ORDER OUT OF CHAOS: THE FORMATWE YEARS OF AMERICAN BROADCASHNG. 1920-1“? Thesis {or flu Degree of pk. D. MICHEGAK SYME SEWERSIT‘I’ Lewis Elton Weeks 1962 This is to certify that the thesis entitled ORDFTR OUT OF CHAOS: "HE FORT-IATIVE YEARS OF AT-TERICAN BROADCASTING, 1920-1927 presented by Lewis Elton Weeks has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. Communication degree in 7716514 D). Ewan/s Major professor 7, I Date June 11, 1952 0-169 LIBRARY Michigan State University FM ' 1 *Q‘b’ 40w "3- j: 32/ .r a “995‘ 3'. 0%? “197 @001 ABSTRACT ORDER OUT OF CHAOS: THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF AMERICAN BROADCASTING, 1920-1927 by Lewis Elton Weeks The formative years of American broadcasting were 1920 to 1927. Events which occurred in those years from the lifting of the ban imposed on radio during World War I until the Radio Act was passed in 1927 set the pattern for American broadcasting for the future. The outstanding year of the period was 1924. This was the year coast-to-coast radio broadcasting was proved practicable. This was the year the political conventions and the campaign speeches of the Presidential candidates were broadcast over an interconnection of stations by use of long distance telephone wires and by new short wave techniques. Multi—station hookups led to the development of national broadcasting companies which shortly afterward began to broadcast radio programs sponsored by national advertisers. The network broadcasting of 1924 was one of several factors which helped shape a radio system peculiar to the United States in the manner it was financed and regulated. o.- c . ... . . ._ v .. H v c. 1 lo . s 4 I Q ‘I ‘0 q.- 1. L . . a. . a a I. . .nn ' -. v.... y... - v o..- LEWIS ELTON WEEKS Before 1924, most radio stations had been subsidized by radio manufacturers, newspapers, churches, schools, and other interested parties. Soon this became too expensive for most station owners. Equipment needed to be replaced frequently for improved, more efficient, and more expensive apparatus. Programming became more sophisticated and expensive. Performers wanted to be paid for appearances on radio; and ASCAP demanded royalties for the use of its music by radio stations. Some means had to be found to pay the cost of radio. Advertising seemed the only practicable means. AT&T estab— lished station WEAF, in New York in 1922, to experiment with toll broadcasting. The station slowly built up a clientele of local advertisers. It was the use of radio during the campaign of 1924, however, which pointed the way to national radio supported by advertisers. At the beginning of the decade there had been cooper- ation in the radio industry. There was cooperation between patent owners who entered cross—licensing agreements with other patentees. There was cooperation between station owners in sharing air time and radio frequencies with each other. As the possibilities of radio became more apparent after 1924, the radio and telephone groups found it more difficult to cooperate, and radio stations also began to lose the spirit of sharing. . . - ~ “.a: ‘ as. ...a-..a .5 o. l 'VII"' .~ " . —-. v§-O'-‘ -. n .- . .- . .n .‘V g 2,. -.-¢.4 , ~ .9 \- a. - ---| eo .— . . . . s«... . . l - 4‘ I C -n‘- ‘llfl. ,.. 51“ ,. _ -‘~ .4.. -—-. a». n e .. v-‘ . ' -f a - "' -‘0‘-V .‘ u. a... .' ‘ o ‘ ' u- " "“q “ -.- ..__ ~‘ 1 . s .. . ‘ . l.‘ .. p.- '- .~ I - ~. --.. q. u «' ll _V\p.. r. ‘ . r 1 '.‘A" IOI . r - - . ».n. -- 0 ..‘ I ~ ~. ' D. . fl ‘7 n I I s, “l.4 "-.._‘ a - ‘ 'v ., '.., - - .’_ o- . l 4 - V‘ ‘. .._~ . ...-N;, :_V Q ~- ‘-". ‘1 a.” ’ ‘ “.n . - .‘_“_ o r- ’ n..."; y- ‘_ .. ‘ ~ ". F -._~ v.- .. y- . _ .r_'. . . ...- ,“ -_ a‘ q '1. ~ ~- ~.~ ,. LEWIS ELTON WEEKS Climaxes came in 1926-1927. The radio and telephone groups could not reach agreement, so AT&T sold its radio properties to RCA. The next step was the formation of the National Broadcasting Company-~the pattern of national networks was set. A Zenith Corporation radio station refused to abide by a time and frequency schedule assigned to it. A resulting court case upset all voluntary regulation in the industry. A new radio law was needed. The Radio Act of 1927 was passed and set the basic pattern establishing ownership of the air waves by the people, and regulation of broadcast licenses by a government commission. Out of the Twenties came American broadcasting as it is today, and is likely to remain in the future: in general, privately-owned broadcasting stations, supported by adver— tising, licensed and regulated by a government commission whose duty it is to make certain the licensees operate their stations in the public interest. The proving ground, so to speak, was the multi—station broadcasts made during the political campaign of 1924. far a -. L..- -.. T. ORDER OUT OF CHAOS: THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF AMERICAN BROADCASTING, 1920-1927 by Lewis Elton Weeks A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College of Communication Arts 1962 Copyright by LEWIS ELTON WEEKS 1963 DEDICATION To my wife, Frances, for her loving forbearance throughout a long program. ii . . .-~ "' ‘ . U l ' D ,.so-§ ...-- ’ r"v‘ ' '0. va~ . .. - ‘ ‘ 5 .O'.. ,I -.......~ .. -,. ' E annu- Ca. - - .. on. .u- _ . - - . _II. - o..- Ina-e w - -. — .- " .1.‘ . L n " '--‘I " "-~l-OA U- —. ~\.__ ' w " b -\... v.-. ‘ I‘- . _ “‘ -- J-.. A-..» -_._ .’ .._ . .-.. ..__ n -u _.__‘ .- . _- .— ‘.-~ .. n-‘-.. - J‘x"~— _“—~ .- a' _. _ “I -..“ . w. v .N. a... u. ‘ VQ‘ I —- ... ‘ .- Q ...~ .. w..- a...~ '- I“. .“.I ’ .“~ _ '~‘. ‘ '-“- .‘i' - .H‘U-‘ ._. ‘q‘.--‘ .- ‘gf. - I. ' -- ‘ s ' 1 “"..~ ‘ I. ‘- c "‘-‘H. . .“ -._~ . 5.... u. — ~‘_‘. . .._‘ TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION. Chapter I. INTRODUCTION II. OTHER BROADCASTING SYSTEMS III. EARLY HISTORY. IV. DE FOREST AND FESSENDEN V. ALEXANDERSON AND RCA VI. PIONEER RADIO STATIONS. VII. A GIANT BEGINS TO GROW. VIII. THE WEAF EXPERIMENT. IX. THE RADIO ELECTION: CANDIDATES AND CONDITIONS. . . . . . . X. THE RADIO ELECTION: THE CAMPAIGN XI. WHO IS TO PAY FOR BROADCASTING XII. THE ASCAP STORY . XIII. THE PATENT POOL BUBBLES OVER. XIV. RADIO LEGISLATION XV. REVIEW AND FORECAST. APPENDIXES. BIBLIOGRAPHY . iii Page ii 10 24 42 82 104 119 142 186 229 245 260 281 BOO 304 321 . A n-r' qr. an. b.-.¢n- a a. ,7; 5 . I ‘ ' Own "A 7' .' J... eds. a... ‘0' .9:- o.»- .QO\ d“ ‘ ".A _ -’ --~ 7‘ , Izr _ ‘ '1“ ~-‘a!.-u ... . .- ‘ I'Ia. , _‘ ‘ 'F .4 .hhu, “,4 ‘1‘ I .J ' I~QI h-.p‘ “I ' uh. _. W. “'t- '~-.~-—5. . Q .-v v» .H‘ -- __V ”u...‘ ‘t‘. v. Q :r‘ “V. "" v. . . ‘r- .r I A ‘ ‘ M. . atsz. . .IO' “~“§‘ .IQ. . u; c- 1. '7'.- , 'l.... ‘-\ ‘- ‘H \. , . C‘ ‘ .. -..: '\ p- 1 ’- \ ’5- ’v— - a 5,‘. ".‘~ . '. ~ ‘~ '-:,'\ ~».. v“ I" "'~ Ira»; ' -‘.‘o. ‘- .,‘-. ! 'a~‘\ 0., ’4 '~ " n v. ‘ . u ‘g‘.':-‘ t “t, a o 0. .‘I‘ V‘. P I A. V ‘1'” . U r- 'K- - \- . p" ‘ ‘”‘;: u " a. ““ ‘-_ "v..’ o H. u ur.‘..- ~ :- ,_ ‘\v“ F:. .‘M . ‘4. . I‘ "a. ‘n‘ I .- v‘ .:V ' A . CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION American broadcasting, as we know it in the 1960's, was shaped, molded, and patterned by forces which acted upon the infant radio industry in the years 1920-1927. The two dates have been chosen as terminals because 1920 marked the beginning of modern broadcasting to American homes, and 1927 was the date of the passage of the Radio Act which established the first effective government body of control over our broadcasting, the Federal Radio Commission. During the seven years or more between the release of amateur and private stations from a government wartime ban and the establishment of the FRC, radio developed in the pattern it was to follow to the present day. Broadcasting to the public, by radio or television, is mainly by privately- owned stations operating under licenses granted by the United States government. These stations are supported in most cases by advertising sponsors who buy time on the air and pay for programs to be broadcast for the entertainment, information, or education of the audience. Broadcasting in its present form came about as the result of various economic, sociological, and technological 1 Ar..- — " .‘il.... ‘. 4 o .- ." ' I”--- ‘ ' . v... . I, . n --‘"-"-.-.. L V v bv‘ '. .7 ‘ .- .‘ ‘ I o.. .- -..Aw .‘ 'A'. V‘ . Q . r ' ' \ ft ..“" -§ -w. .o"'.. .‘I- I'.-‘ (” 2 influences which shaped this amorphous thing called radio into a cultural force as dynamic as the automobile or the emancipated woman. To borrow a term from Joseph T. Klapper, the formative causes were phenomenistic--not one cause but several which took part in fitting broadcasting into our way of living. As will be shown later, radio began as a method of communication by Morse code wireless telegraph. Then, early in this century, Fessenden and deForest developed apparatus for voice transmission by wireless, or radio telephony, as it was sometimes called. This new voice radio, when considered as a commercial possibility, was thought of as an extension of wire telephony. It was hoped that someday it could be used as a device to bridge dis- tances beyond the reach of wires. World War I gave impetus to radio experimentation. Westinghouse, General Electric, Western Electric, and other companies developed apparatus for sending and receiving radio messages for war use. These companies continued in their radio experimentation after the war ended. Besides the companies mentioned above, who were first interested in radio as a means of commercial communication, there were thousands of amateurs or "hams” who were fasci- nated with the electro-magnetic wonder of radio. The amateurs bought equipment and built and improved radio receivers in enthusiastic effort to get "DX," as they called signals from ..-r' l .‘I" ,9. av“: ‘4' ;, ..“. ....oquv‘ a... . . or" . '*:;“'- ;; .-ou' " .pa" ~ " 9" Ir a - ,vou'u =V:"‘ O -__.”= ...ou---4 _ . ;~v:v‘~;r.: V‘ ‘I....,...... L a . I-Onv- ... 'I-.._ ,. - s . , , , . :9 Vr.~v-. "“O- 5--..“ o b "P‘ . .l_~ 7’ Q. u‘~ .l‘ ‘p-.. - , ..~.‘ ' — . . “ I. 5% .4- '0' v-‘ ' V’v- mes_' " '4‘ ‘ ‘r.. . v - ‘ V‘ . .~.. ‘~’— "“-L_ .. " v-‘A .... \. Va .- .-..;.’ . - - -3, ‘ “- v ". ‘..'. :. ‘ --.‘ "-' ‘ . ~ n. - a- \-__‘ u '- 'o s .. - t V... 4. '.,_V‘,~ ’ ..'.:’ ", ‘..i ‘ ._‘. :s": d 5 a ‘V ".‘ _.' .. o.» - .. ‘- n s- ‘\ . -.. v. :IF;" '-~_ .. . -.,- ‘- p. _ ~ - ‘.. .. - _‘..‘r 0 ~. ‘—.~'- A '- s - . . “"I r- -I ~ " a ,Q -- “I“: v- -~ . . - \r. - Q . . . u. " V..- .“ ~ - ~. C. r'. ", § u “ ‘I n , . I I‘- - hry . '-. A c \ P I ‘— V w '0 '- II-‘sf § 'v“?’s , - :n‘ k" -.‘ ~ 3 distant points. Their purchases stimulated the business of electrical manufacturers to the point where they decided to build ready- made receivers for sale. Westinghouse and a few other companies set up trans- mitting stations in 1920. The Westinghouse station was for experimental purposes at first. Other stations were built because of interest in the art, or for the publicity the station might give. The amateurs who had been talking back and forth with their fellow radio fans now began to enjoy the music broadcast by the early experimental stations. It was not long before the electrical manufacturers found they could afford to set up stations to broadcast phonograph records and local musical talent because it en- couraged the sale of their radio receiver equipment. Radio did not remain a novelty long. Within a few years it became an industry employing hundreds of thousands of workers, and grossing millions of dollars. No longer could station owners indulgently afford to write off the operating expense-—it became too costly. Radio broadcasting was too expensive a hobby for any but the very wealthy. The elementswhich shaped radio in the Twenties were numerous. The rising cost of radio equipment, the need to pay fees for artists to appear on radio, the public's desire for more elaborate and costly programming, the cross-licensing of patents on radio devices, the demand for royalties on copyrighted music, the linking of stations in multiple .-"' \ (a... . ’1 ., nv';v\ u." v- v” *‘V. v o 'n-~‘.‘.‘ " . N ' ‘ ~00 ‘ ' ,.l¢-¢-O m. ' . r .- A ewe ’ .'-\3 n- e- "H 3......“ ..-.._ . A. gun’s-r. \ x ’ susu-mo- D 0' I. l “ 'u....-..Iao" n -' s ‘ I 'I-q IF I. _r ‘— ~-~Ia-..‘... _" . . lust...” - I g c F- lu¢o¢v¢l~ ._ _ ’ O u‘....lo._“_ 9-,. \ H ‘ "-cvn‘c".~ l‘nn 1"“: 4-“ a. ..‘.. 5. U _ I u. I... . € \ S r ' so. ‘ a. \ ”:‘z .’-""‘F~' " "In. \— vs.» ‘V‘...’ R. . V ‘3 “r 0“- ~‘. . “a ~§-.l V. ‘ a. ‘ ”-‘.-‘ I. :; .-. ‘I-A‘ . . . ‘i.... ' v.‘. a.-. h V . '.' Unz‘ . "a... _v.. ‘Ocl ‘ L . 'n v.." ._ q \ "..:" = a. ' v ~ _ , .C 4— - ..‘ I" -~ . ~’ :‘-I a". I‘. _ v ‘m. m- _-1 . \- ‘- 0 ._:."~ . -."\ F: .l ' n~ ~_ . "l.: ' - $ n. _h . .’ u. . 0". q .‘I .". ‘0 l‘ 01 a. 43‘ g Q ~ O . o ’. I'u‘_ .r-v‘. ‘ ."‘A V‘ e“ V;. ‘ n u hookups, the proving of the practicability of coast-to-coast broadcasting in the political campaign of 1924, the depen- dence on advertising revenue for the support of broadcasting, the regulation of the industry under the Radio Act of 1927-- all these elements shaped broadcasting into a mold which remains substantially the same today. The first transmitting stations of the early Twenties were relatively low—powered and inexpensive to build. Changes in equipment came rapidly: more powerful and more efficient apparatus was perfected each year. Some stations replaced transmitters for better ones two or three times in the first five years of station operation. Where the first installation had cost a few hundred dollars, the later ones ran into several thousand. As the transmitter costs rose so did every- thing else connected with broadcasting. Crude one-room studios gave way to elaborate ones. Staffs of stations began to specialize. The versatile person who formerly would announce, sing, play the piano, and double on almost any Job in the place could no longer fulfill all the needs he had in the past. Now there was a station manager, a program director, an engineer, a sounds effect man, and many others as time went on. Some stations added a dance band, a string quartet, or a Junior—sized symphony to the swelling payroll. At first there had been little trouble lining up talent to appear on radio. Anyone who could sing, play a musical \ as up 1-9 3'!" :'~" 0“ ... '.~o " a. , ‘Ar’. . . ;. . ..'~_.u-u n O ‘4: .c.» - - '- .ql :‘ p- ’ l 00‘ .huvI ‘- 0‘ - Il :-n “5 YM" ” uuvlo» a. ._ . Ia'c'. 0"“-'~ ”‘— Il-‘IIL .DO‘b-‘\ U . a..v Ana. ,- V‘ _ "" V‘. I a... 0‘ _ I -. .' rs“ no... 1.1-. .v.. “.1'.. “I no“ .. A: H I as. ‘ .._ u ‘ "PP‘r- . -v —..us....," ' I ' O '0 ’- D] I. 'V: ”a“- ~..-.v...’ h.‘ . 0: I~.- - p v 'I 'I-t "'F.‘F'~ .- ' i"”“b-u...: 0 '¢--.\ ‘D...~'~ '7'.— “ r- ~2 "of § s, Q.‘.' ‘ \ . '.'O-.| P; V" h "‘v ~J Q . ’. 'p :79... . "~...: '1~- .n ‘. . A. '. ,‘r-,~ V. y'I-.h ~ -.~ ‘5 t I 5.“- u;‘ \ .k'. ‘ c .‘ . h‘.‘ L A ‘. ‘v ,3, v‘ - ~';K;~ I- 'v.‘ A F-‘ " w. - . .. ._ . . v .' . I‘ : v... . H. ‘9. .. . “‘. ‘A‘: .’| . e u "u "s it “-‘~ ;r1 v .0 .. o ‘u u g: o “‘. "' .3 ‘.-‘ ‘ ' " '; - -.~ - s" .‘1. a ‘ a ‘. “v.._ v v V.- Q~ —‘ . .“. .. . .h‘qJ ‘\ .~: v‘ ~ H‘ a. 5 instrument, do elocution, read inspirational poetry, or tell funny stories could appear on radio—~and wanted to. Some professional talent tried the new medium to see what it was like. Famous people appeared for interviews, church services were broadcast, and sporting events helped fill the radio log also. But in time, program directors found it difficult to secure free performers who could satisfy audiences be— coming increasingly selective. The people they wanted to hear cost money. Another item which increased expenses was broadcasting from points remote from the transmitter. To set up the microphone for this type of broadcast entailed wire con- nections, more elaborate preparations, more time consumed by technicians, and more employees. These more elaborate and novel programs were undertaken by program directors to satisfy the public listening in. Patents on radio devices were in such an intertwining maze of ownership that cross-licensing was the only way radio equipment could be produced without danger of an infringement suit. During World War I the United States government arranged a patent truce in order that needed radio equipment could be manufactured for the military without this danger of infringement litigation. After the war and before the ,1ifting of the government ban on private radio stations, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was formed with the blessing of the federal government. The large manufacturers .: ...-_v_ 5'...“ s, .— .:¢0" '"a -- ‘ . . Q ".9‘." ‘ .1 ' l O '.:‘.ooot VJ. \ .. ' . q 0 '- r 'u-w- ‘9‘ 'I u ’ ‘ Iva. ’ .np-d' ' I . Ora r " lll- ‘5'"5- y‘.‘r:‘v‘| ;\ . I obov Illa. arr—*WH .- - Vi». .. c ‘I' -" 10 I pl -.. .u. of i 'v‘v. A i 1' .. . _ P- Anne-vy— ' ‘9 o.._- v... .. I U vo-,, ,3 "r "o‘-..‘ u.— - v. Univ 0. . “l. -. . . n .- ‘H ‘ Q ’1 -:"" -A._: u Q ‘ ‘ II' J ‘. V r s .. w... up (I) w t I. I (I) w 1“ 6 of radio equipment--General Electric, American Telephone and Telegraph Co. (AT&T), and United Fruit Co.--soon became share- holders in RCA and effected an exchange and cross-licensing of patents which allowed the industry to produce enough to satisfy the public demand. Another economic pressure was made on radio even before commercial broadcasting had proved profitable. In the early Twenties, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for the playing over radio of any of the copyrighted music in their repertoire demanded substantial royalties. This was a motivating factor for the founding of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB): to oppose this demand. From that day to the present ASCAP and NAB have been struggling——one for more fees, the other to pay less. The fees involved rose from a few thousand dollars a year in the early Twenties to a multi-million dollar total today. Technologically the broadcasting industry has shown tremendous advances--much of this came in the Twenties. One Of the greatest was the ability of radio engineers to devise methods to broadcast over greater areas by means of stronger individual stations and by means of interconnection of Stations coast—to-coast by wire and by short wave. The political campaign of 1924 was the proving ground cH'interconnection. Little had been done before 1924 in lhfldhg stations together for a simultaneous broadcast except '5-.. .I".;fl .TL- .. oo>"'" " O . " -v‘e 1 r": “r, .7 - :Juob r' , June" ..‘-or": q . - ‘ ‘I’0' M" "'7' 0" l o a. ' L votv ‘. ..... I ' r a a n. ya 7"“ ”5 fig .,:v‘-I" "" . n~< ,u..-r tr; CA - u'ul::0. u..- hr ‘~ "~ :. .,. l’.;“.:.r' I. I : -Ot". vii... n a... luv--OQ-‘ - -' I- .r_ I".- 2‘ ' # I \ -‘-~..-.J-v.o, *._A "I 'wvlp‘ . .- fl_ _ . u... vu....g.‘-._ . - e v..§l.pq 1 7-,1 "' ~ ¢.___"'.~..~ -a. .. . .. " "‘-I-- ._~_ _ '- ‘ :- ‘.—. ~‘ .0 .0. UV..- v%_ .- ..' 0‘... .’ - “ 'u “ O -5 2‘ .u... ,9 .~-~ . "‘ ~- v .' '1‘ F5 9- o - U My. .5..l ~T- V ._. . _. ‘\ ch _ 0.: In '0 §, ...—¢.‘.u 1~ .- “as \ n._. v P .P~ w-.. . ... ~ I—a‘ "" Io- “ v .. v: - v. ...V“ I .""‘o.. 24." ~ . q. ‘ . . .“" A ’- 1-“u .. ”fl ~- “‘ .1 - . I. '.;~ ‘.-~ . x ‘ n. " u‘..-r . g "'u ; ~ A . .l‘v g. '-.. ~ “‘3’ ‘ ~.:' v: , ‘_.-\ “ . V I., u v I .5. v :vn'.‘, - 5-.” '5 .‘~"\‘. . .u .. ‘ ‘jt. V J ‘I. A ~ . .n. ~ ’v. ‘~. , - u— '5 r. l '. ,Q. ‘ . “’, P._‘ .- ~"- ’; ~_. ’; ‘ n.“ uv" ._ ~.'— ‘-‘ -‘ ‘_‘ ~ ‘v-n. ". ‘ .- _ ‘s .‘s . I“ F.‘ 'u _ "\ q I. ‘ q . “ I. 7 on a limited regional scale. The telephone company spent large sums perfecting a system which used long distance telephone circuits with necessary boosters and amplifiers along the way. It was neither as simple as the words make it sound, nor as inexpensive as regular telephone connections between the same points. Several circuits had to be used for one interconnection to assure uninterrupted service, for the technicians to communicate on the quality of the transmission, and for alternate routings. The campaign of 1924 proved the practicability of wire connections in broadcasting speeches over large areas, and in some cases, over the whole nation. This demonstration of coast-to~coast broadcasting was watched by business. It was not long before large—budget advertisers turned to radio as a medium to reach millions of listeners at relatively low cost. In the meantime radio station WEAF, New York, the AT&T experiment in toll broadcasting, demonstrated that radio could be made to pay even on a local and regional Scale. WEAF also branched out in network broadcasting. Other stations licensed by AT&T received some revenues in their operations. Some of them linked up in the Red Network in.1925. This was the beginning of the profit making days Of'radio, but the great days began with the formation of the National Broadcasting Co. and Columbia Broadcasting Co. in the last half of the decade. . I’A'r;n ‘-‘._sI.-- ". -.v- a ‘ '..-~n' .- p-v ‘ °. _ - I .— 0 -...-fi' .. v- w -' .1 'O'UQ ev;‘fi‘ ;’ - . '-‘o b _ .. _ . 0 'l"." .PJ“ ‘ P - u...-or '..--.b " - ’0‘. A? 4‘4. v '; . e- ’- ... q‘ui’ VIO- v " -. o P. -n’r. .r as ~ u u- 0- ‘ 00.. -o.‘¢o- .0... '.‘-'.. g0p§1 «r .. b .H ‘ 4- . "Ihl'~' Hair- -o-~4 1 vvcp9 n'.' .3... ‘§ ' a- h ------J- a...‘ v - . o- I ,g'. - .. . .-r~ r“. , .- ,- " ' ‘~-~.o‘ v¢.‘v g. _ _‘ 'IO. 5 - “:z- . *n r Div-o, .v. u. -q . Q .u. ['2'-Jv w - T ' -om.¢‘..‘ V- ' l.- p.,, . '.. ’ I" “I ~‘r' ”.4. ,.._ .-L o - . .‘ ~v~~ - ~ '....:.. to V.”- 4-. -‘ .‘ ': w'a’ a. no. “ " .“‘-» c C ‘5‘ I. '\ . . u .: A..F~ :p ‘ .v“.‘ -.‘ r 'U .0. To ‘- ”W'v ' .“-,5. ' P“\~o . ”v.40 b J o ‘ l “‘ng“ ~~ r ‘ . “~.-_..’ 7"... f a..._,__ ... 1 -" . ..,”: Awwg “l . V.‘. \\ r “a..‘ .‘- as - \ 'n" n. ' a ""5- ‘ 'r.. .‘DC. . ‘. p :“A . ‘o._’\h h ~ ~._ ... ~~_ "- ... "=- . ‘.. .> I‘ '. .n"" 1 “‘U V‘ 8' “- P; ...- e 'v -:-"“I a ,4 ‘~. ~h‘ n I ~_ . . ‘~’-' ‘. v. ' ‘o, I “~., '7' DVI 7‘ A ~‘_‘ 8 Another important factor in molding American broad- casting into its present pattern was the Radio Act of 1927. Herbert Hoover said, in 1961, he was convinced now as he was so many years ago when the act was passed that the most im— portant thing accomplished by the act was that it established the fact, once and for all, that the public owned the airways. This meant the government, in the name of the peOple, could license stations and assign radio frequencies without con- ferring any vested interest. This meant the people could demand that broadcasting stations be operated in the public interest, for public necessity and convenience. Furthermore, the granting of broadcasting licenses to private citizens without the right of censorship by the government guaranteed freedom of speech. The Radio Act of 1927 set the basic principles still to be found in the present Communications Act of 1934. The regulatory body under the first act was the Federal Radio Commission, under the present it is the Federal Communic- ations Commission. The new act was expanded to include the Common carriers of communications—~the telephone and tele— graph companies in interstate commerce—~with the broadcasting industry. Otherwise the new act is much like the old in aims and philosophy. These elements which have been described were all jJrlportant in the development of our present system of h; lHerbert C. Hoover, in personal interview with the indter, New York City, November 3, 1961. ’ - ,'.»n. r .' sc; 5‘ -.“. .__‘.--fi~ v .r . vv ' “ n—r‘ .,. O v‘.~ ‘. _*. v“"‘.' v .— Q . ' us! “;Q .,~ F 4", _ ‘ n‘o .-.. .. ' I 'v-vv W” ‘ .5- . ~§ 0-. -O- ,- f'o‘nvflv— r ’ ao- . u u .y..' to . - u....."0 l. J r "v .. . . = : A . . ‘ -u..n.~-Iu nu u. «w "'~a .. ~\. ~—\\ ~ p.’ Il‘~~ u:- C s < .,...‘_.. 0-.) ‘ ' o -\ “- ' ...a..o.- .‘¢- .. . " , ' ~ . » o 'r ' V-.. r In"... -.. ‘0‘... . .1 "" F;..:r~ "'. " v-o‘-..a.. _“ a , - . s-.-... ., ‘ . n 7“ .‘ :_. r ...-- n..- 1‘ ‘8 ‘ u" . - F. u o... ‘On- A v! i. - " .-... . “HI. .. . VA fl ' ‘ «a '..." o..- _..\ " dd ‘ I-.:.. ' P‘s. _ . "'~. I"; P tr . u a‘ - 5.. -I. . o o. A q n . u .. V,~ ‘ .'..U. i ...: "s I u... a-_~"‘-‘ L. I Po‘ ‘W‘ U- ’ ~ "~— '0. . - n v»_; . v... ‘ - "_‘ .‘4- .— V ‘.._‘ -! .,. . ..‘ .‘ ~ . .~.. 7' y." 3 , ‘n. ..- ‘4 a - . .' I.’ ‘1 \ :..\p N." :_~ - ,. ‘ -... s v._ \- ‘ U ‘I . ,_. “- a'r- ,_ e.-‘~ . ‘ b“v .. ,. -.. k r v .— ‘ “.- L’ .1 - n . ‘ n I . 'o._ "P- .. .‘. h. .‘ . . ‘. ~ N ~ .‘ ‘v- N: ‘r 9 broadcasting. This electro—magnetic marvel has influenced our culture greatly. Our ways of thinking, of talking, of setting values, of determining behavior patterns have been affected by radio and television. They entertain, and teach, and inform, not always overtly, but certainly at least in- directly. Whether the general effect is wholesome or insidious is a matter of opinion. Mass effect has been made possible by the ability to broadcast radio and television coast-to-coast over stations linked in great networks. Advertising has made this possi— ble by paying the way. The political campaign of 1924 pointed the way by showing that interconnection could be made to work. Few people realize what the campaign did for radio. The question is sometimes asked: What effect did radio have on the results of the election? Probably very little. President Collidge was never seriously challenged by either of the other major contenders. What might be said about radio and the election is that the election had a tonic Effect on radio. The excitement of hearing the conventions and speeches of the prominent political leaders broadcast must have sold thousands of radio sets. The thought of bEing one of an audience of twenty million people spread Over the whole of the country, coast—to-coast, must have thrilled more than one listener. '...,.: .:,. no...o-".n c Ila-q 1r \ 4 — ' ..-‘§-.‘ . o ‘ -.~.,q -.... ‘2" - - ....-.~.v‘ v , -. V‘ -. I"‘ ’r av « .. .— .. "u-n ... uoss. y.- a 0.1v- —."IP~,--. . ‘— a " 'I. . n.-...‘.‘_ --‘~. up- y.‘ o... ..._.'- - I . e :‘ ‘v- 1 , ‘ ’f‘ “ I...‘ ~ ~ 0... K. O ‘. , . :“"'*‘-. .. ~ I‘ - ”h .-"'v-' '\ 4 " ~‘-“ .. . .._ ‘ 'va. 1 . .I ‘ ~ on, ‘v-o~. ‘: - "A ;..._'.:~. .1 — ‘Av‘ ‘ '. f“ A "”‘c.L \ b V;_ k .'.. ~ . a _ . .' "A U ‘\ h - ‘-.: n 5 Q J a 9.. . I I "‘ -5 ' '\ 0 .._~ :‘ V — ~ ' u. ._ ‘ .- . n ..“ F “0.? i v - ' H 'vl“ u.."":'_ . -- ~' g .V. A ‘v,-— . ‘ -L_ - ., ~ ‘ ~‘ 0 ._ _ Q ..' . .- .'. - q . K...’ ‘ u. v. '_ I. s" . 4.‘-\ . a . 'I w. '\.‘ v~ ‘ "‘~‘ ~ ‘1 v . CHAPTER II OTHER BROADCASTING SYSTEMS American broadcasting went through the early Twenties being shaped and molded by economic forces, by advances in technology, and by the pressures of public likes and dis— likes in programs. The Radio Act of 1927 was the finishing touch in the patterning because it was a cogent statement of the relationship between the radio industry and the federal government. The American system of broadcasting is one of free enterprise, operating stations under limited license from the government for the entertainment, education, and infor- mation of the public. Financing, except in respect to the relatively small number of educational and institutional Stations, is made possible through the selling of time to advertising sponsors. Broadcasting is not only done on a local level but also on regional and national levels through Networks of stations operating on a contractual basis. Station ownership is limited to prevent monopoly. Programming to a large extent is directed to capture the fancy of the largest possible audience, a fact which is gratifying to the advertisers who pay for most of the 10 v‘ ’FRV' P 1‘ V v. 4 ..e’b‘ l-I~-- «- '0 -o "-7 a2. 2 ”T. nun. «u .- . . .. I "'I Anus; -V“ l-\ .- --,_-.. " O ‘.I, . . q . . .7... ‘. '- V l U. Lib ~v~...-__ _- . , ‘ H "V‘ a \ , .. a. ’..-.gg .‘V ' h '1 “I... _ ~ a. ‘V‘ -" ._....‘..q _.'l ' n .1 us. .‘n..y. r.‘. \ .. .1. _'4‘.'. . . a, \‘w- a...“ _ ‘ \ s5“..- V ~ I “ ‘ p,- ..'."- - .1 _ g.- u'oo-g‘--~" ._ .. p I a ”-'V'.“ . ~‘~ . ¢-' 'v--»_ . ' VL"~-“‘ l‘ 'e» _ ‘ ... -.‘.. s. '- -“V.;,.‘ :r . ....,,.‘..- -Q- '- '. ~ - 'V‘n . ~..., 0 “1’" ‘.’ N‘ n... __ c ‘ § ‘ ‘ s F -- - “‘ 1.. ‘ ,_.. . '- ..._ .._$-, ‘0‘ .v .. v ‘ ‘ " .‘H ‘ ..: . " I-“ v :5- ‘: ‘Q- A - ~ ‘u-“ '- .'~: ‘ . _~ .'. v,_‘.: "a: ., . " _‘ § .- I“ O ‘- .. - .._‘ .‘. ' I- ‘. I. .- ' .. .. ~ ~ '- -.-- 'I “~ .._ . . " ‘ v- o .‘u. ’- - a. , - ‘ ' ~t _ ‘ ‘ L‘:_ - I" r: ... -' - -‘ - . u‘ 0...: \.- -- -‘\-' N ' “Q .. - x . ‘ w}. -‘ 9 —\‘-»' ‘ ‘\ - ll broadcasting. Therefore, the trend has been toward light entertainment rather than the informational, to jazz more than to serious music, to action more than to thought, and to fantasy more than to reality. If this is American broadcasting, what about that in other parts of the world? Concurrently in the Twenties, it was developing in Britain, Canada, in the principal countries of western Europe, and in a few other spots in the world. No one of these others was the same as the American. Each was adapted to the political system or needs of its country. Some systems of broadcasting developed as totally owned and controlled agents of the government. Others were managed by public corporations which existed at the pleasure of the government. Some were commercial corporations with the government in partnership, while still others allowed govern- ment and private corporations to exist side by side. In all the systems there was an element of control Whether it was by a government agency licensing and regu— lating stations or whether there was partial or total participation of the government in management. It may help to look at the British and Canadian systems With the idea.cn? comparing them to ours. The British was chosen because it serves a country with the highest satur— ation of radio and television receivers next to ours. The Canadian system.is interesting because it has elements similar to both the American and British plans. W 5 '.-‘- an o .,.-1-r " .r. 0.3.1.0' in”... o O", u--v:- A‘r'HZ'. ...L..._. .u......- . u . ""vz': :'~ :. u.-L...-~ “I“ ~ - - \ I u’a I. gp'-_. .P‘ n ‘ q ._ on '1 -HVI -... F u ‘ V . o a ; r..- .- V" to.» a * D ';r'--’..- .- ,-._.':, IQ. ’6- v- "-.":. I“ In 1 .o...’ -.. ~‘ - V. . A Q “I ‘:-~;‘ ‘1‘ \- ‘ -._." D» f . "I.- g k a VI , ‘ ' .g: ~v‘hn- o. “Np...- .I .,. -' u "a ‘- n H' ‘:‘ :- ”.1 ~ ‘ .I‘U‘ ,_ 5 "t‘ .r‘!» -\ ‘~-:~ 'v-- - .- -‘ .. ‘v n. ~ ~“ ~ ._ _ ,' ‘\.,' "‘V- 5‘ ~‘- ~ O. .- ~| ‘ .__ .“' I“ “'0.- .__ -a._ ‘- '.&- ~ “ “-: *§ ...- r - K - ‘v ‘\ . b ._‘ _ .u t "u A“ s_ o ‘_’ U \ ---': .‘ ' n '\ § .H . ‘ . _ ~ — '- "f-h. - \ .‘ ‘ ‘u: .J-.~ . \‘ “x. .- ..' .f I.‘ u \‘.~ 0" n "- 12 British radio is completely operated by a public corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation. Television there is in two divisions, one operated by the BBC, the other by a different public corporation, the Independent Television Authority, which leases the air time on its stations to program contractors. The contractors, in turn, produce programs and sell advertising to finance their operation and to show their stockholders a profit. 0n the face of it, BBC is different from the American operation. Although ITA operates stations which feature advertising, it too is quite different from the American method. Britain was faced with the same problem as America after World War I in respect to radio. There was a high interest in building radio transmitters and receivers, Every- one seemed to want to get on the air. The confusion on the air was probably greater than in America, for in Britain there was a more dense population and fewer radio frequen- Cies free from interference. Besides local stations there Were many European stations reaching out to the United King- dom. Two committees were appointed by Parliament to inves- tigate the possible need of regulation for radio. As a I‘esult of the probes it was decided to charter one corpor~ ation to take over radio broadcasting. The Post Office department, which in Britain supervises ‘Hm postal system, telephones, and telegraph was also assigned ‘p. ,‘ t"- _ Q ll“ “ o¥un .p v. g .n- .00. “I!" ‘p A ‘.‘ I. V . 0‘ ---l 0‘“ ‘...y-‘ Y 0 Q s K mg. I I a) '.- name!” 7‘ A _ sea in. cohort... .. . (I! O ‘ '- n [51,.” N‘ AA an“ ‘ . ~ ~I..-._.. U on. ~I .:. “.1,” “‘2‘ u\‘ 4 y. .‘u-~ l...- u... u.“ s-A \fi\ i=5; .‘q .T. .., 'I'IUVV Mu... wv . . . ‘ ’. ..'n 1' 94-” F:- L--. ‘.""‘ N. u.v. .--:y‘ 1'..;:.-“c P‘-’ -~t~. QCII'~".~ . . ~~x -; m“; a . _ _ L. H H h . .‘ ' 03.". " I! ' s As. .— u ‘ ’ 'A'C-Q, hw‘ I'."'-u no». eye 1 .-.._. ...t .1 .... l \ ....... h..._.. V .4 ‘.‘. . ‘: ..«I - V.‘ f :;“ A— h“ ““V 9. U._ .— ‘l V fa fl-~“:"' .llb V'...~ . ' . My v..-p '12“- “;-’; .. ‘v‘. he.-- . - U‘ I. ‘ .— H :q.:n “WK" en‘— uh.‘v it ..~... ~‘ 5 .. -.. ' fl 0 A“. ‘I ~ A: c —Vl:_. . .0... h. - d. v .- ..,‘ . . . ~ P“. Fu._"r a A ~ .u- _ \ _~ ‘ 'I.‘ ~‘VQo--~.\. .'. .1 . ..: L: _ a “h” .-v~ ‘I.‘ - ~ " U‘ -,_- ,. n: ..n‘| - - “v.- . " ~.‘ ‘ M. Vs‘ . I h 7.."- ~ ‘ h... : I”; a .. .5, In.» - '_. ..'.._' . ‘ .. - 4" ~,_ ' - . u ‘n‘ q.._--..: ‘1 Pa. 0- . I‘ ‘ -.:h- ‘7'. ; uv gn.“‘ . .;I g \. '-. - I, "‘ f.;. r 13 radio. The Postmaster General was faced with the task of choosing from among twenty—four applicants for the right to organize a monopoly broadcasting corporation. In the end, he did the obvious, He set up a corporation in which all could participate. The British Broadcasting Company was formed in 1922 with six major radio equipment manufacturers subscribing Z 10,000 each to the capital stock and with Z 40,000 addi- tional in stock being made available at K 1 per share to other investors connected with the industry.1 Eventually, there were 1,700 shareholders in the company. The capital subscribed was believed enough to build eight transmitting stations which would supply the whole of the United Kingdom with radio service. The company's operation was financed by a license fee On each radio receiving set in the country and by royalties collected from British manufacturers of radio sets and parts. The sale of foreign radios and parts was restricted to prev test the business of the domestic companies. It was expected the fees and royalties would more than pay for the broadcast- ing, and a profit would result. As a control on possible profits, the company was limited to dividends of a maximum Seven and one—half per cent. The annual licensing fee on receivers was not prohibi- t1Ve; it was only ten shillings (about $1.40 in our currency k hwy-71W 1This should not be confused with the British Broad- casting Corporation which succeeded it in 1927. I 0.... r- ' v ,.'o 5‘ . ....4,. 5.---..” 4‘ - .¢.t.-n‘ yvn-U‘oa' v . ~ . _ , 4 p'..- . . - "" 2 .oo...~a v... V- a o :uuifo. '1 ~ ~- . n, .1 :- A “I " pa V"- -...-‘.. vi . .. . . '\ .L'-’ ‘ n '~ ~ 0 . "“"I. o. a... . . ... , .~ ~ .3 {n -a.‘ .- o.‘ F‘ , ,‘ . ‘ '- fi.‘." A \- 9O»... I) 1 I. .. vb - § f' hr - ugh." . . - v- .‘ in f- .'t ‘ .. '- gr: s n~ “ ‘ 'Nv - . ‘. ‘. "II -. ~.l .I v- . §..~ I .- “ s .. ' "-'~ . .. ‘ a .' uA~ ‘ § " /\ ~ ‘ w n ' \_ ’- -..: -. 9. y! no- 14 today but it was somewhat higher both relatively and actually in 1922). The radio receivers were quite simple at first. They were largely of the crystal variety, so were inexpensive and even easy to make at home. Radio grew in scope and service but the British Broad- casting Company had severe critics. The smaller manufacturers claimed the six largest shareholders dominated the company and its policies. Furthermore, the paying of royalties on British equipment in return for protecting the British busi— nessmen from foreign competition did not seem a practicable method of financing the broadcasting. (This situation was, in a small way, parallel to the early days of American broad— casting when it was partially subsidized by radio manufacturers in order to stimulate the sale of their products.) Parliament heard the complaints and appointed the Sykes Committee and the Crawford Committee to study the situation. Because of the tenor of the reports, which were made in the early Twenties, it was decided to revamp the organization of the broadcasting corporation. A new public corporation was ”chartered and licenced" and was to take over the assets and business of the old com~ pany. The license granted a monopoly of broadcasting for ten years (1927-1936). This was the British Broadcasting Corpor- giigg (BBC) which has operated continuously since that time. The new BBC was a monopolistic public corporation which many have compared to our own Tennessee Valley Authority. It ~ 1‘“ ’ - v.4 " I P ’c a u n .1 I .v“ .- ' - ay- . --'*H“ w:"' " uni! ‘ " u . 0 ‘ .v". .';‘q‘“'f ~-. A 3'. ,., -. - p." - .... 9r~w 'F,‘ "' '5... v”. .fi—V 0‘ .1,. ,-» :v" 9 ~; \ .‘n -‘ ..»-v"‘ V -. n~ . ’ r- . . ...T.': "a' n'v-rvh'p —r O r- . - .....,$... ... ... u . v -O-v.~¢‘u- -.. . "'v- .~ a-‘1 . A~‘ "" r» -55-; \t n 0-,...‘ .- .'°' .-OI‘A _'§ .' V.'-" - u‘ .- ...5 in. .“.v o " “an -. so. My .~ . o u. A PA - u .1 :§ 0... .v. ' '- Io\ .‘ at- .' h _ p. " “'h. .- '\ K A. ‘r v. 'A- ‘-., V. t: ‘ ’V-q "' ‘ ‘b _ UQ .— 1 .._ __. ~._ -. r u-“ -.'o. q..- . ‘9. “-. -- ”-r '.... ., u ‘. ~~- - ' ._. -v,:, ~ .‘v. . .- ‘ ‘ “~ '- ‘s ‘- " ‘ .. . ' 'w —. r- v ‘8 a.‘. ." u“ \ v- .. ‘~ ‘ ”-4 .- r " .. ."-- § ' s ‘-- '; .. .0 ‘ I "v a ‘ I . fl- ‘ _l -‘ fi“ .0 hp I. ‘ '_. V‘x’. c‘. _~ -I. n'», I \ .y'. s,” "ri .‘ a”, ‘1‘ _ 15 had a board of nine governors serving five year terms with one member especially selected for each of Scotland, Wales, and North Ireland. John Reith, an excellent administrator, came from the old company to be the Director—General, the executive head of the corporation. There was no provision for the balancing of party strength on the board such as there is in the Federal Com— munications Commission (FCC) in the United States, but provision was made for regional councils and advisory boards tt>assistthe management. The financing of broadcasting was by annual license fees on radio receiving sets much as with the old company, but no royalties were levied on sets and equipment. The Postmaster General assigned the frequencies BBC was to use. He also was authorized to pay BBC eighty—five per cent of the license fees collected each year for three years, and thereafter the amount the Treasury authorized each year. Some other areas of action were also clearly defined; no commercials, as we know them, were allowed; no aliens were to be hired without the written consent of the Ministry; and BBC employees were allowed to join labor unions. In the matter of broadcasting, it was understood an impartial daily account of the activities of Parliament must be reported. Also, BBC must make facilities available for any announcements cabinet ministers might need to make. n ' .A-VV‘T-i L ' W...) H” - M ,.. ' 1- ""CL‘; ‘ ”a r‘ s- n '. : ..ovb""t' .’ "n f. - .— '-~ v‘-.....,... -.. ‘ « ~~nr ‘9‘ ‘ -Io\- .A . .‘ " u'.'jV'-v » r t ‘ .— N"' '10.... ---- -.. _ , “ ‘y. _‘ - a . 4.1.. ‘-.‘ ‘— -— 'v.. ._- ~"" 0.. .-.n-.." :' n Pv-,. .. ~‘V‘ . . a ~v-. .Q_ - F d ‘ A...‘ U \u. .‘I‘ ~"‘ 0.- u..-" r.‘ Ln. - .\ 1%,.» ‘v. .- “ -_ ~.‘_ H ‘7‘ ‘1 ‘. _ ‘. 2 ,,._ _ ~ ... _- ‘.r ‘ ~‘l ‘ r .‘.' _ ‘_. \. :v ‘ ‘w o. a.‘. ..‘ ..‘ . , A ..‘ -r' Q ‘ “. ‘Ar N. -‘ ;;\¢ ‘ '- .. r- -“-‘ ‘, .A '0. -n .- '1 ~. -l ‘0, .0 . “ 's " .r u v 18 With Radio Lux cutting in, BBC radio was forced to become more competitive in the fare it offered. Also BBC gained much experience in measuring public taste in its broadcasts to the troops during World War II and the Occup- ation. As a result, three types of broadcasting evolved: Light, Home Service, and the Third Programme (plus Network Three). The Light Programme is one of popular music and light entertainment characterized as ”entertainment not envolving too much thought.”1 The Home Service Programme is popular entertainment of a wider range than the Light, while the Third is for those few who want artistic programs, classical music, and serious talks. Network Three uses the Third's frequency at some of the times it would not otherwise be in use for broadcasts to even a more highly specialized cul- tural group. BBC worked hard to develop radio broadcasting, but also devoted much effort to establishing television. In fact, the British had an earlier start with the television than the Americans. Broadcasts of importance were made on TV from Alexandra Palace in London as early as August, 1936. Regular scheduled broadcasts began in November of that same year. The first really big event given good coverage by TV was the coronation of George VI in May, 1937. lMaurice Gorham, Broadcasting and Television Since 1900 (London: Andrew Dakers, Ltd., 1952), p. 221. .. n. . . .q .. fl . I. . .v . . . .7 x. a. .. I. . E .., ,2 . - . . . . i o o o . fl. 0.. r” . < a v . . . . R . — _ .. . a, a. ... .a .. L. _. :. 1: . w l. .1 . .. .. .3 t. .c .r” .. . a a Mr. ~ 4‘ ,. i. a . t» .. q n». in. an» a». o . L. «4. s L. . ‘ .5 ‘ ‘ . s ‘ .. ‘— _~ . ~ . . :y La r. .. L. .i L. 4 a . . .1 .... .3 L . .T . . a . 1. fl. \v . L; V” o r" L. J. v. u. ‘ ‘ ‘ L. w. I u x v .. pa“ .. .s. .q u . . .: Pu . . i a p. l. I ~ . rs» v». . _ . . ._. ._. r. . .w . . a Q: ._q .. . .x. . T. .‘ .v. u. .p . r. ;. Z: r . . .5» . 3.. : . . . v... .7. . . _ . .o .. s. .. ‘ .~‘ ..\ .. . .. x. . . .. . .. . 2. a .. . . . . . I. a . . w . . w ...¢ .. . u _. .- ... u i‘ s n . _ s o.“ .a . <~ ..\ o \ . .. .. . ”K, . _ ~ ... . . v. . _. . . » . a... . . 19 As far back as the Forties there was expression of opinion about monopoly broadcasting. BBC, through its Listener Research Department and the British Gallup organi— zation reported a growing feeling for competition in broad- casting, particularly forcommercial television.l Pressure mounted, as time passed, for a wider range of programming which was thought would come with commercial TV. The political parties divided pretty much along party lines on the question of commercial television: the Conser— vatives were in favor of it, while the Labour party was opposed. The Conservatives came to power in 1951. They were impressed with a committee report to Parliament of hearings held in 1949 and 1950 in which recommendations were made for commercial TV. Advertising interests in the House of Com— mons worked to pass a new television act which would permit commercial TV. This was done in spite of great opposition and the horrible example made of American commercial tele— vision. An Independent Television Authority (ITA) was created by the Television Act of 1954. This was a public corporation, separate from BBC, which would own and operate TV trans~ mitting stations in the United Kingdom. Although the ITA could present what we in America would call sustaining pro- grams, in general the corporation would sell time to program contractors who would prepare and present programs. The lPaulu, op. cit., pp. 374-381. ~. . A..-" r ""' . ..I.. ,.,....y ‘ . l ' "I ‘N W ‘ ‘ 5,4 -l--§g‘ I '9 v-~n Rv‘."' - 'r“ I- - .. 'au 2'“ a- U ,...- --v n rw .. .....0-'-. rt... 7 ‘1‘ Rm“! :w a ....-a. L.~L.4 .. - . -1 '- .. .--.... v‘ ,. N 7.. ,fl \ fl ‘ »--'.‘.u-I -II .p . - '0-1'n - . . . .a\ l" ’ --~ ‘-~ “.4... ..A ""Fr". - q - ,' - — V" f :“‘-..__ _. “‘7- o - v‘. r» _ - d u ‘ . .." -“ "vac. "Hm: ‘ . ‘-. r . z r . . ‘¢-... .. fl .. ' 5-4.. . , . " 1" ' r-w— , .l -.«'- ."' \ I U '- "5' _ 0- l - ‘ - . ~ r r vi» F , ‘"' .. ,~ - .-. -. ‘ .4 ..~ \' w.‘ - w» “A. .-“" - . o \— Dau -' ..' . . ' '- V‘.A _ ‘-._ \ - ,‘_ ‘- ._.~ , } ». ‘-. ~ ~‘v-. 'G.‘ \—. . .1. v‘ V‘s .‘. '— -.b~_ ' v. - .-‘ - "~' 1“),- -‘~ ‘ ~ A _ ‘I~-~-—.. - ‘r ~ - ._ . .v .. . ‘r- ' v -.‘ r... ‘o, r %‘ g ‘I , ~ F ‘1 “'-I '4 . 1, Q .I '— "-'-_ . 'a ' ‘a .--‘- ‘ v‘. ,- . 4 _ a. ._ ‘ I. 1‘- ‘~‘- I . ‘ ' ‘5 .A . . ‘hi‘-h vm. 'Q ~‘ '0! ‘ W. ' 4. ‘~ : % f 4‘ . ' “‘. . .fi ‘1 ..“ -'_ - _ - . .Q .. C“ V. -‘ ‘ ‘ \ ‘4 '__‘ ' \ u ‘ "g g. u . '4 ~v 9‘: ‘. '\ II “a. F. . ‘. ._ . 4 - ‘ ‘ I \ _ Q .‘. ‘.\v‘.-. - - ‘r‘. 2O contractor, in turn, would make his profit by selling adver- tising time, similar to our spot announcements. It was provided further that advertisers would have no control over programs and would not be identified with a par- ticular program. ITA would retain right of supervision of programs. In a sense, buying ITA television advertising time was much like buying newspaper or magazine ads without guarantee of position. The ITA was licensed for ten years. It was to be managed by a board of governors of seven to ten persons serving terms of not more than five years. Scotland, Wales, and North Ireland were to be specially represented on the board. No member of Parliament or of the BBC Board of Governors, or any person interested in an advertising agency could serve. The Postmaster General and his ministry were to be responsible to Parliament for ITA. Under the Television Act, ITV programming must be British in proper proportion; program contractors must be British. Furthermore, programs and advertising must be separated, there can be no advertising incorporated in pros grams. Advertising can appear only at the beginning, at the end, or during a ”natural break” in a program. No ads can appear on religious programs. It was estimated ITA would have twenty~three stations operating by 1965 to serve eighty per cent of the population. This coverage was exceeded by 1960. an ~yA $.- ..Iv‘1': : ‘V‘ H- qu 55—» ,g-aauv . ‘ u . — a 'V '. al-'~A :- .p C -r :1“- ‘ >0.v-ui—nnl A . .go Inna“ :V“ ‘7 "H N“ I ‘..J .. ,, . r. '. b a _ \QC'_" ’ ‘I .' Umy...~ ‘ . .. .rl.]:" ~' ‘-..-.~.. -‘ . o. , ..‘ .\ ~ .- \ Q '\ O..-“ u ‘A’ . . ” Dv-.; , ., . - ‘.‘:.-l r ‘ ov.‘--._ __‘.‘~ v “‘.~ .. v J." ;_3 ea..." ‘ I 21 This was the way commercial television came to Britian and broke the BBC monopoly. BBC rose to the occasion com- petitively by having Grace Archer, the heroine of the country's favorite soap opera die in a ten minute death scene Just as Independent Television was trying to secure all possible viewers for its elaborate televised dinner at which the Lord Mayor and other notables inaugurated the new commercial TV.1 It seemed that competition was really a shot in the arm to British TV. This study of the development of the British system of broadcasting revealed certain contrasts with the American. There are contrasts not only in ownership, in programming, in financing, but also in the rate with which the systems settled into definite patterns. In America, the framework was shaped before the Twenties ended; in Britain, major changes such as the introduction of commercial TV came as late as 1954—1955. ' Still another kind of approach to broadcasting is that of Canada. Canada has an adaptation of both the British and American methods. Broadcasting has had to be planned with thought in mind of the extremely large land area of the country 51nd a relatively small population which is settled predomin- antly in a narrow strip along the country's southern border. Canada has two types of operation in broadcasting. There is the Canadian Broadcasting Company which operates lLondon Illustrated News, October 1, 1955. .1. c an .