WHN RADIO STATION

In 1920, radio was a new phenomenon, and George Schubel, founder and publisher of the Ridgewood Times was enthralled with its potential.

A significant event in the history of radio broadcasting took place on July 21, 1921, when RCA aired the Jack Dempsey-Georges Carpentier heavyweight prize fight live from Jersey City, New Jersey. It was estimated that 300,000 persons listened, including groups gathered around loudspeakers, as the number of radios owned by the public was limited.

George Schubel

Interest is sparked
In 1921, some of the more affluent businessmen in Ridgewood were taking vacations, travelling to and from Europe by steamer to visit their homeland in Germany.

George Schubel was seriously considering doing so, but the publicity given to the Dempsey-Carpentier fight attracted his attention.

Instead of going to Europe, he decided to investigate starting a radio broadcasting station in Ridgewood.

Ideas develop
Schubel contacted an electrical contractor at Fresh Pond Road and Catalpa Avenue in Ridgewood and inquired as to what equipment would be needed, the cost and whether a capable engineer was available to operate the station.

F. William Boettcher, who resided on Irving Avenue, operated a licensed amateur radio station. He belonged to the Radio Traffic Association, of which one of the members worked for the New York Telephone Company as a service and repair man.

In those days, the telephone company provided their servicemen with a bicycle to go from job to job. One day, Boettcher met the telephone repairman pedaling his bicycle along Cornelia Street in Ridgewood. They stopped to chat, and Boettcher was told about George Schubel’s interest in operating a radio station and in engaging the services of a radio engineer.

Boettcher was acquainted with the electrical contractor and got in contact with him, and then George Schubel, who hired him as the design and installation engineer.

Work begins on station
Schubel purchased equipment, which included a DeForest Radio Telephone Company 15-watt transmitter. There was a large flagpole on the roof at 816 Cypress Avenue, and a second pole was installed soon thereafter.

A T-type flat top transmitting antenna was suspended between the two poles.

The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce had their meeting room on the first floor of the building, and Schubel got permission to use the room as his broadcast studio.

Boettcher then acoustically treated the meeting room and installed microphones, which were connected to the transmitter on the roof.

A special motor-generated power supply was installed in the transmitter housing to energize the equipment.

WHN comes to life
In early 1922, Schubel applied to the United States Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. for a broadcast license. Federal Inspector Emery Lee visited the facility at 816 Cypress Avenue and approved the installation.

The call letters WHN were assigned with instructions to broadcast on the 360 meter wavelength (which is a frequency of 833 kilocycles).

Radio transmissions are invisible electromagnetic waves that travel at a uniform rate of 300 million meters (about 186,000 miles) per second. “Wavelength” is the distance between the crests of the radio waves. “Frequency,” when expressed in kilocycles, is the thousands of wave crests per second.

WHN Studio

Queens gets first radio station
The newly licensed station WHN was one of 30 broadcast stations in the United States and the only one in Queens County.

The U.S. Department of Commerce requested that the 360-meter wavelength be used as they were of the opinion that it was the best, and all stations were required to transmit on this wavelength.

This was satisfactory, as long as the stations were geographically separated by a sufficient distance so that they would not “jam” (interfere with) each other’s signals. When WHN was granted a license, they were informed that they would have to share the operating time with station WJZ, located in Newark, New Jersey and owned by Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company.

Broadcasting begins
Joseph Stroehlein operated a large musical instrument store on Myrtle Avenue near Catalpa Avenue. He was hired by Boettcher to be the program director for station WHN. Stroehlein moved a grand piano and a player piano into the studio along with two RCA

Victor “Victrola” windup 78 RPM record players.

In February, 1922, station WHN made its debut.

Before they started broadcasting, they telephoned WJZ, who told them that they would be signing off at 1030 p.m. WHN then started broadcasting at that time with Stroehlein as the announcer and also playing the grand piano. Later in the program, the player piano with its piano rolls, along with the two record players, were used.

At intervals, they announced their call sign Radio Station WHN, Ridgewood, Long Island, telephone Evergreen 3420 and Evergreen 10202.

Shortly thereafter, the telephones started ringing, and listeners reported that they had heard the new station “loud and clear.”

