By Emily Rinaman, Technical Services Librarian
In March, readers reminisced about the early days of television. Many residents may remember when their household gained its first television. Likewise, they remember television’s predecessor, the radio, and its status as a key feature in the average American home. Before television, radios were the main electronic device people used (besides the telephone) for entertainment and receiving important information.
In 1910, a very rudimentary performance of the opera singer Enrico Caruso was played over airwaves. Because of its poor quality, “many older people thought that all radio would ever be was a fad,” states the Economic History Association. But after a large boom in the 1920s when the fabrication of radios was heavily improved, over 60 percent of US homes owned a radio just ten years later. During the Great Depression it was a cheap way for Americans to entertain themselves.
Despite television largely taking over with its visual appeal, radio continues to remain a viable mode of communication in the 21st century, and one major entity within the “radio world” celebrates a milestone this month. On May 3, the National Public Radio (NPR) celebrated its 50th anniversary of its first broadcast.
In true 21st century fashion, NPR has found ways to continue to reach a wide audience by creating podcasts, smart phone apps and a presence on social media.
According to its website, NPR boasts millions of listeners in 98% of the United States (Tiffinites and Seneca County residents included) through over 1,000 local member stations like Detroit, Columbus, Cleveland, Kent, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh (the closest for Seneca County is WGTE/FM 91 out of Toledo).
Locally, our FM91 station hosts programs and podcasts centered around Northwest Ohio like Women of Northwest Ohio Spotlights, the Cleveland Orchestra and Toledo Symphony.
Besides music, some of the very first forms of entertainment that were broadcast on the radio were boxing and major league baseball. Today, radios regularly hold contests and cash giveaways, and advice like “Intelligence for your Life” with John Tesh. Locally, baseball is still a traditional sport aired, but stations also provide listeners a means to “attend” football, basketball and hockey games at all levels of competition from high school to professional.
While breaking news is also still announced on the radio, the television and social media is usually where Americans hear it first. But until the last few decades, radio was how many people stayed informed (besides daily newspapers). A Junior Home kid recalls the interruption of his favorite radio programs for the news of the Hindenberg and on another occasion, the death of Will Rogers in a plane crash. One of the very first “live on-air” coverage that NPR provided was Senate hearings regarding the Vietnam War. Radios were much like people’s modern cell phones—it was their connection to the world at large. A member of Melmore’s Class of 1943 stated in his biography for the class’s 50th reunion, “my radio goes with me everywhere.”
Before radio, morse code was the main form of quick communication when time was of the essence. It was used in telegraphs when important messages had to be wired immediately (not everyone had telephones). At the turn of the century Tiffin had at least two telegraph companies, both on Perry Street.
As recently as the early 2000s, knowing morse code was a requirement for obtaining an amateur radio license. The Seneca Radio Club W8ID was formed in the early 1950s and is affiliated with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). The some 200+ individuals in Seneca County who have an active amateur radio license and/or are active in the club provide communication at local events like parades and cross country meets, and help local youth groups with projects like the Boy Scouts’s Radio Merit badge. Many of these have an additional license to operate through the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (under the auspices of FEMA) in the case of a public emergency.
When the Blizzard of 1978 hit Ohio, Seneca County resident Mark Griffin was still active in the National Guard. The Army contacted Griffin to let him know they were activated and needed to use the National Armory as a home base for communications with rescue officials. After National Machinery closed early, where Griffin was employed, he and a group of about 10 people gathered at the Armory and went on to help rescue several people in the county using CB radios. He became one of several individuals throughout Ohio who received a federal humanitarian award for his efforts.
After Griffin’s own experience with using CB radios during the blizzard he saw the value and potential of amateur radios and signed up for the course at the local police station (unlike CB radios, amateur radios are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission).
The course spans about 10 weeks (broken up into 3-hour sessions once a week) and covers such things as ITU Phonetic Alphabet, the RST system (readability, signal strength and tone), the Universal Coordinated Time system, ARRL ending signals and more. There are three main levels of an amateur radio licenses—beginner technician, general class, and extra.
When an individual passes the test for his or her amateur radio license, he or she receives a “call sign,” a unique name, so to speak. For example, Seneca County resident Mark Griffin, who has had his amateur radio license since 1978, is N8OHO. Ohio is in region 8, along with Michigan and West Virginia, so anyone living in those states will have an 8 in their sign.
