OUT OF THIN AIR

A strange thing I remember about radio was that a man who lived near us would always get into his good clothes and sit in front of his radio. He was not the only one to do this, all kinds of people would do this. It was a very special thing you see, and they wanted to be dressed correctly for it.

Before we got our own radio we’d go to other homes to listen. And we would sit there and stare at the radio, and we’d continue listening even though the crashes of the static would wipe out the broadcasting entirely.

One time we were visiting the static was very bad; the lady of the house got up to make a lunch, and we were all ready to take the earphones ofif but “ 0” she said, “leave them on.” and we sat there eating lunch and listening to static. It became a very social thing, visiting and listening to radio. The marvel of it. ..we just couldn’t understand how it worked at all.

Weekdays, while Dad was broadcasting from the hardware store, his friend Walter Burke was broadcasting an hour of sacred music and readings every Sunday afternoon from his living room on Upper Hillsboro Street. Toombs Music Store in Charlottetown loaned both Dad and Mr. Burke phonograph records in exchange for advertising.

In the meantime, Walter Burke, after a few months of successful Sunday broadcasting over his tiny lCK “amateur radio telephone”, was still more determined than ever to broadcast from his church. He called on Walter Hyndman to see if he could build him a bigger transmitter, a professional-like one, something around twenty watts.

“How much will it cost me?” he asked Hyndman.

“Plenty, I’m afraid”, Walter Hyndman replied.

When the cost was estimated, it was several hundred dollars. Walter Burke was not a wealthy man. He worked for the old Charlottetown wholesaler, Carter and Company, in their seed department. But he was dedicated to the idea of broadcasting church services. He was a great Methodist and had been listening to religious services from KDKA. It now became his life’s ambition and he was ready to start raising money. Mrs. Burke, also an avid churchgoer, agreed to go along, and Walter Hyndman was given the go-ahead to build a twenty watt station for him.

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