[BC] WHA vs, KDKA

[Donna Halper]

Ron wrote:
>WWJ Detroit is in the running for "Oldest Station" too.  The Yearbook lists
>them with an older date than KDKA.

At the risk of beating this dead horse again, I have long believed (and 
with good reason) that 8MK (later WWJ) was in fact the oldest station.  It 
went on the air on 31 August 1920 (some give 20 August, but we can't 
document that) and is still on the air.  I am certain that little 1XE 
(later WGI) here in greater Boston was also on the air, probably in 
September, but alas, all of their files were destroyed in a fire and all we 
have are journalists of that era who said the station was on the air.  My 
point has long been that KDKA is indeed a pioneer station, but they were 
NOT first-- they just had an outstanding corporate publicity department 
which sent press releases and photos to every newpspaper in the country, 
took editors out to lunch, etc.

Btw, as Scott Fybush and others on this list who have seen it can attest, 
the first "commercial license" wasn't issued till September of 1921-- there 
was no such thing till Westinghouse agitated for one, as a way to separate 
the ham stations from the commercial stations.