For a snapshot of how the radio spectrum was allocated 80 years ago, this chart appeared in the March 1942 issue of Radio Retailing. You can click on the image above for a full-size image, and on most browsers, click again to enlarge.

While America was now in the war, the allocations above are really the last prewar allocations, as they would have appeared on December 6, 1941. Since then, for example, Amateurs had left the air for the duration. At the time, the amateur bands were on 160, 80, 40, 20, 10, 5, and 2-1/2 meters. Postwar, the allocations would be similar on 160 through 10, with the addition of the 15 meter band a few years after the war. The VHF allocations shifted slightly to 50 and 144 MHz.

With some changes, the TV channels were in their postwar configurations. FM broadcasting would move from the 42-50 MHz band up to its present allocation at 88-108 MHz.