928 Charlie Chaplin film that he can only explain as a time-traveler talking on a mobile phone. I think there must be some other explanation, but can’t think of anything more rational. What say you? [http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2010/10/time-traveler-in-1928-chaplin-film/](http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2010/10/time-traveler-in-1928-chaplin-film/) ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/2 "2010-10-25T20:47:24Z")
1- God dammit Dave, wait for me, my hat’s comin’ off. 2 - Awk, laws a mighty, the toolie booltoo is walmaky yumchuk. 3 - The reception really sucks here, I can’t hear you. I’ll call you back after the invent cell phone towers and an infrastructure. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/3 "2010-10-25T21:41:51Z")
Maybe I’m blind (entirely possible), but I can’t see her holding anything. Maybe I’d be more impressed if I could actually see the picture in higher resolution. She has an earache? Her hat (or wig) is coming off in the wind? It’s cold out and her ears are starting to hurt? She’s cupping her hand to her ear because she can’t hear the dude in front of her (I’ll grant that the position of her hand makes that one seem to be one of the more unlikely possibilities, but not impossible)? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/4 "2010-10-25T22:10:36Z")
Did they have portable radios in 1928? It sorta looks like she may be holding a small radio up to her ear… Not a walkie-talkie. I’m thinking more like a transistor radio or precursor thereto… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/5 "2010-10-25T22:18:49Z")
They certainly did not have transistor radios. I doubt if they had small portable radios then, since valves require relatively high voltages. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/6 "2010-10-25T22:20:02Z")
Transistor radios were developed in the mid-50s, and became popular in the 60s. There’s a scene in _ **Endless Summer** _ in which on of the protagonists was holding a transistor radio as they drive through the veldt, and they obviously felt that they were beyond ultra-cool. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/7 "2010-10-25T22:22:30Z")
How is a time traveler supposed to get reception in 1928? What time traveler would be dumb enough to whip out their Nokia in a crowd? In fairness, though, I do like to scan old pictures and films for things that **look** like anachronisms. And it does look like she’s holding a phone to her ear. Except there’s nothing in her hand. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/8 "2010-10-25T22:27:05Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Did they have portable radios in 1928? It sorta looks like she may be holding a small radio up to her ear… No. Small transistor radios first came along in the mid-1950s. The very smallest portable tube-based radios were about the size of large lunchboxes, operating on huge A and B cell batteries. Even walkie-talkies were quite large until the late 1970s, when integrated circuits gradually began to replace discrete components. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/9 "2010-10-25T22:27:06Z")
> [@brix11](#): > > I think there must be some other explanation, but can’t think of anything more rational. What say you? Wait, the _most rational_ explanation you can imagine for someone in 1928 to be holding their hand up to their ear is that they’re a time-traveling cell phone user? ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/10 "2010-10-25T23:33:54Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wait, the _most rational_ explanation you can imagine for someone in 1928 to be holding their hand up to their ear is that they’re a time-traveling cell phone user? When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Oh wait… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/11 "2010-10-26T00:13:57Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. > > Oh wait… Yes, it’s not impossible that a woman in the 1920s was: (1) Holding on to her hat; (2) Scratching her ear; (3) Cupping her hand to her ear to hear something; (4) Adjusting her hair; etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/12 "2010-10-26T00:33:20Z")
To my eyes she’s not holding anything. As she turns it looks to me like you can see some light coming from between her fingers, which would be blocked if she were holding a phone. But the film is so grainy it’s hard to tell. As an aside, I loved his logic that it was impossible to have been a transistor radio as early as 1928 so it must have been a mobile phone. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/13 "2010-10-26T00:45:08Z")
It does seem sort of breezy, if you look at the trees and flags, which explains why she is covering the phone so well. Otherwise the wind would blow across the mouthpiece and the other person would barely be able to hear her. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/14 "2010-10-26T00:51:02Z")
This guy is so stupid. How the hell is a time traveler in the past going to use a cell phone? No towers, no other phones, no infrastructure, etc. Pffft… idiot. She’s, obviously using a sub-space communicator. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/15 "2010-10-26T01:17:31Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > This guy is so stupid. How the hell is a time traveler in the past going to use a cell phone? No towers, no other phones, no infrastructure, etc. Pffft… idiot. She’s, obviously using a sub-space communicator. “Captain, this is na’e workin’ out. I doon look like a woman” “Now, Scotty, you’re always saying you want to go on missions to the planet surface, and I’m not allowed to interfere with time since I almost saved Edith Keeler. So put away the communicator and go make sure Charlie Chaplin makes his film - history hangs in the balance!” (Chekov & Sulu are heard snickering in the background) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/16 "2010-10-26T01:38:33Z")
My guess would be that she’s shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun. Look at the shadow she’s casting, it’s clearly a very bright and sunlit day and the sun is low on the horizon (her shadow is quite long). The only odd thing would be that her fingers seem rather more curled (as if they were holding something) instead of what you might expect as the more normal action of extending one’s fingers more fully when doing a sun-shielding action. But if you mime it yourself - and imagine a sun or other light source pointed directly at your left ear - you’ll see that if you hold your hand straight up, you don’t shield as much of your eyes as if you curl your fingers slightly to provide more lateral coverage. The only way to get more coverage would be to stick your elbow out awkwardly and hold your hand with the thumb pointing upwards instead of to the side. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/17 "2010-10-26T01:57:25Z")
[Hearing aid.](http://www.hearingaidmuseum.com/gallery/Carbon/WesternElectric/info/westelect34a.htm) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/18 "2010-10-26T04:20:09Z")
If I was her\*, the last thing I’d want is a hearing aid that made every external noise louder. \*[sub]I’m sorry. “If I were she” just sounds stupid.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/19 "2010-10-26T11:55:07Z")
The musical (or at least one song from it): [http://www.arigonstarr.com/lyrics\_all/backflip/edithkeeler2.html](http://www.arigonstarr.com/lyrics_all/backflip/edithkeeler2.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/20 "2010-10-26T15:04:56Z")
Playing devil’s advocate – if it IS a time-traveler, maybe she’s talking on one of those Nextel two-way devices to another time-traveler. A two-way radio would still work without cell phone towers, wouldn’t it? I know after Hurricane Katrina, a lot of people found that their Nextels were the only things that worked. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330.md?page=2)