‘ a“ ‘4' u _ I -' 3.:vv v. ,5. o .— ..... nick r: I on V- ’..“ -IIA I r ‘ ' qnflflhflv. 0‘ ": :. u\\u ' . ,..- gnu—yuu‘po. . a.-. _ .-- .¢.: r r” :.'..uhl l av v0. ' O «I... .1 ‘r‘p;r’ - - non-1c -Aloi‘h- - .. . o I § § a..." ‘,'~' A 7‘ r.. .. a .— sltdov-I ‘figg .__‘. ' I u ‘ a‘no-o . '2: P; Hugo, -. ‘.‘~ ~- . .. _,.. ' I-p\ “ 0...... " ~~-f VV‘IV dlr ‘ "V... .I ~ - d .f‘n;...’: . . ' a\ '5 0-- ~‘ ii."‘~~-..L ' .— a. . A." A-“ ‘ n V. chy. "c I‘ A 6 V' '.JV‘~ _ . H 0'... - up. '- v . 'u. I, H. ' A , . “.vd_‘ y W: . 1 " ‘ yum.-- ‘ ‘ .,. . >‘.rq :0.- 4‘ .s-..‘ j._: 9")“, '- v ‘~.~ 0» fl . ‘ . r. v- -": - ‘K.. v, -.-.. 1 w. ._‘,_.. -..“Q. A :rqup ". ,. A. .‘u-‘.. C :4 " ‘- . N . ‘I. :’ "fih .. v ‘y:.. 2-25 \- “. . 9. . -. ‘YCJ ..,.' r, A.“ Q 5 _ i... V. ‘F V ”Ev“ . I. .. ‘5 &' Ar] '. ‘p . .‘ v-‘-lec ~. ~ ~ o..‘; »: n . ‘c.~';~‘. ' . ~ in, . -y' " 4'“ f. -‘o.. I,. ~ V. “in“: . " u- ‘ M c‘.‘ IV‘..-.-_- " ”- ~:.' .4 22 stations and networks, and private commercial stations which operate some stations independently and some in associ- ation with the CBC networks. Since the country is bilingual, it is necessary to have both English and French programs and networks. Another problem is to provide service to the sparsely inhabited areas of the country. Since a commercial station would have difficulty furnishing such service at a profit, it has been necessary for CBC to furnish radio service, at least. From 1936 to 1958 CBC acted as a public corporation broadcasting to the public and as a general regulatory power over broadcasting. The Board of Broadcast Governors (BEG) was established in 1958 to take over the regulatory powers of CBC.l Financing of the CBC stations has been accomplished through a small license fee on receivers, and through adver— tising fees for a few sponsored programs—~popular American programs, for example. Canadian stations have more sustaining programs than most American stations because they have not sold as high a propOrtion of sponsored time. Many of the sustaining programs are of serious music and other entertainment, and of subjects of interest to language and racial minorities. Some of these programs are broadcast during prime evening time. 1George A. Codding Jr., Broadcasting Without Barriers (New York: UNESCO, 1959) contains valuable information on foreign broadcasting systems. Charles A. Siepmann, Radio, Television and Society(New York: Oxford University Press, 1950) discusses British and Canadian systems quite fully. 23 A conclusion about Canadian broadcasting similar to that arrived at about the British can be reached. The Canadian system was also slow in shaping up. -.1- ca.-. 0..- p‘v‘w - u- . u. unl‘ .59. -..a-< -\ fig '1 n " nut-.7, A .— ‘h.-v-.... . . .: : 1... _. . vs = ’ .- "‘ o..‘ ~-.._‘ v -0 A ‘. -- . .- 1.- - s "¢v .-~ . '-...J“ 5 \q ‘ :. Cay : fin-..” .‘. .1 o v..,... "‘v-v_ '_. ;.:.o,* A-“ '~ ~ ~~§ ovu~y._~~ ’ . . 3": c I A m. -.. —_ VV ’ ‘-~—..- g . \Hpo~ FA- V \- 1"- Hel‘l c..- CHAPTER III EARLY HISTORY This study is based on the premise that the Twenties were the formative years of radio, the years in which Ameri- can broadcasting as we know it today was molded and shaped to pattern. This is true, but in one sense radio has been evolving since the day man first began to speculate about electricity and electro-magnetic waves. The list of scientists who has some part in making it possible for an American to switch on his radio or television and receive entertainment or information is too long to give. Nevertheless, one should at least doff his hat to James Clerk Maxwell, Heinrich Hertz, and a few others. Scots-born James Clerk Maxwell was a theoretical physicist who was able to formulate mathematical equations to explain electro-magnetic radiation, to describe the move— ment of those waves, and to determine that their speed was the same as that of light, 186,000 miles per second. Maxwell was professor of Natural Philosophy at London University and later the head of the Cavendish Laboratory at 0 Cambridge University. In 1864 he explained electro~magneti radiation--we call it by various names today depending on the wave length: radio waves, infra red and ultra violet 24 .-‘ '- ,_.- ‘ I ,~ V.-' 0", A D o l - 00 . I l I 1 1 p 00"." a: '-"..'~ 54 a a .--P- .— 4 5 -a- - . a. 'W .n v. _,.o- .--v- - —¥ _..a~ -..- . ‘nbu-v 'i' _ .. .‘..--~.c, . n - l - r; -A,.., , '~v -~..-._ 0 .v . ‘II~~ . "-~..L~ -. v .. o. ' a .. PW -, 'v - i--..§ — " A‘l ..‘ a a--. I ‘ah -.. '0 'IA.,- ‘ ‘s.. ~.‘ ‘P . v.-‘ .- ‘_ V. vs - «a H , '... ‘-u '4. a- .- “-Y ‘- u. ~ - ~;.-" ‘ a ‘_t ~— ."- F5 “-‘L. ‘ .-‘. n..- -.I a- A, - fl.‘ 0- ‘_ n.’ . - a w" __v ' ~._ II- ‘Q h n .‘ ‘ .' o “ ' \ ~ " r.‘ fl.’ » ’ " .. --q_ ".. I n .“ - ~fl ; . ~‘,‘ 1 .‘ .‘. ~ 'I I~ h‘» ~ ~P v.‘ -. - r ~ ._ “.1. u, u- A‘ ‘~ 5'4 25 rays, visible light, X rays, gamma rays, cosmic rays. A few years afterwards, in 1886, a German physicist, Heinrich Hertz, was able to demonstrate some of Maxwell‘s theories by doing experiments in the transmission and re- ception of electro-magnetic waves, or ”Hertzian Waves,” as they became known. Professor Eduard Branly of Paris became interested in Hertz' experiments. In 1890 he developed what he called a coherer, making it possible to detect more feeble electro— magnetic waves than it had been possible for Hertz to do. The coherer was a small glass tube filled with fine metal filings which were caused by the electro—magnetic impulses to cling together and form a cohesive conductor. Oliver Lodge, the famous English physicist, believed he could improve on Branly's coherer. He demonstrated his improved apparatus at the British Association for the Advance~ ment of Science in 1894. Over in Russia, Professor Aleksandr Popov followed the electro—magnetic experiments with great interest. When he read an account of the improvement Lodge had made in the coherer, he decided to improve even on that. In the fol- lowing year he showed a new idea in coherers complete with a device for tapping the metal filings loose after each impulse. Even the great American inventor, Thomas Edison, made a contribution unknowingly. As early as 1875, he noted the p. a .4 4 ‘ 4 ’ .“a ,- In :0"; 4 U'. ,a- .1” ‘.' v ‘ L-o.--’ " - ..‘-u o -"'— —' '-'1 ,.. .' p ft. .— v-1‘ur 4 1..-: «Inf 2‘ ..o--"“ ‘. ‘v. o-"— w .n- uv . - -OIUJ-.. C! . ..---—~.. ~- —. p.- .— ---.. _.__,__ .. ..- — ‘- -‘uu - ._. ~ - : :m-onv- . ’ "- --A«‘-. ..~- .— -:. ~ ** "~. -0- . . ‘.-.'_~ -9 .u-“5 UV . :OQ .... u.-. - -~- le- ‘ - w ,4 V ) w’; — ‘ - -. — ~ ‘ ‘- x ' ~— .,_ ‘ .. -3 “- V’- - u _ “ ‘— -.l -.. ~, pi ".- §._~ w- ' ~ 4 - 8 o . ‘ ‘.‘~ - ‘,._ " - ‘1 . . . _ - L-“'.- , “ ”‘r. “-~ . .‘u- b u ‘. Q “‘ \ v ., u-~: u .- _. .N‘ — “-§V~_! _ ‘s I H' 26 unusual action of electricity in a partial vacuum. This has since been called " the Edison effect,” he called it "etheric force." Over a quarter of a century later, Fleming,de Forest, langmuir, Arnold, and others put this discovery to good use in developing and perfecting the vacuum tube. One man visualized the possibility of wireless commun- ication as early as 1892 but could not interest any of the wire communication companies in his idea. This man was the British scientist, William Crookes.l The development of radio in the early days can be divided roughly into two approaches. There was the theoret- ical advance through contributions by scientists of many lands. There was also the advancement through efforts of men trying to find practical applications for the new discoveries-- and ways they could be commercialized. Maxwell, the Scot; Hertz, the German; Branly, the Frenchman, Lodge, the Englishman; and Popov, the Russian, were all scientists who contributed to the theoretical knowl— edge of radio, but who made no practical application of their work. ,3 There were many men who did contribute to the practical ( application of experimental knowledge of the new wireless telegraphy, which later developed into radio. Many of these men were important inventors, but they also were interested lGleason L. Archer, History of Radio to 1926 (New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1938), p. 55. 27 in putting their inventions to work to serve mankind. The public knows the name of Marconi best, possibly. Guglielmo Marconi, the Italian, during his career built a great network of wireless companies which served the greatest part of the world. There were other great figures also. Reginald Fessen- den, the Canadian, was a genius whose career was marred by his bad temper. Lee de Forest was an American inventor who is best remembered for his improvement of the vacuum tube, but who also had many other inventions to his credit. Germany's contribution to great names in radio invention would have to include Arco, Slaby, and Braun. Valdemar Poulsen was a Danish inventor who invented a generator use~ ful in long distance transmission. Finally, one of the key figures in modern broadcasting is Ernst Alexanderson, the Swedish-born engineer employed by General Electric in the early days of radio. Alexanderson built an Alternator, as he called his generator, which was superior to any other in the world. The Alternator remained in America because the Radio Corporation was formed to take title to it. This pre— vented the Marconi interests from getting control of the invention and gave the United States pre—eminence in world radio. Indirectly it did much to shape the pattern of American broadcasting in the future. The parts these men played in the story of American radio will be more fully discussed as we proceed. For the present let us return to Marconi and his part. 3. .1.“- .. ‘ ’ 3!“.53" '5." " ;"-3-v’ ”- .-.¢l pd 3..- v. oc" " . 1.. 1..., ‘_r g D g ‘ .:...—‘o-~o. \r . on I ‘ _l' c 'ng - -1 ~ .ou‘..- ‘u -.:t 5"- -6;- Q ~¢. "‘ :- vnnv - vi... 2" ‘7 - . {o «'A“. an ' UV..- “. ‘ . . u, ~ I»: h 28 Marconi was born in a wealthy Bolognese family and was educated by tutors. He showed a particular interest in physics and chemistry. He was only twenty in 1894 when he heard of Hertz' experiments with electro-magnetic waves. He became interested in making wireless telegraphy a practical reality. With the help of Professor Righi of the University of Bologna, he began to construct wireless apparatus. It was this desire of Marconi to make a practical application of the wireless experiments which made the young man's name loom so large, according to Maclaurin.l He said that the Italian's work can be classified as applied research and engineering development rather than fundamental research. The point was also made that up to the founding of British Marconi in 1897, the major contributions to radio research had come from universities or foundations such as the Royal Institute. The scientists already mentioned——Maxwell, Hertz, Lodge, and Popov-~after making a contribution to the knowl— edge of wireless communication had turned to other interests. Marcbni was different. He wanted to build apparatus that would work. After experimenting a year he was able to transmit a wireless message across his father‘s country estate. Guglielmo spent all his time on this absorbing new interest. He worked to improve his apparatus, and, after a year, he was able to send a message in Morse code over a distance of two miles. 1See footnote page 29. u\. .l. .1 cu. 0-. aK- o. o . . u” I... L. . 4 S. r“ 2» r. r” -H ._ ... .H .. I.‘ C 0 v —. o-. .u- v a - o _. 0 o s .n- in a I p . . ... . . ._ .. . «I ... .o. 29 The young man had now reached a point where he believed his work could have some commercial value. He believed in England he would find the best opportunity to develop the business side of wireless communication. Furthermore, since his mother was from an aristocratic Irish family, he expected to meet many influential people in the United Kingdom. Among the capitalists and government officials Marconi met in England was William Preece, the engineer—in-charge of the British Post Office, the agency which controlled the communications of the country. Preece was an inventor also and watched with interest as Marconi sent wireless messages over a distance of eight miles. This demonstration led to the formation of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co., Ltd. (British Marconi) in 1897 for the purpose of sending communi— cations point to point, and ship to shore, on a commercial basis. British Marconi was formed with a capital of Z 100,000 subscribed largely by investors who were willing to speculate on the long chance of ultimate but handsoneprofits.l 1W. Rupert Maclaurin, Invention and Innovation in the Radio Industry (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1949), p.42. Maclaurin said British Marconi accumulated a deficit of $445,102 from 1903—1910. The first "good year” was 1912 when a profit of $211,246 was shown. By 1918 the yearly profit had risen to $711,842. Some of the increased efficiency after 1910 can be attributed to the work of Godfrey Isaacs, the managing director hired that year. Some of the success can also be laid to the ability of G. Marconi to hire the best scientific brains available-—notab1y Professor Ambrose Fleming. . O" l a .r' - I..- . A” I) J U) (N -,,. u u on) .- .- a-’ s.- an. up- w - 4... 'II' oA-o- v —. ~.‘ .‘~._1 . . v '-‘ '- rx .— A. . ‘\ \\." §_‘ . s“ . v- rfig u. 'filf".< a "‘- 7 ‘ V‘ ' '- ‘, ‘ .— a. .vrg ‘. \‘~ ‘- .v r- - ~ '4 o.’ . u. ‘A I- . '. an N o ‘ \" y. s... Q .‘l_ e ‘ \u. ’-‘ ..- W‘ '. "‘— y _o n h. p- \ ‘ ‘- >.~ P ‘, ‘. 'V - . ,‘.-.. .l‘ ‘ -'s ‘ ., o- ' ‘ I... -~ R ‘ . a. ‘V ‘y- ‘. t . "u " _-‘ ._ ~ ‘ “.' . ~ _ ’o. ‘.-s.. -, .: uu’k '4‘ .’ .. t 3 ‘J I '\ V ‘. O.‘ _“. ‘0. r- - ‘s . ~ ._ s_ .F‘ ..- '.; . — . g ‘ I. I , .. plr ‘ -. .b... . h‘i‘ -,‘ . ‘ ‘~' ~. I ' V o. . 3O Marconi, who was twenty-three at the time, received E 15,000 in cash and sixty per cent of the stock for his patent rights. It was a long time before the speculators received any divi- dends—~in fact it was l9lO-—because the new company still had many technical difficulties to overcome and growing competi— tion to meet. Fear, or at least recognition, of competition may have made the Marconi interests rather ruthless in their attempts to gain monopoly by crowding out and buying up all possible competition and wireless patents.l From the very beginning, Marconi attempted to keep others out of the field by trying to lease rather than sell apparatus, and by refusing to cooperate with rivals such as de Forest of the United States, Slaby—Arco of Germany, and others. Before Marconi Company is condemned too severely it should be mentioned that the British Post Office, from whom Marconi had hoped for cooperation, and the Anglo-American Telegraph Company, operators of a transatlantic cable, both attempted to keep his company out of competition with them. Marconi was soon able to demonstrate what wireless meant to the world. A wireless meassage was sent from the land to a ship ten miles at sea during the first year his lMaclaurin,op_. cit., pp. 43-44. ”Marconi's contribu- tions to the commercialization of wireless made him more im— portant as an innovator than as an inventor. But his com~ pany succeeded in getting possession of many of the principal patents in the radio art, despite the fact that the most important wireless discoveries and inventions were not made by him or his associates.” _,r.r -'-.‘--. ,..—-v-" -.- -" ~r :. a; a: . :— L— u.- ...- .... 31 company operated. After this, one dramatic incident followed another. It seemed at last a method had been found of sending marine distress signals and of avoiding some of the frightful loss of life in sea disasters. One of the first distress signals was sent by the East Goodwin lightship in the Straits of Dover to report severe storm damage to the ship just one month after the Marconi wireless had been installed. Three months later the same lightship sent a wireless message saying it had been rammed by a freighter in a dense fog. The two accidents at sea, which came most to the attention of the world in the years before World War I, were the sinking of the ship Republic in 1909, and that of the splendid liner Titanic in 1912. The British ship Republic collided with the Italian Florida about 175 miles out of New York. Wireless distress signals were picked up by American shore stations and retrans- mitted to ships in the area of the collision. Because help was summoned, all the passengers and crew of the Reppblic were rescued before the ship sank, and the passengers of the Florida were taken off the damaged ship for the sake of safety. Wireless was used in a remarkable way that day. The transmitter of the Republic was used to guide rescue ships through the fog up to the side of the darkened ship. The Titanic tragedy in 1912 is usually remembered as one in which over 1,500 persons lost their lives because v. a: ... 4* .a .- ... “A .r.. .. r“ K. .~- ~ (’1 ‘3" ‘..; v 32 nearby ships did not receive the SOS. At that time, ships were not required to have wireless operators on duty twenty— four hours a day. It was tragic so many had to drown, but it should not be forgotten that 700 persons were saved because some wireless messages had gotten through to ships some distance away. Wireless was used over forty times in rescue work at sea between the time the Republic sank in 1909 and the 1 Titanic in 1912. This dramatic rescue work did not come about by a system which developed by smooth progression. Marconi was forced to make many experiments under varying conditions to prove his apparatus practicable. There was enough of the showman about Marconi to try to arrange to use his wireless in such a way as to make it newsworthy. One such event was to use the wireless to report the Kingston Regatta from ship to shore in 1898. The next year he sent a message across the English Channel from Dover to Boulogne, a distance of thirty-two miles. He learned at this time he could not depend on the Post Office to cooper— ate with him under competitive conditions. He had wanted to link his shore station at Dover with London by wire but the Post Office refused because this would be in direct competi- tion with their cable service to France. This was the same 1George A. Coddings, Jr., Broadcasting Without Barriers (New York: UNESCO, 1959), pp. 13-14. v ...-~ d .. p - .‘ _ u,_ - 5 '.- .‘_ ‘ ,- . .\ - \ . . ~ ’. . ~- ‘_. n .‘ ‘. u . ‘, x -; . .a 33 year the light ship in the Straits of Dover sent out a distress signal to the Marconi station on shore and proved there was no English competitor in this ship to shore service. Marconi was a practical man. He no doubt soon began to realize his best way of competing with other systems of communication was by sending messages over water and over long distances. With this in mind, Marconi began to incor- porate companies in several parts of the world so that he could set up shore stations to take care of his ship to shore and long distance business. One of the first of these companies was the American subsidiary—-Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America-- which was organized November 11, 1899. This was the first company organized to transmit wireless messages in America. The capitalization was $10,000,000 with about twenty-five per cent held by British Marconi. The new company had the exclusive rights in the United States and Territories to "use and exploit” the patents of the parent company. American Marconi erected high-powered wireless stations at New Brunswick, New Jersey, Belmare, New Jersey, Marion, Massachusetts, Chatham, Massachusetts, Bolinas, California, Marshall, California, Kahuku and Kokohead, Hawaii. The most dramatic event in which both the names Marconi and America are associated was the first trans- atlantic wireless transmission which took place December 11, 1901. 34 Marconi had been pushing ahead with his great energy and drive in the attempt to extend his broadcasts to more and more distant points. His ultimate goal was to send a message across the Atlantic. This he accomplished on the day mentioned above. The message originated at a station at Poldhu, Corn— wall, England and was received at St. Johns, Newfoundland, 3,000 miles away. The receiving equipment was temporary, so makeshift, in fact, that Marconi used a huge kite to carry the aerial aloft. The message was a single letter ”S” repeated over and over, sent from one side of the ocean and faintly received on the other. Although the world thrilled to Marconi's transcceanic message it had little effect on the financial success of the American Marconi company. This company became predominant in wireless communication in America in the days before World War I, but the success of the company was based on ship to shore and ship to ship communication. Transatlantic wireless did not become a commercial reality until several years later. There were at least two reasons for the slow development of wireless service across the ocean. One, there was no generator strong enough to give sufficient power to insure dependable transmission for that distance under all conditions. Two, the cable companies were strong competitors in the quality of service they offered, in the rates .hey were able to give, and in the determination they had to keep Marconi out of their field. 35 Marconi felt the force of this competition a few days after the first England-to—Newfoundland message. The Anglo- American Telegraph Company, a transatlantic cable company, claimed the Marconi station in Newfoundland infringed on their exclusive franchise for a cable station in that province. The Canadian government offered to furnish Z 16,000 and grant a franchise for Marconi to build a wireless sta— tion at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. In return, the Marconi Company could give out rate communications to the government when the station became operative. As mentioned, the Marconi Company turned to the ship to shore business when it found competition with cable com— panies too stiff. The Marconi interests tried to protect their business by attempting to lease rather than sell wire— less apparatus. They were able to do this with commerical shipping lines, but other arrangements had to be made for the navies of the world. One of the first commercial contracts was with Lloyd's, the marine insurers. This company signed an exclusive con— tract for fourteen years which called for equipping their lighthouses with wireless and for erection of shore stations to handle the communications. Several important shipping lines also leased Marconi services. These included North German Lloyd, Hamburg-American Linc, Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, the Cunard Line, and the American Line. :— ~\. ~\\ .\~ 36 The British Admiralty also adopted Marconi wireless quite early. Although the government did not agree to a lease arrangement such as the commerical lines worked under there was more security for Marconi in the naval contract than in an outright sale. The first contract with the Admiralty called for equipping thirty-two ships of the fleet with wireless. The cost to the government was Z 20,000 down and Z 1,600 for each installation. In addition, the contract called for an annual fee of Z 5,000 to be paid for eleven years starting in 1903. Marconi also installed wire— less on warships of Italy and France. The Marconi business spread rapidly. Forty—eight coastalstationswere erected in various parts of the worbd by 1903. Besides the parent British company and the American subsidiary, other Marconi companies sprang up in Belgium, France, Italy, Canada, Argentina, and Russia——with more to come. Marconi did not develop without competition in the wireless business. In spite of the company‘s efforts to protect its interests by leasing rather than selling equip- ment and by refusing to cooperate with other wireless com- panies, competition did appear. In Europe the competition came chiefly from the German Telefunken Company. Telefunken made equipment based on the patents on the inventions of Professor Ferdinand Braun, Dr. Rudolf Slaby, and Count von Arco. The company built shore 9 i1. .ooO' - . ‘ -.. A ~ " c" -1 '8' «a " b4. -- ..- v- "‘ r:- ‘u— a _ ..-v¢v . . 1 1,. -r‘ .'..r a..- - VIC- ..0 1'0! — ~ i .«4- ~ .- "‘ ~ — — ‘~‘ -- 4" Ian---b~ _ " ~‘n‘2r-e. -\~, ' ‘- vvgntufign‘ , . ‘.A - \. ‘r’n .— - u..‘-. .._.- . . - . _ ,. .’. ',__V‘ .- ~ .4. ._‘.. ‘~‘ .... ._ A--_f ‘ . E ‘ \— _ s..-4~_ ~.4-- an , s.- . . . h .. ' w 1 ‘- . v 5.." ‘_H_ .. ruiv‘ H‘wnr'_: -,... -v-~~‘.--_ Q .‘ - -‘ r’.i. ~ v..-" .Q . ~°' ~- 0. . v.'_ ‘- .._v ‘- r-..»— .-.-~~__.-.. ‘. ' I. : .- ': 3"-" s: "‘ ~_~ f.-_ ._~’ ' . ‘ F - y._ ‘ ‘ - ‘-.. A ‘ ‘..‘ b . .. .. . Q _ H“. \r' Y- _ y..“._ ‘ - , .. \. -V‘v-~ ' 1". _ V-. , -~-“ :- .r‘- ..': ‘_ P.I ‘- ‘1‘ . - ‘V y‘ __ “—\_ K. r. K . ~ _‘ -. -~“- ._. ‘ » .1? . . :3 ' - o Ig‘~ v. " A. 1‘ _ . . .‘ ,. “ - V‘ .'-.,I .'A -A 1 ‘—'~ y _ ‘-. r: -.. _ . . v 'l ’- “fi ~q.‘- . .. ~ .\ , "S‘V~r -‘_ . LI. :‘f'Cs- ..‘ ‘ V” ‘ -, w . — P’ ‘ “‘ 37 stations and equipped some of the ships of the German navy. Also, Telefunken incorporated an American subsidiary in 1905, built a station on Long Island, and convinced the American navy it should try out Slaby-Arco wireless. There were some American companies in competition with Marconi in the years before the war, also. The de Forest Wireless Telegraph Company and its successor, United Wire— less Company, sold and leased equipment usually at lower rates than Marconi. The German company and de Forest both had been able to install equipment on American naval vessels because our government would buy equipment only on competi- tive bid. Marconi refused to do business this way so the other companies benefited. United Fruit Company set up its own wireless system in the Caribbean. The company operated a fleet of vessels between its West Indian, Central and South American plan— tations and certain North American ports. The fruit company built shore stations at New Orleans, Boston, and a few points in Central America. It maintained a commercial service under license of Marconi and under certain patents it had acquired. The Federal Telegraph Company maintained stations in California for ship to shore and ship to ship wireless service in the Pacific area. This company owned the rights to the Poulsen Arc Transmitter, which was the most powerful generator-transmitter until Alexanderson perfected his . . .v-v‘. _v~r. . z...-~"‘ - --r‘ _r.*" .4... '.v,..lv~.~ H . 0" V .. .«n “ h‘ '.’~_.-.‘ .o. A .-‘¢. :‘ ‘ IV. 3'“; ..-u -.. .1 fl '.':--.:Ar~ ‘ 3 o ‘ -‘....fi--d-O~ . u - --- a r -\ -.. _ '8‘ .— u‘..4.- *QI‘A n-A'p - _ ..-... v _ v.7 o .u.. ’4!" l on-.. t It" a. ‘- h.- 38 Alternator.l Broadcasting for entertainment did not develop prior to World War I. Receiving and transmitting apparatus was being sold in the United States to the companies in the com- munications field, to the United States government, and to amateurs and experimenters. The big electrical companies which were to dominate the business after the war were not manufacturing radio equipment for sale at this time. West- inghouse, General Electric, and Western Electric were all experimenting in the field but it was others who built the bulk of the equipment offered on the early market. Prin- cipal among the other companies were Marconi of America, Federal Telegraph, de Forest, and Wireless Specialty Apparatus Company, a subsidiary of United Fruit. The apparatus being offered for sale at this time was really quite simple, for up to the time of the war an effi— cient vacuum tube had not been perfected. De Forest had added a third grid to the tube first devised by Fleming and had shown improvements possible. But even this improved tube was soon tied up in a lawsuit. It was sometime later before other scientists were able to more nearly approach lGleason L. Archer, History of Radio to 1926 (New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1938), p. 73. The U. S. Navy Department tested four European wireless systems, 1902-1903, and decided the German Slaby-Arco was best. Six experimental stations were built by the department (1903) to test the foreign systems and also those of the Americans, Fessenden and de Forest. A special school for operators was opened at the New York Naval Yard. The Braun systenlwas usedlxy the U. S. Army, the . 'f‘ ' I, . s' _ -.c . ‘ .4 I4"- ,. "\ ,-—-v“" ,1" ..-. 5 _....A -‘ .--v ...- Q ‘ A *‘O . . ' ‘I',,,. :4 ,~ ...---"--~‘ v.4. - & .., "zvfi‘,"V’ . :,....~--.. - . Q--- ' .."‘_—\ --...--—-§o V‘— .".....,.1 g- H - s. r . .a..~--- - -.A - ‘-v~v--r- O'— -‘ u.‘..._4-..‘ - - ‘ “‘fv--vo- .‘. ;_ " — ~‘ --....---.- - ‘ c , I r _ _ -_v ~,. '. _. -,.--.. -.. '8 :--fo. ”0‘. - a \ . -‘ . --. . .‘ 2 0'.” "v-‘. Uv ' ‘5‘- ‘ -v-- 1:- -‘LP‘A ‘_‘. . ."~_..-‘. .‘ -‘~ . ~ . — ~..,. -. t.‘ - - - ~ "0“ \7 “~ ( _ ~_ \ ‘ ~ “ s. ' -‘ -‘-- . v. ‘~ «‘0 V 'V- \ Q ~ ~ "- c._‘ . ‘ -_ ~ - v c.“‘~ ‘ _.. 1_‘ '1’- ~~ - ' r 0. ‘-‘\ ' “-‘ 5‘- ._ '9 -~-. ”C r ‘_ ‘ _.‘. . ~ - -‘ v.5 \. ~ ‘- \ ~~ ‘ 9.. u ‘. ‘ ‘- ‘ -'_ .VK' ~_'_\'; ~ \. - - u ‘ - ‘4 L‘- ~‘~’ ,_ ‘--_-.v- s ' - '- .‘ ‘. _ . & ~,. _ ‘ ‘ '- "._‘*- \ es " ‘ . v -. o ‘ v‘ 39 vacuum in the tubes and thus make them more effective as detectors and amplifiers. Of all the companies Marconi was the strongest and controlled the largest number of patents. It was possible for Marconi to have a monopoly if it could force its licensees to refuse to relay any messages not coming from a Marconi station. The German companies appealed to their government for help. An invitation was issued by that government for an international radio conference to be held in Berlin in August, 1903 to discuss the problems of the new industry. Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States all sent representatives. Not much was accomplished aside from some agreement on toll charges for wireless, and talk of an inter— national distress signal. A second conference was held in Berlin in 1906. Marconi still stood firm on not relaying messages from other makes of apparatus. The British government put pres- sure on the Marconi peOple and the ruling was changed finally in 1908. This became official in the 1912 conference, through the efforts of Britain and Italy.1 The Marconi companies kept growing, kept pressing forward to take advantage of every opportunity. As already Fessenden by the U. S. Weather Bureau. Many Navy men seemed tofavor the de Forest machines. lCodding, op. cit., p. 15. a: 1... AV" ..,-b. a. \ vino ;rr-_3v-‘ I--..-~-~¢- .. ~- s u 2. L. 3: .5 .- ”‘0‘ °'~‘ u.— 0.‘ a .. ...~_ ax. ~_. .... .~. ~ ‘ §. \ s a. :— a.‘ . a ~ ‘ 9. ... . 40 noted, a new contract was made with the British Admiralty when it was found the old leasing arrangement was not satis- factory. Similar contracts were offered other navies of the world. An innovation in the contracts with navies now appeared. It was agreed that naval vessels would relay messages from merchant marine operators and commercial Marconi stations. In turn, the navies had special privileges at Marconi shore stations thus eliminating the need for the governments to build their own. United Wireless went bankrupt in 1912 as a result of damages in the infringement suits brought against the company over the Fleming valve and Lodge tuning device patents. This was a great boon to the Marconi interests. The American and British Marconi interests acquired the assets of the bankrupt company and removed a major competitor. Soon after this, Marconi raised its minimum charges to $1,000 a year and prospered mightily. From that day until the United States entered the war in 1917, American Marconi carried ninety per cent of the American ship to shore business. American Marconi reached the peak of its power and growth when the war broke out in Europe. At that time it was attempting to take one final step which would have virtually given it and its sister companies a monopoly of world wireless communications. General Electric had the patents on the Alexanderson Alternator, a generator powerful enough to use in world—wide V'l ea. .9 I—‘ n ,... 41 wireless or voice radio. Senatorl Marconi himself made a trip to Schenectady to inspect the wonderful machine. Marconi interests made a handsome offer for control of it. Only war saved the Alternator for America, negotiations were broken off until peace should return. Douglas Coe, Marconi, Pioneer of Radio (New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1943), p. 216} Marconi was named a Senator by the King of Italy. This was an honor used Hfor the recognition of remarkable distinction in the fields of art, literature, or science.” Encyclopedia Britannica (1952), XIV, 470, gives the date of the award as 1909, the same year Marconi received the Nobel prize for physics. The CHAPTER IV DE FOREST AND FESSENDEN Lee de Forest was a scientist and inventor with a wide range of creative work to his credit. The contri— butions he made to modern life were many and varied, but his fame would have been sufficient if he had only the de Forest audion (vacuum tube) to his credit. De Forest went to work for the Western Electric Com- pany in Chicago soon after he received his doctorate from Yale in 1899. He was interested in finding a better de- tector than the Branly coherer for use in wireless tele- graphy. He spend a great deal of his time, and probably the company’s, trying to develop and perfect such a device. He changed jobs the next year to go with the American Wire- less Telegraph Company of Milwaukee. He showed company officials his responder, as he called his invention, and they wanted it. He refused to turn it over to his employers and was discharged. For the next year or so, back in Chicago, de Forest had a difficult time making a living because he spent so much time on his invention. He worked part—time as assis~ tant editor of the Western Electrician and part-time in Armour Institute. In addition, he taught two nights a week 42 .1" 1..-: co..- :. ._— .s. __. .: A3 at Lewis Institute. Finally he gave up all work but the teaching Job which paid $5 a week. He borrowed another $5 a week from a former associate by the name of Smythe. With this money he managed to exist until he completed work on his wireless apparatus. Then he and Smythe together took out a patent on the responder. In 1901, de Forest was offered $800 to use his new invention to report the International Yacht Race. The offer was made by the Publishers Press Association. De Forest did not have all the equipment he needed to report the race so he borrowed $1000 from friends on the promise of a stock interest in a telegraph company not yet formed. The press association arranged for a tug to follow the ships in the race. De Forest set up his transmitter aboard the tug from which an account of the race was to be wire- lessed to a receiving station on the shore. In turn, the report could be relayed from there by telegraph and tele- phone to various newspapers. The press association counted on the novelty of the idea to have wide appeal. Unfortunately, Associated Press, and a third party had the same idea. In fact, all three major systems of the day were in use at the race: Marconi, Fessenden, and de Forest. A still more unfortunate circumstance was that all three transmitters were working on the same frequency and drowned each other out. No report of the race was received by wireless from any one of the three. De Forest received f “ \'"‘ -- .0.-- .5 L» ‘I 3r -00 ,..,.n ..so r. ~.., ‘4‘. AM no fee or glory for his Job. He was saddled with the debt for the new equipment as well as weighted with the sense of failure. Shortly after this fiasco, de Forest set up a labor— atory in New Jersey under the firm name of American Wireless Telegraph Company and began looking for business. Soon the Navy Department invited him to send some apparatus to them to be tested alongside that of Marconi and Fessenden. The tests were favorable. He was given an order to set up two wireless stations for the Navy. This kept his laboratory and little factory busy and prosperous for a time. It also brought de Forest to the attention of Sir Thomas Lipton, the British yachtsman. Lipton was the owner of Shamrock III a boat entered in the International Yacht Race of 1903. Lipton invited de Forest to report the race by wireless. De Forest took pre— cautions in this race. He reached an agreement with rival re- porters so there was no confusion in wave lengths. The wireless report of the race was a success. Lipton was so enthusiastic about de Forest's apparatus that he in- vited the young scientist to come to England. Lipton‘s idea was to interest British capital in de Forest's company so it could be expanded. But the influence of the British Marconi Company was too strong for de Forest to get support there. De Forest did make one good impression which resulted in a chance to try his apparatus out under a new condition. The 'oer’ .,.-. v 'V" a..’- I. n) I O . ‘ " “PA. " -‘--¢. — l -I n' ‘z-h-‘ ~ » .— ‘. b-.. .' o v. I“: ‘ - — .-"-~ ‘~. .‘:‘\ ':- i. ‘~_ — nJ " " o. _ o ‘v‘ u a u -, .-_ ‘ ~ -‘ ~‘ — P‘y— ._ — -- -._ ‘ - .‘ ‘- - v h‘ ‘ - - .'~ ‘ \‘ \ ._‘ .‘s v -‘ 0‘ ‘- ‘ . - "q _ -~ “ . i‘ ‘ - \ - - ~ _. 45 Times (London) asked de Forest to use wireless to report the war which was developing between the Russians and the Japan- ese in the Pacific. De Forest sent two of his ablest assistants to the Shantung peninsula in China where they improvised and erected a 150 foot tower of bamboo on a sea-side cliff for a receiving station they set up there. A small steamer sailed about the Yellow Sea to pick up news of ship move- ments and warlike engagements to wireless back to the land station. This news was then relayed by telegraph and cable to London. The Russo-Japanese war gave different wireless systems an extensive test. Scattered over the war area there were wireless outfits made by all the major companies. Wireless was used by the combatants, by reporters, and by observers of neutral powers. The de Forest equipment was used to report for the Timg§_(London); the British navy used Marconi with Branly coherers; the Italians used Marconi with a different coherer; the Germans and French were using Braun. As for the combat- ants, the Russians used a variation of Braun; the Japanese used what they called original equipment which seemed to be based on the Marconi design. During these early years, 1902-1906, de Forest took out thirty—four patents on wireless telegraphy equipment. The most intensive work of this period was pointed toward ,._-,r "’ ‘ f. ‘ 'U‘ 4‘ VA - " A - .- aw ‘ D .3_ w.» ‘ 0...! ’ .> g ’7..-... re! .qA- r " -- W h . "‘ .a g, . . .,.‘ — .. ~-.n¢ .. - 5.3...-- ‘ A I‘ '~"‘ 5 '-~,- . ~ . .-v.,-: , b 7 a.. , v. w .. .... --.‘ -. wr-f ‘ .. -_._ ‘ I .‘. § - .1 \ 0.. V- "'V... a ’- "-. v ‘. I a — .. ~, '. ‘.’- o 1“ .'- - . .- 0.- u ‘ ‘ r “ . ' c “‘ ‘~ .‘- \ ”u m - - s a. ‘. .‘u -. u. f s.- . “ - , I ’ ‘ a \“ ‘ w‘ 5 s . '. ~‘s - . < ~ \. ‘ 46 his outstanding invention in radio, the audion vacuum tube. De Forest's audion was an adaptation of the vacuum tube first conceived by Professor Ambrose Fleming, the English physicist. Fleming‘s "valve,' which was patented in 1905, made use of the ”Edison effect” as previously men- tioned. The original Fleming valve was really not as effective as crystal detectors. But the idea set investigators on the right track. Fleming assigned his patent rights in the invention to the Marconi Company when he became associated with them as a consultant. The Federal Trade Commission in its investigation of the radio industry in the Twenties described the Fleming valve or two element vacuum tube as ”an evacuated vessel containing a filament and a plate-—these two elements being connected in a circuit with a microphone in such a manner that high frequency waves compressed upon the circuit other- wise inaudible in the telephone receiver would be rendered audible by the rectifying action of the tube. The patent on_ this tube covered its use for radio purposes only.”1 (Italics added.) The de Forest invention was a three element vacuum tube. The third element or grid which de Forest added to the Fleming design was "to be used not merely to rectify [detect] electric oscillations, but to relay or repeat them 1The Federal Trade Commission Report on the Radio , Industry'(Washington: GOVernment Printing Office, l925),p.26. 1+7 on a magnified scale, so that when employed with the proper instruments such as the telephone, a considerable increase in detecting power occurs."l De Forest patented his audion or grid vacuum tube in 1907 and for a few years manufactured it for sale. But not for long, because American Macroni brought suit for infringe— ment of the Fleming patent which the Marconi interests then owned. An injunction was granted against de Forest pro- hibiting him from manufacturing grid tubes. The court held that the Fleming patent ”dominated use of a vacuum tube either as a detector, repeater, amplifier, or oscillator."2 The irony of the situation was that de Forest could no longer manufacture his improved tube for radio, and Marconi could manufacture only the less valuable two element tube. Everyone, even the public, lost by the court decision. Before the Marconi suit, de Forest had demonstrated the efficacy of his audion in wireless telephony. In 1907, he transmitted voice from a Lackawanna ferry to the com- pany's Hoboken and Manhattan terminals. He also conducted experiments the same year from a yachtcnnflefljmgin Lake Erie and from United States naval vessels. The range oi signals was not great but the experiments were impressive. In fact, the Great White Fleet, which President Theodore Roosevelt sent around the world in 1907, had twenty ships equipped with lIbid., p. 26. 2FTC Report (192A), 26; 236 Fed. Rep. 942. A8 the new radio telephone. Walter Lord described this in his recent book: "At sea the Great White Fleet itself experimented with a device which could also prove a miraculous bridge between peOples-- the radio telephone, the New York Sun_reported. There was a division of opinion among the officers as to the real value of the invention."1 A biography of Lee de Forest is in one sense a history of the wireless telegraph companies he formed, and of the triumphs and upsets of those companies. As noted, shortly after he failed in his first attempt to report a yacht race he formed De Forest Wireless Telegraph Company. We know he was in debt $1,000 for the equipment he purchased to use in reporting the race. He borrowed a few hundred more and set up a laboratory and trial transmitting station in Jersey City. He slowly began to make headway there when the U. S. Navy became interested in his work. About this same time he met a stock promoter named Abraham White. White suggested a new corporation—-the American de Forest Wireless Telegraph Company--with a capi- talization of $3,000,000. The new company was formed and prospects seemed bright. An order came from the War Department for receiving equipment for an Army tugboat and for two land stations for the Signal Corps. Later an order came from the Navy for two land lWalter Lord, The Good Years (New York: Harper & Bros., 1960), p. 219. 49 stations. This was encouraging to de Forest, for up to this point the Navy had been buying most of its apparatus from Slaby-Arco. The company continued to grow. In 1904, the United Fruit Company asked de Forest to build a wireless link be— tween Costa Rica and Panama for them. The following year the Navy awarded de Forest a contract for five transmitting and receiving stations along the Gulf of Mexico. Then de Forest overexpanded and was forced out of business. The assets of the company passed to a new corpor- ation, the United Wireless Telegraph Company. De Forest was not a part of this. He personally retained the patent rights to his new audion. Now de Forest became associated with a new corporation, the de Forest Radio Telephone Company, capitalized for two million dollars. This was the company which sold the Navy the radio telephone apparatus for the around—the-world cruise ofthe Great White Fleet. The equipment was assembled and installed rather hastily and was inefficient by later standards, but it did work for a limited range. One novel use was made of it. Menaratti, an operator aboard one of the ships, broadcast phonograph records daily to the rest of the fleet. This man may go down in history as the first disc Jockey.l In those early years, de Forest used what we would call stunts to get publicity for his company and apparatus. lMaclaurin,op. cit., pp. 82-8u. ., -- .n L- w o. --y .— v§>“- . c 4 no! 0 ya.- '5— u - f . .. -... n —\ : -~ . P ‘r .cJ4. .' r‘ u r-..— ~— I ‘ -‘_ .. O ... ._-v . o ‘ I .,_ ‘."‘ ._‘ r-~ '«...: sl‘ ~ _ a .- -V‘I .‘ _ ~~_ 'i ~ q ‘N ,- ‘. ’n H. ‘v ’— ‘~- - ‘-. ~ “ \ h ‘_ -*.3 ‘ . .v I \- L-’ '— .‘ .’ . .‘. . \l‘ s- . 50 One such endeavor, in 1908, was his radio telephone broadcast from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. With the cooperation of the French government, he set up his transmitter at the base of the tower and used most of the height of the structure as an aerial. French government receivers reported clear and dis- tinct reception of the records played on the Pathe phono- graph for distances up to twenty-eight miles. The next day it was learned the broadcast had been heard in Marseilles, five hundred miles away. The broadcast had been made in the evening and the sky waves had bounced back to earth that far away. De Forest received much publicity for his broadcast of the voice of the great opera star, Enrico Caruso, from the Metropolitan Opera House, January 20, 1910. The great singer was invited to sing opera over the new radio telephone. Accounts of the event vary as to the quality of the reception. Possibly fifty people heard the broadcast. A few in New York City and on ships in the harbor said they heard the tenor's voice very distinctly, others said there was a sound heard, but it did not come through distinctly. There were a few who complained that some amateur on the same wave length spoiled the reception. In spite of the good publicity de Forest received, his financial troubles were far from past. The de Forest Radio Telephone Companyfailed in 1911 after an unsuccessful attempt to become a part of a new ten million dollar corporation, "_‘,v ... ' 3.. . u. .4 ;_, .. - ..