Two weeks ago I highlighted WCFL, a Chicago radio station run by a labor federation, which wisely started broadcasting on shortwave in the early 30s. Shortwave was the best way of reaching a worldwide audience with relatively low expense.
Now American Radio Library has uploaded a 1929 magazine published by WCFL. It’s a high quality magazine, with the usual mix of tech articles, short fiction, humor, and social commentary from a farmer and worker perspective. It bashes the Radio Trust (basically RCA), an early ancestor of such conglomerates as Clear Channel. It also introduces the benefits of shortwave. In ’29 shortwave had only a few broadcasters and very few receivers. The demand and supply built together, aided by early pushers like Chicago labor, and later WCFL was able to take advantage of the trend it had helped to start.
SMART.
Polistra's Mill 