Griffin graduated in a group of about a dozen people. Some are still living but have relocated to other states. One individual in his group was Bob King, a man who owned a business which supplied parts for boats that sailed on Lake Erie. King decided to get licensed so he could communicate with the boats’ operators off-site.
Amateur radio is given a certain amount of bandwidth, so they don’t interfere with the radio stations one hears on a regular stereo. Seneca County has several AM and FM radio stations, among them WTTF 1600 AM/Eagle 99, WFOB 1430 AM/Classic Hits 96.7, and WMVO Oldies. WTTF, an American Broadcasting Company station, hosts “Voice of Seneca County” and covers sporting events for several area high schools. In fact, the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library has its very own regular segment with Anna Ocreto interviewing T-SPL’s marketing manager, Kayleigh Tschanen-Feasel, for important updates and events regarding the library’s services.
Heidelberg University’s student radio station, WHEI 88.9 (formerly known as WHCR) was among them. WHEI is a station of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting Association and has been managed by the university’s Communication and Theatre Department since 1958. In addition to the musical tastes of the students operating the system, there are live broadcasts of Heidelberg’s sporting events on WHEI. Heidelberg University even produced a semi-professional radio actor, William Perry Adams. According to his 1972 obituary from the New York Times, Adams was born in Tiffin and eventually became a radio drama actor in Shakesperean plays and a radio narrator for others. His most famous stunt was acting as a President Roosevelt impersonator. The author of Ramblin Comments even suggests the FBI forced Adams to discontinue this act because he was too accurate.
Another Tiffinite, Tom Zoller, settled in New York and was an announcer on the Lucky Strike program, which could be compared to Casey Casum’s Top 40, now hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Every Saturday evening, Lucky Strike program offered the most popular and bestselling songs of the week.
Columbian High School even boasted a radio club for several years. The Tiffin Radio Club was established in 1914 with John Grossman as the first president, Harold Buck as the first secretary-treasurer and Paul Frederick as the first vice president and six student members. The president of Columbian’s Board of Education at the time sponsored the club, and it held its first annual banquet in 1916. By 1919, it had doubled its membership, even after a hiatus during World War I.
While radio is an ever-changing entity with modern feats such as 5G and IHeart radio, 100 years from now it will probably look completely different, just as it does now from its widespread emergence in the 1920s.
Works cited:
Bicentennial Sketches by Myron Barnes. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/33781/rec/2
Griffin, Mark. Interview on April 5, 2021.
“The History of the Radio Industry in the United States to 1940.” Scott, Carole. E. Economic History Association https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-history-of-the-radio-industry-in-the-united-states-to-1940/
The Junior Homekid, December 1991. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/47768/rec/1
“Your Hit Parade.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Hit_Parade#:~:text=Your%20Hit%20Parade%20is%20an,and%2052%20singers%20or%20groups.
Melmore High School Class of 1943 50th Class Reunion Commemorative Scrapbook. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/29728/rec/1
“Morse Code.” Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Morse-Code
National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/about-npr/192827079/overview-and-history
Ramblin Comments on Tiffin 1891-1926. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/22212/rec/1
Seneca County Digital Library https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27
Seneca Radio Club W8ID http://w8id.org/
Seneca County, Ohio History & Families. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/28326/rec/5
Tiffinian 1919-06-05. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/53144/rec/1
Webster Manufacturing Belt Conveyor Equipment. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/38323/rec/3
WHEI Radio, Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio. https://inside.heidelberg.edu/departments-offices/gem-center/whei-radio
Williams, Adam. “Obituary,” New York Times Archives. https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/30/archives/william-p-adams-actor-here-was-85.html
World Radio History. https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Stations/IDX/Station-Miscellaneous-IDX/Radio-Personalities-1935-OCR-Page-0230.pdf
Yearbook Columbian Blue and Gold 1919. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/721/rec/1
Yearbook Columbian Blue and Gold 1932. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/2382/rec/1
Yearbook Columbian Blue and Gold 1982. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/11155/rec/1
Yearbook Calvertana 1964. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/6617/rec/1