-- Om? . .. .- ..-.0'-‘ a. ,o..- ....l. - a .— or. -o n_-,. -;- "‘ .v‘~ “va!-o-‘ ~ ~.¢-.,." c. .. , ._ "._ "" Cut 5 u ‘ ‘.‘.‘ ; ~ ' o . §v 'v-’ ‘ P - “ 'v.-- 51 the North American Wireless Corporation. Doctor de Forest had to find a Job. He went to work for the Federal Tele- graph Company for $300 per month. During the two years he worked there, he developed telegraph transmitters and receivers capable of handling ninety words per minute on the Los Angeles-San Francisco line. De Forest did not step out of his business deals with— out reaction. He and several of his associates were indicted for using the mails to defraud in their attempt to sell radio stock. This was in May, 1912. During the trial de Forest's audion was scoffed at as a device which looked like an incandescent lamp but was worthless. De Forest's statement that some day the human voice would be broadcast across the ocean in a practicable manner was also scorned as an impossible claim used merely to sell radio stock to the gullible for ten to twenty-five dollars a share. De Forest was finally acquitted although two of his former associates were sent to prison. Thirty-four years later, David Sarnoff, president of RCA, hailed the audion as one of the twenty greatest inven— tions of all times. Mr. Sarnoff pointed out ”that modern telegraphy, telephony, radio, motion pictures, phonographs, transportation, navigation, aviation, and hundreds of indus— [ 1.. trial Operations now employ de Forest's basic invention.‘ fi_ 1New York Times, January 1, 1914, p. 1; New York Times, January 8, 1914, p. 20. 2Monroe Upton, Electronics for Everyone (New York: New American Library, 1958), p. 131. -5- v 52 De Forest received another positive nudge from fate. This came about the time he and his assoCiates were waiting for their trial to be held. He had been working on methods of getting greater benefits from the audion by using two or three tubes in a cascade or series. This experiment seemed to be on the right path, but de Forest was not entirely satisfied with results. Nevertheless, this experiment took place at the very time when AT&T was looking for any method which could be used for repeater or booster effect in long distance telephone calls. Up to this time the phone company had not been able to send a long distance call much farther than Chicago from New York City—~then it faded out. The World's Fair was to open in San Francisco in 1915. The telephone company wanted to be able to demonstrate at that fair that coast-to—coast telephone service was now possible. It would be a dramatic demonstration. The de Forest audion in cascade offered some hope the feat could be accomplished. Doctor de Forest showed his experiment to Bell scientists. They were interested but not entirely satisfied. They were concerned about how the design could be improved.1 w— v— —-v fir lSeveral men made improvements on the audion. Langmuir of General Electric built a tube with higher degree of vacuum, therefore, with greater efficiency. Arnold of Western Elec- tric, Coolidge of GE, Just and Hanaman of GE, and Babcock of AT&T all made valuable contributions in making the audion a detector, a repeater, an amplifier, and oscillator. All the improvements and resulting patents made such an impasse for commercial development that a patent pool soon became necessary. -Ar |‘ F‘— ,. n. '..‘.‘x . 6 ‘ .~—r" 7' :...-san '5 . Fa...- Q " ‘3 I '...~ ... v. o ~o -s o ....:,... ..:., ...-Au' ‘- .o . . -~ .up- '. 4 , , V',‘ VI ...-..»..., - . . - I " _-v-—O A. ' p\ a. c-.;_.,. a. P! -v‘ — u“- v- 1 0- .,_~v. . .‘ . - '1‘... v "'v‘: . . I'-,. 5 ....L. .— _ cc...‘ . v1 ‘ Spv~ ' . p.- ..k__'\ _ v- - ~ o- ‘- -’:r-- - :«N . , v .-.II - . v 'r ...~ w». u..- (I) '71 53 Because of the uncertainty of the value of de Forest's invention to Bell, there was delay. This came at a bad time for de Forest; he was faced with an expensive court trial for fraud. At this point, an attorney approached the de Forest company with an offer of fifty thousand dollars for the telephone rights to the audion. The attorney assured the de Forest directors that he did not represent AT&T. The price he offered was much lower than the de Forest directors hoped for, but the need for money was pressing. They voted to accept the attorney's offer. The de Forest people were chagrined to learn later that the attorney transferred the rights he bought to the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. De Forest took his share of the money for the telephone rights to the audion and reorganized his old company. The following years showed mixed results for de Forest. He began to experiment with broadcasting again in 1916. It was on one of these broadcasts that Vaughn de Leath, "the Original Radio Girl," based her title to fame. Most of the program material, however, was the playing of phonograph records supplied by Columbia and the reading of news releases from the New York American. Among the news stories was one which gave the results of the Wilson—Hughes presidential elec- tion. These broadcasting activities might be called the positive side of 1916 for de Forest. On the negative side that year was the adverse decision for de Forest in the 54 Fleming infringement suit.1 The next year America was at war and the federal govern- ment placed a ban on broadcasting. But there were bright sides to de Forest's fortune in 1917. That year AT&T paid $250,000 for the remaining rights to the audion. And, also, because of the war, de Forest had the opportunity to manu- facture audions for military communications systems without fear of patent reprisals. After the war, de Forest's interests spread to other fields in which he made important contributions: talking- moving pictures, television, and diathermy-~he no longer figured prominently in the development of radio. Reginald Aubrey Fessenden Professor Fessenden, a Canadian—born scientist, made contributions to the development of the radio receiver which rank with those made by de Forest and Armstrong. His design of the heterodyne circuit was nearly as important a develop- ment as the audion for home receivers Fessenden was a professor at the University of Pitts- burgh in 1900 when the U. S. Weather Bureau hired him to conduct experiments in wireless telegraphy. It was thought lArcher, op. cit., pp. 132-135. De Forest seemed always to be fighting a patent suit. His longest lasted twenty years. It was with Edwin Armstrong, the father of FM radio over the rights to a process called current feedback based on a method of multiple hookup of audions for stronger reception of radio signals. All decisions in the lower courts were against de Forest, finally in 1934 the U. S. Supreme Court decided de Forest had priority. De Forest L " b O.."- 4" V'Y‘ ..~r’ r V fi‘..a .—~ g 'u ' .... g I a. ' ';. ;_ _-...—. ’ U " ' a/ .. a I; . ,.4ou 5- " . , .-. u-:.’ l' , fl 5 .a... ‘v-- . . O." RAP ~—\ minuwh l ., 1p.-r~~n v I -- l ‘. ibU-C ' a . ...c ,Q‘ fi\~< -. ”cu n~_-‘ , ‘. I ~ - . ""fi p4 . -.. A ‘ _ ‘1 ." fl ‘7‘“, "“ ‘ ~h--. o .. ' c 0“ :‘ ->-' a "" -—-A.-- -J - o ‘- “.2 n .... ,H- ~ . ?—.-, —‘~‘_r "V~... I. I... ‘v-e- ~.._,V 'p- '- .. _ , .._'. ._ b“- .. o v... , , ,r3n. - '- '_'-.1- n — A D -. . .. _ ,. ""--.. . . ‘p . "- _ ‘v- -..~ r '- "‘ ‘u .v" 0. 1 v. ‘O. ., .. “‘ I‘ i v . .‘. V.r. .‘ V 55 wireless could be used to broadcast weather forecasts and storm warnings. The professor had been interested in wireless for a long time. He thought a better detector than the coherer could be contrived. His first attempt was what he called a "hot wire barretter,” an apparatus much like an electric lamp with a special kind of filament for detecting the impulses. A more efficient detector was made possible by an observation made by an assistant. Following a suggestion of his assistant, Fessenden made a detector which he called a "liquid barretter” or ”electrolytic detector." Fessenden used a special type of platinum wire and a dilute nitric acid solution within a tube as component parts. With this device the professor was able to detect the human voice faintly. Fessenden was showing good progress in his experiments and was encouraged in his work by the officials of the Weather Bureau. He had been able to demonstrate his ability to transmit speech, but he was not satisfied. He needed better equipment. He realized he had a workable receiver, but the transmitting was not satisfactory. He had used two towers fifty feet high and a mile apart in his attempt to transmit from one to the other but the spark apparatus was so noisy it drowned out voices. Radio Telephone and Telegraph Co. v. Armstrong, N. Y., 46 S Ct 471, 270 US 663 (1925), 70 L Ed 787 den'g cert. Arm- strong v. De Forest Radio Telephone and Telegraphy Co., CCA, 10 F2d 727. E -uc J ..--. .V a 56 At this point when the Weather Bureau was pleased with the experiments and urged him to go on, Fessenden quarreled about patent rights on some of his work and quit his Job. This same kind of trouble occurred many times in Fessenden's life. He was quarrelsome, fractious—-Just difficult to get along with, to say the least. After he left the Weather Bureau, Fessenden was able to interest two Pittsburgh capitalists in the prospects of his experiments. The two men, Hay Walker, Jr. and Thomas H. Given, supplied the money to form the National Electric Signaling Company (NESCO). The original investment was about $100,000 but Fessenden often called on them for more money. Before the company was finally sold out, the backers had supplied over two million dollars. Fessenden felt his problem was to design a high speed, high frequency alternator (generator) for sending purposes. The frequency would have to be too high to be audible to the human ear. With this kind of transmitting equipment and with his improved detector he believed he would be able to send and receive the human voice over long distances—- possibly even over the ocean. The professor knew the alternator he wanted was beyond anything Thomson, Tesla, or other scientists had ever built. By 1903 he had completed plans for a machine which he thought would do the work he needed. He took the design of the machine to General Electric for Charles Steinmetz to build. .' v’r “uni!“ V‘ -cn' ‘-.~-.oa 4 u-i.. -~- r’fi‘ P I no -~ I ‘4- ,.o u 1 l r1: 'uc-‘\o O n-pxr-‘Ayl, k:uta-‘tuv.’ ' c ’ “a" J" :W;\ _ 0- .o-yvv .4 a. Q ;'; "ZW _:_\ ‘II- Inc‘s-..” ”reign '. \ l . ,. {A ”c...“ .‘ (II " F-s! - ~ I r. - " ‘fi -. :.u.'-". . V‘ ‘V‘. “‘ '0. ..._ ' A. _V'.: w» . ..“ uao," . I v.3‘; I. ‘ . Q's-v O._'.‘ “‘ “AA ”C “ fl..--l .Ivvv ‘I ' J. ', ”e. . ‘ ' -V‘o‘N. ~ ..,,--»‘ ‘1 .,1 , ‘ . ’r ‘ “' " v “-— " u_ 5“,- . . - A ‘ «.~_ u" .2," v,“ ‘ ~z‘. ; . a ‘ VI .‘- V! a: A“ ‘i I» ‘ he “r . h. ‘6. r.— v“‘ V N I... . I ~‘\ f‘A ‘v ~ Y '“‘~-._,*- 57 If it would work the way he visualized, it would be far superior to Marconi's spark transmitter. The machine was finally completed, but the tests were disappointing. The frequency it was capable of producing was still not high enough. While Fessenden still dreamed about a high frequency generator, the National Electric Signaling Company went ahead with the construction of transmission stations. Three were erected along Chesapeake Bay; at Old Point Comfort, at Cape Charles, and at Ocean View. A little later these were given up for othersalong the Atlantic Coast. The principal station was the one at Brant Rock, Massachusetts, a short distance from Boston. A little later construction was started on a station at Machrihanish, Scotland, because it was felt the day was not far off when transatlantic broadcasting would be practicable. In the meantime, Fessenden's life was affected by. several major events at one time. Fessenden started negoti- ations with General Electric for an alternator capable of 100,000 cycles frequency. Also, he was working to perfect his heterodyne principle, and he was in the midst of a legal suit with de Forest over the patent rights on the electro- 1ytic detector. Fessenden and NESCO contended that a device made by de Forest and his assistant Babcock was an infringe— ment on the Fessenden patent. The case was finally settled in Fessenden's favor. ‘\- n a r_""‘~;r “.2'. ...s-nu.ou H... I. . Avri- I‘ ,. uxg" .. .n. ps¢s4-‘..J - ‘u r s; A... ‘Ib .1 'Q: ‘rzn'v ‘O-n-ov..‘.- ' - . .. . "an I u . -~;V“ " m.u ‘ ”Vs ‘ . V .,_- I QTZY‘WL- ...""~‘v‘ .._ ’_ {LTI‘ . .“V‘mr ‘ ' ..- ‘ o... 4‘ .'. v‘ A - ~. u. Fr. .., A .‘ 58 The order for the second alternator which Fessenden placed with General Electric was turned over to Ernst F. W. Alexanderson. It became his responsibility to build it.1 Alexanderson was a young man in his twenties when he was given the so-called impossible task of building an alter— nator capable of generating the high frequency current Fessenden wanted. The choleric inventor could not agree with Alexanderson on design, so it was necessary for the young man to follow along with ideas he did not necessarily approve. Alexanderson prepared a design for a machine with a stationary laminated iron armature with two rotating discs. Fessenden objected to the iron armature and insisted on one of wood-~and his mind could not be changed. It was 1906 be- fore Alexanderson was able to deliver the alternator in the general form Fessenden desired. This machine was sent to the Brant Rock station in September of that year. 71 V. V '7 fi,’ lArcher, op. cit., p. 83; Alexanderson was born January 25, 1878 in Upsala, Sweden, the son of a university professor. He studied at the University of Lund and the Royal Technical Institute in Stockholm, graduating as elec— trical engineer. He had a year post graduate work with Slaby in Berlin. A book by Steinmetz inspired him to go to America to see the great man. He himself finally worked at General Electric with Steinmetz, whose great intellect thrilled him. Walter R. G. Baker, from an interview recorded in Oral Historinollection, Columbia University. Mr. Baker worked With Ernst Alexanderson as a mechanical engineer at General Electric. Baker said: "Alexanderson always gave a great deal in discussion, but he had such a brilliant mind you could never follow him very closely. He would Jump ten, fifteen, or twenty steps in the development of an idea and come out with the result and leave you wondering how he got it.” . ?_.n~v‘-"' —\\" >— ovvv“"“- '-r «avO‘. . no \ n ‘ V. ‘...O a ”up v ' ‘ ,., .pY‘.” ‘ ‘ ‘ _,_, r.- «- ...a-~ ‘ " . C _ .. ,.A-\ CAN .4 .~ "“V H. . u rat, '9' c... .- -..‘... yl >- ‘ _ ‘ \— - at .. 3,:..',. . I ‘ "I. ...UJ¢: -t “ A r_ -nr‘. .... .03 . .. . ‘I -v~ . r... .. ‘0 o—' d0 “ - -_. ...,_:~ . . v. :" 7-” " "~- ~ ‘~ g \— (I) (I) H‘ 59 Fessenden tried out some new ideas in the Brant Rock installation. He erected a sending tower quite different from any ever before attempted. The tower was a great metal tube three feet in diameter, as Dr. Gleason L. Archer described it. It was 420 feet high and rested on a steel sphere as a base. The tube was made in eight foot sections which had been bolted together and supported at four points along the length by sets of guy wires. The tower and wires were care- fully insulated from the earth.1 The Brant Rock station went on the air December 11, 1905, the year before the Alexanderson Alternator was de— livered. Even with the spark transmitting equipment Fessenden had available at that time, the signal issuing from the tower was superior to anything being broadcast elsewhere. The first broadcast was picked up in Puerto Rico, strong and clear. A letter from that same place in June, 1906 said Brant Rock was received well even when a Marconi station nearby was cut off on account of static. The Brant Rock station had its first exchange of wire- less messages with the installation in Scotland on New Years Day, 1906. Fessenden and his associates were elated with the fine reception on both sides the Atlantic. They had visions of the first practicable and dependable transatlantic wireless. Their hopes of great commercial success were dashed when the receivers went blank after three days. No '? lArcher, o . cit., 84. E .-*‘ 1 .’.. nu l . In‘q . u... 6O mechanical or technical reason for this stoppage could be found, no method of correction was successful. Three weeks later the apparatus began to work again. The stations oper- ated efficiently for a short while then blankness recurred. The problem was never solved. A few months later the station in Scotland was largely destroyed during a storm. The com- pany never rebuilt it, for attention was drawn to other problems. The Alexanderson Alternator was delivered to Brant Rock in September, 1906. Fessenden looked forward to broadcasting voice with this new machine. The equipment was assembled, ewerything was in place, but the machine would not work. The whole machine was torn down laboriously and a little wire was found which had come loose from its terminal. Repairs were quickly made, the machine was reassembled, and it worked! The first demonstration of radio telephony from Brant Rock was made to a station eleven miles away at Plymouth, Massachusetts. But the most historic broadcast from this station was made on Christmas Eve, 1906. This was picked up by United Fruit Company ships, by U. S. Naval vessels, and by other craft along the Atlantic coast as far south as lower Virginia. This has been called the first radio program in history. Astonished wireless operators on the ships called their officers and shipmates to hear the music and voices coming 61 out of the air. In keeping with the Christmas season, Brant Rock, in this first program, broadcast a recording of Handel‘s "Largo," a violin solo of ”O, Holy Night," and a Bible reading.l Fessenden was working on other inventions at this time. One was his heterodyne principle, which was somewhat ahead of the times but was necessary for the reception of high fre- quency oscillations coming from the new alternator. A non- technical explanation of the principle is that two currents of different frequencies when becoming part of a single circuit establish a new frequency. For example, if there was a frequency of 301,000 cycles to be received--and this was beyond the capacity of the receiver--an adjustment could be made if a second current of 300,000 cycles were added to the first. A new frequency of 1,000 cycles would result, and this probably would be within the range of the receiver. A few years later, Major Edwin Armstrong was able to make still greater advances in reception by improving on Fessenden's idea in a circuit which became known as super- heterodyne-—a term familiar, if not understood, to most radio fans of the late Twenties and early Thirties. The other important invention which Fessenden perfected about this time (1909) was the one which led to the breakup of his company. This was a new spark gap sending apparatus which sent Morse Code with an exceptionally clear signal that lUpton, op. cit., p. 121. 62 even penetrated static. The United States Navy and the United Fruit Company purchased several. The potential market seemed excellent for this superior transmitter. But the partners were not satisfied with equipment sales, they wanted to do something bigger. They felt they could go into transoceanic communications with a chance of competing with the cable companies. An application was made to the British Post Office for a license to open up wireless stations in the United Kingdom for sending and receiving service with America. The British officials asked for proof of performance from Fessenden‘s company. It was agreed that demonstration of ability to com— municate between Brant Rock and New Orleans would be suffici- ent for the granting of a nine year license in their country. The Americans held out for a fifteen year license, the British finally agreed to grant it if the test proved successful. The test went off well. The next step was to set up a Canadian company to handle the link between Canada and England. NESCO officials assumed this would be a subsidiary of their firm but Fessenden decided, in a wave of patriotic feeling toward his Canadian birthplace, the company should be separate, should be a Canadian, and should be controlled by a Canadian, Reginald A. Fessenden. The anger of the two Pittsburgh businessmen, who had poured two million dollars into the speculation, can be understood. They had supported Fessenden all the way. They .n. 63 had agreed to increases in salary for Fessenden even before the company promised to show a profit. Now when their in— vestment might begin to pay returns from a transoceanic com- munication system, the inventor wanted it all for himself. A quarrel developed between the financers and Fessenden. Walker and Given did not feel the inventor was being fair with them so they dismissed him from the company. Fessenden sued for breach of contract and was awarded $400,000 in damages. The suit was appealed. During the appeal National Electric Signaling Company operated under a receiver and tried to carry on with experimental work. The company was also carrying on other expensive legal battles.l Marconi was suing for infringement of several of its patents; NESCO was suing Marconi for infringements of its patents on continuous wave apparatus. NESCO received $300,000 in royalties in settlement from Marconi, and in turn had to pay Marconi $30,000 for that company‘s claim. The decision on the appeal of the Fessenden suit was rendered. Fessenden had to be paid off. When it was all over, the National Company had little left but the patents they owned. The transoceanic wireless telegraph business was never developed by them. Marconi was left without competition to develop that. The National Electric Signaling Company soon discontin- ued business. The radio patents went to a new corporation 1National Electric Signaling Company v. Fessenden 207 F 915 (19131, 125 CCA 363° Marconi v. National Electric Signa1~ ing Co. 206 F 295 (19133. 64 organized by Walker and Given. This was called the Inter- national Signaling Company. Shortly after this Given bought out Walker. No returns on the Given investment came for several years, and after Given's death. His wife had an opportunity to make a deal with Westinghouse in 1919—1920. After a series of legal maneuvers a new corporation,The International Radio Telegraph Company,took over control of the Fessenden patents. A large part of the stock went to the Given's estate and control to Westinghouse. Westinghouse now was in a bargaining position to talk with General Electric and its new subsidiary, RCA. Westing- house was invited to bring the Fessenden patents and its own radio patents and join in the ownership of RCA. Thus the Fessenden patents came under control of RCA. The Given family, after waiting many years, reaped a handsome return on their investment. They were paid 450,000 shares of RCA preferred stock and 450,000 shares of RCA common for their interests. Reginald Fessenden turned his attention away from radio to other fields of electronics, much as Lee de Forest did. CHAPTER V ALEXANDERSON AND RCA Lee de Forest's grid vacuum tube may have been one of the greatest inventions of all times, but, until the tube was made efficient, the Alexanderson Alternator was the most sought after apparatus in the radio industry. Without a high frequency alternator such as the Alexanderson, or the Poulsen arc transmitter as second best, ship to shore wireless was the extent of this type of com~ munication which could be practiced with commercial cer- tainty and success. The wdrld had been thrilled when Marconi made his first transatlantic broadcast in 1901, when Fessenden made long distance broadcasts from Brant Rock, and to some of de Forest's experiments, but commercial transatlantic message service had never become a reality up to the time the United States government took over the Marconi stations on the coast during the war.1 General Electric was installing an Alexanderson Alternator in the New Brunswick, New Jersey, Marconi station when the government commandeered the station. This became America's link with Europe. Even though the British had cut lFTC Report, 1924, op. cit., pp. 11-12. 65 ‘4- ,-.~ .uv- , 1 u. U c 66 cables from America to the continent to prevent communi- cations with Germany, the Alexanderson Alternator made direct radio contact with Europe possible. The U. S. Navy Department had long been concerned about the problem of communication. The Navy had been investigating wireless long before World War I. It has been thinking in terms of defense, of naval strategy, and of ship movement such as they had seen practiced in the Russo- Japanese war and more recently in the European War of 1914. Because of this concern, and because the Navy knew it had to have long distance transmission independent of cable companies, the government purchased the patent rights to the arc transmitter invented in 1903 by Valdemar Poulsen, the Danish scientist. The Poulsen rights were purchased from the Federal Telegraph Company in 1918. Marconi interests had been negotiating for the Alexanderson Alternator when our government took over the American Marconi stations. The United States government had the opportunity to give the Alexanderson Alternator a good trial at the Marconi station. The machine installed there was a 50 kw capacity. Alexanderson was already working on a new one of a 200 kw capacity. Once the war was over someone would be able to buy control of the machine. In a sense, there were only two possible customers in the United States for the Alternators—~the United States government and Marconi. American Marconi, as previously 1" if," 67 noted, benefited from the failure of United Wireless, and of NESCO. Clark Wireless Company had shown some promise of development on the Great Lakes but had been crowded out; Federal Telegraph Company worked on the Pacific coast and Thad little that was exclusive after the sale of the Poulsen patent except some Chinese telegraph rights. United Fruit Company was interested in its own banana business. The story of the founding of the Radio Corporation of America is in its essence the story of the struggle between Marconi and the United States Navy over the Alexanderson Alternator. American Marconi completed its high powered station at New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1913 and began others along the Atlantic coast. About this time the German Telefunken Company built a similar station at Sayville, Long Island, and a French company erected one at Tuckerton, New Jersey. These three companies hoped to compete with the seventeen cables which linked America and Europe. The cables were, in the main, between the United States and Great Britain and France. Unfortunately, as has been noted, the wireless companies were unable to compete efficiently and continuously with the cable companies. Senor Marconi came to America in the spring of 1915 to testify in a legal matter in which the American subsidiary of his company was involved. He made a special trip to the General Electric laboratories at Schenectady to see the .u ' U "Q a (r I. ... 68 Alternator he had heard so much about. As a result of this visit, negotiations were begun toward the acquisition by British Marconi of exclusive rights to the Alternator. If it was not decided at this time to install a 50 kw Alternator in the New Brunswick station for testing transatlantic messages, the decision certainly was made after the German cable was cut. The war cut short the negotiations between General Electric and British Marconi over the purchase of the rights to the Alternator, for Marconi was called back to Italy for service in the armed forces. Negotiations were suspended by agreement of both sides to resume them at the end of the hostilities. In the meantime, General Electric started installation of an Alternator at New Brunswick; the United States entered the war and took over the Marconi stations. The 50 kw Alternator at New Brunswick was put into operation by the government and proved very successful. Shortly afterward in 1918, General Electric completed its new 200 kw Alternator. The United States Navy suggested to American Marconi that the company put one of the new Alternators in the commandeered station at New Brunswick but Marconi would not agree to this. General Electric was eager to put the machine to a test so it installed the Alternator at New Brunswick at its own expense. It rebuilt the aerial and entire transmitting system. 69 The new equipment was marvelous. It carried the bulk of the wireless traffic between America and Europe from June, 1918 to March 1, 1920 when the government ban on private broadcasting was lifted. A government report said it was the "first high powered station on the Atlantic coast which transmitted radio messages continuously and reliably."1 It has been reported that battleships all over the world were able to pick up messages from this station RFF. Even troops in the field in Europe were able to receive the station on portable outfits. The New Brunswick station was also used to relay news of the United States to the newspapers for servicemen in Europe. After the demonstration that world radio was possible and practicable through the use of the 200 kw Alexanderson Alternator, it was not surprising the Marconi interests were eager to renew negotiations with General Electric. These talks began about March, 1919. British Marconi wanted exclusive control of Alexander- son's invention. They offered $127,000 each for fourteen Alter- nators for American Marconi and ten for British Marconi. There was delay because General Electric was unwilling to sell exclu— Sive rights but insisted on some sort of royalty arrangement. The two parties had nearly reached agreement when represen- tatives of the U. S. Navy visited General Electric. Rear Admiral William H. G. Bullard and Commander S. C. Iiooper talked first with Owen D. Young, then a vice president V V lFTC Report (1924), p. 15. 70 of General Electric, and later with a group of other top officials of the company. Bullard and Hooper came directly from President Woodrow Wilson in Paris, where he was attending the Peace Conference. The President wanted General Electric to discontinue negotiations with the Marconi interests because once control of the Alternator passed to the British they would have a monopoly of international radio in the same way they did of international cables.l General Electric had invested a great deal of money and had assembled a staff of experts to produce the Alexan— derson Alternators for a limited potential market-~limited almost to British and American Marconi, and possibly the United States government. The Marconi companies had offered an initial multi—million dollar contract with prospects of still more in the future. Now government representatives were asking General Electric to refuse this business and profit. It would be difficult to explain such action to the stockholders and workers who might be affected. 1.7 lErnst F. W. Alexanderson, from an interview recorded in the Oral Histopy Collection, Columbia University, 27. This is Doctor Alexanderson's account of what took place after the Marconi offer to buy the Alternator: "But when the contract was on its way, President Wilson interceded and said that he wouldn't permit the rights to be sold because the British wanted to develop a communi- cation system that could monopolize all the communications facilities Of the world. So President Wilson asked Mr. Young to form a company for the exploitation of those rights in America. At least, my understanding is that he had something to do with it. Probably his advisers advised him to do it, but anyway a representation from the government was made to Mr. Young and he took actions whereby the General Electric Company bought American Marconi Company." 71 Admiral Bullard had an answer to this dilemma. He said an American company could be formed which would "take over" the Alternator, the Navy radio stations and patents, and the American Marconi interests. In this manner the country would be assured of an American—owned international system and General Electric would be assured of a market for equipment. At first, Young and his GE associates were not enthusiastic about going into a strange business, the com- munications business. When it was suggested that it was a natural connection with their manufacturing of radio tele- graph equipment they became interested.1 The United States government through the Navy Depart- ment had acquired large holdings in communications during World War I. It had purchased the patent rights for the Poulsen arc transmitter and several land stations from the‘ Federal Telegraph Company; it owned several land stations; and it commandeered Marconi and other commercial stations. The proposal now was to form a new American corporation, as noted, to acquire the radio telegraph properties of the United States government, the Marconi properties, and the Alexanderson Alternator. The organizers of an American company to control com- munication faced many difficulties. The first obstacle, strangely enough, was the government itself. Commander ‘r 17 j v’ —v _, lIda M. Tarbell, Owen D. Young (New York: Macmillan, 1932), l3lff is the best account found of Mr. Young's part in the formation of RCA. Margery R. Cosgrove, personal secretary to Mr. Young, wrote "Tarbell's report is substantially correct. Letter to writer January 24, 1962. H <- 72 Hooper and Admiral Bullard had been enthusiastic about such a company and had suggested this company Could acquire the government holdings, but there were others in the government who did not agree. Owen D. Young went to Washington to talk with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt about Bullard's plan. Roosevelt was acting for Secretary Josephus Daniels who was in Paris with President Wilson. Tarbell seemed to think a program was worked out which Roosevelt approved and l Freidel said Roosevelt dis- sent on to Daniels in Paris. covered British Marconi "would be influential if not dominant within the proposed company."2 Freidel possibly did not understand the company was to be wholly American— owned under this first arrangement. It is conceivable some of the stockholders might have been 01d Marconi stockholders of American nationality. If Franklin Roosevelt had not become so prominent in public life later on, his part as assistant secretary might never have been remembered,for Secretary Daniels made the decision-~a negative one. Daniels felt he had no authority as Secretary, without Congress' consent, to sell the properties now that the war was ended. Furthermore, Daniels made no attempt to hide his personal opinion: the government should own and operate the communication system. Viv—fl lTarbell, op. cit., p. 131. 2Frank Freidel, Franklin Roosevelt, The Ordeal (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1954) II, p. 28. 73 In fact, a bill was being introduced in Congress to make this possible. In the meantime, General Electric went ahead with plans to acquire American Marconi. The Schenectady company -had the most powerful bargaining agent in the industry in the Alternator. The war years had been years of rapid technological advances, coming because of the urgent pressure of war. Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith has said in his book the whole value of aircraft in the war as observation aids depended on the ability to report what was seen from the air to headquarters on the ground as quickly as possible. This meant workable radio units had to be perfected and manufactured rapidly.1 The British government asked Westinghouse to carry out certain experiments and manufacture radio telephone equipment. This led to the setting up of experimental sta— tions for testing the radio equipment in East Pittsburgh and at Dr. Frank Conrad's home in Wilkinsburg, Pa. Out of these grew KDKA, one of the pioneer and great stations of commercial radio. AT&T scientists in the Bell and Western Electric laboratories were working to improve vacuum tubes and other radio equipment. The laboratories of Wireless Specialty, a United Fruit subsidiary, also helped out in the war effort. — V fly *7 iv T lAlfred N. Goldsmith and Austin 0. Lescarboura, This Thing Called Broadcasting (New York: Henry Holt and Com— pany, 1930), p. 15. 74 The United States government ordered a freeze on radio patents during the war so infringement suits would not hold back the manufacture of needed radio parts.1 The company which Admiral Bullard suggested for keeping international communications in the hands of Americans would have to face the patent problem once the freeze was lifted. The ban could not be continued much longer now that hostili- ties had ceased. The company holding the largest bank of radio patents was the American Marconi through its own patents and those of the British company. But Marconi lacked the Alexanderson and was helpless competitively in its American operation without it. Young and his associates knew this fact and used it. American Marconi was a vast enterprise-—the largest radio company in America before the war. There were thousands of American stockholders, there was property and patents valued at millions, and a strong organization linked closely with the British Marconi. It looked like a difficult task to convince British interests to sell their shares in such a promising property. But General Electric had the leverage Vi VY—w‘ V—w f T VW 1Under the freeze, firms manufactured goods for the government using the patent rights belonging to others but with the guarantee of the government to protect them on infringement counts. ’In this way de Forest was able to manu- facture three grid tubes even though there was a judgment of infringement of the Fleming patent standing against him. Several other companies also made the tubes. 75 of the Alexanderson Alternator which they did not choose to sell, lease, or release in any way to Marconi interests except on their own terms. Tarbell seems to be the only author who explains how Young and his associates were able to convince Marconi to sell. The argument used was the cross licensing idea, in a sense. General Electric offered British a reasonable price for its stock in the American subsidiary, and cross licensing. Marconi could have the use of Alexanderson Alternators for twenty years, and the two companies would exchange the use of each other's radio patents. This was a good bargain for both, a division of business between America and the British Empire, an exchange of patents so both could benefit. Far greater than the benefits to either company was that to the art itself, according to Tarbell's quotation of Owen D. Young: Great as was its gain for the nation, the chief beneficiary of the consolidation was the art itself. Instead of being held back by years of bickering over patents, the interminable legal squabbles, as has happened again and again in the development of almost every one of our discoveries and inventions from barbed wire to electric currents, the great existing laboratories of the world could pool their interests, each feeling that it was getting not only the use of what it had discovered, but the use of what every- body else had discovered.1 Owen D. Young kept in close touch with the departments of State and Commerce as well as the Attorney General's office ,7 V" jjfi 1r. .7 WW _..__ YV— lTarbell, op. cit., p. 134. 76 during the organizing of the new company. Admiral Bullard was always interested, always pushing the project. General Electric had to negotiate two ways at the same time: first, it had to talk with British Marconi about the sale of its interest in American Marconi; second, it had to talk with American Marconi about the sale of its properties and good will, and about use of its patents. The American talks were contingent on the outcome of the British talks, and vice versa. The new company, the Radio Corporation of America, was organized in October, 1919, with a capital of $25,000,000. American Marconi sold its physical properties, patents, licenses, and good will for two million shares of RCA pre- ferred stock ($5 par value). General Electric agreed to put three million dollars into the company, taking preferred stock at par value. Furthermore,‘Uueelectriccompany agreed to turn in to the new company any patents then owned and any which might be developed in the next twenty-five years in the radio field for common stock at no par value.1 Foreign share certificates were limited to 20 per cent in the new company. Voting rights on other than foreign shares were transferable only to American citizens. Under the original organization plan, a director of the company, or the Secretary of the Navy had the right to challenge anyone on stock ownership as being by an American citizen or .___f ‘v— r v. .7 v w _ 7‘ f lFTC_Report, 1924, op. cit., p. 17. 77 an American corporation. The Radio Corporation of America began business as a communications company. Tarbell characterized its progress by saying "with incredible rapidity international communi— cation began, first with Great Britain, then Norway, then "1 Owen D. Germany, then France, then Hawaii and Japan. Young noted that America was soon able to lay down any message she cared to put on radio in twenty different countries. By the end of 1922, the assets of RCA had risen to $40,975,608.17. There were 3,955,974 shares of preferred stock of $5 par value, and 5,734,000 shares of common stock, no par value, outstanding. The shares owned by the major interested companies were: Common Preferred General Electric 1,875,000 620,800 Westinghouse 1,000,000 1,000,000 United Fruit 1604000 - 200,000 3.035.000 1,820,800 By this date, December, 1922, AT&T had disposed of, or was in the process of selling, 400,000 preferred shares it held.2 Even though the formation of RCA had included a cross licensing agreement between Marconi and General Electric, v'r'rvrr— ‘r w r—— Yr 7 r Y w vs— rw— lTarbell, op. cit., p. 134. QFTCWRepOILt, 1924, op. cit., p. 22. 78 many of the two thousand or more radio patents remained out— side the combine. A little later Westinghouse, AT&T, and United Fruit Company also came into RCA. This made it easier to reach agreements between the leading American manufacturers. There was a great deal of patent confusion over the manufacture of tubes. Besides the original Fleming and de Forest patents there were many others covering patents on improvements developed in the laboratories of General Electric, Western Electric, and Bell. The Navy was concerned because it had need for large numbers of tubes yearly just for replacements in the apparatus developed during the war. A. J. Hepburn, Acting Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engi- neering of the Navy, in January 1920 suggested to General Electric and American Telephone that some agreement among the patentees was necessary if the public was to be supplied with tubes. AT&T apparently had a policy of watching all of the communication media with the thought always in mind to act in the way to best protect the corporation's interests in wire telephony. In the early days no one knew in what way radio telephony would develop. Not many persons thought radio would develop as an entertainment medium supported by advertisers. It was thought radio might develop in a form of telephony. It was established early that the human voice could be transmitted by radio from point to point. 79 As Coon pointed out, AT&T needed vacuum tubes and could not afford to have the development in this field arrested or have its monopoly in long distance wire telephony threatened. It would be a very serious matter to have others enter the field of two-way radio telephony particularly if they could adapt it to public service. American Telephone entered a cross agreement with General Electric July 1, 1920 with every effort made to protect its telephone interests. AT&T received exclusive wire and radio telephone rights in the domestic field under this agreement. The telephone company in turn gave General Electric and RCA the right to use its patents in the manu- facture of radio receivers. Non-exclusive licenses were exchanged in the field of international telephony. The makers of the agreement had no way of visualizing the course radio would take when they made the agreements in 1920. Not many anticipated that the entertainment side of radio would soon be greater than the communication. Even after home radio began to develop the companies had a general agreement by which the telephone company confined its efforts in radio to telephony and to manufacturing radio transmitters while General Electric——and Westinghouse, also, later-~could manufacture radio receiving sets. The radio market developed beyond a communication busi— ness soon after the ban was lifted by the government in 1920. There was a great rush for sending and receiving equipment. ‘fiv‘vfi V rvrvw—ww— w—w— r W lHorace Coon, American Tel. and Tel. (New York: Longmans, Green, and Company, 1939)] p. 206. 