Invisible Airwaves Crackle With Life

tony | February 28, 2013

… as thus was sung by the band RUSH in “Spirit Of Radio” –

Radio was an interesting technology to catch on 90 years ago … it can be compared quite equally with impact on life as the internet is being realized today.

Way back in 1922 on this day, yet another radio station came to life …

This time it was KHQ AM in Spokane, Washington.

The pictured studio is KHQ around 1950 … this is apparently before they figured out having two turntables would mean cool music segue from one song to the next.

Radio was at best a hobby for techno-geeks in the early 1920s.

Eventually, more and more commercial broadcasting stations popped up all over the country and ready built radios in nice wood cabinets became available to everyday American families.

Those radios would sit with the family near the mantle and fireplace in the late evenings before going to bed. This was where the family would talk of the day’s events and the patriarchs would share wisdom in story form.

Radio was a great addition to a family that had little to say. It joined in on the family evening conversations.

Radio then took the nation by storm. It was as common as a place to cook in any dwelling.