Radio in the Royal City

A look back at various radio stations

Radio in the Royal City

Postby radiofan » Sat Jan 05, 2013 10:54 am

Radio in the Royal City
BY ARCHIE & DALE MILLER, THE RECORD JANUARY 4, 2013



As we begin 2013, this is the 1,612th Our Past column since it began in an earlier version of the newspaper in 1981.

Looking back at more than 30 years of columns, we see a wide range of topics and today we are pleased to start another year with a special piece that links a local New Westminster building with a radio station.

No, it is not CKNW, but it is very early in B.C. radio history.

The year was 1923, and for a number of weeks at the end of December the community, through its newspaper, watched the activity taking place at the Westminster Trust Building downtown at Columbia and Begbie streets.

Much of the activity was on the building's fifth floor where the required equipment for a radio station was being installed.

Hume and Rumble, an electrical company, did the installation and its "radio mechanics," F. Stirling and Roy R. Brown did the technical work.

Radio was not yet very common, but in the 1920s a group that included Fred Hume and his company in co-operation with the Westminster Trust Company was pushing for this innovation.

The studio and broadcasting room, according to one person's later reminiscences, consisted of one, large, open space and a broom closet that held the heavy broadcasting equipment.

Part of the apparatus used to send the radio signal was situated on the roof of the building, and while there appears to be some disagreement as to the signal's reach, it did quite well disseminating information "of value and interest."

The station, whose call letters were CFXC, aimed to provide financial reports, city market prices, musical programs with local amateur talent, and music from a gramophone playing from "a supply of the very latest and best records."

The management of the station noted proudly that "when radio fans hear CFXC announcing, they will know that it is the Westminster Trust Broadcasting station taking possession of the ether."

Their plans initially called for on-air programming for an hour or two each evening starting with the 7: 30 to 8: 30 p.m. slot.

On the afternoon of Christmas Day 1923, there was a broadcast of seasonal greetings, some Christmas carols and a message from Canon D'Easum of Holy Trinity Cathedral.

While the broadcast was successful and the on-air material was clear and distinct, more work remained with an official opening yet to come.

That opening was held on New Year's Eve, and included a number of comments, speeches and a discussion by Fred Hume on the coming of radio, "the newest field of activity as yet little explored."

CFXC was now on the air from the Westminster Trust Building in downtown New Westminster.

They didn't last long, but they were there at the start of local radio history.

Next week's Our Past will relate some wonderful details from this local, relatively unknown story.

© Copyright (c) New West Record


Read more: http://www.royalcityrecord.com/news/Rad ... z2H7na6Rva
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Radio in the Royal City

Postby Jack Bennest » Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:55 am

At one time CKNW was the station of the Royal City. I would sign off (on the VHF),,, "Jack Bennest in the royal city"

The residents should demand their own station again.

Interesting history radiofan - I think someone with the time and fortitude could write a book about each station
in BC or a book about them all but....

time is running out
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CFXC and CJOR

Postby jon » Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:59 am

It will be interesting to see what the author uncovers about the transition from CFXC to CJOR.

George Chandler and his brother Art did buy CFXC on July 13, 1926. But the transition to CJOR is less clear, at least to me. Did the Chandlers surrender the CFXC New Westminster license and apply for a new Vancouver license as CJOR? Or simply get a change in the licensed location and new call letters?

broadcasting-history.ca also has me confused as CJOR is listed as sharing with CNRV, but CNRV is listed as 1100 KHz and CJOR as 1030 KHz, which is also listed as CFXC's frequency. One possible explanation is that stations 70 KHz apart would interfere with one another on the most popular radios of the time, the so-called Cat's Whiskers. If they were anything like the crystal sets of the 1950s, even CHQM-1320 and CFUN-1410 were almost too close together at the higher end of the AM band.

Assuming that CFXC and CJOR were both using 1030 KHz in 1926, it sounds more like a license change than a brand new license application for CJOR.
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Re: Radio in the Royal City

Postby Eldon-Mr.CFAY » Sat Jan 05, 2013 5:35 pm

Hi Everyone,
Yes another great topic on Radio West. I am most interested in Radio in Royal City of New Westminster. Particularly since I was born there. Have always liked New Westminster even though I grew up in Surrey. Have always considered New West. my hometown. My aunt and several cousins still live there. Getting to the radio stations there, yes CFXC is of much interest to me. I knew about it before but a lot of people only think of CKNW as New Westminsters first radio station which of course is not true. Jon you bring up some very good questions about how CFXC changed to CJOR and moved into Vancouver. I would like to know the answers to those to. Thanks very much RadioFan for posting the article about this from the New West. newspaper, much appreciated, any further information would also be of much interest.

You are right Jack, someone should write a book or two about this. There are some very interesting station histories out there in British Columbia and Canada in general! I have a couple of radio station history books including the CHUM 1050 story and a Puget Sound Radio Book about the History of some of the Washington State and Seattle radio stations with lots of photos.

Yes it is a shame CKNW left New West. for Vancouver, even the small studio museum at the McDonalds at McBride Plaza is long gone. I saw it quite a few years ago and it was real nice having a coffee and looking at it there. However it was taken out quite a few years ago now, RadioFan might know how long ago. I am somewhat familiar with HUME Electric as when I was a kid used to see their trucks around New West. a lot. My grandmother had lived in Sapperton for years till she passed away in 1977 and my Uncle lived there also. So used to see some of the Hume trucks quite a bit. On a sidenote is Hume Park near Sapperton named after the Hume family of New Westminster? I remember going there with my sister and cousins when we were kids in the summertime, great park down near the Brunette River and still there today. Also speaking of historical radio stuff, my grandmother and uncle who lived in Sapperton for many years found me several old 1920 and early 30s Radio callbook magazines at a used book store in Sapperton. That must be back around 1972 or so. I still have one but I think I sold the other ones quite a few years ago. The one I have is from the late 20s maybe 1929 or early 1930s, I have it with me here in Ontario, very interesting reading!

Take care everyone, Have a great New Year!!!

73s Eldon
Bye . . Mr. CFAY "Frequently On The Frequency"
The CFAY Website: http://cfayradio.wordpress.com
CFAY Radio: http://tinyurl.com/l9qqmh
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Re: Radio in the Royal City

Postby radiofan » Sat Jan 05, 2013 5:46 pm

I'm pretty sure Hume Park in New West is named after Fred Hume. Likewise, Rumble Street in South Burnaby is named after the Rumble portion of Hume & Rumble. An old home that belonged to the Rumble
family still stands today at 2nd street and 13th Avenue in Southeast Burnaby.
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Re: Radio in the Royal City

Postby johnsykes » Sat Jan 05, 2013 9:53 pm

Interesting stuff.....I'm going to dig into my bag of memories re CJOR and the Chandler family. My late father worked for Chandler when he had the Muzak franchise. I'll see what I can come up with.

It was rather ironic that years later, I worked for CJOR well after George Chandler had gone...and his wife lost the station.
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