80 Because of their war work, both Westinghouse and General Electric were in a position to manufacture receivers. The two companies agreed to make RCA their sales agent for radio receivers. RCA agreed to take 60 per cent of its needs from General Electric, and 40 per cent from Westinghouse. Both companies contracted to sell radio receivers to RCA for 20 per cent above manufacturing costs. One of the first problems which arose with the growth of radio as an amusement medium and which was not covered by the cross licensing agreements was the question of furnishing wire services to radio stations. Sometimes it was necessary to have a wire connection between the origination point of the program and the transmitter if the two places were separated. At first, programs had been broadcast from radio studios located at the transmitter. As program variety developed it occasionally was necessary to broadcast from "remote" or "nemo" places. A church service broadcast would necessitate a wire connection from the microphones in the church to the transmitter. A report of a sports event might call for the same sort of wire service. AT&T took the position that wire service was not part ofits public service as a telephone company. The company expressed willingness to furnish wire service any time possible as long as it did not interfere with its telephone business. In other words, the phone company would decide when it was 81 able to give wire connection service to radio; no one should expect it as a matter of course.1 The scene was laid for a long struggle between the big companies in radio. The prize was great. A new industry was developing which would make undreamed of profits a reality. v—r ..y—-——r—.-vw—.~v—v wvw ‘7 TV a ‘7 7 fl 1Federal Communications Commission Proposed Report, Telephone Investigation (1938), pp, 455—458, 461-463. CHAPTER VI PIONEER RADIO STATIONS One of the most debated subjects in American broad— casting history is which radio station was the first to institute regular broadcasts. It is possible to readlong arguments to prove that KDKA, the Westinghouse station in Pittsburgh was first. The same is true of WWJ, the Detroit Nggg.station. They are only two of the claimants. There are many others. Let this be the first treatise on early radio which has not been led into the confusion. Suffice it to say, in the case of the two principals, KDKA and WWJ, each has sufficient claim to glory for its early accomplishments with- out worry about which was "first." They both were pioneers and both should always be remembered in the history of communication. A $5.00 bet on the accuracy of a cheap watch was the first step in a sequence of events which led to commercial broadcasting at KDKA, if some of the tenuous connections are admitted. Frank Conrad was assistant chief engineer at Westing- house Electric in Pittsburgh in 1912. One day Thomas Perkins, a fellow employee, showed Conrad an expensive watch 82 83 he had just bought. Conrad said the watch was no more accurate than the $12 watch he carried. He had made the statement jokingly, but Perkins was indignant that Conrad compared the new watch with a cheap timepiece. Conrad enjoyed teasing his friend. In the end he offered to match the accuracy of his cheap watch against that of Perkinsh A wager of $5 was agreed upon. Conrad decided to play a joke on his friend. He ex- changed the works of a $65 dollar watch for that of the cheap one. To test the acouracy of the watch he checked with Western Union time. He noticed a variation in time, but did not believe the fault was in the watch. Conrad wanted the most accurate time check he could get so he built a radio set over which he could receive Naval Observatory time signals broadcast from Arlington, Virginia. Having done this, he adjusted his watch, and won the bet. We assume he returned the five dollars, and told his friend the story so they both could have a good laugh.1 The bet on the watch in 1912 had played its part: it made Conrad a radio fan. He began to experiment with a transmitter as well as a receiver. His station was on the second floor of his carriage house garage at the rear of his residence in Wilkinsburg, Pa. This experimental station was licensed as 8XK. It has been related that W—VV f vww 1—rvyrv wr— erVi' w v—rvw w—r—- lLiterary pigpst, March 13, 1937. pp. 19-20. 84 "it is from this station that KDKA stems and with it radio broadcasting as it is today.”1 Conrad's experiments were cut short with the cancel— lation of all amateur licenses, April 7, 1917, the day after the United States entered World War I. The station was used on occasion during the war under special authorization to test radio equipment being manufactured by Westinghouse for the military. After the ban was lifted May 1, 1920, the station was relicensed. The interest in radio had increased during the war. After Doctor Conrad returned to the air with his experi— mental station 8XK he found he had many persons listening to his broadcasts. He received many letters from fans re- porting they heard his signal and wanted to report on its quality and on the distance of reception. Because of the monotony of talking to test his equipment, Conrad one night placed a phonograph in front of the microphone and played recordS. This act seemed to amaze and please radio ”hams” all over the countryside. Conrad's mail became a flood of letters with requests for certain records to be played at specified times. At first he tried to grant as many of the requests as he could, but soon this became impossible. He announced the volume of requests was so great he no longer ’ could answer them all individually at the times stated. v-r ‘71 ——v v 7v v “y w .v—w v, ' Yfi—FY fi— v—v VW w a 1Westinghouse Electric Co., "History of Radio Broad— casting and KDKA" (a mimeographed history, n.d., published sometime after World War II): p. 5. 85 Instead he said he would "broadcast" records for two hours each Wednesday and Saturday evening.1 The formal schedule had not been operating long before Conrad exhausted his supply of phonograph records. The Hamilton Music Store of Wilkinsburg offered to lend him records to use on the radio if he would be kind enough to mention the name of the store in his broadcasts. Thus the music store early learned the benefits of radio advertising. The programs of phonograph recordings continued for some time. Occasionally vocal or instrumental "live talent" was added as a special treat. Conrad's two young sons, Crawford and Francis, relieved him from time to time as masters of ceremony, but otherwise there was little change from the first scheduled broadcast. The step which transformed 8XK from an experimental hobby of Conrad's to an outstanding commercial radio sta— tion, KDKA, was simply a man reading a newspaper. The man was not Just any man, but H. P. Davis, a Westinghouse vice president who was intensely interested in Conrad's radio experiments. The newspaper Davis was reading contained an advertisement offering to sell radios to persons who wanted to listen to Doctor Conrad's concerts. Davis at once saw the opportunity for Westinghouse: build a radio station to broadcast programs. This would create a market for radio receivers which Westinghouse could manufacture. wfi fiv—r l"Broadcast" came into early use. Sometimes the past tense was used in the form of "broadcasted." It was not long, however, before broadcast became both the present and past —r—‘T— 86 Davis reread the ad which the Joseph Horne Company, a Pittsburgh department store had inserted in the local Sun Wednesday, September 29, 1920: Air Concert "Picked Up" by Radio Here Victrola music, played into the air over a wireless telephone, was 'picked up” by listeners on the wireless receiving station which was recently installed here for patrons interested in wireless experiments. The Concert was heard Thursday night about 10 o'clock and continued about 20 minutes. Two orchestra numbers, a soprano solo-~which rang particularly high and clear-~and a Juvenile ”talking piece' constituted the program. The music was from a Victrola pulled close to the transmitter of a wireless telephone in the home of Frank Conrad, Penn and Peebles Avenues, Wilkinsburg. Dr. Conrad is a wireless enthusiast and "puts on" the wireless concerts periodically for the entertainment of the many people in this district who have wireless sets. Amateur Wireless Sets, made by the maker of the set which is in operation in our store, are on sale here, $10.00 up. Mr. Davis was soon able to convince officials at Westinghouse that a business opportunity lay in selling receiving sets if the proper sending station were estab— lished to furnish entertainment. An application was made to the Department of Commerce for a radio station license on October 16, 1920. Conrad and D. G. Little of Westinghouse set about constructing a transmitter so they could be on the air to announce results WW v WV- —' 7— tense. Another word ”radiocast” was tried as a verb but never achieved popularity. 87 of the Harding—Cox election, November 2. The license was approved October 27, 1920 and the call letters KDKA were assigned. Arrangements had been made with the Pittsburgh Post, a morning paper, to have the results telephoned to the station as they came into the paper during the evening. The station was constructed in a tiny, makeshift shack on the roof of a Westinghouse manufacturing building in East Pittsburgh. The transmitting equipment, the record turntable, and the broadcasting staff were all crowded in one room. There was an operator, an announcer, and two men to handle the telephone lines to the newspaper. Two men stood by at the newspaper office to telephone the wire reports to KDKA as fast as they were received there. Mr. Little was the engineer. Dr. Conrad stood by at the experi— mental station in his garage loft, ready to take the air in case transmitting at KDKA failed or faltered. The initial program at KDKA began at 6:00 P.M., November 2, 1920, and continued until noon the next day, long after Cox, the Democratic candidate had conceded victory for Harding. Music was played between the election reports, so there was entertainment value to the broadcast as well as information. Dr. L. W. Chubb of the Westinghouse Radio Engineering Department had set up a receiver and loudspeaker at the Edgewood Club, a suburban Pittsburgh community center. Many 88 Westinghouse employees and other residents gathered there to hear the historic broadcast. Not only these persons, but hundreds of others, many from some distance, reported hearing KDKA that night. KDKA set standards of programming early in its history. Some of these have served as standards for the industry. They pledged themselves to work in cooperation with the press in news coverage; to try to benefit the greatest number of listeners with programs of interest; to avoid monotony in programming; to channel distinctive features into a regular time schedule. The station also tried many innovations in programming. One of these was broadcasting a church service by remote pick- up. The service was from Calvary Episcopal Church in Pitts- burgh and was conducted by Dr. Edwin Jan van Etten. Re— calling the broadcast, Dr. van Etten declared: All was going well, but on glancing at the choir I discovered strange faces and noted unusual antics. It was not until later that I learned these were Westinghouse engineers--one a Jewish lad, the other a Irish Catholic-—garbed in surplices to make them inconspicuous in the midst of my Protestant Episcopal choir. Even now, as I think of their presence there, it seems to me that they symbolize the real universality of radio religion.l KDKA tried another church experiment by broadcasting the Calvary Episcopal service to a receiver and loudspeaker set up in the Herron Presbyterian Church on a Sunday when it 1Westinghouse, op. cit., pp. 8—9. 89 was necessary for the minister of that church to be absent.1 Into this new radio station, KDKA, one day in Decem- ber, 1920, came an inquisitive young man. He was eager to see the new station set up by Dr. Conrad. He was Harold W. Arlin, a young electrical engineer working for Westing- house at East Pittsburgh. During the tour of the station he was invited to speak into the microphone. As West has said, ”Fortunately he was gifted with precise diction, and a resonant voice, sharp enough to clear through the imperfect conditions of transmission and receiving sets."2 The microphone Arlin spoke into has been described as looking like a fur-lined tomato can. His voice had a natural quality that broadcast so well in the early days of radio. He was quickly hired as a full-time announcer. At first his duties were comparatively simple. He had to chat informally with his unseen audience between the playing of phonograph records. Later on there was sports reporting to do, and famous people to introduce and interview. Harold Arlin reminisced recently about his work as an early radio announcer. He was at his home in Mansfield, Ohio where he had retired after thirty—five years as an ex- ecutive in the Westinghouse plant in that city. He said his hi, 7, .V. lRadiofiBroadcastMagazine, May, 1922, p. 17. 2Robert West, The Rape of Radio (New York: Rodin Pub— lishing Co., 1941), p. 23. 90 announcing Job gave him the pleasure of meeting many famous people. He introduced Herbert Hoover when he made a plea for money to buy food for the people left desolate in Europe after World War I. Arlin also introduced Lloyd George to the audience when the British Premier visited America, and Marshal Foch when he made his trip to this country in the Twenties. Arlin said he thrilled to hear Will Rogers give an unrehearsed comedy sketch of some length. His material was taken from a newspaper which was handed him as he stepped before the microphone. The announcer also remembered the reception William Jennings Bryan received in his first ap- pearance before the microphone.1 Arlin related several humorous experiences before the "mike" which still make him chuckle. One night he was inter- viewing Babe Ruth, who was supposed to read a prepared statement. Ruth had mike fright and couldn't speak. Arlin quickly took the paper from Ruth and read the statement him- self. During the next few days several letters were received at the station complimenting Babe on his fine speaking voice. Another time, Arlin was re-creating a prize fight between Dempsey and Firpo, and was doing it from a wire report, as it came in, round by round. Something went wrong with the telegraph. Arlin could no longer keep up the illusion of a ringside account of the fight. Many fans could never under- stand why there was a switch right in the very middle of fl vy— .—f lHarold Arlin, interview with the writer, November 6, 1961. 91 things from the fight to market reports. Arlin's voice became known world-wide through his announcing over Westinghouse's short wave station. One housewife in Australia wrote about his health after lis- tening to a program on which he coughed. The Tim§§_(London) called him "the best known American voice in Europe" and said many Britons stayed up all night to hear him.1 The shack on top the Westinghouse building served satisfactorily only as long as the broadcasts were phono— graph concerts, or programs from churches, stadiums, or other remote locations. Before the summer of 1921 it was decided to program orchestras and live talent. There were several employee musical groups in the Westinghouse organ- ization; these groups volunteered to perform over radio. The first of these programs were broadcast from the plant auditorium, but the resonance in the room was so great the music came out of the receiver distorted. To correct this, a tent was pitched alongside the shack on the roof. The broadcasting was done from there. This served very well all that summer and into the fall, but then it was destroyed during a heavy wind storm. The bad weather forced the company to build another indoor studio. Someone had the idea of pitching a tent in- doors to escape the resonance caused by the sound waves bouncing off the hard walls. In essence, this is what the lRotarian Magazine, November, 1955, p. 63. 92 engineers did: they lined the studio walls and ceiling with drapes and burlap. This corrected the problem, the reception was satisfactory. KDKA continued to grow, continued to set standards for other stations to follow. Dr. Frank Conrad soon began to devote much of his time to perfecting short wave radio. This became an important step in making radio broadcasting reach out for great distances. A repeater station was built at Hastings, Nebraska, in January, 1924. This made possible relays from Pittsburgh to the Pacific coast. General Electric Stations General Electric, Westinghouse's principle competitor in the manufacture of electrical devices, was a little slower in getting into broadcasting. GE had worked on radio equip- ment during the war, and was prepared to make radio receivers when Westinghouse started. The progress and purpose in broadcasting at GE closely paralleled that at Westinghouse. The two companies were closely associated as members of the "radio group.” Clyde D. Wagoner, who directed the publicity and promotion of the General Electric stations in the early days, stated the purpose of the company very succinctly: General Electric began broadcasting in 1922 for two reasons: 1, To help in the sales of radio receivers which it was manufacturing. There were but few in the busi- ness at that time. 2. To establish a studio-workshop or laboratory where newly developed broadcasting equipment could be 93 put to a practical test; also a place where prospective customers could come and see broadcasting equipment in actual operation. General Electric had no thought of entering the entertainment field. It was a manufacturer of electrical equipment and in no way associated with the entertain- ment field. Its first broadcast station was WGY, about the tenth in the country when opened. Later the Company built two more stations, to expand national interest in buying radio receivers. One was KOA in Denver and the other KGO in Oakland, Calif.1 The operation of these stations became a great burden to the Radio and Publicity Departments which were footing the bills. This problem became an industry problem. Who was to pay for broadcasting? The problem will be discussed in a later chapter. WWJ, the Detroit News Station WWJ came into existence by chance much as KDKA had. To compare with the $12 watch, the radio to pick up the Arlington time signals, and the company official reading a newspaper which figured in the founding of KDKA, there was a wireless operator who needed a loan,a.kind-hearted and far- sighted publisher, and a young son with an interest in auto- mobiles and wireless sets. William E. Scripps, the publisher, befriended Thomas E. Clark, who had been working with wireless in Detroit since 1900. Clark established his own company and secured the wireless contract for the Detroit and Cleveland Navi~ gation Company ships on the Great Lakes until about 1910. w y wi—v Y—v—v—v ‘7 lClyde B. Wagoner, personal correspondence with the writer, October 9, 1961. 94 Clark was unable to withstand the squeeze of the larger wire- less companies when they moved into the area about that time. Clark asked Scripps for a loan during those pre-war days, for his funds for experimental work were low. Scripps became interested in what Clark was doing. Clark was full of enthusiam for wireless and in turn made Scripps feel the same. The newspaper man began to visualize what might be done with radio--how a newspaper might use radio. Scripps not only thought of radio as a news disseminator but also as a news gatherer. In his own words: The thoughtcmcurred tonethat perhaps the News should become interested in wireless telephony. I thought perhaps that we might even afford to put in a wireless station, and have an operator sit there all day long and Just gather any news that might come from the air. I don't know what the restrictions were on stealing stuff from the air in those days. I didn't know whether there were any laws covering that point or not, but I thought that at least we might try it and see what happened. After using what persuasive powers I had, Il finally got the consent of the Board to install a set. Young Bill Scripps, the publisher's son, had an early amateur radio station in his name. He was a frequent visitor to Clark's shop, and in turn Clark helped erect radio equip— ment at the family city residence on Trumbull Avenue and at the summer home at suburban Lake Orion. Radio Broadcast magazine of June, 1922, published an article telling of the predecessor of WWJ and of the insti— tution of regular weekday broadcasts which began August 30, 1920 after ten days of experimental broadcasting. 1William E. Scripps, from an interview recorded in the Oral History Project, Columbia University, p. 23. 95 The first regular broadcast was a report of the local, state, and Congressional primary election results.1 The importance of WWJ to the development of radio is not what it was "first" in, but that a newspaper would spend as much as it did on the station without any revenue for several years or profit for a longer period of time. The sole benefit to the owners of the Detroit News station WWJ was the publicity that came with the mention of the name of the newspaper along with the call letters of this pioneer station. Banning quoted the radio editor of the Detroit News as saying goodwill was the only return they expected from the station. No increase in circulation or advertising could be attributed to the operation of the station, but he said "Our paper and our call letters, WWJ, have become known in every state in the Union and in countries within 4500 miles of Detroit, through our broadcasting service."2 It is difficult in the 1960's to appreciate how different radio was in the Twenties. In the first place, radio stations operated differently. They were not on the air as long as they are today. Some broadcast only a few hours a day or even a few hours a week. This was due in part to the number of frequencies or wave w v— fir y— l—Vw— lWWJ—The Detroit News (Detroit: The Evening News Assoc., 1922). The first set was a de Forest Type OT-lO transmitter, 200 meter wave length with range of not more than 100 miles. There were possibly 300 receivers in the area. Soon replaced by stronger Western Electric. 2William Peck Banning, Commercial Broadcasting Pioneer (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 19M6), p. 237. 96 lengths that were available. Many of the receivers of that day were not adapted to tuning in a variety of wave lengths. Since several stations might be assigned to each of the few wave lengths available in an area, it was necessary for sta- tions to divide time. Radio was also a new art. There were no traditions, and few standards for programming. Even as Conrad, Fessenden, and de Forest had done, so were most of the other early sta- tion operators doing--using music as the main fare in the early program broadcast. Most of the music consisted of phonograph records, although there was instrumental or vocal music sometimes when visitors dropped in to try radio broad- casting. Now and then a speech was given, or some sports or election results read, or some hymns sung. WWJ faced iflua problem of being on the air part of every week day and presenting programs which would have enough variety so there would not be a monotonous sameness. Concerning this early programming, Mr. Scripps said: With regard to talent for our station, if a good band came to town we would try to get them to come down and play for us, charging them nothing for the experi- ence. The first time that Fred Waring ever played before a microphone was in our station. There were no rates for talent in those days. Otis Skinner and his wife came in one day. They knew about radio and had heard that we had a set so they came over to see it. They very graciously put on a Shakespearean act for us, with no thought of compen- sation, nor did we suggest that we might owe them something. We weren't getting compensation ourselyes. It was not commercialized in any way at that time. Tfi lScripps, op. cit., p. 27. 97 It was fascinating to run a radio station even in those days. The staff had to be versatile and willing to undertake the impossible. Rex White, a writer for the Detroit News, was drafted to help out on the radio station. He wrote sketches and shows for the station, sometimes as many as eighteen a week. He interviewed celebrities whenever they could be coaxed into the studio. These interviews were mostly ad lib and were often done on the spur of the moment. Even when there was time for preparation there was likely to be trouble. Sometimes seasoned performers would have stage fright in front of the microphone. Thurston, the great magician, was so nervous on his first appearance that the whole cast had to sit down. Even Mary Pickford lost her place while reading the script, the first time she appeared on WWJ. One of the first problems in programming which faced WWJ was with the stage and screen stars who appeared on the station. There was fear that radio would hurt their box office. Later when they found what attractions they really were, they demanded large fees for appearances. Rex White reminisced about this: We started bringing in stage celebrities but we ran into trouble. The managers of the theaters felt that we were taking away a portion of their audiences who would stay at home and listen to the star on radio rather than pay, at that time, two dollars to hear them. Notices were posted in most of the dressing rooms saying that any actor who appeared over a radio station was to be immediately discharged. It took E-g...‘ — . , 98 some little time to convince the managers what we were really doing was giving him an enormous amount of free publicity to fill his theater rather than empty it.1 Mr. White may have had trouble getting theatrical talent to appear on WWJ, but he found it was just as difficult to keep off the air the undesirables, or "psychopaths" as he called them. In retrospect, it is unusual that the Detroit News and other such organizations without direct connection with the radio industry invested so much time and money and talent inbuilding broadcasting stations from which only intangible results could be expected. The first transmitters were simple and inexpensive by present standards, but, never— theless, it seems strange that astute businessmen put thou- sands of dollars in an enterprise which many people labeled a passing fancy. The owners of WWJ seemed determined to do a good job Of broadcasting. Attention was given to good programming and to keeping the equipment up-to-date. A special musical program was broadcast during the Christmas holidays in 1920 as well as one celebrating the new year. A more powerful transmitter was installed in June, 1921, less than a year after the station began regular broadcasts. A two wire antenna 290 feet long was strung from the Detroit News Iflnlding to the Fort Shelby Hotel. Soon after this new equip- nmnt was in operation, there was a report the programs were Iming received in Atlanta, Georgia. W lRex White, from an interview recorded in the Oral History Project, Columbia University, p. 2. 99 The staff of the radio station grew. The staff had eleven members by the end of 1921, and occupied 3,000 square feet of space in the newspaper building. WWJ expanded capacity again in February, 1922. A still more powerful transmitter was installed. Under favorable conditions it could be heard coast-to-cbast. That year there were new ideas in programming also. An extensive schedule of Lenten programs VfifiS inaugurated which culminated in a remote broadcast of the Easter Cantata from St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Detroit. Educational programs were tried in 1922 also. Broad- casts were made of extension programs from the state‘s largest schools, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and the Michigan Agricultural College at East Lansing. There was another important development at WWJ in 1922. In May, the Detroit News Orchestra was established with sixteen musicians, most of whom were also members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. This was at a cost of $1,100 a week, which was a heavy expense item for a totally Subsidized undertaking. This account has gone to considerable detail about the development of WWJ because the station serves as an out- standing example of public service by a broadcaster who had very little expectation of any tangible benefits. But more astounding than the account of the time and talent expended by the owners of WWJ in public service 100 broadcasting is the amount of money that was poured into the project year after year. Herbert Ponting who was in the business office of the Detroit News during the early years said the station started receiving some revenue when it Joined the Red Network of AT&T through the telephone company's This was in 1925. New York station. Nevertheless, the station operated in the red for the first ten years (1920- 1929). seven years to wipe out the deficits of the first ten. In Even after profits started in 1930 it took another other words, it was seventeen years before WWJ returned a profit to its owners.1 Henry Ford and Radio The electrical manufacturers who set up stations to broadcast so that they might sell more radio receivers, and the newspapers whose only benefit for years was largely the publicity of identification were not the only owners of radio There were schools, churches, stores, and dance stations. halls, and many kinds of business places. WV 1Herbert Ponting, from an interview recorded in Oral History Project, Columbia University, p. 2. WWJ Costs (operating costs and depreciation included) 1920 costs $ 3,604 1926 revenue $ 21,500 deficit 71,000 1921 costs 5,760 1927 revenue 29,000 deficit 51,000 1922 costs 80,000 1928 revenue 56,600 deficit 53,000 1923 costs 66,000 1929 revenue 106,000 deficit 65,800 1924 costs 66,000 1930 revenue 190,000 profit 7,000 1925 revenue 7,437 deficit 81,000 101 One of the best known business men during the Twenties was interested in radio also. This was Henry Ford, the man who set America on wheels in his Model T Fords. He had automobile plants in the metropolitan area of Detroit, he owned lake freighters, he Operated lumber camps, he owned iron mining property in Upper Michigan and coal mining property in Kentucky, and a railroad--to mention only a few of his interests. Ford thought and talked of radio in terms of developing a vast communication system (some 500 stations) through which his widely spread enterprises could be linked.1 Some experimental radio work was done by the Ferd interests as early as 1920. A station, KEEN, was built in Dearborn, Michigan, in August, 1921. Shortly thereafter, WNA, Springfield, Ohio, WFD, Flat Rock, Michigan, and KDEP, Northville, Michigan, were also constructed. There was another station, WWI, which will be discussed on the following page.2 Three other stations were constructed in the years 1923—1925 at Jackson, Ohio, and at L‘Anse and Iron Mountain, Michigan. It is not clear if Ford meant to blanket the country with stations as a commercial communications network_ or if he planned to use the stations just for company messages. lFord News, August 15, 1921, p. 3. 2Office Memo to J. A. Moekle, ffice of General Counsel, Ford Motor Co. from Henry E. Edmunds, manager Ford Archives, Dearborn, Michigan. 102 There was one Ford radio station which broadcast for the entertainment of the public. This was station WWI, Dearborn, now all but forgotten, even by Mr. Ford's bio- graphers. Radio station WWI began to broadcast in May, 1922, on a 360 meter wave length for one hour, one night per week (10:00 to 11:00 P M. on Wednesdays) with a variety program. During the daytime, the station operated under a limited commercial license as KDEN. It was a part of the communi— cations circuit of the Ford Motor Company. The Ford News, an old company magazine, described the station studio as "heavily padded and quilted gray curtains with white padded ceilings have added greatly to the tone quality of both instrument and voice."1 This is suggestive of the tent Westinghouse engineers built into an inside studio in order to escape the resonance caused by plastered walls. The plant magazine of April 15, 1923, reported the radio station had received letters from listeners in thirty states-~some as far away as New England, Florida, and Texas. The programs were enjoyed in Ontario and Quebec also. A typical program broadcast by WWI during this early period was one presented in October, 1922. Musicians from the Ford Motor Company band played several numbers featuring the saxophone, an instrument which was very popular at that lFord News, February 1, 1923, p. A. 103 time. Other musical numbers on the program were vocal solos with piano accompaniment. Dr. J. P. Pratt of the staff of Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, gave a medical talk. Reprints of the talk were offered to anyone who might write for them. The program ended with interpretive readings of "Encouragement” and "Bells of St. Michael" to the strains of soft music. This "made up a good evening.”1 The station received a better time assignment in 1923. It went on the air at 8:00 instead of 10:00 P.M. The station manager did his best to present a variety program of local talent each week. Within four years after the Federal Radio Commission was formed in 1927, the Ford stations were off the air. The Dearborn station was closed April 1, 1930 when the company was unable to renew its license. The other stations closed down June 25, 1931, for the same reason. In October, 1931, licenses for experimental stations at Dearborn and Lansing, Michgan were granted. These were held until August 8, 193A, when the new regulatory body, The Federal Communications {‘1 Commission, did not grant renewals of licenses.‘ lFord News, November 1, 1922, p. 1. 20ffice Memo, to Moekle from Edmunds. An earlier sta— tion at Lansing had been established for experimental broad~ casting with aircraft shortly after Ford acquired the Stout Metal Airplane Company in 1925. CHAPTER VII A GIANT BEGINS TO GROW Herbert Hoover became Secretary of Commerce in 1921 and assumed the duty of licensing radio stations. He found he had no discretionary power in deciding who should be licensed. Persuasion seemed to be his only weapon in regulating licensees. The government wartime ban against private radio sta- tions had not been lifted long when Hoover took office, but the interest in radio was high. At the end of the first year, March, 1922, the department had granted only 65 licenses but by the end of the second year of Hoover's secretaryship there were 576 licensees.l Confusion and chaos in radio broadcasting was becoming evident by the end of 1921. Banning said, By the end of 1921, the situation as to broadcasting was that hundreds wanted to broadcast, that millions wanted to listen, that no one was sure how broad- casting was to be supported, and that the rapidly growing industry was in an unwholesome and demoralized state. lBanning, op. cit., p. 135. 2Distribution of radio broadcasting stationsLJanuary 1, 1922 to Februar l, 1923, ibid, p. 61. l922--Jan. -- 2 l922-—May--22O l922--Sept.-A96 Feb. -- 36 June-314 0ct.--539 Mar. -- 65 July-378 Nov.--55A Apr. -- 133 Aug.-451 Dec.--570 1923-~Jan. -- 583; Feb.--576 104 105 There had been fewer than 50,000 receiving sets when Hoover took office as Secretary. The broadcasting stations were of low power and of short range.1 Before the end of his first four years in office, Hoover looked back in amazement at the giant which had grown because of the public's demand for radio entertainment. The more than 500 radio stations made it possible to reach nearly every home in the country. The sales of radio apparatus during those four years increased from a million dollars a year to a million dollars a day. Two hundred thousand persons were believed to be employed to some degree in the industry which furnished entertainment to an audience of about twenty million.2 In the first years of Hoover's term as Secretary, radio stations sprang up in every state in the nation except Wyoming. California led with sixty-six, Ohio second with thirty-four, and New York third with twenty—eight. The best and most powerful stations were in the East.3 There should be no mistake about the longevity of radio stations. Since the Department of Commerce had no power to set standards of financial responsibility c: of technical capabilities, licenses were necessarily granted to M lHerbert C. Hoover, The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover (New York: Macmillan, 1952), II, p. 139. 2Radio Broadcast Magazine, December, 1924, p. 260. 3Literary Digest Magazine, November 11, 1922, p. 29. 106 many who would not be considered today. Undercapitalized and inexperienced operators of stations from which there was no revenue soon found broadcasting was an expensive hobby few men, companies, or institutions C‘Uld afford. The turnover of licenses was extremely rapid. Banning said that at the close of 1925 there had been 1,429 licenses granted since 1922 with only 562 still remaining active. Seven per cent of the licensees had never operated their stations, and forty per cent disappeared from the list within eighteen months after licensing. Early radio sets were mainly of the crystal variety, although vacuum tubes were used more and more as they were perfected and became available.2 In those early years pro— duction could not keep up with the demand. E. L. Bragdon, radio editor of the New York Sun in the early Twenties, said of the tube situation in those years: It should be understood that tubes in those days were not 60¢ each. Tubes had a list price of around $6 yet were so scarce that no one could buy one with~ out paying a bonus which brought it to $8 or $8.50 a tube. The life of the tube might be one night or again it might last three or four months. Thus the multi-tube sets were for the boys and men with money who were willing to gamble. lBanning, o . cit., p. 285. 2Ibid., p. 281. By 1924, four million radio sets were in American homes of which 2.4 millions were ”manufactured tUbe sets” and the balance ”homeemade tube sets and crystal Sets in almost equal proportion." 5E. L. Bragdon from an interview recorded in the Oral a.“ -0 HEEEOry Project of Columbia University, p. 14. The LiCErary 107 Radio became very popular in America. The Literary Digest, in 1922, devoted the front cover of one issue to a picture of a family-—mother, father, and children-—grouped around a radio enjoying an evening's entertainment coming to them from a station three hundred miles away. The New_ York Times ran a feature story on a classified ad in one of the metropolitan newspapers which had cited good radio reception as one of the selling points of a piece of country property.1 This new industry with hundreds of thousands of employees, with 3,000 manufacturers, 1,000 distributors, 30,000 retailers, and millions of customers, grew like Topsy——to about a $500,000,000 business in 1924.2 Among the stations which were being opened were several by Westinghouse. The broadcasts from KDKA had proved so p0pu1ar that the company opened others in Newark, in Spring— field, and in Chicago. k .Digest magazine, May 13,1922, gives the vacuum tube production 'as follows: December, 1921, 5000 a month; April, 1922, 40,000 a mmnth; May, 1922, 175,000 a month expected; June,1922, 200,000 expected. " 1New York Times, June 22, 1924. The want ad read: Farm for sale: nine room house; fruit; two hours by rail from New York, excellent radio reception, KGO being heard con— sistently on one tube set. Price—-—, Box-——.” 2New York Times, June 22, 1924, XX, p. 7. New York Times, September 21, 1924, p. 14. The figures were based on a survey made by the American Radio Association earlier in 1924. 108 Station WJZ, Newark, New Jersey, was opened in the Westinghouse plant there. This time there was no radio sta- tion housed in a shack on top of the roof--WJZ had quarters inside the building--on the second floor at the end of the women's cloak room where it was divided off by a curtain. In spite of the cramped quarters, within two months, Ragig_ N§w§_magazine printed laudatory comments on the programs from that crowded studio: Never before has a radio telephone station sent out broadcast, on a regular schedule, day after day so complete and satisfactory a musical and bulletin service; as a result of this, literally thousands of new receivers are being put in operation every week, and a tremendous interest in radio telephony has been aroused. Within six months Radio Broadcast commented that WJZ had an evening audience of 300,000 persons. The WJZ studio in Newark was not conveniently located for New York City talent. Arrangements had to be made to have limousines and taxis take the artists to and from the metropolis. A studio was opened in New York City at the INaldorf-Astoria Hotel in February, 1922. This same month 'RCA became co—sponsor and paid half the operating expenses. A struggle for power in the industry was beginning to Shape up. WJZ had broadcast sports events as special pro— grams since its early days on the air.2 The station, in line with this policy, decided to broadcast the World Series * 1Radio News, December, 1921, p. 482. 2Raymond F. Guy in an interview recorded in the Oral §$§§pry Collection, Columbia University, p. 34. 109 in 1922. This broadcast required a remote hookup by wire from the baseball stadium to the transmitter. The telephone company refused to furnish this service. This may or may not have been because the phone company's experimental toll radio station in New York was now in operation. The new station, WEAF, and WJZ were the outstanding stations in the city and natural rivals. Because the telephone company re- fused service, WJZ was forced to use telegraph wires for connections. This did not prove as satisfactory as a tele— phone connection. The position of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company on this matter in 1922 was that it had exclusive rights under the cross licensing agreements "in the field of wire telephony on land.”1 It also maintained that the radio group had no rights for transmission by wire even to connect stations.2 Westinghouse went ahead building and operating stations in spite of the opposition of the telephone company. It was experiment on short wave transmission with the hope that stations might be connected in this way without the need of Bell or Western Union wires. Bruce Barton wrote a perceptive article for American Magazine in 1922 on the course radio was taking. -In the lGleason L. Archer, Big Business and Radio (New York: The American Historical Company, Inc., 1939), pp. 57-59. 21n the following chapters, the terms ”radio group" and "telephone group" will be used frequently. Radio 110 article be analyzed a typical Sunday evening broadcast from WJZ. He characterized the program by saying there was music every hour on the hour. At 3:00 P.M. there was a religious service with choir singing, a prayer, and a sermon by a well- known New York clergyman. A musical interlude followed. The next feature was a talk by a YMCA secretary. Then more music followed. A plea for funds for European relief was the last talk of the afternoon. In the evening, at 7:00 P.M., Miss Anita Loos, authoress of Gentlemen Prefer Blonde§,and screen writer for movie star Douglas Fairbanks, gave a fifteen minute speech on ”How to Write a Scenario." A musical selection followed Miss Loos' talk. The feature of the evening was something new in pro— gramming. It was the presentation of a theatrical production don the air: Ed Wynn in "The Perfect Fool.”l Westinghouse also had spectacular success with its first midwest station, KYW in Chicago. Announcements were made well in advance of the opening of the station that per- formances of the Chicago Opera Company would be broadcast. There were no more than 1,300 radio sets in the city when the announcement was made but by the time the opera season came to an end there were over 20,000 receivers in Chicago, and the demand for sets was not satisfied. group refers to General Electric, Westinghouse, RCA, United Fruit, and associated companies; telephone group refers to AT&T and associated Bell companies, the Bell Laboratories, Western Electric, and associated research companies. lAmerican Magazine, June, 1922, pp. 11—13. 111 What happened in Chicago was happening all over the country. Radio was becoming a necessity in the home. Radio stations were springing up fast, and dying fast. Public taste in entertainment was beginning to take shape. Per- forming artists were beginning to think in terms of pay for appearances. ASCAP wanted fees for the use of its copy- righted music on radio. Station equipment was becoming more intricate and costly. The weak stations were dropping out fast, and the giants of the industry were making ready to do battle. Rising costs presented a problem. How could the profits from the sale of radio receivers ever make it worth- while to be in broadcasting? Would there be a saturation point in radio sales? Many of the elements which shaped the future course of American broadcasting were already evident in the early Twenties. As the p0pu1arity of radio grew it came in direct competition with the phonograph which was the chief home musical instrument at that time. Slosson found there were more phonographs than radios in the early Twenties, but half the homes had radios. Many homes had radios when there was only kerosene lighting in the house, when there was no refrigerator, and possibly no cupboard for the dishes. In rural areas there were radios when there were no furnaces, often when there was no inside toilet, and in some cases, 112 even when there was no running water.l’2 There is no ques- tion radio was popular in America in the early Twenties. Also, there is no question of the trend of ownership <1f radio stations. 0f the 516 stations operating at the end cfi‘l922, 222 were owned by radio and electrical manu- factnuems, 72 by educational institutions, and 69 by news— papems. Other categories were small in number.3 As we have noted, the radio group had a good motive for“broadcasting in their desire to stimulate the sale of radit>receivers, but they were finding it an expensive method of promotion. We have also noted, the telephone company was concerned with protecting its telephone business from any possible en- roachment by radio. The telephone company decided to protect those interests by doing toll broadcasting. They were thinking in telephone terms--thinking of selling time over radio to anyone who might desire it, much as they sold time Over the long distance telephone. In line with this thinking, in 1922, they established station WEAF, in New York, to be used for toll broadcasting. This story will be told in a later chapter. lPreston W. Slosson, The Great Crusade and After, $919-l928(New York: Macmillan, 1930), pp. 215—217. 