[BC] Another history question

[dean tiernan]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Halper" <dlh at donnahalper.com>
To: "Broadcast Radio Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Sent: Monday, December 26, 2005 2:47 PM
Subject: [BC] Another history question



>> At times, members of this let get caught up in debating aspects of
>> broadcast history, so I have a question.  First, let's discuss what we
>  
>
know

>> versus what is legendary yet generally accepted as a "fact".  The best
>> example of myth overtaking fact is the KDKA story, in which some of KDKA's
>> very real achievements were magnified by the Westinghouse publicity
>> department with great success.  As we know, one of the fundamental
>> assumptions about radio history was that KDKA was the first commercial
>> station to broadcast-- Westinghouse publicity used to say "first in the
>> world", conveniently ignoring Canada and Argentina which were broadcasting
>> in 1918-1919.  Today, research has shown (and while some of the research
>  
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is

>> mine, I am not the only one to document this) that KDKA was NOT the first
>> station to broadcast, and no it did not have a so-called commercial
>> license.  Yet books still insist KDKA must have been first because so many
>> sources say that.  I can tell you that, sadly, few authors do original
>> research-- it's easier to cite previous sources, even if those sources
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were

>> wrong (we are seeing this same phenomenon on the internet now-- somebody
>> writes something, it's erroneous, but it's spread all over the internet
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and

>> even in internet encyclopedias like Wikipedia).  Anyway, a long prologue
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to

>> a serious question.
>>
>> Another truism we all accept is that the late Reginald Fessenden was the
>> first to broadcast voice and music over the wireless, on Christmas eve
>> 1906.  But doing some newspaper research from that era, I find none of the
>> major newspapers mentioned it. I understand that the major newspapers were
>> quite anti-technology, believing it could harm newspaper circulation, but
>> still, you'd think that *somebody* would have reported it. Further, in
>> researching the 5 major newspapers of that era, I find that several other
>> people claimed to have successfully broadcast voice and/or music via the
>> wireless before 1906.
>>
>> Regarding Fessenden, the one source I can find for the December 1906 date
>> other than what Fessenden himself claimed in interviews years later, seems
>> to be a 1940 biography of his life, written by his widow.  But does anyone
>> know for certain that this event did in fact take place on 24/25 December
>> 1906?  Interestingly, the NY Times attributes the broadcasting of voice by
>> Fessenden to 1907, and in his obit in 1932, the Times says he was "among
>> the first to give radio wings to speech."  Notice-- AMONG THE FIRST.  So
>> evidently even then, others had laid claim to what today we all attribute
>> to Fessenden.  Fessenden himself said he first did it successfully in
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1902,

>> but that's another story for another time.  Anyway, the many myths of
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radio

>> history could fill a book... hmmm, perhaps I ought to write one about
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>

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Message: 28

Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2005 15:00:24 -0600
From: "Steve" <shnewman at alaweb.com>
Subject: Re: [BC] Another history question

Donna...

We went through the same crapola at WRR (Dallas) when trying to put together
a history of the station. I've since seen conflicting data. I know your
frustration and that's why I "try" to stick with my own personal history and
that's getting a bit "foggy".  :) 

Steve


************************************************************************

I would like to suggest a unique source www.oldradio.com. A certain Mr. Mishkind has documented some of this stuff and I think well.

You might also take a look at the San Francisco Museum of Radio for information about the radio station which became KCBS (am). Also KCBS AM's site has some of their history on it last time I looked.



http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/index0.html

watch the wrap on the kcbs page

> http://www.kcbs.com/pages/kcbs/external/external_index.nsp?http://www.kcbs.com/pages/kcbs/external/mskcbs/mskcbs_index.nsp


BTW we also claim the best sourdough bread in the world.

-- 
Dean
www.Audicy.net
www.DeanTiernan.com