With the inaugural of WHN, in February, 1922, the Ridgewood Times started a radio column with the latest news and developments.

Employees work both media
WHN worked out an equitable arrangement with WJZ to share the air time in the morning and evening. Boettcher was designated as the chief operator, and some of the employees of the Ridgewood Times helped out at WHN.

Louise Senger and Eugene Alfberg were the evening announcers. Martha Klatschkin was the Sunday announcer for the religious programs. George Schubel was quite religious, and the programs on Sunday were an important part of WHN’s broadcasting. Catherine Chute was the morning announcer. Others involved with WHN were Madeline Haack, Julie Newport Johnson, Rose Goldberg and Carl Clemens (who subsequently became publisher of the Ridgewood Times).

Programming highlights
On Sunday, May 14, 1922, WHN held a special program in honor of Mother’s Day. A scribbling in the day book of WHN noted, “WHN has the distinction of being the first broadcasting station to observe this day by means of the radiophone.”

The remembrance also featured a concert by the Ridgewood Presbyterian Church and a Mother’s Day message by the Reverend Arthur R. Rhinow.

Day-to-day programs
As the year progressed, programming became more continuous, usually starting at 915 a.m. The day began with weather reports followed by Bible lessons. A daily beauty talk segment gave hints on the uses of cold cream, how to take care of eyelashes and eyebrows and offered helpful hints on keeping the body beautiful.

The daily “How to Live Long” segment warned listeners to avoid poison drugs, eat slowly, keep posture erect, have regular bowel movements, maintain personal hygiene and work, play and rest.

Programming even featured a first aid course that could help people who may have injured their brains or various body limbs. They even gave instructions on how to deal with hysterical attacks.

Fashion time was at 935 a.m., and one of the discussions reminded listeners that “black still retains its vogue.”

The daily programming also included “What to cook today,” followed by a daily recipe.

There were musical recitals, followed by an especially popular item “Lunch Hour Gossip.”

After a full day of filling the airwaves with talk shows, interspersed with musical recitals by school children—the first being the children of P.S. 77 on Seneca Avenue under the direction of then-principal, James J. O’Regan—the evenings were filled with dance music or recitals.

Bands perform at night
The Universal Dance Orchestra of Woodhaven was a popular band that entertained on WHN.

Also performing were the Original Swanee Entertainers of Woodhaven, the Century Syncopators of Brooklyn, The Society Serenaders, the Avon Serenaders of Yorkville and the European Five of Richmond Hill. The musical team of Miller and Wagner was a popular singing group with piano accompaniment.

There were many recitals of piano, violin and other musical instruments, plus an array of sopranos, baritones, but not too many tenors, whose voices filled the evenings.

New program director
Stroehlein eventually found working at WHN and operating his store was too heavy a burden, and Harry Deppert replaced him as program director.

George Schubel spent more and more time with WHN, and in 1922, Joseph Schmidt was appointed managing editor of the Ridgewood Times. Schubel, however, maintained his position as publisher of the newspaper.

Radios start appearing
Not too many people had radios at the time, and the installation of a radio was considered a newsworthy event. In early 1922, the Ridgewood Democratic Club’s board of governors informed that they had authorized purchase of a radio for their clubhouse. Also, Wyckoff Heights Hospital bought a radio for their nurses quarters.

No advertising allowed
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s regulations prohibited radio stations from soliciting advertising—which meant that the stations had no income.

George Schubel tried to borrow money from a bank to finance the installation of a more powerful transmitter, but the loan was turned down as WHN had no income.

No future in radio
One of the officials at the bank told Schubel that the bank felt that there was no future in radio and would not commit money to this fly-by-night enterprise.

The radio-broadcast industry was in its infancy, and George Schubel was one of the pioneers. He could visualize that if soliciting advertising was permitted, and if there was a sufficient number of people with radios, that it would be possible for a radio station to sell advertising the same as a newspaper.

However, with no advertising income allowed on radio stations, they had to carefully control their expenses. The entertainment value of most of the programs presented by the few stations operating at the time was relatively bland, and the number of hours the stations operated was limited. As a result, there wasn’t a strong incentive for the public to buy a radio.