2Radio Broadcasting Magazine, May, 1922, p. 33. Radio was a serious competitor of the phonograph business. There Were six million phonographs in the country in 1922. The output of phonographs in 1914 was 514,000 ($15,291,000 in Valueg and in 1919 the output was 2,226,000 $91,569,000 in Value The sale of records in 1919 was 106,997,000 with a Value of $44,690,000. 3See Appendix B. 113 When the telephone company went into toll broadcasting, the rivalry between its interests and those of the radio group became more pronounced. In the meantime, the new RCA luui grown rapidly and had begun to change from the inter- Jnaticmal communications company it was at first to a leading sales agent for radio equipment manufactured by its associ— ates“ It had also become interested in broadcasting and in direct rivalry with station WEAF. In the following pages, an account will be given of tflme growth of RCA from its founding to the time it became an inmxortant factor in radio broadcasting. The Early Growth of RCA During its first two years, RCA's principal activities consisted of supplying radio apparatus to ships, providing radio service between ships, and between ships and shore. In addition, the company developed a transatlantic communi— cation service. It also sold component parts used by amateurs and experimenters in constructing radio sets. The company began to sell complete radio receiving Sets in 1922. These sets were manufactured by General Elec- tI‘ic and Westinghouse under the cross licensing agreements. RCA was soon the dominant company in transoceanic radio communications. It had six high powered transmitting stations on the East Coast, and one important multiplex r'eceiver at Riverhead, Long Island. These units were all COnnected by wire with a central station at 64 Broad Street, 114 New York City, which directly controlled all transmitting and receiving. By 1923, of all the messages sent across the Atlantic, including both cable and radio, RCA transmitted thirty per cent of them. In addition, fifty per cent of the total radio messages sent from the Pacific coast to the Far East, were sent by RCA.l A breakdown of the gross sales of RCA at this period revealed the direction of the future growth of the company's business. RCA had the world's largest transoceanic radio communications business, but of RCA's total business that was lflit a small part. Radio equipment sales by RCA totaled over $1Ll,000,000 per year (at factory prices, not retail) while true transoceanic business in communications was less than $3y,000,000 and the marine services business was only $630,000. A glance at a record of growth in the sales volume of Germuel.Electric and Westinghouse products marketed by RCA shows why RCA turned its attention more and more to the ‘broadcasting industry: Sales of General Electric and Westinghouse radio products by RCA:2 1921 Sales . . . . $ 1,500,000 1922 Sales . . . . 12,000,000 1923 Sales . . . . 23,000,000 1924 Sales . . . . 50,000,000 lFTC Report (l924),op. cit., p. 35. 2Banning, op. cit., p. 281. 115 The trade practices of the Radio Corporation were strictly protective, and aimed at maintaining a controlling hold on the radio industry. RCA refused to sell or lease .apparatus to competitors in the international communications tuisiness. Equipment sales to amateurs and experimenters INGIE closely watched. Wholesalers who wanted to handle RCA gyroducts had to demonstrate ability to do business and to galace a minimum opening order of $25,000. Dealers for \nacuum tubes only were not wanted; the company preferred full Iline accounts. The key to competition was the supply of vacuum tubes. Chenerally RCA did not sell tubes to other manufacturers of Inadio sets. Many manufacturers made sets and sold them with- cmat tubes—~leaving the customer to find them for himself. In spite of the great increase in the number of vacuum tubes jproduced there still were not enough to satisfy the demand. A government report showed that in 1921 there were 112,500 vacuum tubes manufactured, in 1922 the total was 1,583,021, and in 1923 it was 2,931,262.l It was evident by 1923 that sooner or later there would be a struggle between the telephone interests and the radio group for dominance in the radio industry. Under the cross licensing agreements which began in 1920 it was generally considered that the telephone company had rights to build, sell, and lease transmitting equipment. The telephone company had the rights of wire connections lFTC Report, (l924),op. cit , pp. 6—7. 116 between stations, and between a point of broadcast and the transmitter. The radio group had concerned itself with making and selling receiving equipment. Each side wanted to get into the field formerly con— esidered belonging to the other. They quarreled with each (ibher. RCA tried to control the sales of receiving apparatus arnd parts; AT&T tried to control transmitting, particularly txransmitting for hire. AT&T maintained that, under its gnatents, it had the sole right to broadcast forpay; and cilaimed that all other stations wanting to accept advertising ruad to have an AT&T license. Before the end of 1923, there was much trouble in the iruiustry. RCA had been unhappy for some time as the sales Eugent for sets manufactured by General Electric and Westing- luouse. The company found that sharper and more flexible Inanufacturers were changing and improving set designs faster than its own two suppliers. This meant RCA was not in a good competitive position. Many questions were raised over the meaning and inter- pretation of the cross licensing agreements. Did the agree— ments mean the radio group was confined to the manufacture and Sale of receiving sets? Did they mean AT&T had the exclusive rights to make, sell, and lease transmitters except for those the radio group made for their own use? Did they mean that AT&T and its licensees had the sole right to broadcast for hire? What should be done about the request of AT&T that it 117 be allowed to manufacture a limited number of radio receivers. The reason given for the request was that AT&T scientists needed to develop new receivers in order to keep abreast the advancements in the art and industry. The disputes between the radio and telephone groups were too complicated to be settled in court, and probably .it was not expedient to make their problems and methods gnablic. It was decided to submit the situation to an arbi- ‘trator. This action will be discussed in a later chapter. But the problems and methods did come to the attention (Df the public. There was fear that the two groups were be— condng too strong and that a monopoly might result. A full :investigation of the industry and the affairs of the two Egroups was ordered by the Federal Trade Commission, and was conducted from 1923 to 1928. In the meantime, RCA was attempting to get into broad— casting. Its first venture was to open a station at the old Marconi plant at Aldene, New Jersey. This station went on the air on a regular schedule, December 14, 1921. A few Weeks previous to this date a temporary station had been Set up experimentally in Hoboken to broadcast the Dempsey— Carpentier prize fight from Boyle's Thirty Acres in Jersey City. Major J. Andrew White, editor and founder of the Kiyeless Age magazine, which RCA had recently purchased, re- ported the fight to 200,000 listeners. Major White was to become almost as well known as a sports commentator in the next few months as Graham McNamee and Harold Arlin. 118 RCA operated the Aldene station only a little over two months when it discovered what Westinghouse had earlier: if a station hopes to cover the metropolitan New York area it should do it from New York City. Consequently, as stated, IRCA made arrangements with Westinghouse to become an equal ;partner in the sponsorship of WJZ in its new studio in New 'York City. At this time the cost of operating the station lwas about $700 a week.1 In the spring of 1923, RCA took over the complete cdwnership of WJZ and moved the station into an elaborate set <3f studios in Aeolian Hall. This was called Radio Central. TThere the radio company operated two stations on different :frequencies; WJZ on 455 meters for classical music and serious programs; WJY on 405 meters for Jazz and popular entertainment. 1Archer, op. cit., p. 220. CHAPTER VIII THE WEAF EXPERIMENT The telephone company, in 1921, was trying to deter- Inine which way this new marvel, radio, would turn. A year (JP two before, it seemed the role of radio was to be that (of a competitor of the transatlantic cables, but now the INJbliC was taking a fancy to the invention as an entertain— lnern;nedium. Anybody's guess was asgood as the next Inerson‘s as to how radio would finally develop. Frank Conrad and some of the others had started ‘broadcasting music regularly. Now it seemed there were thousands of persons who wanted to be able to flick the switch at any time and hear Jazz or music of some sort. A statement made a few years later by President ‘Walter Gifford of AT&T gives some indication of the uncer- tainty as to what course radio would take: Nobody knew early in 1921 where radio was really headed. Everything about broadcasting was uncer- tain. For my part I expected that since it was a form of telephony, and since we were in the business of furnishing wires for telephony, we were sure to be involved in broadcasting somehow. Our first vague idea, as broadcasting appeared, was that per- haps people would expect to be able to pick up a telephone and call some radio station, so that they could give radio talks to other people equipped to listen. It was impossible for a while even to guess what our service would be. ‘ lBanning, op. cit., p. 59. 119 120 The telephone company in the first year or two of the decade confined its thinking and radio experimentation along the lines of usage in traditional telephony. When it was trying to fit radio into telephony, it luas receiving requests for the use of telephone lines to lglnk studios to transmitters, and station to station. 1VT&T stated publicly and often that it had the exclusive Itight to use telephone wires to pick up remote programs and tx) hook up station to station. It claimed this right under tnasic telephone patents. General Electric asked for a tealephone wire connection for the special program which Inaiked the opening of its station WGY in Schenectady. 1VT&T granted the request but expressly stated the permis- :sion was for one occasion only. This was already 1922. The telephone company was evidently feeling its way, Inoving cautiously without committing itself to an estab- lished policy. Instructions to its associated telephone companies stressed that even though it was proper to furnish wire connections for use in radio work it must be for non-commercial broadcasting. The subsidiaries were also told the wire service was not a part of the company's DUblic service activities. It referred to these con- nections as special circuits. Contracts were made for Short periods, terminable on short notice. Furthermore, any requests for circuits by members of the radio group Were to be referred to the New York office for consideration.1 lFTC Report (1924), op. cit., p. 455. 121 From the foregoing, it should not be inferred that the telephone company was proceeding thoughtlessly, with- cn1t investigation or experimentation. The feasibility of one early suggestion was investi- ggated. It had been suggested that national events could loe broadcast over a wide area. For example, Armistice Day cmaremonies or the inauguration of a President could be pricked up by the Washington radio station and then be sent lay a network of telephone wires to all the important cmenters of the country. At the important centers loud- slpeakers could be set up so thousands could listen. As yeat they were not thinking in terms of linking a vast net— MKDPK of stations by wire, Just a network of loudspeakers. One provision of the suggested plan is interesting. IIt was said that in working out the plan for the network of cities to be covered, allowance should be made for two or thiee other long distance lines between the points so there \Nould be no possible interruption of regular telephone service. A full scale study of the use of long distance tele- phone networks was ordered by the company. A report was made in mid-December, 1921.1 The study showed that radio broadcasting was being done principally by amateurs and radio apparatus manufac- turers centered predominantly at eight points: Springfield, k W *7 lBanning, op. cit., p. 60. 122 Massachusetts; Newark, New Jersey; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago; LosAngeles; San Francisco; and Seattle. The estimate of the number of receivers was rather vague: from 100,000 to 500,000, with half of them along the East Coast. Broadcasting was being done in a band 200— 1800 meters. The common wave length was 360. Significantly, one of the statements in the summation ‘was: ". . . and as yet, no definite regulations or stan- dards have been effected . . . a chaotic condition . . ."l The report proposed that the telephone company go into broadcasting in a commercial way, radio for hire, radio for toll. It was estimated that thirty—eight radio stations, each with a radius of 100 miles, if properly placed could furnish reliable service to the country at a reasonable cost. It was stressed this would be a boon to "the rural and outlying sections throughout the middle and far west." It would be necessary to plan to connect "remotes” for each station. Other excerpts from the report demonstrate future planning in the abstract: This service would enable the national and local advertisers, industrial institutions of all kinds, and even individuals if they desire, to send forth information and advertising matter audibly to thousands . . . . A first consideration is that the material broadcasted . . . be desirable to the receiver so that the demand for the service will be stimulated. lIbid., p. 67. 123 . . . Our present plans do not contemplate pp£_ providing talent for entertainment . . . we pro- pose to be responsible for the quality of the service in so far as the broadcasting is concerned.1 The telephone company took a realistic view of the future of broadcasting. Each year it was becoming more expensive to operate a station. Free talent was scarce. Few companies could afford to charge off the expense of a good station to institutional advertising. Radio had to pay its own way. That could be done best by selling time to those who wanted to broadcast, who wanted to furnish programs to please and entertain the growing number of listeners. AT&T maintained it alone held the right to broadcast for hire. But the company offered to include the right to broadcast for hire with the sale of every one of the trans- mitters manufactured by its subsidiary, Western Electric, and with every license it issued under its patents. Lic- ensed stations would also be able to purchase speech input equipment needed for picking up programs from remote points. Exception to the regular license fee was made to colleges, churches, and other non—profit organizations. The prices Western Electric quoted in the spring of 1922 for transmitters were: 100 watt-—$8,500, 500 watt-— $10,500. Extra equipment needed to put the apparatus in Operation would make the total cost from $10,000 to $15,000. At this time it was estimated the annual operation of these __ 1Ibid., p. 67. m‘——'T”" A __ _ 124 transmitters without any program costs would run from 100 per cent to 200 per cent of the initial cost. By April, 1922, Western Electric had sold sixteen transmitting sets and had made quotations on fifty others.1 The telephone company took the position at this time that the public was being forgotten in the disorganized confusion which characterized radio. In an article by Vice President A. H. Griswold of the company in the Bell Telephone Quarterly a point was made that radio was not intercommunication but a one-way service, generally speaking. Mr. Griswold said that broadcasting at that time was being done by various departments of the govern- ment, by some of the manufacturers of radio apparatus, by experimenters, by newspapers, and by amateurs. Therefore, most all of the existing broadcasting stations were being operated in the particular interest of the owners of the stations, while the general public had little or no access to broadcasting service.2 The telephone company was being besieged with requests to sell radio broadcasting equipment, or to provide radio telephone service. The company said if they granted all the requests being made there would be so much confusion on the few frequencies available that real service for any of them would be impossible. 11b1d., p. 75. 2Ibla., p. 73. 125 Was the logical conclusion then that someone should furnish a kind of service available to the general public? If so, who was better fitted than the Bell people who had knowledge and experience in the electronics field, who owned the basic patents, and who had background in the favorite public communications system, the telephone? Mr. Gifford formally requested of the United States Radio Inspector in New York in February, 1922, that a special wave length be specifically assigned to such a public service radio telephone station. Although the De- partment of Commerce did not go so far, the toll station became a recognized category of stations during the First Radio Conference called by Secretary Hoover that year.1 The toll station was defined as a public service radio telephone company doing broadcasting as a paid service. AT&T was now determined to go ahead and establish America's first radio telephone pay station where the broadcasting would be available to anyone desiring to talk to the public. The first station was to be experimental in many ways: a test of the public demand for this sort of thing; a test of the appeal of radio as an advertising medium; a test of local, regional, and national broad— casting. Furthermore, it was another step for the pro- tection of the tremendous holdings of the great telephone empire. 1See Chapter XIV. 126 The telephone company's first station was set up in the Long Lines Building, Walker Street, New York City. The antenna wires were strung between two steel towers 100 feet tall atop the twenty-four story building. This made them 500 feet above the sidewalk and high above any neighboring structure. A transmitter of 500 watts power was installed for the station. The telephone company had requested a wave length of 400 meters which would have avoided any interference to or from other stations. The Commerce Department said it was unable to grant this specific request, but instead assigned the call letters WBAY, and granted the 360 meter wave length which the station was required to share with fifteen others. Among the fifteen stations there were ten with strong signals. Among them were WJZ, the RCA station, and WOR, the Bamberger station in Newark. Both of these stations were to be serious rivals. There was some disagreement as to the division of broadcasting time among the stations. WJZ was the most difficult to placate. Finally, a schedule was agreed on. WBAY was allowed to broadcast weekday mornings from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon, afternoons from 4:30 P.M. to 5:30 P.M., and Thursday evenings from 7:30 to Midnight. The station began operations July 25 with the first evening program scheduled for July 27. This program, however, was not broadcast, because WJZ had a prize fight planned for that night. 127 The big test of an evening broadcast came the following Thursday night, August 3. A three hour program was presented with most of the musical talent furnished by members of the Bell Long Lines Department. There was also a talk on base- ball by Frank Graham of the New York Sun and reminiscenses of minstrel days by Harry Armstrong, the composer. At 9:22 P.M. a report was given on the weather conditions of the country as of eight o'clock that night through reports collected by AT&T representatives throughout the country. The station signed off at 10:31 P. M. to the strains of "Home Sweet Home." It was quite an ambitious first evening program. Harry B. Thayer, president of AT&T at that time, invited a group of friends to him home in New Canaan, Connecticut to listen to this historic program. The sta— tion came through badly on his set. Needless to say, Mr. Thayer was chagrined to have this happen in front of his guests. No report has been made of Mr. Thayer's comments on arriving at the office the next day, but immediate steps were taken to improve the quality of the station's signal. After a few days, on August 16, 1922, the transmitter of another station at the company's West Street laboratory was used. The antenna was more favorably located. Soon the station became one of the favorites in the East, a rival of WJZ in popularity. This new station became known as WEAF. f! ‘ 2' "" 3"t v v -D“ -n Q'-"A '\ . 'I—‘ -‘i Ulcv . r tub A niwpr‘fs 1 G ,. -auvfil 5' 1.. d- A j I r. r‘ Y‘ p...‘lve at. ' O a ‘ v'fi. «w- 1!! 0:.f: RVHIE’ u: “KA‘I 1 .g'. ¥4*117 “‘U‘V~'e. In. .r‘An ._ “‘5“ S .1 128 Professor James Stokley of Michigan State University tells a story of what lengths WEAF engineers went to please an important company director. In the early days of the station, Professor Stokley was a yoUng science writer. He became interested in the experiments being carried on by Alfred Lee Loomis in the private and luxuriously-equipped laboratory in his Tuxedo Park home, up the Hudson from New York City. Mr. Loomis was testing chronographs. He wanted to compare his instru- ments with the Bell laboratory clock crystals. This would call for a direct line from his home to the Bell laboratory. Even to a man of Mr. Loomis‘ standing this cost would be prohibitive. Then someone at the Bell laboratory remembered a direct line that ran from the Bell laboratory to exclusive Tuxedo Park. This ran only a few feet from Mr. Loomis' home. Then the story came out. In the early days of WEAF, George F. Baker, the well-known New York financier and a director in AT&T wanted a radio installed in his house so he could hear WEAF, the company's station. This time the engineers took no chances. They ran a special line to Mr. Baker's house. To his great delight he received WEAF clearly and distinctly. So Mr. Loomis used the direct line to test his chronographs against the Bell clock crystals. Scientif— ically it was a success. The results were published by \’ *. Man «'7'. .r-.~\\v.‘ ' .‘VU .V n . .5. P“ ‘1 F‘P ‘ r w Pam.-.“ ‘— A“ ~‘b... . ¥‘ I ,e- Y'AWQ ' 1. . by. ‘v I-AU . - .AA7 “.72“ * .- "VK‘ V"..- y - . 1" m: V‘w *5. tuvaQu‘a‘Va “J 1 3%: ~.~‘\.fl “h; .. :vvu, v..¥ v n in... l’q‘erzh: a... J‘V.‘-- TY", 4»— ' n - ‘lo- v‘d‘ h‘ ._ . :62 Ah a: t— u-n.-v;$ a“ *J“ ._ . 4‘-“ - ‘. "‘ ~43: 1.. '.' , “. ‘.- .‘5 I‘ll , _' .: ‘v .I(*\-‘ ._“' ‘ N ...-.u‘." :5. ,- v s‘,' ‘ h.:~ ‘ 4‘33 "0 :0 ' -. Vr'«‘ ‘ . ‘5‘ (‘3— ~ .,~ 1. ‘1‘“ :g A f‘ ‘ A N" .rvl“ \ " ~‘~‘. ‘ . 7‘ ‘ .‘w \ ‘ . N Er (I) 129 Professor E. W. Brown of Yale.1 In September, 1922, the Department of Commerce created a new classification of stations called Class B. These stations could operate on the 400 meter wave length. WBAY and WEAF were included in the category. WBAY was on the air only about three weeks and never had a paying customer. It was apparent from the very beginning that AT&T could not expect to ignore the program- ming aspects of the business. If clients did not crowd forward at first to purchase time and to supply entertain- ment for the listeners, then AT&T had to do it. Sustaining programs were a necessity. Since it was a company respon— sibility to furnish programming until the time that sponsors took over, it was decided to do as good a Job as possible. According to contemporary reports, WEAF program management was good, the signal was good, and the station was popular with listeners.2 Initially, WBAY had announced rates for time on the station as $50 for 15 minutes of evening time, and $40 for 15 minutes in the after noon. No one requested time on the air. It was then thought the rates might be too low, con— noting lack of value in radio advertising. The rates were raised to $100 for 10 minutes or $400 for an hour in the lAlfred Lee Loomis, letter to writer, March 11, 1962. 2Banning's book gives the best and fullest account of AT&T's experimentation in broadcasting at station WEAF. ‘1'” .- nrfiwo‘lh" 1" C .L.v'.x.'v a-.¢5 VL— v 'n;n “Alps. 5‘ ' - Lon“: \stc v‘ v .H T! :‘l ‘ p -"Y‘ '5‘ RC1. .bvnshg-‘ ‘v a .. ‘A"'}‘ ‘WV‘ A ..‘h~l.\...:‘c was """"'\r n....." rv.av‘v“ VJ . n‘ a non. . g a .u 4. ~ L4 “'AH :- s ‘ up“ A ...u.‘~‘..u u_ ' I. - "QA.D . «u, “R va ‘ 1‘ . “rs-~3180 . s an,“ Au.‘ 3 "'h; .hnfiw- §..b~“: ‘; . V "V ‘7‘ ‘Oqe E 1“ v- V’ y o ‘u‘ V‘s” .‘VVVA he” . ‘ ) a L WV. ‘5 .18. “ “Ha «“~V§ ,3: *, "'* h r“ ‘v.. r. 130 evening; and $50 for 10 minutes or $200 for an hour in the afternoon. The first client to broadcast over WEAF was the Queensboro Corporation, a real estate firm interested in promoting its Jackson Heights tenant—owned Hawthorne Court apartment house. On August 28, 1922 it presented a pro- gram consisting of a fifteen minute talk lauding the development where the spirit of Hawthorne was so well exemplified. One suspects the copywriter did not know that Hawthorne was quite a gloomy fellow._ The Queensboro Cor- poration bought time for a short series of these talks. The firm is said to have attributed sales of several thousand dollars to the publicity gained through the radio talks. The Tidewater Oil Company and the American Express Company also made experimental announcements over WEAF during those early days, but after two months operation the total income of the station was only $550. The growth of the business was slow but progressive. In November, 1922, the radio station had seven clients: R. H. Macy Co., the department store, a dentifrice manu- facturer with a talk on the care of the teeth, a political organization, and a motion picture producer. There were thirteen sponsors in December. Three of them were department stores. One of them, Gimbel Brothers, built a studio on the upper floor of the store and \r‘ + "' . A. V ’ v a‘f‘V‘JEC Veg LU . w... '- ng'.’ ‘ :3 2:“,(13‘1 (1.1.6. 5.... u. ‘ 1 A” ”:fn‘n ta-k y'.L “1-1.4 v v . AA -1 ‘ nrnw"w' 13/. ::~.Ma. “if, ¢/h-‘, v- r q vAA .- ~55 allJV.Cu CO ‘ V '. “M H. 0 AW .. - ::::€'u, ir‘vu. ”I o 13:30 P :V "I ‘2': sosal ‘AV.S\A IQ J‘NJ. ”gr; I ‘ v “' “CD-. Cu. . ' FL‘P-V'n‘; “. ‘ Vk‘ u“ ”1‘ we”, .‘ ‘ne otaa..::" ., If?" E'Wl‘.d “~h"‘ " v” pew-.51.. V "UL y.-7 . ‘ H ‘ .Y'A- "N“ 49L. ‘23 Aw: .1 . 3 ‘ o a H. a «any apta’ IA, O\ n ,. «:1-‘r : ':~..‘ . i I' V‘, _ ‘ ‘ "“ N "A . .. ‘0 "run H 1: ‘ '1 4‘ vfi" ‘ “~u: h n dj' ~ , . “‘..,'."\ Ch, 'fl fine I " 'L 4* r," _ R‘ n ‘ ‘llev a “'y‘ ~‘~ul:r I": a}. . “‘5‘“ ‘ . V) .\_, r2” ., "“ ,‘zV-N. ‘ 131 connected to WEAF by wire. Another client was the William H. Rankin advertising agency. One of its staff gave a ten minute talk on advertising and the firm paid $100 for the privilege. The station received a revision of time schedule in February, 1923, which was greatly to its benefit. WEAF was allowed to broadcast 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., as needed; from 4:30 P.M. to 5:80 P.M. daily; 7:30 P.M. to 10:30 P.M. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday; 7:30 P. M. to 8:00 P. M. Tuesday and Friday; and Sunday as desired. In February there were fourteen commercial firms sponsoring programs on WEAF. The management of WEAF early recognized the need for good programming if it were to compete successfully with WJZ and WOR and other radio stations for the audience of the area, and if it were to make itself attractive as an advertising medium. Programming which would make listeners talk about the show they had heard was what WEAF needed and obtained. On Armistice night, 1922, Verdi's "Aida" was presented by means of remote pickup from Kingsbridge Armory by using an intermediate amplifier. On Sunday night, November 19, the first of the famous series of variety shows, Roxy and His Gang, was broadcast. This show was under the direction of S. L. Rothafel and came from the Capitol Theater in New York. In April, 1923, the I. ‘H' \I“ “ 9/ \\ first act of a v u v}! '"”e on 7' en: 5'65 ‘l b‘ Q's-g- 1.1 V has: has . 3‘ 1 .r .cr attentl- .. the technica W1“: GOV-cred tr. V V "NS. ‘h‘ A u ‘0‘, M... a: ,4 " “ «r13 t", Il.>1 r ‘ v C, .1 . ha ‘ mat nit. V‘V'D’ a” by. :r _ “13,-1?": Y A 1 ‘Vr'K and i, ‘..Q Y1 ‘V“S .L‘ . ‘.__.. f1: . ~1- » u‘\_ ”van/37.: a \- I“ be?" 132 first act of a Broadway musical comedy was broadcast from the stage of the Cameo Theater. After the broadcast, the sales of phonograph records and sheet music of the songs of the show increased greatly. WEAF was trying many new ideas, not only for novelty, or for attention value, but also to develop the art. Some of the technical innovations which had their final tests during the big election campaign of 1924 had their first short range tests in 1922. Some of these experiments were tried with sports pro- grams. For example, the Princeton—University of Chicago football game in Chicago was broadcast by WEAF by remote control and was also sent out over loud speakers in the streets of New York City. Thereafter, major sports events were covered by WEAF and often by its rival, WJZ. The names of Graham McNameeand Phillipkauflin.of WEAF, and J. Andrew White of WJZ became famous in 1923 for reporting sports events. The beginnings of the network idea came in 1923. WEAF and WNAC, a Boston station owned by the Shepard Stores of that city, cooperated in a three hour program originating in New York and broadcast simultaneously over the stations. The two‘stations were connected by a special circuit of long distance telephone wire. It was estimated that over 100,000 persons listened to orchestra music, saxophone and cello soloists, to vocalists, and to a bird mimic. In a \I“ w .- \_\ t a 'a' start mar. .11: ea) n H 23:32:35 01 rect :icropnone. W p 1 me lirs. trough a hobby A « ‘n 8... 1 A ‘ vU uc‘le‘cp EOQC \r I; ‘7‘!“‘d 1 ‘ at... 11 .e *c a 'II 4‘ "fl“ lua~ “UL- r‘atl‘éha] «A, g. C.” C ar“g':’s - “.3" For” ,, - NVUD‘US Were Taco . v, Ye ‘ Wye! :‘Ftl "' FV‘ 'Vm'. ‘ugLL. “UK, Qfi‘r Up‘ a " \r‘llr, ‘ I U“ "N “re: v , Ger“ ‘u 1 V:“vast m ' 1,15: V \« ' :1; . ~. n. ‘ ‘gv‘ ‘ : ‘¢ c 4-9:1"? 1' V“U u. C “V D, ‘Lesidfih V“: 5 3*». '§( 0. U 133 few short months radio fare had progressed a long way from programs of records played on a Victrola placed before the microphone. The first "permanent” hookup of stations came about through a hobby of a wealthy man. Colonel Edward H. R. Green, the son and heir of the fabulously wealthy Hetty Green, constructed a private radio station at Round Hill, Massachusetts. Colonel Green soon found it quite a chore to develop good programming for his station, WMAF. He felt he would like to present talent such as WEAF did. Nothing was more natural for a man of his means and temperament than to arrange to hire WEAF programming. Financial arrange- ments were made, and WMAF was linked to WEAF by telephone wire and carried some of the programs originating at the New York station. These programs began on July 1, 1923. A few weeks earlier, WEAF and the General Electric station WGY, Schenectady, and the Westinghouse stations KDKA, Pittsburgh, and KYW, Chicago were linked in a trial chain broadcast. The occasion was the meeting of the National Electric Light Association at Carnegie Hall, New York. A program originating at Carnegie Hall was broadcast by remote from WEAF and by the other three stations which were linked to New York by long distance telephone wires. This in essence was a dress rehearsal for the coast-to-coast broad- casts which came during the campaign of 1924. President Warren G. Harding began a trip across the country to the West Coast and on to Alaska, in June, 1923. ‘ll- rlh F~§ ; \ I4 — P. l c. o .. V. .v& 4 All My . «3 do nu. « c .C :o .r.w a: .C r: .C T C a .w m. as” .. 1 E h . S E .0 Y .0 a E .3 a o . 1 l E .. 1 U .C .3 , .. e .3 v. a n no. Va 3 co 3 C Cfnu dd .rd 8 r. n r“ n. C 3 so .. . . 3 an S .0 r... E w. . a o .a a a 5 l .t a a C .1. w-“ w. hr .0. a . . l . 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A: ~\~ P .. .. t t. \I ‘p . l/ .y n ..\I .‘I‘l I 134 This may have been for two reasons: to counteract the rumbles and rumors of graft and fraud in his administration and party; and to do a little advance campaigning for re- nomination and re-election in 1924. It was a convenient situation for the industry to improve the radio art because of the public attention given the trip and because the President undoubtedly welcomed the publicity radio broad- casts might give him. The President spoke in St. Louis on the 21st before a large crowd in the auditorium of the Colosseum. He had two microphones in front of him. One was connected to WEAF by long distance telephone, the other was connected to the local station KSD on the roof of the §£, Louis Eost Dispatch building. A story published in the Post Dispatch the day before the speech was made said it was estimated two million people would be able to hear the New York station as well as a large number who could listen to KSD. 0n the day following the St. Louis speech, Harding spoke in Kansas City. This was broadcast by WEAF also. Jay G. Hayden, Washington correspondent of the Detroit News commented on the President's trip a few days before it began: At least nine of the President's speeches will be made in cities containing first-class radio broad— casting plants, and arrangements are being made to spread these speeches by a series of relays to every radio receiving instrument in the country. Literally it will be made possible for ten million W C .4. ’ ,.-r.:.sco). a- r." ..IIVI the "d 1 ":3? nabs. CO A H .AS w .55 ~'4u‘U p l .I V 0 Y -~ v.12?" . ‘J’ 2‘n41 135 or more to hear the voice of the chief executive as he expounds his policies. President Harding planned to make a major speech in San Francisco July 31, a few days after his return from Alaska. This was to be broadcast by radio to an estimated three to five million listeners through WEAF, KPO (San Francisco), WOAW (Omaha), WNAQ (Chicago), WMAF (Round Hill), and WCAP, the new telephone company station in Washington, D. C. The President's trip was never completed as planned. He became ill before the date set for the San Francisco speech, and died in a hotel in that city August 2, 1923. The telephone company opened WCAP, Washington, D. C., as its second station, July 4, 1923. The call letters were selected to signify the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, a Bell affiliate. In the beginning, there were joint programs with WEAF because WCAP had not completed its studios when the station went on the air. At the opening of the station, Winifred Barr, the popular WEAF studio pianist had the honor of performing first. 1The Detroit News, June 9, 1923. An issue of the same paper of June 6, 1923 printed a schedule of Harding's speeches as: St. Louis, June 21; Kansas City, June 22; Hutchinson, Kansas, June 23; Denver, June 25; Cheyenne, June 25; Salt Lake City, June 26; Pocatello, June 28; Idaho Falls, Butte, and Helena, June 28; Spokane, July 2; Meachem, Oregon, July 3; Portland, July 4; Tacoma, July 5; and on his return from Alaska the schedule called for him to speak in Vancouver, July 26; Seattle, July 27; San Francisco, July 31; Los Angeles, August 1; and San Diego, August 4. -- v v. 1 “can, . T'?‘ T“ flfifi. "ils ‘.‘\ V 'I V: R. v" V ‘ ..«~WA‘ uv‘QV I A: . . te “.3 .0.» 1"“ E a c F ‘IA I AC 3) 1i 7 VIVU :5 E V‘. ‘ hen P k. 136 WJAR, a Providence station was linked by land wire to WEAF in October, 1923, to cover New England. This station replaced Colonel Green's WMAF. Now WEAF had a three station "permanent" network arrangement: WEAF--WCAP--WJAR. The first notable broad- cast of this network was of a speech by former President Woodrow Wilson from his home in Washington, November 10, 1923, on the eve of Armistice Day. This was Mr. Wilson's first appearance on radio, and his last public speech, for the ailing stateman died less than three months later. The same three station network broadcast his funeral services from Washington, February 6, 1924. The telephone company was using events of public interest to test chain broadcasting. The tests in 1923 and early 1924 were significant but were minor compared to those made during the broadcasts of the political conven— tions and of the major campaign speeches of the Presidential election of 1924. When President Warren G. Harding died in San Francisco in August, 1923, he was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge. Mr. Coolidge made frequent use of the radio. Before he retired from office in 1929, his voice was familiar to most persons within reach of radio in the United States. President Coolidge's first Message to Congress was broadcast over radio. At this time it was said more persons heard his voice that day than had ever listened to an a 1 a- 11?: 4“ U“ s -r" -ol“- ‘ ‘ A” v“! tnfi J"' A cat't‘eu . V1 98‘ ‘8 wes“ A \."‘"$" vyul"‘ .pfl“ ".4: * u 1‘, Star 8 “J." 4", Cw .0 Ca 4 to S 9,..." ¢ - VAL: ‘ , r. JiA- Ar V‘. S'. 1" " " '..' .“coJ J a r: I r... . y S r... . 2w .3. V“ H n nu . 5» .«u H. AC :w Au/ w. . c \w 8 nay- ~' '0 vui. V 5‘ 1" .FM 9.. LI» v1. .G a a . QU rm 9 .vv. F r . n a. . r‘s. Q // Au. 9/ ion. stunneaww T. 2.32.1 3‘ NH ‘1‘ r. TL o. v... ’9 .1 Q» n.C Ad :9 .n.... n( l .s... W. s. s C» u) «\o >5 «iv .. a - . .ra ~1~ b v u it u . - \ ‘ lv\ fiV 137 individual at any time before in history. AT&T used the "permanent" hookup of WEAF--WCAP--WJAR plus three stations linked through the facilities of their associate company, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. The new stations were: KSD, the §p, Louis Post Dispatch station; WDAF, the Kansas City Star station; and WFAA, the Dallas News and Journal station. Four days later the President made another speech, this from the White House and over the three station network. Many changes in radio technique, in programming, in merchandising, and in advertising sponsorship came during 1923. Many thousands of listeners were added because radios could now be bought on installment purchase plans. Radio sets were improved with more selective tuning. Major Arm— strong's superheterodyne principle was being adapted to home receivers. Gimbel's Department store initiated an hour-long musical program over WEAF, American Tobacco Com- pany started the "Lucky Strike Show” and the Happiness Candy Company sponsored Billy Jones and Ernie Hare as the "Happi- ness Boys." Walter Damrosch began his famous lecture-recital musical programs, and Hoxie Fairchild of Columbia University gave the first of a series of talks on English Literature. "Roxy and His Gang” had been a regular feature since January 28, as previously mentioned.1 lBanning, o . cit., p. 109. Gimbel started March 15, 1923; the Lucky StrIke Hour, July 14, 1923; Jones and Hare, August 22, 1923; Fairchild, July 17, 1923; and Damrosch, October 29, 1923. .. 7. ‘1 C. re p u r . at .n V ac .. c. n a V” CC I .C p n .1 +0 .n“ a v. a a C 4 a a... Va a: n . 8 a S .3 R u n .. 1 a... 2. .l D. A a t V C a... S . a . o r. .. 1 1.. s a 0 mm“ 7. I e e m“ +0 an 1|. 3 o. n». +v 52 «G C 7“ 1|. b 1 . I “a“ n1 a 6: "Ya n n...“ r .1 5 at man T. n“ r. n. C e a. +u w o e c S C 0 J . a r.“ A a no. C e W 0 fi v. a» "1. Ce 1 A .AU “b. oq & «MU Ch 6 .. «o 1. a. a. n. .. nu w.. a. n. r” and no. L.“ n. "7 ... 2,. . . F. .J r. a . .. . . - -. . a: use no . A u .NI .\.1. "I he .nb .flm AU ~Hu \I I. \I III! E S .1 h. 3 e Vu+c .7: n. no Q.» d an» ”at l e .0 he a s r 138 WEAF, with Graham McNamee at the microphone, covered the Willard-Firpo fight and the World Series. WJZ was not idle. It programmed good features, and covered the major sports events. Although WJZ did not accept paid sponsor- ships because of possible patent infringement, it did offer free time to anyone who could provide a high quality program. It should be remembered that advertising sponsorship over WEAF and its affiliates and licensees was called ”in- direct" advertising. This was the type approved by the National Radio Conferences called by Secretary Hoover. "Indirect" advertising consisted of mention of name of the company, name of the product and possibly the company slogan, but no prices, no extravagant claims-~nothing much more than an identification of the sponsor and product with the program. WEAF was soon making money in spite of the handicaps of operating an untested advertising medium with only in- direct copy allowed. William Harkness, the first regular manager of the station, said that by early 1924 expenditures and income balanced: Eventually we cleared all operating costs, the cost of moving the studios, a new 5,000 watt trans- former, network wire charges and music rights and recovered the entire plant investment and were making a very substantial profit by the time the station was sold to RCA [1926]. Much of the enthusiasm which made WEAF grow and prosper was engendered by the first sales manager of the V...__. lWilliam Harkness in an interview recorded in the Oral History Collection, Columbia University, pp. 64-65. 139 station, George F. McClelland. Phillips Carlin, the announcer who shared duties and popularity with McNamee at WEAF, said of McClelland: He was a great salesman and very progressive from a commercial standpoint. I think he had a lot to do with getting broadcasting on a commercial basis. I think his background had been in the sales field. He had a salesman's personality, and a terrific con- fidence in himself and in the things he was talking about and he had the ability that usually makes a good salesman. He picked up the feel of the radio business and projected ahead in his thinking. I think the combination of him with Aylesworth later probably had more to do with the growth of commer— cial broadcasting than from any two men in the country. Graham McNamee, the most famous of the announcers of the middle and late Twenties, wrote in his reminiscences that even in the early days WEAF made a definite effort to sell time on the air and maintained a sales staff to do it. He said about half the programs were sustaining (furnished by and at the expense of WEAF) and half were commercial (paid for by outsiders). He said: It is easy to distinguish between them, of course, for when a commercial program is rendered, we always announce that it is given by such and such a firm and also tell the name and brand of its product, working in, perhaps the publicity slogan, both at the begin— ning and end of the hour, and occasionally between numbers. Further than this we do not go. We do not, for instance, broadcast sales or price reductions. What a client secures when he buys this ”time on the air" is good will. He gains a fine general publicity through having his name and that of his commodity broadcast to millions of listening people; and if his name is linked up with a superior program, entertain- ment that universally pleases, the publicity is of the lPhillips Carlin in an interview recorded in the Oral History Collection, Columbia University. Aylesworth was the first president of National Broadcasting Company which was formed in 1926 and shortly afterward purchased WEAF. A. ,I i." 140 most profitable sort, though it cannot be immediately reckoned in the concrete terms of sales.1 The most influential of the early programs in devel- oping the pattern of variety shows and in advocating network broadcasting as an advantage to the advertiser was the "Eveready Hour" sponsored by National Carbon Company. This program was originated by the advertising agency, N. W. Ayer and Son. The agency saw a bright future for radio even before many people owned radio receivers or before stations did much program planning. National Carbon signed a contract with WEAF and the ”Eveready Hour" started on a long series of 377 shows. The "Hour" on Tuesday nights became a bright spot on the radio log. The first Eveready program was broadcast from WEAF, December 4, 1923. The programs which followed in brilliant succession were varied enough to hold the interest of large audiences. Classical music programs were alternated with string quartets, and minstrel shows, and one act plays per- formed by Broadway casts. Edwin Markham the poet, Vaughn de Leath, the "Original Radio Girl," Wendell Hall, the comedian, Nat Shilkret's orchestra-~they Were all featured on the Eveready Hour. There were many other famous persons whose names we remember today who appeared on the show during those early years. Among them were Eddie Cantor, John Drew, Julia Marlowe, D. W. Griffith, ”Trader Horn," Irvin S. Cobb, Otis Skinner, and Commander Byrd. lGraham McNamee, You're On the Air (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1926), pp. 97-98. 