Most people today can probably remember when they got their first cellphone, and how excited they were when they made that first call, probably asking the person on the other end, "Guess where I'm calling from?"
The same kind of excitement was probably going around Oneonta in February 1922 as people got their first radio sets in their home or business, or heard their first radio broadcast.
The Oneonta Star reported on Friday, Feb. 10, "While there have for some time been a number of amateur wireless receiving stations in the city with Russell E. Brigham having a more elaborate equipment than others, there has with the development of a number of broadcasting stations sending out regular daily service been aroused a wider interest in the subject and the coming summer will doubtless witness the installation of many receiving outlets both in city and country.
"The Star has purchased one of the latest and most approved Westinghouse sets through R.E. Brigham, which will be in operation within a few weeks it is expected at the Star building and it is not improbable that important news developments and sporting events such as the results of the big league ball games will be first received by wireless telephone during the coming summer.
"W.C. Brannaman at his garage on Wall street already has one of these sets in operation and Edward E. Ford and Lynn Bresee have equipment ordered for early installation in their residences, with doubtless other citizens either having placed orders or considering so doing. The Oneonta club is also considering early installation for the entertainment of members."
An advertisement in The Star on Saturday, Feb. 11, 1922, stated that "Radio-Phone Headquarters" was found at C.C. Miller, Plumbing, Heating and Electrical Contractor, 287 Main St.
The ad said that just as soon as deliveries could be made, they'd have a full line of equipment for sale.
Commercial radio was still very new in America, as Pittsburgh's KDKA, AM 1020, made the first historic broadcast on Nov. 2, 1920. It was referred to in The Star news article, as the station had daily evening programming from 7 to 10 p.m. at the time.
"Its future possibilities are unlimited," The Star reported. "They are well illustrated by the manner in which President Harding's speech at Arlington Cemetery over the body of the Unknown Soldier was broadcasted across the country. Within the next two years all the important speeches will be transmitted over the telephone wires to each of the radiophone stations and then sent out broadcast to the homes of everyone who has a receiving set installed."
It was reported on Friday, March 24, that the patrons of Oneonta's annual Automobile Show, then held at the armory on Academy Street, would be able to hear some of these "nightly concerts."
"Director U.A. Ferguson has made arrangements with R.E. Brigham to install and operate a radio telephone receiving set on each night of the show and, whether (sic) conditions permitting, the programs received nightly from the big broadcasting stations at Pittsburgh, Pa., Newark, N.J., Schenectady and other cities will be made audible to everyone in the big drill hall by means of a large amplifier which has been secured for the purpose.
"To hear such a 'long distance' concert will be a revelation to many who are not fully aware of the amazing development of wireless telephony and should attract many to the show."
The station referred to in Schenectady is today's WGY, AM 810, which signed on for the first time on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 1922.
WOR-AM, New York, signed on the same day.
In the early 21st century, not everyone is a fan of cellphones and the immediate access they can provide, for better or worse.
Interestingly, a cartoon appeared in The Star on Monday, March 27, 1922, showing one of the new radio sets being carried on the back of a youngster, much like a present-day backpack. One might compare it to a modern cellphone.
The boy, frowning and saying, "Aw, Shucks," is being besieged by messages from the device, most likely from his mother, such as, "Don't Loiter. Don't you dare to go swimming. You must go to the store before supper. Keep out'a the mud. I want you to clean up the yard. Don't forget this is bath night."
Another youth in the cartoon, also wearing a frown says, "Gee Whiz -- You can't tell what this radio thing might grow into -- Gee Whiz!"
Nevertheless, radio was here to stay in Oneonta, 90 years ago this month.
On Monday: While radio was big in 1922, outer space was just as big in February 1962.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/marksimonson.
Mark Simonson
Our area began to discover radio 90 years ago this month
- Mark Simonson
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A Main Street facelift for Oneonta in the 1920s
It has been just a little over 30 years, 1980 in fact, that Main Street in Oneonta went through a major transformation in appearance. Even now I'll hear mixed comments about the changes, which included antique style lamps, trees, planters and brick trim. Some liked the changes while others liked the wider street with the even-sized sidewalks.
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Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
100 Years Ago -
Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
A young person of 75 years ago may still recall where they were or what they were doing in the month of May, as two big news events took place. They were the Hindenburg disaster and the passing of billionaire John D. Rockefeller. There were some local connections with both news items.
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Oneonta residents had diversions aplenty in the spring of 1952
It is always good to keep up with current events. However, it is starting to become an unwritten requirement to seek some diversions from staying up to date on news, as for some it can become overwhelming or depressing.
