In
1903 the first transatlantic wireless communication took place in
Wellfleet thanks to the invention of Guglielmo Marconi. It was the
beginning of radio. 2020 will mark the 100th anniversary
of the first commercial radio broadcast. However it did not take
place on Cape Cod but from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There have been
many legendary radio stations on Cape Cod. 106 WCOD is still going
strong since debuting in 1967, others like 99.9 WQRC and 107.5 WFCC
have been supplying music to various audiences for decades. In 2019
there are an estimated 15,330 radio stations in the United States.
Did you know that Cape Cod’s first radio station came in with a
bang, make a quick splash, and left with barely a whimper?
On
November 2, 1920 Pittsburgh radio station KDKA aired the first
commercial broadcast. The station had chosen election day in America
so listeners could hear the results of the race between Warren G.
Harding and James M. Cox which Harding won. The broadcast was a huge
success. Within four years there were 600 commercial radio stations
in the country including WNAC in Boston, the future WRKO, and WEEI.
These stations, and infrequently WEAF out of New York, could be tuned
in to on Cape Cod.
News
programming and musical shows were the norm with special guest
performers. To offset the costs of paying the performers plus
improving the radio station equipment stations turned to advertisers.
The very first radio advertisement, a fifteen-minute real estate ad
about apartments in Jackson Heights, aired on WEAF New York on August
22, 1922. Radio became big business with advertising and networks
developing and sharing programming among affiliates.
The
rising popularity and profitability of radio led to Cape Codders
longing for their own local station. Boston and New York stations
were accessible to varying degrees however lacked the local feel and
coverage. In July 1926 their wish came true. A station was created
in Osterville through the efforts of James Henderson, the president
of the firm of Henderson & Ross. It was a 200 watt station
located at the Seapuit Golf Course, one of the first built in
America, along South County Road. The station, which would operate
on the 250 meter band, was to be known by the call letters WJBX,
however it debuted with the letters WSGC possibly as a nod to Seapuit
Golf Course.
The
job of running the new radio station fell to William Harrison who had
been working as a broadcaster for WEEI in Boston. The hype for the
opening night of Saturday July 24th was palpable in all of
the local newspapers. Harrison stated the station’s signal was
strong enough to be heard throughout Cape Cod and Southeastern
Massachusetts. An additional promotion was begun by James Henderson,
it was a cash prize of $25 for the telephone call received at the
station from the furthest away by midnight of the first day on the
air. All other telephone callers would receive complimentary copies
of Cape Cod Magazine (the original version which was in print from
1915-1927)
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| Aerial view of Seapuit Golf Course from 1892, courtesy of Marstons Mills Historical Society |
Opening
night of the new WSGC began at 7:30pm with a half-hour performance
from Joe Rines and his Sunkist Garden Orioles orchestra. Sunkist
Garden was briefly the name given to the Mill Hill Pavilion located
where DiParma Restaurant currently stands in West Yarmouth. The
music was followed by a brief introductory discussion by founder
James Henderson. He then threw it to a discussion featuring
Massachusetts Amateur golf champion Freddy Wright and golf course
architect Donald Ross among others. It was fitting for the station’s
headquarters. From 9-11pm there was a collection of dance music
featuring the likes of Jim Moynihan’s Orchestra, soprano singer
Jean Hinkle, and pianist H.C. LeBrie. The night was deemed a
success. More than 200 telephone calls were received by midnight
with the furthest point heard from being Lexington, Massachusetts
approximately seventy miles away.
WSGC
was to be on the air every evening except for Monday between
7:30-11pm typically following the same format of musical interludes
and discussions of topics central to life of Cape Cod. The
programming found an audience with letters coming in from as far away
as Concord, New Hampshire by the middle of August. William Harrison
continued to bring in big time local musicians like Chet Copp and the
Eagleston Inn Orchestra out of Hyannis. On August 17, 1926 Harrison
was contacted by the Department of Commerce from Washington D.C.
informing him that the station’s call letters were originally
supposed to be WJBX not WSGC and that the department was immediately
changing them.
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| Program Listing for WSGC's Opening Night, courtesy of Boston Globe Archives |
The
new WJBX continued on with its successful programming six nights a
week throughout the remained of the summer. It was announced that as
Labor Day passed the radio station would cease operating until the
following spring. The final night of Sunday September 5th
featured a worship service led by Reverend H.P. Almon Abbott and
finally a short recital featuring Jean Hinkle. WJBX closed for the
season at 11:30pm. On September 13, 1926 the Radio Corporation of
America (RCA) created the first national radio network, the National
Broadcasting Company (NBC).
William
Harrison stated that due to the station’s success he was excited
for the second season in 1927, promising new shows from outside the
confines of the Seapuit Golf Course station. The likely relaunch was
set for June 1927. Unfortunately the relaunch never came. It is unclear why but WSGC/WJBX
ended up being nothing more than a flash in the pan, a test run for
what would be coming in the decades that followed.
James
Henderson went back to focusing on his real estate while Harrison
went back to Boston to continue his radio career. The Seapuit Golf
Course slowly declined through the Great Depression before the entire
property was purchased by Canadian ‘Aluminum King’ E.K. Davis.
The golf course was abandoned after severe damage during a hurricane
in 1944 and today there are very few, if any, reminders of the golf
course left.
Cape
Cod would not see a new radio station until the formation of the Cape
Cod Broadcasting Company in 1937. Two years later came a proposal by
Joseph Goulding for a station on 8 ½ acres of land on South Sea
Avenue in West Yarmouth in June 1939. He said the station would have
the call letters WOCB for ‘Only Cape Broadcasting.’ A 195-foot
tall radio tower was erected and the second-ever Cape Cod radio
station went live on October 2, 1940. It ran out of money and folded
in May 1943 before being brought back to life by new owners E.
Anthony and Sons in May 1944.
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| A postcard for WOCB from the early 1950's, courtesy of American Radio History.com |
In
May 1948 WOCB became Cape Cod’s first FM station. It remained in
business until Hurricane Bob felled the radio tower in August 1991
and the owners could not afford to rebuild. The station was
purchased by automobile dealer Ernie Boch Sr. to become the flagship
station for his Boch Broadcasting. Its call letters were changed to
WXTK and the station is still on the air today.
Despite
being the first radio station on Cape Cod nary a word is spoken about
WSGC. Perhaps because it only last two months. Perhaps because its
home base the Seapuit Golf Course is long since gone WSGC lends
itself to being a mere footnote in the long history of Cape Cod
radio. However in the legacy of radio stations on Cape Cod there had
to be a first and that one was WSGC in Osterville.
View my previous blog posts: In Their Footsteps: Cape Cod History - Sullivan's Donut Shop
1 comment:
WHO knows where to find old commercials from WOCB (and/or airchecks) for example the Christopher Ryder Opera House jingle??
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