141 It was claimed that National Carbon Company suggested to WEAF that a network of stations was needed to broadcast the Eveready Hour to areas beyond the local coverage of WEAF. This action was described in a booklet, "The Eveready Book of Radio Stars" which the National Carbon Company pub- lished about 1930 for distribution to radio listeners: Soon the territory reached by WEAF was too limited for the needs of the Eveready Hour. Traveling bands of Eveready artists toured the country, producing local Eveready programs from numerous stations. Wendell Hall, with his "It ain't goin' to rain no mo'" was a star member of the troupe. Finally the sponsor of the Eveready Hour persuaded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, then owners of WEAF, to arrange a hookup of neighboring stations by land wire. And chain broadcasting was born! The first of all chain broadcasts was an Eveready program. The first chain hookup to broadcast the Eveready Hour was made October 6, 1924. This was over the ”permanent" hookup of WEAF, WJAR, and WCAP. This commercial chain broadcast came after much chain political broadcasting had given the Bell engineers a good background of experience. Although commercial network broadcasting did not begin until the fall of 1924, WEAF had built up a sizable business in local advertising even in 1923. The record for that year showed a total of 250 customers and a schedule with practically all the air time for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings sold.l lBanning, op. cit., p. 154. CHAPTER IX THE RADIO ELECTION: CANDIDATES AND CONDITIONS The election of 1924 has sometimes been called "the radio election" because it was the first Presidential cam- paign in which radio was used. Aside from this note of distinction, the election has usually been dismissed as unimportant, preordained, cut-and—dried, uninteresting, and without significant political issues. Calvin Coolidge, the Republican incumbent and nominee, has been caricatured as the silent, taciturn (everyone used that word to describe Coolidge) Yankee who had a keen political sense and knew how to keep quiet and sit tight. This was probably the truth but not necessarily the whole truth. Charles G. Dawes, the Republican candidate for Vice President comes out of the Twenties with the image of a smart banker who could set up a national budget, who put the German financial house in order, who liked to smoke his underslung pipe, and whose words were direct, to the point, and punctuated with frequent epithets of ”Hell and Maria." This also was not necessarily the whole truth. The Democratic candidate was John W. Davis, and he has emerged from the period as an urbane Wall Street lawyer, 142 i~’.., _ ¢;/ 143 handsome, and impeccably dressed, who talked well and cam- paigned energetically but fruitlessly. Charles Bryan, his running mate, was over-shadowed by his more famous brother the well-known orator, William Jennings Bryan. Again, the stereotypes are not necessarily true reproductions. The election of 1924 was one of the few three- candidate races in modern times for the Presidency. Robert M. LaFollette was the colorful third candidate whose pic- ture, so characteristic in the fighting pose reminiscent of Billy Sunday, emerges as the champion of the people against monopoly and special privilege. Senator Burton Wheeler of Montana, the man who pulled the walls down on Attorney General Harry Daugherty was Vice Presidential candidate with LaFollette. Wheeler said he could not support the candidate of his regular party (Democratic) when that man was the attorney for J. P. Morgan and Company. What we did not realize as we approached the election in the mid-Twenties was what a state of transition we were really in. Our perspective was faulty and misleading. America could not see what was happening or was unwilling to face up to it. Someone has said the Twenties were a decade of para- doxes. As a people, we were conservative yet we were reckless. We were Puritanical yet we were immoral. We wanted Harding's "normalcy” and the "good old days" yet we were rushing breathlessly into the future. We wanted 144 to emancipate women yet retain the double standard. There was strong sentiment for prohibition yet the most flagrant public acceptance of bootlegging and violation of the Volstead Act.1 We went to war in 1917 to save the world for democracy. We talked of liberty, democracy, the self—determination of peoples yet to a great extent we were religious and racial bigots. Millions of our men dressed in bed sheets, attended rallies in dark, secluded places, burned ”firey crosses" and vowed to save white supremacy and white American womanhood. We said we would rescue the country from the clutches of the Pope and the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and from the toils of the Wall Street Jews. All this was pledged with great mumbo-jumbo in the mystic conclaves of the Ku Klux Klan. The great wrath whipped up against the Hun and never fully expelled during the war was sated somehow afterwards in a noble hate against the ”Micks, the Kikes, and the Niggers." While the world still cheered Woodrow Wilson's high- minded resolves to bring a just and lasting peace to the world after the Great War, a Red Scare shook America and made men act with emotion and without reason. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, the Fighting Quaker (a paradox in itself) rose to great heights in his crusade to free America of the Communist influence he believed was infil— trating from the newly-born Red Russia. 1Frederick Lewis Allen, Only Yesterday (New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1931), is a very good inf0rmal history of this colorful period. 145 To Mr. Palmer, anarchists seemed to be lurking behind every bush. No question, there really was violence abroad in the land. Several bombs had been sent through the mail. One burst and severely mutilated the servant of a southern Senator. Bombs were tossed on the porches of prominent people. In fact, one demolished the front of Mr. Palmer's home in Washington.1 Woodrow Wilson, the hope of liberal America, lay stricken and paralyzed in the White House while this violence shocked the land, but Attorney General Palmer rose and struck a mighty blow against Communism. He had his agents all overAmerica move with great stealth in one grand series of simultaneous raids on New Year's Day, 1920. Over 6,000 persons, Communists in reality or by association, were caught in Palmer's net. The Attorney General believed these persons to be the core of the Communist effort in America. He said they should be jailed, tried, and de- ported. Jailed they were, but few were deported. Few were proved dangerous to the country. More serious was the method by which American citizens were held in jail without charge or ball. Although Palmer's net caught few dangerous characters, the nation seemed to be impressed with the dangers of foreign political philosophies. It was thinking in this vein which made the New York State Assembly refuse to seat 1Ibid., p. 49. 146 five newly elected Socialist members in 1920. Democratic Governor Al Smith, former Republican Governor Charles E. Hughes, and Republican Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. all pro- tested, but the Lusk Committee of the Assembly was success- ful in bringing about the expulsion of the members because they were Socialists. Other attempts were made by the legislature to pass laws to limit the freedom of speech but Governor Smith was able to make his vetoes stand.1 The fear that Bolshevism might spread from Russia to the United States gradually subsided in the early years of the decade of the Twenties. Attorney General Palmer cried long and loud in warning about an attempt to be made by the radicals to paralyze the business and order of the world by calling a general strike and letting loose a flood of violence on May Day, 1920. The day came and passed with- out any unseemly disorder. With the peaceful passing went Mr. Palmer's hopes of being drafted for the Presidency, and went the nation's fear of "bushy—bearded” Russians. So far had the fear abated that when suspected anarch- ist-inspired violence did occur with frightening loss of life, the nation, after temporary shock, recovered quickly, and again went about the prosaic business of buying and selling, living and dying. The violence was a bomb explosion in Wall Street opposite J. P. Morgan and Company shortly before noon, September 16, 1920. Thirty people were killed lNorman Hapgood and Henry Moskowitz, Up From the City Streets (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, l927),pp. 192ff. 147 and hundreds injured by the blast which apparently came from a horse—drawn, closed wagon which had been left standing on this street in the midst of the financial district. As Allen said, "The victims of the explosion were not the financial powers of the country, but bank clerks, broker's men, Wall Street runners."1 The little people, who were to gain by the destruction of the grasping money power, according to anarchist thinking, were destroyed instead. Reaction in the Twenties was not only against Commun- ism, but against labor also. The feeling was not just one- sided, with the public feeling labor was getting out of hand, there also was strong feeling on the part of labor against management. Strikes swept the country, and lockouts were justlasvicious. A national figure emerged. Calvin Coolidge came into the national limelight more for his terse statement during a Boston police strike than for his action as governor of the state in ending it. When Coolidge moved into action to end the strike he sent a terse message to Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, and, at that time, labor's most powerful figure. Coolidge said, ”There is no right to strike against the public safety by anyone, anytime, any— where."2 1Ibid., p. 73. 2William Allen White, A Puritan In Babylon (New York: Macmillan Co., 1938), p. 166. 148 Coolidge had waited until a strike of the policemen had been called, until rioting crowds broke into stores, until property was stolen or destroyed, until sympathy strikes and even a general strike seemed imminent, and then called the state militia into action. His sense of timing was superb for political expediency. He became famous. There was little opposition a few months later when his name was presented at the 192) Republican Convention for nomination for Vice President of the United States. The paradox of the Twenties was also present in the political sphere. The great liberal surge which swept the idealistic Woodrow Wilson into the Presidency in 1912, re- elected him in 1916, and stood solidly behind him during World War I, ebbed away in the frustrating days of postwar adjustment and peacemaking. The great inspirational leader collapsed as he went to the people in an effort to convince them of the need of American participation in the League of Nations. Once he was the magnificent hope of the world, now he was a broken man unable to rise above the implacable resistance of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and the ennui of the people. The selection of Warren Gamaliel Harding and his "normalcy" and Calvin Coolidge and his Yankee conservatism was a natural reaction to the heady idealism of Wilson and the disillusionment of a war fought to save the world for democracy. 149 The paradoxical situation also applied to the literae ture and arts of the Twenties. In a decade marked with violent attempts to control thought, to stamp out the Red specter, and to restrict labor, literature and the theater enjoyed one of the golden periods of our history. There was a great wealth of artistic talent in our authors and playrights during this period of extremes and paradoxes in the years after World War I. A list of the great literary names of the decade is correlative with many of the all-time American literary greats. Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, F. Scott Fitz- gerald, William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, I dare say, will always be included in anthologies of our great novelists. The names of Eugene O'Neil and Maxwell Anderson will always be included in the history of the American theater. A list of the great poets of the decade is impressively long: Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Vachel Lindsay, Robinson Jeffers, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Amy Lowell. The writer does not wish to give the impression that Americans of the decade of the Twenties were paradoxical about most facets of their lives while they were united in their taste for literature and the stage. For the most part, they were as pluralistic in taste for these art forms as they were in opinions on morals and politics. The only author listed among the great ones of the decade who was widely read in the Twenties was Sinclair Lewis. His Main 150 Street (1920), Babbitt (1922), and Elmer Gantry (1927) made what Frank Luther Mott called the "Better Sellers" List, those books which sold Just under a million copies.1 Mott‘s "Best Sellers" list (91§3_a million copies) makes a very diverse list in subject and taste in the Twenties as you might expect from this unusual time when people were straining to prepare for the future while at- tempting to cling to the past. The year 1920 had two "Best Sellers," one was a thriller, The Great Impersonation, and the other was the miracle of the publishing world, H. G. Wells' rather dull Outline g£_History. The other best sellers listed by Mott were: l921--Edith M. Hull, The Sheik. l924—-P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves. 1926-—Will Durant, The Story g£_Philosophy. ,1929--Lloyd C. Douglas, The Magnificent Obsession. 1929--Robert C. Ripley, Believe ;t_9£_flgt, Note there is no Hemingway, Lewis, Wolfe, or Faulkner listed. The list does not contain all the names of books and authors who enjoyed great popularity and readership. Tarzan stories were popular. Earl Derr Biggers was writing Charlie Chan stories which were made into movies that came back to the late—late television shows a generation later. Dashiel Hammett, author of the Thin Man series, reached popularity in the Twenties; Remarque's All Quiet Qn the lFrank Luther Mott, Golden Multitudes (New York: Mac— millan, 19u7), see Appendix. 151 Western Front sold in great numbers late in the period. Durant and Wells were not the only popular non-fiction writers, for Abbe Dimnet's The Art g£_Thinking, Heinrich Van Loon's The Story of Mankind, J. H. Robinson's The Mind in_ the Making, Giovanni Papini's The Life of Christ, and Bruce Barton's modern look at Christ, The Man Nobody_Knows were all "better sellers." The books of F. Scott Fitzgerald (who today is thought of as having spoken for the ”flaming youth" of the Twenties) were not "best sellers” or ”better sellers,‘l although they did sell well enough to support the author in a life in which he was frenetically in search of something Just beyond his fingertips. The stereotype of youth of the Twenties so often por- trayed may come from study of Fitzgerald, and College Humor, Percy Marks' Plastic Age, and Fabian's Flaming Youth. The image of a girl in a short-skirted, hipless dress, topped by a cloche hat covering a bobbed head, and decorated with a long string of beads which wildly flapped left and right as she per'petually gyrated in a "Charleston” is certainly a caricature of the age. These changing years of the Twenties were the years of radio's mushroom growth, the years radio changed from a home~made novelty to multi—million dollar big business. While radio was expanding other changes were taking place. The old days, ”The Good Years'l as Walter Lord calls 152 them, the years between the turn of the century and the Great War of 1914 seem so stable, peaceful, and settled when one looks back at them. No wonder "normalcy,' the word Harding coined, had such a nostalgic appeal to those who could remember the early years. But the Great War cracked the world open. Youth went on the march. Henry Ford put America on wheels. Youth began to make use of the auto for illegal drinking from hip flasks in spite of the Volstead Act. "Necking" and "petting" and l'rumble seat" became part of the American vocabulary and mores. America changed in other ways in those years when radio was an infant. America became an urban nation. The United States Census showed that in 1920 for the first time there was a larger percentage of people living in towns and cities of a population of 2,500 or more than there were in smaller towns and rural areas.1 Young people moved from the farms and small towns to the cities for better employ- ment opportunities during the war, and the migrations con— tinued after the war. There was a certain adventure and excitement and anonymity about the city. The opportunities of making money in the big industrial plants, in the offices and stores, were so much greater than back home. The rural moral—overseeing 1New York Times, June 16, 1925, gave the estimated pop- ulation of the United States as of January 1, 1924 as 112,828,000. The U. S. census for 1920 was 105,710,620; for 19306it was 122,775,046, according to the World Almanac, 1960, p. 2 3. 153 was lost in the crowds of the city. Young people could "live their own lives" and enjoy a new freedom of action. Let us pick up one issue of the New York Times in the week before the Presidential election of 1924 and see the great array of film and stage stars offered for the public's entertainment. Many of the names are familiar even today.1 l'Abie's Irish Rose" was in its third year on Broadway. "What Price Glory” was at the Plymouth Theater, ”Rose Marie” at the Imperial, and the "Greenwich Village Follies" at the Schubert. Pavlova was appearing in a farewell tour; Jeritza, Chaliapin, and Martinelli were all singing at the Metropoli- tan Opera House. Will Rogers presented a new monolog each night at the ”Ziegfield Follies,” while Eddie Cantor starred in ”Kid Boots" and the Marx Brothers in ”I'll Say She Is." Ed Wynn, the Perfect Fool, appeared in "The Grab Bag." Concerts by John McCormack, Reinald Werrenrath, Heifitz, Hoffmann, Elman, and Spalding were presented at Carnegie Hall. Jeanne Eagel was in the ninety-second week of ”Rain" and Ethel Barrymore was playing the leading role in "The Second Mrs. Tangueray." Marilyn Miller was advertised in the title role of "Peter Pan." Joseph Schildkraut was at the Morosco Theater in ”Firebrand.” The choice of entertainment seemed endless. If one wanted the spectacular, there was still time to see Max 1New York Times, November 1, 1924, p. 10. ‘51-“ l/ \\ 154 Reinhardt's ”The Miracle” then in its last two weeks at the Century. If the "Follies” did not satisfy there was George White's "Scandals" or Earl Carroll's "Vanities." B. F. Keith offered vaudeville at the Hippodrome and Tex Austin was presenting a rodeo at the old Madison Square Garden. For those who wanted more risque entertainment, Jimmie Cooper's ”Revue” was playing at the Columbia Burlesk. The movie theaters offered a wide selection also. Among those appearing on the screens were many movie stars still remembered today: Gloria Swanson in "Her Love Story" Nazimova and Milton Sills in ”Madonna of the Streets May McAvoy in ”Tarnish" Richard Dix in "Manhattan” J. Walter Kerrigan in ”Captain Blood" Marion Davies in "Janice Meredith” Harold Lloyd in ”Hot Water" Mary Pickford in "Dorothy Vernon of Hadden Heights" Agnes Ayres in "Worldly Goods” There was also a Hal Roach comedy, ”The Baltimore ' playing; and Jack Dempsey was appearing in person Orioles,‘ on the stage of the State Theater. The movies, the stage, the Sunday Supplement, Prohibi- tion, the Great War, books, magazines, the population shift to the city, industrialization, the age of electricity--each one can be shown to have had a vast influence on the thinking, 11 -.- ‘5" o/ \\ lithe customs, . stinging years c raiiu seemed to :ai been ut a h u ., 1» #3 3:.5, 1"th vraorcSo-c‘ as," .. w , 7“! _ "“'Euv.‘.On 5"“ ..V '4 ‘I v ”"N‘ A «.4 .‘u_O 2:33..” at “is. <1 . “'5‘, ' “'53 {VB-”ion . ‘ v y ya so .. f‘ v “VY’I 155 on the customs, and on the mores during the paradoxical and changing years of the Twenties. But of all the influences radio seemed to be the most dramatic in effect. Where there had been but a handful of home radio receiving sets and a very few transmitting stations in 1920, by 1924 the receivers could be counted in the millions and the sending stations in the hundreds. In many ways 1924 was the year radio took shape. Cer— tainly there had been developments in technique every year since the government lifted the wartime freeze on stations, but in 1924 the practicability of coast—to-coast broadcasting was demonstrated not once but several times. The political conventions and campaigns of 1924 afforded the telephone and radio groups opportunity to experiment with intercon— nection of stations by land wires and short wave. It was proved practicable to broadcast a program from one section of the country simultaneously to all parts of the land. Technical problems which had been overcome in regional net- works could now be avoided in a national system of station hookups. It was natural that the political conventions of 1924 should serve as testing grounds for multiple station hook- ups. The radio industry was ready for the trial; the con- ventions offered height of interest sufficient to impress the country with any such test. The first of the major conventions was the Republican, which was scheduled for Cleveland in June. Shurick wrote he - c ..e if: Ha V q- O t was «f A :3 up llaae V cra“ ...-'n In": Until us ‘ fr v. ~ 6 mace ,n..." .n -yW‘ e the s‘ -{:.F' .P. an...” H u ‘ _'Y A A;-J V .9 p § .44 1.3x. CY Au \ - fl“ ‘Iv"-\l“ , .‘n ‘- a R~‘h... 2,... “Ana. V 156 that it was the Chicago Tribune which was the first to in- quire of AT&T of the availability of telephone lines for picking up the convention for radio.1 At the time the Tribune made the inquiry, there was a possibility Chicago might be the site of the convention. The newspaper was told it would be necessary to deal with the Republican National Committee because of the importance of the event. The Republican Convention broadcast was to be a try- out not only of interconnection of stations but also of pro— duction techniques. Programming had to be arranged flexibly enough so that convention highlights could be broadcast as they occurred. Before the Convention opened, The New York $$mg§_said "The majority of program directors have made up their schedules with soloists and readers so that they can be quickly taken 'off the air‘ when it is opportune to switch the Cleveland microphone into the broadcasting circuit."2 Banning, in his semi-official history of station WEAF, said the broadcasting of conventions not only demonstrated technical knowledge and skill in interconnection of stations -in such a way as to make national broadcasting possible but -also proved the economic stability of the industry. He said: Such a significance can be ascribed to them be— cause of the fact that the broadcasting stations themselves share in the expense of the wire network that was temporarily set aside for the service. In 1E. P. J. Shurick, The First Quarter Century of Ameri: can Broadcasting(Kansas City: Midland Publishing Co., 1946), p.’257. 2 New York Times, June 8, 1924, VIII, p. 19. ‘1" I \\ Ann f \H - 3.». V because distanc: The c Ffinrtsy‘l ‘vv 0 UV. U‘O‘- VJ o :24: 0'16 wt .IAVUU . h V . naurt‘fi"! l deJuu.J S . . A ‘ “mi 3 tr= :C vs J,‘ .. ..d._vna #A 'P‘ ‘ I- 1 _ y“. .‘:b CAQa *. fin.“ u . . cu MULALQ Cg \v. :A‘."s '“““'vee v:; u I :‘Ii \rAvW a " lUuLC — O imp”; ‘~ 3- . §‘ v. I «.3 h v. I. ‘Q- \: s .' s s. ”'3” “ 1° 5‘. “‘1“; : C l.‘ l- ’1. '-‘\ A‘ '\'~\ “‘«L ,v ‘ W k“ y- HQ..:-vl A 157 so doing, they were accepting the principle which based the idea of serving a chain of stations by delivering programs during Long Lines off-peak hours, and their experience showed how local station pres- tige could be increased and new listeners gained because of program material brought by wires from a distance source. The convention gave the broadcasting industry the op— portunity of doing public service reporting on a large scale. These programs of public interest were brought to the country's living rooms at the expense of the broadcasting stations. At first the telephone company thought it was up against an almost impossible problem of adapting its telephone wire facilities to a plan for the interconnection of radio sta- tions in the principal cities of the country for reporting the national convention without unduly disrupting its long distance business. The company finally went to the Republi- can National Committee with a list of twelve cities to which it could deliver the convention proceedings. The national committee was told it should select the cities it wanted and should make arrangements with local broadcasters. The results were excellent.2 Generally speaking, the expense of broadcasting the convention was borne by the radio stations and AT&T as part of their regular operating expense. For the campaign proper, it was thought the national committees should pay for political programs with the possible exception of a few lBanning, op. cit., p. 241. 2New York Times, July 19, 1924, p. 2. CK < u f . e .C V. C ..C «Pi. ”a r“ e r . C p O W; MC 6 c tun D» e S D. in“ l e S S F ¢ a .1, A n PM ha 3. r AV S l a A V 1 a l 1 .u o a Tn 7i nfio eta 1: n. . u w it“ .ll. U!” I. F. esoft I 1'5' 1‘5 IV-V\, w. . v. . U Q» r o T . a \ Y1! r\ u! a c t ). a 3 .1. 8 VJ .. i a o 1 i O T. a o S . . C 1 9 + s c . e a o T e a y l. w m u llx .. . S . 3 r n v ai a U. .m u n . “Q Tn ...u l C 8 \1/ w" .. i .n t e e a a n2 U 4 i C E Q. ,1 ii Pu. so 8 l e .n... .1. a S C P .nh Pa 2. a a w M Y O s . flu mi a» a u .e "l. O 11 ad 1,. r“ o. -. . "J 2 a at .1 ab .flu o as v. c.» a; n1. AC .r u .n u .5 . q. a nu J . «v n . ah «\u 3. NFL 5 Y. a, v r . .3 u D. :. .. . l . 3 a. smut nu. v.1. .L n . . 7 a o F. n... .14 a . s; a: :s E nu a: A ,v e s v . AL . . A: A v a: 5‘ a. . a: p: r .. xv .. :l. 3» A v na‘ n?- . ~ «#9 ml». b. u .T I h. o nub q n ..In s c . . .4 v 158 major speeches by the leading candidates. The public response to the announcement that the national conventions were to be broadcast was tremendous. New sales records were set for radio receivers and parts. Millions were thrilled with the possibility of hearing the voices of the political leaders of the nation. Radio advertising blossomed forth in the newspapers, especially after the successful broadcast of the Republican convention. Headlines of the ads read: ”First Row Seats at the Democratic Convention for your whole family (no standing)”' ”Ware Neutrodyne on Five Day Free Trial from Landay's (9 stores)"; "The Famous de Forest D-74 formerly $144.50 with loop and tubes now $65, on time"; ”5,000,030 people listened in by radio when Coolidge and Dawes were nominated. Landay's Club Plan brings the Democratic Con- vention to you--by radio.”l There was no doubt the 1924 campaign was to be a radio election. It was commonly accepted that radio would afford all the country an opportunity of hearing the candi— dates. Early in the spring, broadcasting input apparatus was set up on the White House lawn for the convenience of 2 William McAdoo, one of the contenders for the President. the Democratic nomination, applied for a broadcasting li- cenaafor a station to be built at his home in Los Angeles. 1New York Times, June 18, 1924, p. 13. 2New Republic, March 19, 1924, p. 91. \." Q a71*‘,-\ l I‘fi", DEI$¢~I¢V VUV O 0 fl An‘y‘flv ‘ 1' ' "‘ ', -a ‘58 av u.‘vv‘\A ’A‘ h 9 1G., :3. a no*~.ei., l - n ”up as :H'v““es' itau .V Ai.‘ 'v :h‘fip.‘ ’5 .. "- O l n»- ‘ “a ‘eeuya 1 h Q with. -n a h," 3 le‘ ‘ l "‘n. ‘ .‘\ "F‘VL n »~"‘:‘i‘v CW 6- ‘ U "l“! L,“ cm-W “""“d V',‘ wf‘“‘ \r VM‘ ‘l- ~’? 7‘ ."V w 1 "' ‘w-EYCQ“: . ‘1‘ Hi . g“ .. D . I'V c.‘ “nvu “"0 ‘.V 'fi. 'I‘ C lugr’e W55 ~.. I ‘ a. A l - H .Vii n VS 'fl‘r‘. I‘& . L'A ‘1," k“. '0 1% J in“ JC‘. I. ‘ :‘l$¢.1 ‘vuicn \u “Q qu J .“e .1 «'fi‘,‘ ‘1‘: . Vo‘ah‘ "w a: j‘ ‘ *Eb “VEV‘ZV. ‘“.y K‘, J 159 The British had already used radio in the general elections of 1923. Now American politicians expected to make even greater use of the medium. There was speculation as to the value of radio as a political tool as the conventions and the campaign approached. It was acknowledged there was a present newness about radio and a novelty in hearing political candidates which could not be approached by the newspapers or the silent motion pictures. Radio overcame the barrier of distance—~and further- more, radio was wonderful because it projected the actual BLEE- But there were certain intangibles a radio speaker had to consider. How was he to know how he was getting across to his large but separated audiences when he had no communi- cations feedback? How long could he expect to hold his audi- ence in a political speech? Millions might listen to the President or to a Lloyd George, but how long and how patiently would people listen to routine speeches before they remembered as Merz said ”The saxophones begin at seven” and tuned the speaker out?1 There were many questions then about the value of radio in politics when the Republicans convened at Cleveland June 10, 1924 to nominate a candidate for President. There was little question about the candidate. Coolidge was un- touched by the disgrace of Teapot Dome and other scandals lCharles Merz, The Great American Bandwagon (New York: The Literary Guild, 1928), p. M9. .7». A A‘ v and 56' 0 v A10 8‘ l.‘ II hers, “-3., on rr "'13" cm. A Hy .- l A " " n “ftublkcan S ‘A H .9 AV creak tt p 'r av‘ 51‘ A 391 pos. e “a,“ ‘Ubhtgl ‘V‘." 5‘17) VbDvJ. n vv ‘2‘“ Na. at?" .2 :m‘n Y. _'~ :‘r 1" he .\!o Y4 (.iv's‘ c- ’D '0 In a“, Va. q 160 of Warren G. Harding's administration. The nation felt safe and secure with Coolidge. Will Rogers said "He could have been nominated by postcard.”l Furthermore, Coolidge had close reins on his party. Republican Senators had been in the decision-making position in the 1920 convention. That year they chose one of their own members, Warren G. Harding, as a dark horse candidate to break the Wood—Lowden stalemate. In 1924 it was differ— ent. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge had been one of the most powerful in 1920, but now in 1924 he was relegated to an obscure position in the convention. Graham McNamee described this first convention to be broadcast over radio. He was there, of course, for his sta- tion, WEAF. He said: So two weeks before the opening, one of our plant men went with me to Cleveland to look the big hall over and find out as much as we could about the procedure. After this little reconnaissance we returned to the office and went back to Cleveland again with a staff of thirteen men two days before the first gun was ”fired.”2 McNamee found a huge hall with about 16,000 seats, and a gallery for spectators. The auditorium was marked in sections for the various states. To the right side was a pipe organ, to the left a place for a band. There was a stage for the dignitaries, and in front of the stage a plat- form where the actual officers sat. From this platform a 1New York Times, June 19, 1924, p. 5. 2McNamee, op. cit., pp. 72ff. 2w .. smut} “ CI“? ofN sh 'I "In; A. at :n“ - mu :8 .o ink. «h» A: C . hfi* '1. . ‘ t “ fi~ u A h . t .b .flu hi“ V IV we W . rr . . . . A , A 1 ~ nu. Dy ) n . . ,C . . . . 5 Dy 3 Ow at ha AV Orv nv .VYV Awiv om Db mm 8 m S S a i 3 mi. Au .1 e C .C C. .1. f: w . e a a .C .C pi. e r1 P S S n i L e at 1.. b AG as a» «b n. e a. a na V0. p; .. so a a W a E h“ r. .. i x -3. mm 8 To a. , a . . no 5. a» bi b‘V F a , A 1h A «I A. “L 1 I. a , . 1 a Ft. . é». a to av D. a. S F .P V" w a vb w. .p. a... flu. M. a No He. 1. ad I n. .91. u. . a v .. w l. H. 11. m... i. a. n u . . .5 x n ”a r. a: a... "A“ New "L r u “in at. .y» one . . p v n'w p: 5 Hi». _ \ 9 s . .w. tl.[ (1 \III 161 narrow tongue, about four feet wide, ran out into the audi- ence. There the chairman or speaker stood when there was an announcement or speech to be made. A glass broadcasting booth was erected on the stage near the base of the proscenium arch. The booth was equipped with a table, a chair, paper, telephone, head phones, and a little board of signal lights. There were two microphones, one for announcing, the other for a spare. Microphones were also placed by the organ, by the band, and on the narrow tongue. The announcer could control his own mike but the others were under the direction of the control room. There was an associate on the narrow tongue who relayed to the announcer by phone information about what was going on. The Republican convention ran quite smoothly. The sentiments were almost entirely for Coolidge. Even in the preliminaries of the meeting on the first mention of Coolidge's name there was a spontaneous cheer which lasted twenty minutes. Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot, receiving all but 44 of the 1,209 votes. Mr. Coolidge had chosen Dr. Marion Burton, president of the University of Michigan, to place his name in nomina— tion. Dr. Burton and Mr. Coolidge had become friends when Burton had been head of Smith College at Coolidge's home town of Northampton, Massachusetts, a few years before. The convention was largely under Coolidge's control, as can be seen by his almost unanimous victory on the first \/ w‘y shy' U 811‘ S u?! '1‘ ‘A use Preside a; ‘ Cw L‘U‘Avi "{1‘ 1FW Bran: hil‘-G.u v-54 -' ‘ ' H! Z-gflet ""‘ti '5 ‘ . ':"’\V'.:(-‘ T‘ P‘ g ."V“'\“ b “u: thy fi' 1 . VI 0 “VhSIE- ”Y ’ but... .5 "‘L:r~ “ “145 1‘ "brings?- ”; “49 hr “\- :. ”'5; HA chap ..n ' : , "N a V. Ll: ‘ A Cs '_ P‘Ju. ~75? {,f" «2:; \ \“e."" 0' 162 ballot. The only time the Old Guard Senators were able to show their strength was in the selection of a nominee for Vice President. Coolidge's first choice for a running mate was Senator William Borah. A story has been told in which Coolidge per— sonally asked Borah before the convention to share the ticket with him. Borah's answer was said to have been: "At which end‘?"1 After Borah declined Coolidge's request, the President favored Judge William S. Kenyon of Iowa. The Old Guard, however, managed to put through the nomination of Frank O. Lowden, who had figured so prominently in the deadlock with General Leonard Wood in the 1920 convention. Lowden refused to accept the nomination. The Coolidge forces next backed Herbert Hoover for the position, but the Old Guard was in- strumental in nominating Dawes.2 The Coolidges sat in the White House and listened in on the proceedings of the Republican National Convention as many millions of Americans throughout the country were doing. The Coolidges were fortunate in having a new eight tube radio equipped with a loud speaker. Millions of other interested Americans listened with less efficient sets but with no less interest, perhaps. I The convention was carried by stations WEAF, New York, and WCAP, Washington, which were connected with others by 1William Allen White, op. cit., p. 301. 2Bruce Minton and John Stuart, The Fat Years and the Lean (New York: International Publishers, 1940), p. 119. ’r ‘ r. ..., con c-dv m (2‘ 3 _' Vk: qhwngr v" sci» IVV...|J\.‘.~{ c "ago" ~ ‘,~ I." V'. Q ,'__ oa‘h .-..,~~ ’ .‘ x. V ' Q ’I Qr‘fivfl' ..,. V l V ’— uo~y ‘4V- v V I 1 ‘Pc Dafi‘ AV do.\. L v.‘ "‘1, 1":- Y‘: “" to“ - 'cmk.’n‘v~ n - '.‘ vrdy-‘ “..~ Hunt!“ " ‘: V-‘vgv h‘eev_~ I +"\A 3 - .. -‘ V‘.“ .. "W ' . h \l.". ”a“ Np}: L ‘o \A “.1“ h ‘5‘] l s V. h h n..'|18 “‘:.'\¢. ‘- \ v . ~:.,SH 0:1 ‘- . ‘ea ~._N-I1- V" su‘» f.‘.€.vl O ‘1 ~"‘s‘ A." 1 "in ‘ (j) r P «’D 5.) 163 wire in twelve widely separated cities. There must have been a great flurry in making last minute arrangements but finally there were sixteen stations in those cities linked in one great network.1 The Cleveland stations WJAX and WTAM had arranged to share time in such a manner that a micrOphone would always be open to the convention. KDKA, the Westinghouse station in Pittsburgh was broadcasting on short wave as well as the regular wave length. A relay station had been erected by the company near the geographical center of the country at Hastings, Nebraska. This station was used to rebroadcast the short wave signal of KDKA so that it could be picked up by KGO, Oakland, California, and from there be sent out for the Pacific coast area. The nation listened to the three day meeting of the Republicans and looked forward with interest to the Demo- cratic meeting to be held in old Madison Square Garden in New York, starting June 24. In the meantime, the Republicans considered the choices they had made—-Coolidge and Dawes. Coolidge, of course, was known to almost all Americans. He was quiet, and a man of few words. He seemed to have a sense of timing so that he would appear at the opportune moment when his actions and words would receive the most political attention. Men talked about Coolidge luck, even 1See Appendix D. y of unknct V! b SIC V “p33 ‘4‘ v "a; \ I :..4 ill 1'9 20 . ”an" AU rN‘VV’FV ». v . Q .int q f‘- m... «6. J v: 114-1.- PA - H» v \lu : 1 men C: A y. 1'" h ‘\ -39. ~ 7 {vs ‘4. m . 3.1 'u 164 back in the early days of his career when Coolidge was moving up slowly from legislator to Governor of Massachusetts. A story of unknown origin has been told about a man commenting on the nomination of Coolidge to run for Vice President on the ticket when Warren G. Harding ran successfully for Pres- ident in 1920. In the story, the man is supposed to have said he would hate to be Harding in this case because he knew about the Coolidge luck. After all, Harding's heart- beat was all that was between Coolidge and the Presidency. Although it does not seem that Harding's death should be attributed to Coolidge's luck, nevertheless Coolidge came back into focus again at that time. The Vice President had been largely overshadowed by the handsome and genial Harding. When Coolidge came back to the attention of the people it happened dramatically. He made good news copy. Coolidge was vacationing in Vermont at his father's home when Harding died. The news was brought to the isolated hamlet, Plymouth, Vermont where the elder Coolidge lived, in the middle of the night by a messenger who had to pound on the door to wake the occupants. Father Coolidge answered the door and took the message to his son. To continue with the picture which all America began to form in the next few days from radio and newspaper reports: the grim—lipped Vice President carefully dressed and came downstairs into the kerosene lamplight of the sitting room. There in this modest home in a tiny Vermont village Calvin Coolidge raised his right hand while his left rested on the ‘ . n \tLA- 5 Y)‘.W‘ A Vol. eside H Y‘ ‘ P the peace, fig tuv *n" Y'. Votq- , czfiefi on». J W». P B. Pan 5. «46“ Cl :88, A a v. “A r‘r~ V'ht 165 family Bible, and he thus took his oath and was sworn in as the President of the United States. His own father, a justice of the peace, in his official capacity swore in Calvin Coolidge. A few humble people and neighbors were the only witnesses. It made a story to be told and retold. From this moment on until he left office in 1929, Calvin Coolidge was regularly in the news. It was not only because he was President, but also because he was a colorful New England Yankee character. He learned the value of radio early and used it as often as he could. West says Coolidge appeared thirty-seven times on radio during his six and one- half years in the White House. This was in the days before regular Presidential news conferences, and his appearances were notable occasions.l’2 As noted previously, Coolidge's first Message to Congress, December 4, 1923, was broadcast by radio. This was the first time a President's Message had ever been trans- mitted over radio. Station WCAP was the originating point lRobert West, The Rape of Radio (New York: Rodin Pub- lishing Company, 19411, p. 416 2H. C. Kaltenborn in an interview recorded in the Oral History Collection, Columbia University, p. 154, gave his impression of Coolidge: "I remember his New England twang, the terseness with which he answered questions. He never said anything more than was necessary. I remember walking into that famous oval room in the White House where the President sees his visitors and Mr. Coolidge actually stood up as I approached his desk, shook hands in an indifferent sort of manner and then said, ' Sit down' (pause) 'for a minute'." ‘VI e Reta, - *L- a 138' 3'1 h V OBS WI ,. e 1 l ‘ D M «Li. «Av-1 1 A Th 1 ink to mill L0 s,w 'A‘I‘ Jud- .AA . a 5vvl , ”,3" u» with a l Qy Y . sly Cx r. A Cs Tal 1. \ 4 a 11 .. .iw C a o a . i at .h. D. e 7. C S a S oi :1 C C: C «a C .. i T e C 1.. a u A. T U Ru 1. o J i h: n O n .mw e S + o n . “W 8. a u e .. . hi. a.» U .1 9x .W a. AM To ‘P. l l . e 22!; «\u no a» s . l .. a . Au up. LL w a 14 «N u F .u Qy l ‘ A u § u AV 2‘. Fm n w «\u nQ P .. s a w . Au » A ,v M . an. c W a s . v. . 2.1. a: .1. u : . 3.... V... ha. ... .... My. a - .... .. ... ... 166 with a link to WEAF, New York, WJAR, Providence, KSD, St. Louis, WDAF, Kansas City, and WFAA, Dallas. Reception was good; millions were believed to have heard the President's voice. The speech mentioned as taking place six days later from the White House was carried by the WCAP—WEAF-WJAR network. Coolidge spoke over radio seven more times between December and the Republican Convention in June.1 The last speech he gave before the convention was one during the National Oratorical Contest. Coolidge and Chief Justice William Howard Taft appeared together on this occasion, just a few days before the Republicans met in Cleveland. The Rotary Club of Chicago planned and announced another radio speech for President Coolidge. This was to be made in celebration of the founding of Rotary. The club selected WJAZ, Chicago, and eighteen other stations scattered across the country as official stations for the occasion. The discussions which followed between Rotary and AT&T illustrate how little outsiders knew about the cost of facilities for interconnecting stations. AT&T offered to broadcast the speech of the President over the WEAF-WCAP-WJAR network without charge, but Rotary did not want to pay the linking charge necessary to bring the talk to Chicago. The Rotarians could not see the basis 1See Appendix C. ssfvv ‘vv \- ems on Qt. u l fl. 4.-U- r) r x . . 8 ad « a 3 v a C S .C “W w . 3 L .1 b «O S h A: A» AC a n . 3.. b P 5.. Dy 0. .C (A as S 1 I. ha sh,“ V“ '13“ O, V D» A, u .8“ .nd «(v 3 . D. v S 9 i NLV Shitty!" V: a Q N. o :3 ween h I u 167 for a charge of $2,500 to connect Washington and Chicago when the long distance telephone rate for the same time would be $14.40. (They did not understand that several lines had to be held in operation during the speech with a number of tech- nicians on duty along the way to operate booster devices.) Once the Rotary Club realized it would have to pay the fee or go without the service they suggested that since the speech was by the President of the United States it should be broadcast without charge. The reply of AT&T was to make a distinction between the broadcasting of a speech of the President when he was acting in an official capacity and when he was talking in a private or unofficial capacity. Coolidge found in radio a medium for projecting him- self in a more favorable light than he could in person according to what H. V. Kaltenborn, the news commentator, said of him and his voice: I didn't like Coolidge as a person. He lacked warmth and had little popular appeal. When he had himself photographed with a ten gallon hat or an Indian headdress, he onlylooked ridiculous. He had few real friends. He admired certain people, par- ticularly those who achieved business success. That's what explains his warm relations with Mr. Stearns, the successful proprietor of a department store in Boston. Coolidge cultivated him throughout his political career and used to discuss problems with him after he became President. Kaltenborn said of Coolidge's radio voice: The quality of a President's voice is sure to be imitated with exaggeration of some particular con- sideration. Mr. Coolidge spoke rather precisely and in his New England twang carried well over radio. He was voted the third most popular radio speaker during his presidency, largely because of 168 this homely unmistakeable quality of speech. He was also the first president to make numerous addresses over the radio. Before he became President, he was hardly known outside of New England. Radio helped make him a national figure. Few people at that time had access to a national radio network. Kaltenborn also said that Coolidge had a dry sense of humor and probably practiced economy in speech because he realized what he said might be misconstrued and distorted. Therefore, he said as little as possible. He said Coolidge proved he had a keen sense of value of his own words by the price he exacted for what he wrote after he retired from the Presidency.2 Probably one of the most famous quotations which described Mr. Coolidge and his radio voice is one which was originally made by Charles Michelson in the New York World. It deserves to be quoted in full: Mr. Coolidge is no orator. There is a wire edge to his voice, due in some degree to the regular nasal twang of the thirty-third degree Yankee and in part to his meticulous enunciation of each syllable; but according to the professors of the new art, he has a perfect radio voice. The twang and the shrillness disappear somewhere along the aerial and he sounds through the ether with exact clearness as well as softness. Mr. Davis, on the contrary, has a voice which to the direct auditorhas that bell-like quality of 1Kaltenborn, Oral History, op. cit., p. 156. 2Frank Luther Mott, American Journalism (New York: Macmillan Company, 1950), p. 732} ’Here Mott reports that Coolidge was paid $3.80 per word for two articles pur- chased by American Magazine after he left the White House. 169 resonance that doubles the quality of his beautiful rhetoric. Via radio, however, this muffles and fogs to some extent. The radio was perfected just in time for Mr. Coolidge. William M. Butler, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, announced shortly after the Republican Convention that Mr. Coolidge would stay at the White House and campaign from there in several important radio addresses. Charles G. Dawes was assigned the active speaking and traveling campaign. Charles Dawes was about seven years older than Coolidge but more energetic in his actions and speech. At the age of fifty—nine he was prepared to make a blazing campaign across the country, blasting away at his opponents in his charac— teristic fashion. All his life he had been straight from the shoulder, a cutter of red tape. He was born in Marietta, Ohio, in 1865, and lived there until he was graduated from the local college. He went on to Cincinnati Law School. He worked so energetically summers on the Marietta, Columbus, and Northern Ohio Rail- road that he was made chief engineer of construction before he was out of law school. He was graduated before he was old enough to take the bar examinations, but after a short wait he passed them and started practice in Lincoln, Nebraska. Dawes made a name for himself in law early by his work as counsel for the Lincoln Board of Trade in seeking a 1Radio Broadcast, November, 1924, pp. 20-21. 