Although the radio had been invented in 1895 by Gugliemo Marconi of Italy, it was only coming into its own in 1920 and ’21. Small crystal set radios sold for a modest price but required the use of headphones.

An expensive item
Radios with loudspeakers were relatively expensive, ranging in price from $100 to $150 at retail, which in the early 1920’s was a sizable sum of money.

One of the large manufacturers of radios was the Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A typical Atwater Kent radio had three or four vacuum tubes mounted on an open board. To tune in a station required adjusting three different dials, each to a different number. The sound came out of a large, black, metal speaker.

Big battery needed
One of the big drawbacks was that no one had been able to figure out how to operate a radio on regular electric house current. Instead, it required an “A” storage battery (usually a Westinghouse), which was similar in size to the storage battery used in autos, two large “B” dry cells and one “C” dry cell.

At intervals, the storage battery needed recharging. Servicemen came to people’s houses, and for 75 cents they picked up the battery, which was returned a day or so later, fully charged. In the interim, he gave you a “loaner” so that the radio could be played.

For a radio to pick up broadcast signals, an outdoor antenna was required. This was a copper wire stretched—usually from the wash pole in the yard, to the house, with a glass insulator at each end of the antenna. The antenna was led into the house and connected to the radio. Some cautious homeowners installed a lightning arrester on their antenna.

Regulations changed
In August, 1922, the U.S. Department of Commerce changed its regulation and permitted radio stations to solicit advertising. The first station to take advantage of this was WEAF, a newly organized broadcaster owned by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company for the express purpose of selling radio advertising. The first such broadcast was on August 28, 1922 for a Long Island real estate company.

WHN expands territory
With the advertising regulation changed, William Boettcher persuaded George Schubel to invest in a more powerful transmitter of 50 watts. As a result, the number of telephone calls increased dramatically. A further modification was then made to 100 watts, resulting in more telephone calls from the Greater New York area and letters from upstate New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other New England states.

In 1923, the U.S. Department of Commerce minimized jamming by assigning wavelengths in the 400 meter series to some of the new stations they licensed.

WHN sold to Loew’s
In July 1923, Nils T. Granlund, director of publicity and advertising for Loew’s Theatre Organization, contacted George Schubel with an offer from Marcus Loew to purchase Radio Station WHN and move it to the Loew’s State Theatre in Times Square in Manhattan. A price was agreed upon, and as part of the deal, Schubel was offered a 10-year contract to join the Loew’s Organization as general manager of Station WHN and Station WPSP in Palisades Park, New Jersey, another station Loew had acquired.

After approval by the U.S. Department of Commerce for the transfer in ownership of WHN, the contract was signed.

On July 23, 1923, the Long Island Daily Press published an article that Queens County would lose its only radio station, however, no mention of the sale was found published in the Ridgewood Times.
William Boettcher also joined the Loew’s Organization and was associated with the radio stations as the chief engineer. Shortly after WHN’s move to Manhattan, WJZ moved there from Newark, New Jersey, and the U.S. Department of Commerce assigned them a new wavelength of 455 (equivalent to a frequency of 660), replacing the 360-meter wavelength.

This left WHN with a clear signal at 360 meters and permitted continuous operation without sharing, if they so desired. WHN then increased its transmitter to 500 watts and then to 1,000 watts.

Schubel works both media
Even though George Schubel followed the radio station to Manhattan, he continued as the majority owner of the newspaper.

It was reported that the cost of operating the radio station had all but bankrupted the Ridgewood Times. Schubel’s efforts to convince local businesspeople to invest in the radio were fruitless. Apparently they felt—as did the local banks—that radio was not stable enough for their money.

Schubel decided to sell the radio station, but he was reluctant to give up his love of the newspaper business and divided his time between both media until 1937, when he subsequently sold his interests in the newspaper.

Schubel moves on
In August of 1933, George Schubel’s contract with the Loew’s Organization expired. It apparently was not renewed, and he left, along with William Boettcher.

However, being the forward thinker that he was, Schubel persuaded interests in health, nutrition, metaphysics and comparative religions. He died on March 16, 1970, at the age of 88. When asked what his greatest achievement was, he stated, “I have lived the kind of active and varied life that I wanted to live. I hope it has been altogether a serviceable one, for no satisfaction in life is greater than that of serving others.”