Sunday Nostalgic Muse: Stopped by an Antique Mall yesterday and they had a display of old radios. Took me back to age 12 when I saved up my paper route money and got a Montgomery Ward...

RJW Loc: Oregon

Stopped by an Antique Mall yesterday and they had a display of old radios. Took me back to age 12 when I saved up my paper route money and got a Montgomery Ward Airline 10 transistor portable AM radio.
Encased in brown leather with a leather carry handle on top and chrome speaker grill taking 6 D batteries. Every night at 10pm I listened to WLS Chicago for the top 3 hits (Beatles most of the time), followed by some detective serial of which the name escapes me. KOMO 50,000 Watts in Oklahoma City came fading in and out in in the evenings of northern Minnesota and had all the best hits in the 60's. Later around 1972 was The Mighty 1090 Beaker Street with Clyde Clifford. Sad to see what AM Radio is today. Any favorite radio stories out there ? RJW

AM Radios - A Fond Memory
AM Radios - A Fond Memory...

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SteveLoker Loc: Fort Worth, TX

I remember listening to Dr Demento in the 70s when I should have been sleeping. I don't remember the model but it was an old (even at the time) bake-o-lite chassis with vacuum tubes. It was my dad's from when he did shift work at an agar processing plant.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

WSM in Nashville and WLAC also near Nashville were what they called “clear channel” stations, like WLS. I listened to those almost every night and got hooked on country music, which I still prefer today. WSM was the Grand Ole Opry station. WLAC always had a late-night program with call-ins. Those call-ins sometimes were by young people having relationship problems, and th DJ would always tell them that he was sending a barrel of White Rose Petroleum Jelly (one of his sponsors) to use to work out their problems. I, as a teenager, always found that hilarious. I also listened sometimes to WLS and a Cincinnati station whose call letters I cannot remember right now. It always had baseball on in the afternoons.

Today I listen mostly to satellite radio’s country channels, mostly the old stuff, the Jimmy Buffet channel, B.B. King’s Bluesville, and the NASCAR channel. If that makes me a Redneck by some people’s standards, it makes me sort of proud, in a way.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Dick Biondi on WLS was my fave DJ in my high school years, listening on my 8 transistor radio (don’t recall the brand) after lights out time at home. Looking back on my getting that radio for Christmas, I wonder how my Dad could afford such an expensive gift for one of his four children. My Dad was a blue-collar working man and that radio probably cost close to a weeks wages.

Stan

Bill 45

A week ago I pick up at an auction radio made in the 1930s It was what became known as a "farm radio". In the 1930s you had large areas of America without AC power. The radio companies made radios for people living in rural areas. The radios ran off batteries. The one I have is a GE Model U51 made in 1936. Power for it was one 6 volt storage battery. This kind of battery was also use in cars at that time. No transistor in this radio it was all tubers. I known that Zenith Radio Company made wind mills to be use to power the radios with out using a battery or batteries. Some of the transistor radios in your picture I have own.

Xinloi6870

“Yours truly, KOMA....Oklahoma City !”
1520 on the dial. Came in loud and clear at night in Colorado, so I’d listen until I fell asleep. If you grew up in Denver, KIMN 950 was THE radio station during the 60’s.

Bill 45

jaymatt wrote:

WSM in Nashville and WLAC also near Nashville were... (show quote)

B.B. King, no way a redneck, you just like music. To this day I use a radio at night to get a baseball and women baskeball.

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

Dick Biondi And WLS Chicago and KAAY Little Rock were what we listened to in Hannibal Missouri back in the 60s. And of course Wolfman Jack every chance I had.

DonB Loc: Port Royal , Tn

WLS (Worlds Largest Store) Barndance out of Chicago, WSM Grand Ole Opry Nashville both 50Kw stations and sometimes at night there was an outlaw station just across the border from Larado Tx that pumped out 100Kws! Listened to it a lot when driving at night. Helped to keep me awake! We were living in Indiana at the time.

lsaguy Loc: Udall, KS, USA

I had a couple of germanium diode radios that required no batteries. There was a wire with an alligator clip to attach to something metal for an antenna. My grandma's pant stretchers hung from a tree limb worked great.

RJW Loc: Oregon

I made several crystal radio sets like Isaguy in grade school. Moved up to building a Heathkit shortwave radio in high school and then a Dynaco Amp and Pre-amp after that. It all started with late night listening to the AM transistor radio, like most of you posting. Great comments and stories everyone !

philmurfin Loc: Bakewell, Derbyshire UK

RJW wrote:

I made several crystal radio sets like Isaguy in grade school. Moved up to building a Heathkit shortwave radio in high school and then a Dynaco Amp and Pre-amp after that. It all started with late night listening to the AM transistor radio, like most of you posting. Great comments and stories everyone !

Over here in the UK, for us it was 208 Radio Luxenburg fading out then back in again, thanks for the memories!

Best.... Phil

SonyBug

RJW wrote:

Stopped by an Antique Mall yesterday and they had ... (show quote)

We had a cats eye tuned radio. I used to get Clear Channel 50,000 watts from Nashville for the Barn Dance and GOO. Grand Old Opry that is, back in the '40s. Used to stay up Saturday nights sitting in front of the radio listening.

St.Mary's

Zenith purchased the Windcharger company in Sioux City, Iowa at some point after WWII. When rural America was electrified, wind charging was doomed. Although it's too bad it didn't hang around to take advantage of today's green environment. Zenith continue to make tube radios at the plant for years until the solid state era and Japanese radio imports. See the Windcharger web site.

Bill 45

St.Mary's wrote:

Zenith purchased the Windcharger company in Sioux City, Iowa at some point after WWII. When rural America was electrified, wind charging was doomed. Although it's too bad it didn't hang around to take advantage of today's green environment. Zenith continue to make tube radios at the plant for years until the solid state era and Japanese radio imports. See the Windcharger web site.

Reason for the wind charging doomed. When the electrified was done on farmer's house and barn. He or she had to cut off the use of windmill for power, if not no electrified for house and barn. Yes, wind charging would be great in today 's green environment.