170 reduction of Nebraska railroad rates. He moved to Evanston before he was thirty when he became interested in the gas business in Illinois and other western points. Dawes helped organize Illinois for McKinley for Presi- dent in 1896, and was active in securing his candidate's nomination and election. Dawes was appointed Comptroller of Currency in 1898. His tenure was conspicuous for effici- ency of administration and disregard for red tape. His office was concerned at that time in the conduct of many receiverships and trusts created after the financial trouble of 1893. He retired from his government post in 1902 to return to Chicago to organize the Central Trust Company of Illinois, which became one of Illinois' strongest financial institutions. His quiet life was interrupted by WorldWar I. He volunteered for military service in 1917 even though he was over age. He was commissioned Major and then Lieutenant- Colonel of the 17th Engineers (RR) because of his work experi- ence during his college days. He was placed on General Pershing's staff in France as chairman of the general pur- chasing board and chief of the supply procurement. Subse- quently, he served on combined Allied boards and on the liquidation committee of the American Expeditionary Forces. In all this work he stressed efficiency and economy. President Harding appointed Dawes the first Director of the Budget (1921) on Dawe's own terms that he could do 171 it non—politically and that he would get cooperation from government officials. Dawes worked hard for a year and then resigned because he felt he had established the budget office on a satisfactory and permanent basis. Charles Dawes wasappointedixll923 to the job which gave him international prominence. He and Owen D. Young of General Electric were appointed as the American members of an international committee of experts to advise the Repara- tions Committee on means of stabilizing Germany's economy so that she could make reparations payments to the Allies. Dawes was chosen chairman of the group so the report of it became known as the Dawes plan. This was widely hailed, and Dawes' name became known throughout the world. This was the forceful man who was chosen over Kenyon and Hoover to be Coolidge's Vice Presidential nominee. Coolidge and Dawes had been nominated with little trouble, little intrigue, and no factional breaks in the party. In three days, the party delegates had been able to conclude their work and think of starting home. The Coolidge nomination had come about as predicted; the future looked good for the Republican party. Graham McNamee and his fellow workers undoubtedly felt the experience of broadcasting the Republican Conven- tion would be adequate preparation for the Democratic about two weeks later. WJZ, the New York RCA station, and WGY, Schenectady, the General Electric station decided to link together for 172 Major J. Andrew White's description of the Democratic Con- vention.l New York City made expensive arrangements to welcome the delegates. While there was much enthusiasm and noise, there was not the singleness of purpose such as there had been at the Republican Convention in Cleveland. The convention opened at old Madison Square Garden on June 24 and lasted fifteen days, a contrast to the three days of the GOP meeting. In New York, the United States Senators attending were much in the limelight, again a contrast to the earlier convention. The Democrats were split before the convention started, split on several questions, but most sharply on the Ku Klux Klan. After World War I, promoters had found it was finan— cially profitable to turn the pent—up hatreds and strong feelings engendered during the war against Negroes, Roman Catholics, and Jews through the secret agencies of the K.K.K. The movement with its hooded robes and secret ceremo- nials had spread through the South and Middle West particu— larly. Its one hundred per cent Americanism, its white supremacy appeal swayed many: others saw it as a convenient screen behind which to hide selfish or illegal activity. Some were attracted to the organization because membership had become an important status symbol in some areas. Still 1See Appendix D for list of stations participating. 173 others joined probably because they were afraid not to-- pressure from friends and neighbors was too great to resist. The Republicans had been able to sidestep the Klan but the Democrats had to face the ugly issue. As a result, they were so torn apart they were unable to put on an ef- fective Presidential campaign. Few men had the courage to stand out against the Klan, for it was political death to do so in many parts of the country. That same year William Allen White ran as an independent candidate for governor of Kansas on an anti- Klan platform because he could persuade neither the Republi- can nor the Democratic parties to repudiate the organization. Men who sat in the Democratic Convention knew the explosive nature of the KKK question and tried to avoid any open discussion of it. Al Smith had taken a definite stand against the Klan. William McAdoo, the other leading pros- pect for nomination, who drew most of his support from the South and parts of the West where the Klan was the strongest, made no public statement on the KKK, although he personally did not ascribe to its tenets. William Jennings Bryan, still prominent in the Demo- cratic party, fought one of the last great battles of his career at the 1924 convention. He tried to prevent the party from tearing itself to shreds over a resolution for the party to go on record as censuring the Klan. Jay G. Hayden, presently the Senior Washington cor- respondent for the Detroit News, covered the Democratic 'mww'n'”? ssryention as l. 1 383131011. E ‘ J ” 55 533“"hed 2v- ‘Ifii‘ I v‘ H " '0 ‘1 my“, ‘A r.‘ 5* vaogV, on ea‘fi‘ TA, ”A“ ”2 v “‘V.e. it Ha'v ‘ J ha' “g 1 44, ‘t “5’- ‘x—Q;lvv '5'“ “a s.‘~hfi. u’vuu Peca:r :1 ‘ us IA "v ‘9'!“ "*‘+'ar c u a. :1.“ “3:; car a i “r o . ‘-K Van, J“ \— Y‘I w A an)“; CU ‘- j‘clf- ., “qufi-c. - V f~ ) 174 convention as a young reporter. He is sure no one knows what the real results were of that vote on the censure resolution. Before the vote was taken, feeling ran high. Men threatened one another with violence. Delegations split and split again. Votes were cut into fractions of halves, quarters, eighths. In the noise, the confusion, and the disorder that filled the Garden a vote was taken in the early hours of the morning. The count of the votes was finally announced--the censure resolution had lost by a fraction of a vote. In the excitement that followed, Hayden sought out Bryan and found him where he had retreated from the din and noise of the battle. Bryan, the man who had started out the day fresh and immaculate in his starched shirt front now was a wornout man, grey with tiredness, his clothes and hair disheveled.l Graham McNamee said William Jennings Bryan loomed most significantly in the convention. ”It was a splendid personal victory he won in the convention—~the last he was to enjoy on earth, for the Great Commoner will broadcast no more."2 It may have appeared as a splendid victory to McNamee, but it really was a hollowvictory, for the party was split beyond repair for this campaign. William G. McAdoo and Alfred E. Smith, the two prin- cipal candidates, were so strong they prevented each other lJay G. Hayden, in an interview with the writer in Washington, January 25, 1962. 2McNamee, op. cit., p. 91. 175 from winning the nomination. Their opinions and beliefs were so far apart that there was little chance of compromise between their followers. They tried to wear each other down for 102 ballots. In the end it was necessary to select John W. Davis of New York and West Virginia. The two candidates, McAdoo and Smith, symbolized the opposite poles on so many basic questions and tradi- tions it is understandable that they could not agree. McAdoo was a Dry who appealed to the rural people of the South and West and to fundamentalist Protestant voters in general. Smith was supported by the urban areas, in the North, by the Wets, and the Roman Catholics. Al Smith was by far the most popular candidate before the convention, although McAdoo outpolled him on the ballots of the delegates. When Smith‘s name was placed in nomina— tion the traditional demonstration lasted a record length of time. Lorant said the ovation was 73 minutes long, Mc— Namee said an hour and a half.1 Smith truly was a man of the people. He had been born in the lower East Side of New York City and lived there most of his life. He did not attend high school and seldom read a book, yet he had an analytical mind, a natural talent for speaking, a rugged honesty, and a desire to help people. He worked his way up through Tammany Hall. He was a process server, assemblyman, sheriff, speaker of the assembly, and lStefan Lorant, The Presidengy (New York: Macmillan Company, 1952), p. 558; McNamee, op. cit., p. 83. A‘- "W'to {— ./ finally governs: 1min his work investigated we: after the disast factary in New ‘; Emit. was asubstantial 2:: seems lancsli: ’ S p) ‘1 w :7 (D Q) Q; C) 0-9) ”T } b. In New in 19; .. Piano .4 i-oHVV-au‘c caw .A {)4 5359"“ a t: ,1 . ‘ vn was 4»?an 4.,- ’1. 1 .A : Mitt . an 192“ , I'M: in s 7..., “ 1C...) :2 B :5 E‘An ,. a.“ uSed *‘. A I 176 finally governor of New York. He had shown his humanitarian- ism in his work on the committee of the legislature which investigated working conditions in the garment industry after the disastrous fire at the Triangle Shirt Waist factory in New York City in 1911. Smith was elected governor of New York in 1918 by a substantial majority but lost to a Republican in the Harding landslide of 1920. Even though he was defeated he ran ahead of his ticket. He was returned to the governor's chair in 1922 with a plurality of 400,000 votes. Now in 1924, his name was placed in nomination for the Democratic candidate for President. The man who made the speech was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He had been on the ticket in 1920 with James M. Cox. Roosevelt was trying to re-enter politics again after a crippling attack of polio. This was all being broadcast by radio. Smith was one of the earliest to recognize the political value of radio. He had used it as frequently as he could, not only as a political tool, but also as a means of reaching citizens with discussions of problems of state government. He is remembered for his pronunciation ”raddio." He may have used this mistakenly the first time but probably continued using it long after he was corrected, because it amused him. Other expressions have been associated with Smith such as "baloney," ”no matter how you slice it, it's Still baloney," and ”let's look at the record.”1 lMcNamee, op. cit., p. 163. W1s1 4": < &/ "w‘m. Smith was the good work r.- with fondness a 321th was a ass I_——... Jam W. I 9.1 Smith had a it. I think 1“. 3 ‘ abachelor' s (3.3 .\ .ug, (hr. , pa..‘_ “NI ("1“ n Ito“gvan. (Pi-Vb: J. “ l77 Smith was highly respected by the men who knew him and the good work he did. Herbert Hoover, at 87, looked back with fondness at a long friendship with Smith and said "Al Smith was a gppd_man.”l John W. Davis, in reminiscing about the campaign, said Al Smith had a "thoroughly honest mind.” He said: "If you had put Smith through college I am not sure you wouldn't have lost the temper of the blade in the effort to sharpen it. I think his rugged common sense was more to him than a bachelor's degree.”2 Smith's leading opponent was William G. McAdoo, the son-in-law of Woodrow Wilson. Georgia-born McAdoo had come into prominence in New York City after moving there from Chattanooga where he had started the practice of law in 1902. Before he was forty, McAdoo formed a company to take over the abandoned Hudson River tunnel between Hoboken and Manhattan. This was completed in 1904. He completed an- other New York City tunnel by 1909. McAdoo was a strong supporter of Woodrow Wilson in 1912. After the victory, Wilson appointed him Secretary of the Treasury. In this new job, McAdoo helped work out the details of the new Federal Reserve System. His department conducted four Liberty Loan Drives in which eighteen billion lHerbert C. Hoover, in an interview with the writer, New York City, November 3, 1961. 2John W. Davis from an interview recorded in the Oral History Project at Columbia University, p. 152. r .1 I Ila-‘9' («1” M1 ’- - ,. :w-u .r'vo" ~ I‘ I \‘\. dollar's worth 0 insurance for SE :‘sr sold: ‘35 an: ‘1»cn‘0” Op fhe .‘...v""$ ‘ U“ airing the war" ' D ’ m. w F SDcCTetar ’ a: ’1 V I ‘ fl _ the rained: t ", . EfinOCO TE‘ ._ _- “ W‘ . V ‘ ‘ v- Q ha ~16: . i F I ‘ u.v 5.4:HV “ — l the i3 3313381 a‘ ” 9 Jr :5 3") N ‘ .. scandals maid l'cAd \4 178 dollars worth of bonds were sold to the peOple of the United States. He helped in the creation of a bureau of war risk insurance for shipping and later saw it extended to insurance for soldiers and sailors. In addition he was appointed director of the railroads when the government took them over during the war. At the end of the war he resigned his post as Secretary, and a few months later resigned as director of the railroads. McAdoo returned to the practice of law, finally making his home in California. He was a half-hearted candidate for the Presidential nomination at the Democratic Convention in 1920, but lost out to James M. Cox of Ohio. He went to the convention in 1924 with a good organization and a large number of delegates pledged--nearly enough to nominate him. He did not succeed because Smith held enough delegates to prevent it. McAdoo's support came mostly from Bryan country--rural South and West. He received the support of the KKK which he neither sought norrepudiated. He favored a League of Nations, he had supported woman's suffrage and Prohibition. He expressed himself as sympathetic to farmers, and believed he had shown his friendliness to labor during his time as director of the railroads. He had been hurt by his position as counsel at one time for Edward Doheny,&1prime figure in the oil scandals of Harding's administration. Wall Street opposed McAdoo because it believed his railroad record had w , this»: I .. .Li\ InquII‘I‘IIIIN 11!? I, 179 been prolabor and uncooperative to the railroad owners.l It was unfortunate that the first Democratic National Convention to be broadcast had to be a long, drawn-out, deadlock, that two powerful candidates so sharply differing in outlook, in background, and in personality should be held up to the attention of the country for fifteen days, without a choice being made between them. The whole country then knew this party was split beyond successful patching that year. One of the facts best remembered about the 1924 Dem- ocratic: Convention was that there were 103 ballots taken before a candidate was chosen. Another incident thit has been vividly remembered was that the balloting started off each time with "Alabama casts twenty-four votes for Under- wood." Graham McNamee described it: ”That old war-horse, ex-Governor Jim Brandon of the same state, acted as the train dispatcher, and he had an unforgettable delivery--a mixture of Southern drawl and sing-song, long drawn out, with a humorous accent on the 'un' of 'Underwood'.”2 On the fifteenth ballot the galleries took up the cry and repeated it in unison with the governor. Across the country where groups of interested people were crowded around radios many times they also took up the cry. This "Alabama casts twenty—four votes for Underwood" was ._V_ lMinton and Stuart, op. cit., p. 121. 2McNamee, op. cit., p. 83. 180 repeated and repeated-~over a hundred times. It became a symbol of a party unable to agree, and finally it was the butt of jokes on the vaudeville circuit. This was the situation the compromise candidate, John W. Davis, inherited. He was chosen on the 103rd ballot and Governor Charles Bryan of Nebraska, brother of William Jennings Bryan, was selected as the Vice Presidential nominee. Davis faced the impossible task of trying to unite the extremes of the party represented by Smith and McAdoo. In his memoirs, Davis said: ”Not only was the Demo— cratic party ripped apart but it was impossible to hand the responsibility of the Harding era ills on Coolidge. He, of course, had been Vice President where he had nothing to do but preside over the Senate."1 Davis not only had the handicap of a divided party but also he was labeled as Wall Street's man. John W. Davis was an attorney in Clarksburg, West Virginia, when he was the successful Democratic candidate for Congress in a district normally Republican. He went to Washington in 1911. His ability came to the attention of party leaders, and, as a result, in 1913, was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson Solicitor General of the United States. He did well in this position. He was sent to Europe in 1918 as an American representative to a confer- ence in Bern on the treatment and exchange of prisoners of lDavis, op. cit., p. 150. new» "V d/ “was.“ (“7_ rmfl war. inst sari. :bassador to He acted as or. Peace Ccnferen. Aterican merits: Allied control Vol‘ivd States : .L 33399? p D‘ib" : ‘ ".~ v" n . hilSOn'S lit A U .h \v .1: .,.2 rag.__si “a ‘g, leI’ICn "u. yv. k b t 12‘- V M ~ ”‘51 v‘..1 n Maua(e m { l . h‘l "I ~r . a“? TV 3‘” 1 30c b‘ans Pr. dilr‘ed Y“ ’ K“»‘ A. C"; 181 war. That same year he replaced Walter Hines Page as ambassador to Great Britain, where he was highly respected. He acted as one of President Wilson's advisers at the Peace Conference in Paris. While there he acted as the American member on a committee to draft rules for the Allied control and government of occupied Rhineland terri- tory. Finally, Davis returned to private law practice in 1921. He became a partner in Stetson, Jennings, and Russell. This firm had as clients J. P. Morgan and Co., the Guaranty Trust Co., Standard Oil, the Erie Railroad, United States Rubber Co., and other big corporations. His career of public service, his defense as Solicitor General of Wilson's liberal legislation of the New Freedom-—this was forgotten by much of the public when his Wall Street clients were named.1 Davis' reply to charges that he was a Wall Street lawyer was that he was glad to work for big business firms; they were needed, but they had to be honest.2 As mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, there was a strong third candidate in 1924. Often writers blithely refer to Robert M. La Folletteensthe third party candidate. This seems to imply that La Follette was a third party man eager to bring about a sweeping victory for all on his ticket. lFrank Freidel, America in the Twentieth Century (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1960), p. 246. ”QMinton and Stuart, op. cit., p. 125. 182 Actually, La Follette was an independent who accepted support from various groups in his candidacy for the Presi- dency. He felt there might be reason to form a third party after the election of 1924 if results were favorable enough. He was realistic. He knew that many progressive and liberal Congressmen and Senators who might desert their regular parties to follow him might lose out in a split vote. But if sentiment for a Third Party manifested itself in the 1924 election, four years of hard work might make such a party of major importance in the next Presidential election. La Follette was a progressive Republican who could not get his party to follow him. He would have been happy to have had the Republic Convention accept his Wisconsin plank. He knew it was useless to enter his name against Coolidge. La Follette sent his son, Bob Jr., to the Republican Convention with a letter to the Wisconsin delegation asking them not to present his name but to offer a Wisconsin plat- form. This, in substance, would be a set of resolutions approved by the citizens ofthat state. Subsequently, a caucus of Wisconsin delegates was held and resolutions were submitted to the Resolutions Committee of the convention. At the same time a copy was given to the press for publicity. The Resolutions Committee voted down the Wisconsin platform but it was later presented on the floor of the convention as a minority report.l lBella Case La Follette and Fola La Follette, Robert M. La Follette (New York: Macmillan Co., 1953), II, pp.'llo7- 1108. . "g‘wra- 9w- 6 Much of campaign can 1: an issue of me; not have a vir repeal of the 3 lower tariffs; and for the in: " ‘ ~ H ‘ 39119.1“. for a re “:59 31‘ aCtual ~‘pa h ‘ “faction we. 183 Much of La Follette's platform in his Presidential campaign can be seen in the Wisconsin resolutions: making an issue of monopoly; a demand that Federal courts should not have a virtual veto of acts of Congress; a call for repeal of the Railroad Transportation Act; advocation of lower tariffs; a call for direct election of the President, and for the initiative and referendum; opposition to labor injunctions; support of a child labor amendment; and a demand for a referendum on declaration of war except in case of actual invasion. La Follette thus made his views known to the country. The reaction was impressive. On July 3, while the Democrats were still deadlocked in New York City, representatives of a La Follette for President Committee called on the Senator at his Washington residence with a petition with 200,000 signers asking him to be a candidate for President of the United States. Chairman W. T. Rawleigh,Zona Gale, and Gilbert Roe were among the callers. The Senator took the petition more as a call for a Progressive movement than he did as a personal tribute. He promised to give his answer the next day in Cleveland.1 That same night the Senator received a telegram from William H. Johnston,Chairman of the National Committee of the Conference for Progressive Political Action asking him to be the candidate of the progressive forces. fl f _. ____,_ fl lIbido , II, pp. 1109-1110. F ‘23" .-‘~—- fis'm’ awn ‘--l"‘*-\- rut-p - ~ La Folle a fifll slate C he knew in a :1. held by progres he decided to a the CPPA de leg: The group I: represented ‘1 .nerhoods we v ; ”VIA any women's groups: There wer Expenses were :2 and 9,000 visit “-33 over $2 , 3 ‘JLW‘Q A.“ «ace-v.1, pre8{l 1:4 I “Jl'1$ts Q 0 U6! “VA MSG!“ lb. Bflb \J ’ 1 35§er may, *val par‘fy on the SC/ ehjCI‘So 184 La Follette knew the CPPA wanted a third party with a full slate of candidates. He was opposed to this because he knew in a three-cornered election the positions already held by progressives would be endangered. For this reason, he decided to announce as an independent candidate before the CPPA delegates convened.l The group which met at Cleveland was enthusiastic. It represented a wide range of progressives. The railroad brotherhoods were there as were farm, labor, and co—op delegates. There were members of the Negro group, the NAACP, progressive Republicans and Democrats from Wisconsin, women's groups, and political clubs from several colleges. There were no bands; the enthusiasm was spontaneous. Expenses were met by passing the hat among the 1,000 delegates and 9,000 visitors present. Collections amounted to some- thing over $2,300.2 The convention was called to order by William H. Johnston, president of the International Association of Machinists. Senator La Follette and his two sons were present. Bob, Jr., read his father's statement of his in- dependent candidacy and of the wisdom of forming a permanent political party after the election. ' On the second day of the convention, La Follette was endorsed as an independent Progressive candidate. It was also resolved to call a convention for establishing a new —v—v lIbid., II, p. 1110. 2Ibid., II, pp. 1111—1113. 'hMSa""" "‘ ‘1 «'9 n. v‘ cu... u.— "317" \\ no.9 cratic party ~ party early if- warranted. Congress the news of La saying, ”I won La Folle nominee was the the United Sta‘ 1 N g. ,1 the senator ant Senator E H uoxidation afte O'na'l I ‘ r President to go wi \‘“ : I 21th; . Q. , ‘ 185 party early in 1925 if the November election results warranted. Congressman Fiorella La Guardia of New York greated the news of La Follette's candidacy by endorsing him and saying, "I would rather be right than regular."1 La Follette's first choice for his Vice Presidential nominee was the liberal Associate Justice Louis Brandeis of the United StataSSupreme Court. Although the Justice admired the Senator and his principles, he felt unable to accept the bid.2 Senator Burton Wheeler (D) of Montana was offered the nomination after the Democrats had chosen John W. Davis for their Presidential candidate. Wheeler said, "When the Demo- cratic party goes to Wall Street for its candidate I must "3 refuse to go with it. He then accepted La Follette's offer. lIbid., II, p. 1114. 21bid., II, p. 1115. 3Ibid., II, p. 1116. CHAPTER X THE RADIO ELECTION: THE CAMPAIGN All three principal candidates for President in 1924 planned to use radio actively in the campaign. In July, the New Yprk Times carried a story saying Mr. Davis meant to do much of his campaigning from his home at Locust Valley, Long Island.1 The same newspaper said directly after La Follette's announcement as an independent candidate: So far, Senator La Follette has not completed plans for the part he will play in the campaign. It is understood his inclination is to make very few personal appearances. He prefers to go to Wisconsin and address the voters through the medium of radio, leaving the active work on the stump to tBe Vice Presidential candidate, yet to be chosen. Stoddard has quoted La Follette on newspapers and radio as saying he did not care how newspapers editorialized as long as they printed news about him--gave him a "fair show." "Now that we have the radio and can reach people through it, I think newspaper influence in politics is steadily lessening.”3 V v m lNew York Times, July 24, 1924, p. l. 21bido’ JUly 7) 19214, pa “’9 3Henry L. Stoddard, As I Knew Them (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1927), p. 553; 186 1 .. \ 3-5.3310}: . .11... 1 that If. Ill 187 The New York Times appraised radio and the politicians' use of it in campaigning shortly after the Republican Conven- tion. The paper's opinion was that radio would change political oratory, would be more demanding of a speaker in his attempt to carry along a line of thought. A political speaker would not be able to depend on flowing oratory or theatrical gestures to excite an audience. Radio would expose every false note and every kind of affectation. The Times cautioned the parties about radio. The leaders have not tried to discover who are the effective speakers by radio in either party, and it is a risky thing to trust a man on the air because he has been a good stump speaker. President Coolidge has a great political asset in that he is extremely popular as a radio speaker. He never makes any of the mistakes that injure many speakers with radio audiences. There is never a false note in his talk. It is always simple and clear, with now and then a phrase so timed as to bring the radio audience figuratively to its feet.1 The campaign moved at a leisurely pace for some weeks after the convention. Coolidge evidently planned little active campaigning other than a few speeches by radio. It was two months after his nomination in Cleveland before he made his official acceptance speech, August 14. The speech was carried by fifteen radio stations, one as far west as Kansas City. It was estimated there were twenty-five million possible listeners. 1New York Times, June 17, 1924, p. 2. 188 Davis had broadcast his acceptance speech from his old home town, Clarksburg, West Virginia on August 11, 1924 over l A violent a network of thirteen or more radio stations. storm began during Davis' speech. He continued speaking even though he was not fully protected from the weather. The driving rain affected the microphone so the transmission was not perfect. An Atlanta station was added to the net- work so that Davis' speech would reach deep into the South, making the potential audience greater than that of Coolidge three days later. A system of cooperation was worked out among the New York radio stations for time during Davis' acceptance speech. WNYC, the municipal station,signed off early, and WHN did not go on the air until midnight. These arrangements pre- vented station interference during the Democratic candidate's talk. Charles W. Bryan, the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, made his acceptance speech at 10:00 P.M., August 10, from the University of Nebraska stadium. It was broadcast from there by the Westinghouse station KFKX, Hastings, Nebraska. Stations WMAQ, Chicago; WFAV, University of Nebraska; and WOAW, Omaha, were also connected. Charles G. Dawes made his formal acceptance the follow— ing evening, August 19, from Evanston, Illinois. The speech was carried by a network simibar to that used during the lBanning, op. cit., p. 244, reported thirteen stations. New York Times, August 12, 1924, reported WEAF and fifteen other stations. 189 GOP convention. Reception was reported to be very good. Dawes was most outspoken. He called for a campaign of "brass tacks." He said the League of Nations was dead, but he did favor a World Court. He charged that La Follette with the support of socialists, malcontents, and insurgents was a "mobilization of extreme radicalism."l La Follette made no major speech until Labor Day. The politicians seemed to be planning to put all their campaign efforts in the last few weeks, with radio being used more and more for political talks as election day approached. Several obstacles were in the way. One of the biggest was: who was going to pay the bill? The convention broad- casting had been carried largely as a public service. They political parties could hardly expect AT&T and the radio stations to carry allthe expense for radio campaigning. Assume that the three parties raised the millions in campaign funds they talked so hopefully about. Assume the had enough money for radio campaigning. The next question would be: would there be time available an the air to satisfy all requests and still leave time to broadcast some entertainment? Could the Bell System spare enough circuits from its regular traffic demands? It spite of the enthusiasm most campaigners had toward radio as a political tool, there were many who 1New York Times, August 20, 1924. -“ -wnwvr’ I . 7/ 9 v-“ .a. 5.- w.»- ‘v' ,"' \\ feared it m" if - w old-time 81391J blunt man 80W? At this "when a 800d 1 a hearty hands} independent‘ 5 evening for t Most of national, sta without conSt "They announc will have to An arra casting compz fifty commit the comitte time . It (In ' A‘ew F0 \ 190 feared it might be double-edged. It was "apt to make the old-time spell-binder sound flat and cheap and the plain, blunt man sound like a Demosthenes.”l At this same time there were others who were saying "when a good radio presence, so to speak, might eclipse even aiheartyhandshake as a vote~getter, it might be worth the independent's while to spend his hundred dollars each evening for ten minutes on the air."2 Most of the talk about political broadcasting on national, state, and local levels evidently had been made without consulting the big broadcasting companies who said: "They announce they are going to broadcast but it is we who will have to deliver the goods.”3 An arrangement was made finally between the broad- casting companies (WEAF in particular) and the national party committees for political speeches to be cleared by the committees before the stations would sell or allot radio time. It was thought it would be possible this way to con- trol the number and quality of speeches. Only two or three incidents occurred which made anyone critical of the arrangements. George L. Record, who enthus- iastically endorsed and supported Woodrow Wilson in 1912 as a New Era liberal, was running as an Independent Progressive 1New York Times, June 17, 1924, p. 2. 2New Republic, March 19, 192M, p. 92. 3New York Times, July 19, 1924, p. l. 191 candidate for the United States Senate in New Jersey in 1924. He wanted to buy radio time on WEAF. He was refused because his request had not been cleared by his National Committee. He cried "Monopoly” and protested that he was being treated unfairly. WEAF ridiculed the idea of their station being a monopoly, as Record charged. Just because WEAF was owned by AT&T did not prove it was a monopoly, they said, for there were over 360,000 stockholders in the company at that time, with 60,000 of them employees. The only stations out of the more than 500 in the nation owned by AT&T were WEAF and WCAP, Washington. If the request by Mr. Record had come through the regular channels it undoubtedly would have been granted.1 Once candidate Record understood the arrangements which had been made with the committees, his protestations subsided. Senator La Follette also cried out against monopoly when he was refused time on a Des Moines station. This in- cident will be covered later in the chapter. Norman Thomas, the Socialist who later became Presi- dential nominee several times, was running as his party's candidate for Governor of New York, in 1924, against Al Smith, Democrat, and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Republican. Thomas had some trouble with censorship: 1New York Times, October 16, 1924, p. 28. 192 There was broadcasting in 1924 when I ran for Governor of New York, and, if memory serves, I was allowed to broadcast. However, the first three or four times I was asked to broadcast in the chaotic days before the birth of NBC and the enactment of some kind of legislation, I was at the last minute denied access to the microphone because I would not permit the station to censor my remarks.1 The election of 1924 was a radio election, but it was also the loud speaker election and the talking picture elec- tion if the figure of speech can be carried that far. In past elections, speakers had had to depend on lung power in addressing audiences--this was particularly diffi— cult in outdoor meetings and in talks from the rear platforms of trains. Davis had a special campaign radio car designed for him, because he did much of his campaigning in short speeches from the rear of his train. The observation car was fitted with three microphones so that a speaker's voice could be heard in front and on both sides. Five amplifiers had been built into the tail end of the roof so the speaker's voice would carry out over the crowd. Two AT&T men traveled with Davis to keep the apparatus in first class working order. The radio apparatus was set on rubber bases so move- ment of the train did not disturb it. There were two ”Jacks” on the side of the car so that local telephone lines could be plugged in to transmit Davis' speech to a broadcasting station. W *v ——‘v-*~ w—v lNorman Thomas in a letter to the writer, December 8, 1961. 193 Davis made forty-six speeches from the rear of this car on the first tour he made. This was a swing of 5,000 miles through the country. The second tour was over 12,000 miles. Charles Dawes used a public address system on his trips also. He found that it worked well whether he spoke to a few hundred or to five thousand. Campaigners who wanted to use radio frequently found it expensive. The expense of the Speakers Bureau (which in- cluded radio) in 1924 took from 10% to 15% of the budget of the Republican National Committee. This bureau cost $366,000 in 1921.1 Another innovation of this campaign year was the wire photo. During a lax spell in the GOP Convention in Cleve- land, wire photos of some of the principals of the meeting were sent from Cleveland to New York. The pictures were received, cuts were made, newspapers with the pictures were printed and sent back to Cleveland by airplane in a matter of a few hours. The marvels of the electronic age! Another marvel used in the 1924 campaign was the talking picture. All three major candidates, Coolidge, Davis, and La Follette made talking pictures on the experi— mental de Forest Phonofilm. Movie interviews in which each candidate expressed his views on the issues of the campaign 1James K. Pollack, Party Campaign Funds (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926), pp. 157-158. . ear 4 1%.? ._ \\ Ego): - . 194 were released in one program which was shown in selected theaters throughout the country.1 Little was done in the way of campaigning in August once the acceptance speeches were out of the way. Strangely enough, this was the period when La Follette's popularity was highest--before he had made a major speech. Lincoln Steffens may have analyzed the situation cor- rectly when he said the American people may feel the impulse to support Bob. But the least little thing will stampede them. Some banker will pass the word that a vote for La Follette will be a vote wasted and they will chuck Bob and vote for Coolidge. Perhaps they are feeling the impulse now and will be stampeded before election. 2 Possibly it was ”impulse” which moved the people who came forward early in support of Senator La Follette. Oswald Garrison Villard enthusiastically enlisted a Commit— tee of one hundred to support the Senator. Five thousand clergymen from all over the country signified they wanted La Follette for President. Helen Keller, Jane Addams, Zona Gale, and many others representing women's organizations declared for the Senator. So did the Executive Committee of the AFL, as did the Railroad Brotherhoods, and the Scripps-Howard newspapers. Some of these stayed at the Senator's side until the election was over, others began to drop away during the campaign. lLa Follette and La Follette, II, op. cit., p. 1125. 2Ibid., II, p. 1121. til-3E. . PI 3. u .l ns’ié \ a“ *. I!!$!E . . u. .I’: «II. 195 La Follette was sincere about running as an independent. He supported any good man he believed would strengthen the progressive position on legislation in the next session of Congress, regardless of the man's party. He endorsed Frazier, Ladd, Shipstead, Brookhart, Olsen, Couzens, David Walsh of Massachusetts, and Thomas Walsh of Montana. He also came out for Senator Borah of Idaho and asked that no independent run against him. Borah was grateful, but still supported Coolidge. La Follette also urged Senator Norris of Nebraska to run for re-election when he was about at the point of refusing. The early days must have been more pleasant for La Follette than the later ones when disillusionment came. The Senator undoubtedly expected large numbers of donations to flow in. He expected more than he ever received from the AFL--in active support and in money. When millions in donations did not roll in, methods for raising money had to be devised. Gutzon Borglum, the famous sculptor, designed a campaign button bearing the heads of La Follette and Wheeler in relief. These buttons were given to contributors at meetings and rallies during the campaign. "Emancipation Bonds” were printed in denomin- ations of $1 and $5 to be sold to individuals and in larger sizes up to $1000 for lodges and organizations. The La Follette Committee was always hard-pressed for money. In September and October when La Follette and Wheeler 196 started traveling, the financing of the campaign was on a day to day basis with collections at meetings, and sales of tickets and bonds barely ahead of expenses. A writer in New Republic the week after election main- tained that La Follette's campaign lost rather than gained votes, that he was stronger in September than in November. The writer did not attribute this to the Republicans and Democrats being able to buy more radio time or being more effective on the medium but simply because ”he over-estimated his own strength and the preparedness of the average American mind, and conducted the campaign on the supposition he might be elected.‘l His appeal was "too propagandistic and not sufficiently patient, informative, and educational."1 President Coolidge spent a quiet month of August. Aside from his acceptance speech he made only one other worth noting. He talked to the National Fraternal Congress in Washington, August 29. He made a few non—political remarks about the basis of all fraternal ceremonies being of religious character. The talk may have been non-political but it gave the President front page newspaper publicity. John W. Davis, the Democrat, was the only one to make a major speech between the acceptance speeches and Labor Day. He made one of his basic speeches at Seagirt, New Jersey, August 22. There he talked to a crowd estimated at 35,000 people. In this speech he condemned the Ku Klux Klan 1New Republic, November 12, 1924, p. 257. . ..- voil\..1l.lvltel.. 197 by name and challenged Coolidge to do the same so that it could be removed as a campaign issue. Coolidge lived up to his sobriquet, ”Silent Cal,” and said nothing. Dawes mentioned the KKK in a speech the day after Davis' Seagirt speech. Dawes, speaking in Augusta, Maine, said he personally was opposed to the Klan but could understand why some men who lived in the lawless mining areas of southern Illinois had joined to restore law and order. 1 The New York Times reported the crowd was not very responsive. Davis reminisced about trying to get Coolidge to respond: I did my best in that campaign to make Coolidge say something. I was running out of anything to talk about. What I wanted was for Coolidge to say somthing. I didn't care what it was, just so I had somebody to debate with. He never opened his mouth. Well, those were good tactics . . . protection tactics from his point of view. Labor Day marked the beginning of the strenuous cam- paigning. Coolidge and La Follette both made major speeches from Washington, D. C. Davis talked at Wheeling, West Virginia; Bryan was at Elk Point, South Dakota; Wheeler was in Boston; and Dawes in Evanston, Illinois. It was one of the hottest afternoons of the summer in Washington. La Follette hestiated some about spending $3,500 for the interconnecting telephone lines for a single 1New York Times, August 24,1924, p. 1. 2John W. Davis, in an interview recorded in the Oral History Collection, Columbia University, p. 151. \.» I‘d. 198 speech on radio when campaign funds were so meager.l He finally decided to open his campaign with the radio address. He spoke for thirty-five minutes to an audience throughout the country. It was estimated several million heard the talk because arrangements had been made to have loud speakers set up in public places to supplement the millions of home receivers. A week later La Follette said he had received thousands of letters commending him on his speech. He found there was almost an equal division between Republi- cans and Democrats of the letter writers who indicated past party affiliation--and over half of them said they were farmers or laborers. Bryan made his Labor Day speech from the front porch of a farm house in Elk Point, South Dakota. He hit the Republican administration for corruption, high tariff, and failure to aid agriculture. Coolidge talked to a group of labor leaders in the capital on Labor Day and kept his talk away from contro- versial issues. On the following Saturday he made a speech at the unveiling of a statue of Lafayette at Baltimore. John W. Davis got off to a faster start than either of his two principal opponents. After he made his Labor Day speech at Wheeling, he started on a western tour in his railway car equipped with loud speakers and radio jacks. 1LaFollette and La Follette, II, op. cit., p. 1125. 2New York Times, September 8, 1924, p. 3. 1.3-". r‘. LII. 15 I‘.‘ 199 Along the way he made frequent stops and talks. He was in Omaha, Saturday, September 6. The radio speech he made there before a large crowd was well received. He continued west with talks at Denver, Cheyenne, and Topeka. He was back in Missouri at Bunceton on September 15. There he re- ceived the greatest welcome of his trip. At Bunceton, a giant hickory barbeque was held on the 3,000 acre farm of Arthur W. Nelson, the Democratic candi— date for governor of the state. The hosts had prepared 13,000 pounds of beef, 3,000 pounds of mutton, and 14,000 watermelons-—and still there was not enough food for all the people even with that in the baskets the farmers' wives brought. It was estimated 8,000 automobiles plus other conveyances had brought 50,000 hungry persons to the barbe- que. Davis seemed in fine shape as he flayed corruption and special privilege, and called for lower rail rates. The speech was radiocast to the Middle West, and broadcast to the crowd from loud speakers as well. Davis spoke in Des Moines on Monday, September 17, and appeared in Chicago the following day. Coolidge stayed close to the White House and left most of the campaigning to others. One new feature in 1924 was what was called the Coolidge Caravan. The caravan con- sisted of seven automobiles and a truck which left Coolidge‘s birthplace, Plymouth, Vermont, September 9, and arrived in 1New York Times, September 16, 1924, p. 1. 