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Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
Oftentimes, in the distant past, the place you worked for became a social nucleus in the village or town. Employees at large companies such as Endicott-Johnson Shoe Co. or IBM in the Binghamton area took part in activities after work such as sports, music and theater, both in and out of town, to represent their company.
- Monday, May 7, 2012
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Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
As a youngster growing up in the area and having a fascination with radio broadcasting, I used to consider it a part-time hobby to put the earphone into my transistor radio and go exploring what was out there to listen to, up and down the dial. It was indeed a long-distance journey at night when listening to AM radio, as you could hear live and locally staffed stations from Chicago, Windsor/Detroit, Atlanta and New Orleans, to name a few cities. I never spent a lot of time listening to FM radio 40 years ago, simply because there wasn't the same "excitement" of the long-distance journey. Little did I realize, things were changing locally on that "other" band of radio frequencies that included decimal points.
- Saturday, May 5, 2012
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Congressman Fairchild added downtown growth in 1912
Another case of wandering imagination struck this historian recently, while learning about the building at 244-248 Main St. in Oneonta, storefronts for the Autumn Café and Razzle Dazzle. This structure is known as the Fairchild block, and it turns 100 this year.
- Monday, April 30, 2012
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From no TV to saving eagles, it was life in April 1982
No television. No place to pay the phone bill. No more Spaulding's baked goods. Possibly no more Center Street School. While these were some of the noes in the news of our area in April 1982, there were some yeses as well, including a new structure at Corning Inc. of Oneonta and help to save bald eagles.
- Saturday, April 28, 2012
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A daily newspaper for Oneonta was an achievement in 1887
Depending on the electronic device you have these days, accessing news can be made nearly as soon as something happens. Oneontans of 125 years ago got their news on a weekly basis, courtesy of The Oneonta Herald.
- Monday, April 23, 2012
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Area saw Hollywood stars up close in April 1952
It has been a mighty long time since Greer Garson, Victor Jory, Don Taylor and Audrey Totter drew big numbers of people at the box office of our local movie theaters. Make it 60 years, in fact. Now generations removed from popularity, some are still able to remember the names of these four movie stars who paid a visit to our area in late April 1952.
- Saturday, April 21, 2012
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Spring tree plantings were numerous in 1927
None of my calendars at home or at my other workplaces show that April 27 of this year is Arbor Day.
- Monday, April 16, 2012
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Nuclear weapon debates were plentiful in April 1982
Plan for a nuclear war -- or seek a nuclear weapons freeze. That was a frequent debate going on in our region during the month of April 1982.
- Saturday, April 14, 2012
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A Titanic survivor stopped in Oneonta days after disaster
Edward Bean was one amongst the lucky one-third of the passengers aboard the Titanic who lived to tell about the disaster of the ill-fated ship that sank after hitting an iceberg on April 15, 1912. Only about a week after the disaster, Bean was in Oneonta, on his way home to Cincinnati.
- Monday, April 9, 2012
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Simonson: April 1952 brought educational developments in Oneonta
There were some interesting new developments in education in Oneonta during the month of April 1952. These took place in the public and private schools, as well as on the Hartwick College campus.
- Saturday, April 7, 2012
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Oneonta's first automobile exhibition took place in April 1917
An automobile show as large as those in Albany or Utica. That was the heady claim of the organizers of Oneonta's first such show, set for early April 1917.
- Monday, April 2, 2012
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Thruway bridge collapsed 25 years ago into Schoharie Creek
I had just started my evening music shift at a Binghamton radio station on Sunday evening, April 5, 1987, with a network newscast at the top of the hour.
- Saturday, March 31, 2012
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Oneonta responded to declaration of World War I
"President Asks For War."
- Monday, March 26, 2012
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Devastating fire, loss in sports status, education made major area news in March 1982
A fire destroyed a foundry in Morris, Hartwick College basketball dropped a division level, two schools considered a merger, and a local Odyssey of the Mind was born. These news items and more made for a busy month in March 1982.
- Saturday, March 24, 2012
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Useful advice for farmers came to the area in 1912
It is practically a rite of autumn for high school students, or college students looking to transfer to a different college.
- Monday, March 19, 2012
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St. Mary's Church of Oneonta dedicated 55 years ago
"With solemn, historic pageantry, the Most Rev. William A. Scully, bishop of Albany, yesterday dedicated the new St. Mary's Church."
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A Main Street facelift for Oneonta in the 1920s