200 New York City, September 15. It was to leave the metropolis and travel to the West Coast by way of the Lincoln Highway. The truck contained a painting of Coolidge's birthplace. Herb Moore, a Vermont farmer, accompanied the caravan, and at frequent intervals stopped along the way to tell of Coolidge's boyhood and his rise to the White House. Quite fittingly, when the caravan started west on the Lincoln Highway, it was to be in Lincoln automobiles furnished by Henry Ford. It was expected that as the caravan approached a city it would be met and escorted into town as it was by 1,000 decorated automobiles when it came to New York City.1 Back in New York City, the Democrats were trying to get some old-fashioned Tammany enthusiasm aroused by holding over 100 area demonstrations for Davis and Bryan. These meetings were complete with bands, red fire, and spellbindersf2 La Follette's next major move in the campaign after Labor Day was to invade New York for a giant rally at Madison Square Garden, September 18. He Spoke before a crowd of 14,000 in the hall, to an unestimated number crowded around the loud speakers outside the Garden, and to a large audi- ence over WEAF. La Follette called for the power of Congress to overrule a Supreme Court decision. He cited the need in the case of the Child Labor law.3 lNew York Times, September 16, 1924, p. 2. 2Ibid., September 10, 1924, p. 1. 3New York Times, September 19, 1924, p. 1. 201 There was a distinguished company on the stage wit him: Fiorello La Guardia, Norman Thomas, Arthur Garfield Hays, Mathew Woll, vice president of the AFL, Harriot Stanton Blatch, and the Reverend John Haynes Holmes. The Senator received a resounding applause after he was introduced by Hays. It was ten minutes before the crowd would quiet down enough for La Follette to deliver his radio address. Because his usual delivery was energetic and carried him back and forth across a stage he had to learn to stand in front of a microphone for broadcasting. On this occasion he read a prepared speech. About half the audience paid admission fees ranging from 556 to $2.50. There were 14,000 seats, half of then free. Thousands of persons were outside listening through the loud speakers as mentioned previously. Ticket sales andcollections brought in between $12,000 and $13,000 on this occasion. The costs for radio were $1,295.1 La Follette was honored on the following Sunday, September 21, by the Steuben Society, a singing society with hundreds of thousand of members, generally of German descent. Eighteen thousand of them were gathered at Yankee Stadium. The Senator appeared as their guest and was honored by a selection sung by a 1,000 voice choral group. Senator La Follette spoke at Mountain Lake Park, Mary- land before starting a speaking tour of New York, New 1New York Times, September 19, 1924, p. l. 202 Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut late in September. Calvin Coolidge, in the meantime, made an occasional speech to a group on the White House lawn,or addressed a convention meeting in the capital. He spoke to the Holy Name Societies meeting over WCAP on September 21. Four days later he went out on the lawn to address several thou— sand druggists who had come to Washington for a national convention. Mr. Coolidge pledged economy at home and peace abroad. The same day Coolidge sent greetings to Philadel- phia for the celebration cf the 150th anniversary of the (I) meeting there of the First Continental Congre s. . 1 T . betwe n A , (D a) . (1‘ Wheeler, during September, was shuttlin 0Q York City and outstate New York. He gave a talk at Cooper’s Union in the city on the sixth and then left on the following Monday for a six day tour which took him through Albany, Schenectady, Watertown, Ogdensburg, Syracuse, Rochester, Dunkirk, Buffalo, Newark, N. J., and Philadelphia. On the fifteenth he spoke at the Hotel Astor, New York City, and on successive days in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo as well as Cincinnati, and Chicago. It is not cer- tain all these talks were broadcast but from a statement made later by Secretary Hoover on the amount of radic time the Progressives used, it can be assumed the major talks were . l 1New York Times, October 17, 1924, p. 3. 203 Governor Charles Bryan, the Democratic nominee for Vice President, was not used by his party as much as were Dawes and Wheeler by theirs. It is quite possible his speeches were likely to be too liberal to be given publicity outside his own section of the country. This is one point often passed over by observers of the 1924 election. Charles Bryan is usually dismissed as a pale copy of his famous brother. The nomination of Bryan is often passed off as afl attempt to take advantage of a famous name. No doubt there is some truth to this, but it is quite possible also that Charlie Bryan was more liberal than his ticket—- even if he may have been a man of mediocre talent. Davis, the Democrat, ended his September campaigning by spending two days in Charleston, Huntington, and Blue- field, West Virginia (25th, 26th) before going on to Wash— ington and Wilmington. The same night that La Follette held his big Madison Square Garden meeting, September 18, Charles G. Dawes was addressing 12,000 people in Chicago. The same day he had also been in Freeport, Illinois. He turned north through South Dakota and Minnesota, reaching Minneapolis on Septem- ber 25. The tempo of the campaigning was stepped up in October. La Follette left on an extensive trip in his special rail- road car. His son, Bob Jr., and Dr. John Colver, a throat Specialist, accompanied him. Basil C. Manly and Frederic 204 C. Howe went along‘moassistwith the speeches; Sam Evans took care of the press releases. It should be remembered La Follette was the oldest of the Presidential candidates. He was 69 years of age in 1924, Coolidge was 52, and Davis was 51. No doubt this made him plan his routine on speaking tours so that his strength could be conserved. He made it a rule not to attend recep- tions or social affairs on such a trip. He made few rear platform speeches; this was in contrast to Davis who made as many as possible. La Follette spent the mornings working on the speeches he was to deliver in the evening meetings. Most of the La Follette meetings would start with an appeal for funds. Philip La Follette would begin speaking, if he were present, and would be followed by the Senator. Sometimes Bob, Jr. would speak. The father and two sons made an impressive team. La Follette's October tour was a series of rousing meetings. On the sixth, he spoke in Convention Hall in Rochester to 4,800 in the hall, while 3,000 stood outside to listen to his speech of an hour and twenty minutes. The next day he was in Scranton, Pennsylvania talking about the Grundy ”slush” fund the newspapers were hinting was being raised to "buy" the election in the state, for the Republicans. Six thousand people waited outside the hall in Newark, N. J. when only 2,300 were able to crowd inside. At Detroit, 205 on the ninth, 7,500 jammed Arena Gardens. Most of them paid 506 or $1 a seat, and a tin plate collection brought in an— other $1,000. The next day in Cincinnati, there were 5,000 inside the Music Hall and 5,000 outside to listen to his fifty-five minute speech.1 The next stop was Chicago. There the Senator made one of the major speeches of his campaign to 10,000 people in the 35th Street Armory. He was introduced by Jane Addams. He spoke against "economic oligarchy," the concentration of wealth, and the abuse of financial power. He read his speech because he had already given copies to reporters. On Monday, the 13th, La Follette was in Kansas city. He spoke over a radio network which covered Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. In his talk he blamed the plight of the farmers on the rise of trusts, high tariffs, and the control of the railroads through interlocking directorates by domin- ant banking groups. St. Louis honored La Follette on Tuesday with a parade during the day. At night, 10,000 turned out to hear him dio‘ cuss foreign relations and how great financial interests had brought about a change in American foreign policy as defined by Washington and Jefferson. This speech was broadcast by a St. Louis station. An incident occurred the next day in Des Moines which was never cleared up until this present time. La Follette 1La Follette and La Follette, II, op. cit., p. 11,0— 1133. .it; .s. I!“ I“ 206 had a speech scheduled for Wednesday, October 15, in that city and wanted to have it broadcast over the local radio station. He was not granted time on the air. He immedi- ately cried ”monopoly” and said he was denied a right ac— corded others in like position. Although the New York Times discounted the idea of a monopoly standing between La Follette and the use of the Des Moines station, and although Secretary Herbert Hoover said there was no basis for the charge, a reasonable explan- ation was never made nationally. Hoover said of the 530 stations less than a dozen belonged to what Ia Follette called the monopoly-«presumably Westinghouse, General Electric, and AT&T stations. The Des Moines station was independently owned. He said, I am glad to see that radio stations are giving op- portunity to all speakers, and the records will show that no political speakers in this campaign have made as free use of radio in disseminating their views as has the Third Party in broadcasting the speeches of Mr. La Follette and Mr. Wheeler.l In the same issue of the New York Times it was reported that Senator Brookhart of Iowa, whom La Follette was sup- porting for re-election, was indignant that a radio station controlled by the Bankers Life Insurance Company had refused to broadcast La Follettes speech. The implication seemed to be that one of the powerful insurance companies of America, which controlled a radio 1New York Times, October 17, 1924, p. 3. III . A 4' I." III. e 207 station, had refused to allow the broadcast of one of La Follette's speeches because they wanted to keep him and his ideas off the air. The monopoly charge made good material for La Follette when he spoke to the 9,000 people of Des Moines who gathered to hear his speech on ”deflation of the farmers." He damned monopolies and praised Brookhart, Senator Dolliver, and James M. Pierce, publisher of the Iowa-Homestead. The writer felt this Des Moines incident should be cleared up. Why was La Follette denied the use of the radio? The Bankers Life Insurance Company was kind enough to have photostat copies made of two contemporary accounts of the incident. One was the story which appeared in the Des Moines Register of October 14, 1924; the other was the article in Bankers Life Bulletin, a company house organ, of October 17, 1924. The two accounts have been reproduced below. The Des Moines Register Account: Davenport Radio Speech of La Follette Kuhns says WHO Can't Make Arrangement to Use Air La Follette headquarters late last night received the folllowing telegram from the Palmer School of Chiropractic at Davenport. ”Use of woo will be given to Senator La Follette Wednesday evening. Advise by phone or wire exact hour of his speech and other details as we will have to arrange program accordingly.” . . . a . + o a r12 x - c. . . . . - a _ . y .. . . a o no r a E v . c. o T. E y . if E c. I 1.. .. _ - . t w . ha .i« a. r: P. 1 a , . a .i w. a . 3 -1 . 1.4 . , .. . n. . . .rL Arm r MN MW 6 S l O a o . n 1L it ‘C in ~ . «b w . mu ”We a» o a Tu Av Ru Q.» a o Rd ‘1. . u a a f t in... vi h. T. o.L up .m“ - .1 m“ .v Act. a n. .1 e a S . l Y .3" . C 0. a .4 . c D. P .0 0 C 1. C O. a K S . l. S a O a a on S +. s l - O h- T; S at wnu .14" C a a o .r. a as w“ . E S . an. C .1 Ti 9 7. PM is a o e C x. D pr 1 a. .J S t 4 i .H E w. T. r. «L C O .9. Y. .1 a. 8 C u. - . . . a .. - . r. C E .‘u L MW 2..” T: 8 Mn am“ at- e L ”a To .1. :4 In ad a; or! LL 5. no N. e «b H S .,. ma . 2... am r r. C . i C. “a «Am a? n. ma F1 8 . . .I n. 1. A a .v .v a .. T - «rs O . .O 9L LL... ab «Q A: .4 a QR v. 3 ha .51. 1F. 2,. “M. "v... r. v... . .o h. . W. 9 AC P. A. u S v 1 a . no a . wt . a- c x . .. .. v . . t . . . . a a « TL 0 I». n\u «O P b n. n14. t.» wk 8 tun a... . L 0 . 0 a w :b ".3 ha ob Le x . \u vi. in. int CC 5 VJ + A... \hl 3O .h» ad a: o. a fin ’|~.£?. 208 WHO, broadcasting station of the Bankers Life Insurance Co. of this city, yesterday told officers of the La Follette headquarters here that it would be impossible to arrange to broadcast the speech of Senator La Follette, independent candidate for Presi- dent, when he comes to Des Moines tomorrow night. President George Kuhns explained another program had been arranged for and that the Company has adopted a rule requiring at least three weeks notice for the use of the set. "The suggestion that we add our program to that of the La Follette meeting is impossible because of the rules of the air,” Mr. Kuhns added. "Our program starts at 7:30 o'clock and concludes at 9:00 o'clock. At that time we are compelled to get off the air and let WOAW at the same wave length as ours have it.” La Follette's speech is scheduled for 9 o'clock. "Davenport could broadcast the speech without con- flict because of its shorter wave length." WOAW is the station of the Woodmen of the World at Omaha. Executives in the La Follette campaign here charge the move is discriminatory. ”I asked about using the set when Wheeler was here," Bob Haran, publicity director for the campaign, said yesterday. ”At that time Mr. Kuhns told me it was necessary to give notice and I inquired about the use of the set in case we should get La Follette here.” HASN'T CALLED, HARAN SAYS "Mr. Kuhns said he thought he had a program for the date we anticipated, but was inclined to believe it could be arranged. When I heard that La Follette was coming I told him at once and he said he'd call me in the morning. He hasn't called yet.” ”Today he told me he didn't feel he could disappoint his performers. We suggested that we would be glad to have them at the Coliseum and let them give their pro— gram as part of the meeting. We had already offered to make the installments necessary for broadcasting. Mr. Kuhns stood pat on the first excuse. I understand that they had two musicians and a woman to give 'movie chats; when it was first known that LaFollette would come here. "Other officials of the campaign were quite out- spoken in their belief that the refusal was actuated by partisan impulses. They suggested that there were only three major candidates for president and that even if a breach of the company's rules were necessary, it could hardly be used as a precedent, since Davis has already been here and Coolidge is not coming.” it“ n! G- ‘5 CI was here. 11,, he” we .» films 3 fcmw‘gn ”va - at ..-_l iii. L .3 P t. a n... S a 3: .l .C O i E o: .d I 1 &_ ‘.. . . l l . I ‘n .\ Q t r1 «b VP“ «.0. NC to w. A: «1 e m: :3»; an: J4 do 4 W. I41. . . .K a c “we at V 5 n so ac a e H: a 5 ha I O. E to 11; 2.. G: C C .mu. N no mo wt“ mm a .Muc mm 9 .Qno who t Women S .E moo O a V. a so no 8 O C .Q a C n a n. S :8 K .... so at . .. .1 8 1?. .c cc to B 8 Alt .4 C .1 a c k,“ 2. nu n. S E e .3 .C C... 78 «C At w.” RU. no T. n . .\\. Vin AG 2» l. W. 3‘ Q» «G . ‘ fi\u 33 a D; a: so a a V: w.. a o .J" Q» a e O a nu. S n. bu in.“ -n.. n .3 «a at S “a a. 1* .Q a. a. h. «1.3 3 .1 3 Ln nu. .1 4. an.» :i . . . 0 4i. . a» n. “J .. udu m... . g h. .4 L1» 54 .1 a c 5.. vi. a . :1 Wt fin t‘lt':tv’". 1. l 209 ALLOWED DAVIS TO USE IT In reply to this, Mr. Kuhns called attention to the fact that though his party affiliation is Republican, Mr. Davis had been allowed to use the outfit when he was here. "We had notice thirty days before his coming," Mr. Kuhns said, "we have not refused and will not refuse the use of the station to anyone who gives us proper notice. We can't start breaking faith with the per- formers on whom we depend for our programs, however." "When Senator Pepper was here, use of the station was denied him for exactly the same reason-—we had received no notice. It seems to me this should set to rest the idea that the station was refused for partisan reasons." "Some of the papers have attempted to make it appear that we refused La Follette simply because he is La Follette. WHO will always be available for broadcasting by anyone who will appeal to the public interest and who will give us three weeks notice." The article in the Bankers Life Bulletin said: Newspaper Statements on W-H-O Untrue Newspapers have printed this week the statement that the Bankers Life Company refused to broadcast the speech of Senator Robert M. La Follette delivered in Des Moines on the night of Wednesday, October 15. This statement was untrue. The Company did refuse to cancel its scheduled program for that night when a request from the Iowa La Follette headquarters for the use of the Bankers Life broadcasting station was made just a few days prior to the date when the speech was delivered. Station W—H—O arranged to crowd its program for that night in order to give ten minutes on the air to Senator La Follette and that amount of time was offered to and refused by the La Follette headquarters for Iowa. Programs for Station W—H-O are invariably fixed at least two weeks in advance. The station recently broadcast a speech by John W. Davis, Democratic candi- date, for which arrangements were made thirty days in advance. Still more recently it was found impossible to broadcast a speech by Senator Pepper, Republican campaigner from Pennsylvania, because of too short notice from Republican campaign managers. We give you these facts so that you may use them if the subject comes up for discussion in your work. \‘\ 210 When one reads about the charges by La Follette that monopoly kept him off the air in Des Moines, it would seem one of two things must have been true: either La Follette was misinformed as to the circumstances or he was obsessed with the idea of monopoly. Station WHO was on the air only one and one-half hours. It was forced to yield the air to another station on the same wave length at the very hour Senator La Follette was to begin his speech. Two different stations in nearby towns could probably have carried the speech. The wire con- nection expense to the outside towns would have been greater than to WHO. Furthermore, it is possible the newspaper wanted to play up the story more than it was worth. Mr. Edwin P. Leader of Bankers Life Company recently said: "The competi- tion between newspaper and radio in that period when news- papers saw the new medium as a rising threat to their dominance in local mass communication undoubtedly also was a contributing factor to the handling of the incident."1 When Mr. Kuhns said he did not feel he could disap- point his performers he probably was sincere. Most of the small stations at this time were depending on volunteer talent. WHO was a comparatively new station, less than a year old, so it probably had not developed a very large list of performers who would be willing to work free of charge. 1Edwin P. Leader, letter to the writer, January 16, 1962. 211 After the Des Moines incident, La Follette went on to Minneapolis where he made a dramatic roll call on Coolidge's record in government-—much to the President's discredit, of course. The next day, the seventeenth, the Senator was at Sioux Falls, South Dakota speaking to a crowd of 5,000 in— side the hall and more than 1,000 outside. La Follette endorsed Senator Norris for re-election. He also urged the repeal of the Esch-Cummins Railroad Act, and discussed his alternate plan. The seat sale at this meeting totaled $1,639 and the tin plate collection was $887. The expenses were $1,514.70 including $900 for amplifiers and radio broad- cast over WOAW. On the day the Senator made his talk in Omaha, his wife spoke over WJZ, New York, on "Why the Homemaker Should Vote for La Follette." She was said to be a good campaigner. Also back in New York City at about this time, La Follette forces were beginning to run into trouble. A La Follette Benefit at the Sam H. Harris Theater was planned-- but did not materialize as planned. Tickets had been sold for a show at prices of $2.75 to $3.30. The money was to go into the campaign chest. A number of well-known vaudeville artists were to appear on the stage. When the curtain went up they were not there. Lesser known artists were there in their places. Isaac McBride made a campaign speech, a collection was taken, emancipation bonds were sold. The audience began to L.§n‘lll."!..l.rr. t. 212 get restless and stamp their feet, because the artists did not appear as advertised. Finally, a representative of the theater quieted the people down by promising to refund the price paid for tickets. The benefit had been arranged and advertised in good faith but some of the artists booked failed to appear because their managers forbade them to take part in a political meeting.l Dr. Gleason Archer in his admirable histories of radio has said the use of radio in the campaign of 1924 was of historic value in the development of networks. The author thinks a stronger statement can be made validly. Companies interested in the development of network broadcasting deliberately made use of political conventions and the cam- paigning to test the practicability of radio networks. It was especially valuable at this time to know how well inter- connection of stations could be effected, for the commercial possibilities would be tremendous. Some men were thinking even beyond interconnection of stations by AT&T long distance wires. AT&T held a practical monopoly on wire interconnection because the only other possible country-wide wire network would be by telegraph wires. This had been tried by WJZ and WGY with Western Union and Postal Telegraph wires but the results were not as satisfactory as with telephone wires. 1New York Times, October 10, 1924, p. 2. Ilifll I. . Jr 1 1 213 The other possibility some men were thinking about was to use short wave transmission for relay between sta- tions. The station receiving a short wave transmission could then rebroadcast it by regular wave. Dr. Frank Conrad of Westinghouse had been working on this for some time. A New York Times article in June, 1924, just after the Republican Convention, discussed the possibility of using short wave for reporting the Democratic Convention by radio the following week. Last winter the Radio Corporation of America and Westinghouse Corporation relayed a New York program by short wave length radio to seven other stations from coast to coast. The short wave length was con- verted into regular broadcasting frequencies and re- broadcast, covering virtually the whole nation. The engineers of these companies decided, however, that it would be h0pe1ess to attempt a repetition of this exploit during the convention. What was done at night in mid—winter was out of the question during daylight in the summer. All the relaying between the stations will take place this time by wire. This was the situation in late June and early July, 1924. Yet less than three months later (October 11, 1924) occurred one of the most astounding experiments in broad- casting up to that time. President Calvin Coolidge parti— cipated in it in a "non—political" talk; but what talk by an incumbent President running for re—election can be non— political? The event had all the drama of a world—wide speech by the President of the United States plus the public display of a scientific innovation. The event has seldom been mentioned in radio history, and probably never in political history. 1New York Times, June 17, 1924, p. 2. 4, ,‘q ‘ \.‘\ rn The 6* nation of Company. 1‘ singular. bi in the Unit? Germany sat menus and 11 burgh and W {1‘ speakers. The t: main bar A. n ‘ .rx ~ 9" VV'Vé-Cse Ar” "WV: ‘ ‘ t-.ecteo by .1 A. .. mm the 1W!” 214 The event was an international banquet held in cele- bration of the fifty-fifth anniversary of the H. J. Heinz Company. It was not just an "international banquet," singular, but sixty-five radio banquets held simultaneously in the United States, Canada, England, and Scotland. Ten thousand men and women in the employ of the Heinz Company sat down in the sixty-five banquet halls to identical menus and listened to the same speeches coming from Pitts- burgh and Washington by means of radio receivers and loud speakers. The broadcasting arrangements for the speeches at the main banquet in Pittsburgh and the speech of President Coolidge from the White House in Washington were all directed by Westinghouse engineers. Speeches from the main meeting in Pittsburgh were broadcast directly from KDKA. President Coolidge's speech was carried by direct wire from the White House to KDKA. Station KDKA broadcast the banquet speeches both long wave and short wave. The Westinghouse station in Hastings, Nebraska picked up the KDKA short wave and rebroadcast it for West Coast stations to receive and rebroadcast. The progranlwas also repeated by Westinghouse stations KYW, Chicago, and KBZ, Springfield, Massachusetts. In Great Britain the pickup point was the H. J. Heinz office in London. The banquets were in memory of the founder, Henry J. Heinz, but there seemed to be a political overtone, even .c A“ .hn Tl flv 7 H QM A .V HI“ .— . a E “C r.. tn F. n .1 e T. C I e e '1 1* Dy 1! 1A +U OWI‘ Q v av L “I? V] d S 0 "V. H mi p S D .. W . h 1 D. A!» e S 1 . r J «II. a vs. .V 2% f AHV. Ni 11* a 1Tb nlv C Ob a d in“ O n V C ”In fig Jul|~ on e Ab it“ s “U V: . AIV A: «A u ‘Iv +9 A. v 11L 1““ a mm mm a u -rn Ma "it .Jd n .1 .1 L. .. v .u G 1| .H F V (V “it K o Au» AH» FL. 0 n! o n»; a W l. A. w h.“ U; h u t . 1 . S TD 3 U l a mh bi New "a. law. Ml”. new FEW 17 . V . . «A vrvqn a Ger 1 en 01‘ the lfipa I 215 if accidental or coincidental. The three most prominent speakers were high Republican officials: Secretary of Labor, James J. Davis; Senator George Wharton Pepper, Pennsylvania; and Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States. Mr. Howard Heinz, president of the company and son of the founder, and Charles M. Schwab of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation also spoke. Up to this time, no more extensive or elaborate radio broadcast had ever been attempted.1 It was believed by com- pany officials that millions of persons in America, plus many more abroad, heard the broadcast. The President made only two major radio speeches after the talk for the Heinz banquets. However, he did make fre- quent appearances before groups in Washington or in official capacity at dedicatory ceremonies. In the line of duty, Coolidge helped dedicate the Veterans Memorial in memory of the soldiers of the First Division in Washington, October 15. On October 29, he sat down to breakfast at the White House with fifty representatives of the advertising men of the country. In between these two dates, he delivered his most important political speech to date. This was to the United States Chamber of Commerce dinner at the dedication of the new Washington headquarters of the association. Mr. Coolidge reviewed the record of his party on taxation and legislation-- lThe57 News, house organ of the H. J. Heinz Company, October 14, 1924. \» L .3, 216 which he said had been designed to promote prosperity. As he had done in the Heinz banquet speech, he participated in a new radio experiment. He spoke for forty-five minutes over the greatest land wire interconnection of radio ever attempted. AT&T through wire connections to twenty-two stations coast-to—coast made it possible for Coolidge to talk to the world's largest radio audience. Calvin Coolidge sat at his desk in his White House office and watched the election approach without any apparent concern. Other members of his party, and Democrats and La Follette followers as well, worked faster and harder to bring the campaigning to a successful climax. La Follette spent the last two weeks in a whirlwind of speeches in which he continued to flail monopolies, rail- roads, and the high tariff. On Tuesday, October 21, he talked to 3,000 in the gymnasium of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Wednesday, he was at the Shrine Temple in Peoria telling 2,000 about Mellon's "secret tax refunds." He said l'Coolidge saves at the spigot and wastes at the bunghole" by trying to save money and reduce expenses and taxes by l'cheese paring.” La Follette said what needed to be done was to reduce expenses in military spending. He continued his travels, visiting Grand Rapids, Mich- igan, before swinging east for the last days of the campaign. 1See Appendix E for a list of the radio stations used in the Coolidge Chamber of Commerce speech, October 23, 1924. 2La Follette and La Follette, II, op. cit., p. 1145. \‘\ 217 The La Follette team began to step up pressure in New York state which was considered pivotal-—the weight of the state's electoral votes might swing the election one way or the other. Professor John Dewey addressed a La Follette rally of college men and women at Terrace Garden in New York City. Students from Columbia University, Barnard College, New York University, Hunter College, City College, and Union Theological Seminary crowded in to hear him. This was October 23. La Follette speakers also spread out over upstate New York. Congressman James A. Fear (Wisconsin),Zona Gale, Oswald Garrison Villard, and John Haynes Holmes, D. D. were all on speaking tours to try to win the state for the Senator. Mrs. Robert La Follette was busy with speaking engage- ments in Binghamton, Watertown, and Syracuse. In the meantime Senator Burton Wheeler, La Follette's colleague, was returning east from a long auto trip in which he had gone as far as California. This western tour had climaxed in a meeting attended by 12,000 in the bowl at Los Angeles. It was a highly successful meeting at which $7,500 in contributions had been collected. Wheeler had been on the attack, branding Davis as the "Democratic Wall Street candidate,” slashing at Dawes for his banking record, and calling the Republican administration Lil-5!...1I. ..u a ll 218 venal, corrupt, and careless of the rights of American citizens. He told and retold the stories of Teapot Dome and Harry Daugherty. He had had to stop in Topeka to try to smooth out a disagreement between Kansas progressive leaders. He spoke -in Kansas City, Sedalia, and St. Louis on successive days. On October 29, he was in Flint, Michigan blasting Secretary Hughes, the next day he hurried to Toledo, Ohio. On Octo- ber 31, he spoke in both Youngstown, Ohio and Newcastle, Pennsylvania. From there he went to New York for a great rally in his honor at Durland‘s Riding Academy. His final speech was at Baltimore. Just before La Follette was to begin his final week of campaigning, the Internal Revenue Service, under a new policy, released the names and amounts of income tax paid by individual tax payers. This added fire to the Senator's thundering charges and embarrassment to many prominent Republicans because now the public had direct evidence of the tremendous incomes of some of that party's members. The publication of the lists just before the election had not been politically expedient. La Follette began the last week of the campaign with a tremendous meeting in Baltimore, where 12,000 crowded into the Fifth Regiment Armory to hear him attack the influ- ence of trusts on legislation. Tuesday he was at the Cler- mont rink in Brooklyn where 4,000 came to listen, and about half of them paid 50% to $2.50 for seats. n O i t a V ,i.‘ A if. a' I Y! A I": we 1 avév“ . of. it.) . n H: U V? A.‘ as vcn‘h ’ ‘L‘v vn‘lan‘ r, \! J 9.118310 I q a per broadcast 0 p A: ‘S [A \ \l U. te E—« I!“ "As‘ 219 La Follette's charges of monopoly in radio were answered in action if not in words on Wednesday, October 29. The Senator spoke to 3,000 people in the State Theater in Schenectady, the home of General Electric. This speech was broadcast by WGY, a GE station, a "radio trust" station. "Fighting Bob" very roundly took water power trusts to task (this included OE). All this excoriation of the big corpor— ation over its own station without attempt at censorship or interruption forestalled any more charges of arbitrary action by radio stations.1 Thursday, La Follette addressed 9,000 people in Mechanics Hall, Boston. The speech, in which he endorsed Senator David Walsh of Massachusetts and attacked the im— perialistic policies of both parties in Latin America, was broadcast over a New England network. The Senator invaded Secretary of the Treasury Mellon's home town, Pittsburgh, the next day. In Carnegie Hall there he said: ”Andrew Mellon is the real President of the United States. Calvin Coolidge is merely the man who occupies the White House.”2 ' The aging man concluded his campaign where he began it, in Cleveland. With true sentiment, he laid a wreath on the grave of Tom Johnson, Cleveland's great reform mayor. On 1New York Times, October 30, 1924, p. 7, said La Follette attacked GE as ”a monopoly closely allied with Wall Street and with the water power trust which is seeking to secure control of the water power of America.” 2La Follette and La Follette, II, op. cit., p. 1145. “xx 8 220 this last day La Follette made his last radiocast speech of the campaign. It was before a crowd of 15,000 pe0ple. After the speech, he traveled home to Madison to await the outcome. Davis and the Democrats the Last Two Weeks Davis seemed to spend much of the last two weeks before the election wandering about Kentucky and Tennessee rather profitlessly. He did make one radio speech over WLW, Cin- cinnati, on October 24, before he returned to the New York area. Possibly the Democratic candidate, who did not have the fiery delivery of La Follette, and who could not afford to sit back as imperturbable as Coolidge, began to realize the election campaign was as the New York Times said ”free from popular excitement” with no sharp issue between parties and that the "personalities of the leading candidates were not such as to kindle animosities or provide fears."1 The Democratic Party, however, tried to whip up inter- est in their candidates during the closing days of the campaign. Robert W. Wooley, Chairman of Publicity for the Democratic National Committee, announced Mr. Davis would make radio broadcasts from Louisville, Cleveland, Jersey City, Brooklyn, New York, and other cities during the last two weeks of October. The party was interested in how far away the speeches were being heard, and what impressions the listeners had of the talks. 1New York Times, November 2, 1924, p. 6. 'i "V5,.“ I -- \. -. ,_ 221 To encourage listeners to write in to the Publicity Bureau, a prize of a "handsome radio set" was to be awarded to the person who sent in the best fifteen word statement of why Mr. Davis should be elected President, accompanied by a statement not exceeding fifty words of some striking thing in one of Mr. Davis' speeches "caught by radio and the time it was received over the radio."1 No follow-up newspaper story was found which commented on the interest stimulated by the offer of the handsome prize. Another idea to attract attention to the Democratic party was almost as amateurish as the radio prize contest. The party publicity department decided to setup a radio sta— tion in a show window of Aeolian Hall in midtown New York so passersby could see a radio station in operation--and politicans campaigning. On October 20, a Democratic Rally was held there with the WJZ studio, the engineer's control room, and the reception room in plain view of persons standing outside on the sidewalk. The leading speaker was State Senator .James J. Walker (later Mayor Walker) who criticized Republicans in the Assembly who did not support Governor Smith's reform program. Musical programs and regular features of WJZ were also ‘broadcast from.this show-window studio. It was in operation all week. On the second day, someone thought of putting 1New York Times, October 21, 1924, p. 4. \.‘\ 222 loudspeakers on the outside so the crowds could hear as well as see the programs. The Democratic political programs broadcast from WJZ and its sister station, WJY, did not seem to Show much last minute urgency or enthusiasm--or very realistic planning. Judging from the title of some of the talks, they must have been pretty dry. For example, Anne Mathews, Register of New York County, made a radio speech ”Matters of Special Interest to the Home Woman in the National Campaign." On the evening of October 23, Augustus Thomas talked on "The Foundation of the Constitution." Thomas E. Rush, president of the National Democratic Club, went to the WJZ microphone at the prine time of 8:00 P.M. Saturday night and delivered what must have been an absorbing oration entitled "The Vicissitudes of a Practical Politician." Only one or two incidents showed a flicker of news- worthiness or of imagination. One happened on the New York City municipal station, WNYC. The station was operated to keep the citizens informed on municipal matters and for incidental, non—partisan entertainment. One night during the last days of the campaign, one young lady entertainer finished her act and then spoke into the microphone saying, ”Now good night, and don't forget to vote for Davis." Of course, the city officials in charge of the station, aall Denmcrats probably, had to appear shocked. They called 1New York Times, October 19, 1924, p. 6. 223 iss Mullen, the entertainer, before them to answer for her indiscretion. With great charm and apparent innocence, she said she did not realize she was doing harm. She was for- given. There was no punishment.l All during the campaign the Democrats had been charging that Pennsylvania Republicans under Joseph Grundy had been raising a secret ”slush” fund to "buy" the election for their party in the state. Several front page newspaper stories appeared but Senator Borah and his Special Committee to investigate campaign contributions never made an issue of the charges. During the last days before the election the Democrats attempted to contrast the sacrifices one poor woman made to contribute to the Democratic National Com- sinister machinations of the Grundy crowd and their ”slush" fund. Mrs. Jessie B. Black of Mansfield, Ohio endorsed a check for $57.50 which she received as her dead son's war insurance and she sent it to the Democratic National Com— mittee as a contribution to the cause the party was fighting for. So it was explained. The attempt of the Democrats to hold up the purity of motive of the poor woman in contrast to the selfish motives of the Republicans did not seem to have much effect on the election, for the GOP carried Pennsylvania. 1New York Times, October 19, 1924, p. 7. 224 Candidate Davis spent the last week in the vicinity of New York City, hoping to win enough votes to assure him the state. Al Smith had agreed to run for re-election as governor after he failed to win the Presidential nomination. Smith was tremendously popular and always ran ahead of his party. It was hoped the popularity of Smith plus the sincerity of Davis would win the'state for the Democrats. Davis and Smith appeared on the platform together in Carnegie Hall, November 1, the Saturday night before elec- tion. Their pleas for support of their ticket were broad- case from WJZ, New York, and were interconnected with WCAE, Pittsburgh, WMC, Memphis, WRC, Washington, WTAS, Elgin, Illinois, and WHAS, Louisville. On Monday, election eve, Davis made his final speech from WEAF, New York at 9:15 P.M. A network of stations was connected to WEAF: WCAP, Washington; WGY, Schenectady; KDKA, Pittsburgh; KFKX, Hastings, Nebraska; KSD, St. Louis; WMC, Memphis; WGN, Chicago; and it is quite likely most of the Pacific coast was able to hear rebroadcasts of the short wave transmission from the Westinghouse station in Hastings. Bryan spent the last days before the election touring and speaking in southern Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. Many endorsements were published during the last few clays also. Twenty-two prominent professors said they were .for Davis as the only means of getting into the League. 225 Forty—seven college presidents announced for Davis as did also eight well-known former Republican women. Reppblicans Last Drive for Victory The efficiency of the Republican organization was especially evident the last two weeks before election. The Republicans had more money to spend than the Democrats or the La Follette party and they knew better how to spend it for the best publicity value. The GOP took over two stations in the East completely for political broadcasting; they staged three political rallies with all the glamor Hollywood and Broadway could contribute; and they kept Charles G. Dawes on the radio every night, outside New York, relentlessly hammering away at both opposing parties.1 For his part, President Coolidge made his Chamber of Commerce speech (as has been mentioned) over an impressive array of twenty—two stations, and then came back on election eve to urge citizens to go to the polls--and this was over the largest network ever attempted to that date. Republicans took over radio stations WAHG, Richmond Hill, Long Island and WBHF, Providence for two weeks previous to election. Political talks were made morning, noon, and night from Republican headquarters at 2 West 46th Street, 1New York Times, October 24, 1924, p. 5, gave the Dawes itinerary as Philadelphia, October 21; Wheeling, 22; Wilmington, 23; Newark, 24; Brooklyn, 25; and both Albany and Rochester, October 27. 226 New York City and broadcast over the two stations.1 The first program featured Secretary of War Weeks; Frederick Hicks, eastern campaign manager; John Q. Tilson, chairman of the Speakers Bureau; former Congressman James Francis Burke; Helen Varick Boswell; and Charles D. Hilles, Vice Chairman of the National Committee. The speakers told how a political campaign was conducted. Musical numbers were interspersed. In commenting on the idea, Tilson said: ”This step in taking over two large stations is the last word in effec— tive radio campaigning. With practically no expense, the Republican party in the eastern district has developed an organized radio campaign which exceeds similar efforts of other parties.”2 The first of the Republican radio rallies was held, October 29, in Aeolian Hall, WJZ, and was broadcast over a total of seven stations from New York to Oakland, California. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, .John Hays Hammond, and Luther Little were the principal speakers. The next evening the Republicans broadcast a more popular program--a Midnight Theatrical Revue. This innova- tion--a radio political entertainment show-—featured stars 1See Appendix F for a sample day's program. 2New York Times, October 20, 1924, p. 5. 227 John Drew, A1 Jolson, Elsie Ferguson, and Amelia Bingham. The program lasted from 11:30 P.M. to 2:00 A.M., the next morning. On Saturday night, a Republican Rally was broadcast from the stage of the Metr0politan Opera House. This was sent out over a network of sixteen stations.l Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes and New York gubernatorial candidate Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. were introduced by General Charles Sherrill as the Speakers of the evening. Band music was used to heighten the enthusiasm of the audience, and to entertain the radio listeners. On election eve, Davis made his last speech, as has already been related. He went on the air at 9:15 P.M. At ten o'clock President Coolidge also made an elec- tion eve speech. It was non-partisan, merely a request of the President of the United States that all qualified voters go to the polls the following day and make their choices of candidates. Although the President had broken all records for the number of stations used in a network with his Chamber of Commerce speech only ten days before, this night he set another record by talking over twenty-six stations coast to coast to a potential audience of twenty to thirty million people.2 1See Appendix G for a list of the stations. 2See Appendix H for list of radio stations used for President Coolidge's election eve speech. ‘7 en'— «5/ I.“ ; 0.0.17.1“ \\ 228 AT&T engineers planned the interconnections carefully and stationed several hundred technicians and repairmen at intervals along the circuit through the Rockies so there would be no interruption through storm damage. It was reported after the broadcast that many listeners were touched by the President's closing words. They said there was personal warmth in the way Mr. Coolidge said: "To my father, who is listening in my old home in Vermont, and to my other invisible audience, I say 'good night'."1 1New York Times, November 4, 1924, p. 4. _ CHAPTER XI WHO IS TO PAY FOR BROADCASTING? The political campaign had proved the practicability of interconnecting radio stations in a coast-to-coast net- work. The future seemed bright for national broadcasting. But one question had not been settled which had been plaguing the industry since 1920. The question was the same one Radio Broadcast magazine asked in its first editorial in its first issue: ”Who is to pay for broadcasting?”1 The question became increasingly bothersome as oper- ating costs rose. As time went on, more expensive equipment was needed, performers asked for pay, ASCAP demanded fees for the use of their copyrighted music over radio, the pub- lic's appetite led stations to extravagant heights in covering top sport, news, and entertainment events of the day. Who was to pay for all this? The principal methods of financing radio suggested 111 the press, by leaders of the industry, and by expressions <3f the public can be classified under a few heads. 1Radio Broadcast, May, 1922, p. 1. 229 230 The cost of broadcasting could be paid by: 1. Manufacturers of radio equipment; 2. Newspapers; 3. Endowments; 4. General contributions to a common fund; 5. Municipal financing; 6. Voluntary contributions to individual stations; 7. Tax on tubes or equipment; 8. H. B. Kellogg's plan; 9. Wired home radios; 10. Special receiving sets; 11. License fee on receivers; 12. Advertising. There was no question the public wanted radio, for it had become a part of America's life and entertainment by 1924. But how was it to be paid for? Let us consider the various suggestions. By Manufacturers of Radio Equipment This is the method which occurred to Mr. Davis of Westinghouse when he read the Horne Department Store ad in the Pittsburgh newspaper. He thought the manufacturers of radio equipment could afford to maintain broadcasting sta- tions because it would encourage pe0ple to buy receivers to luear the programs. The idea was good at the time and worked .for two or three years. General Electric, RCA, and a few