Seventy-five years ago, one apparently dressed up to listen to the radio, especially if you were listening to static-free FM. As related in an earlier post, FM was just starting to gain a modest foothold prior to the war. FM then operated on 42-50 MHz. The Milwaukee station, for example, was on 42.6 MHz. After the war, the FCC moved FM broadcasting to its current home of 88-108 MHz.

To enjoy static-free FM reception, listeners had to get a new radio. At the very least, they would have to get an FM tuner which could plug in to the phono input of their current receiver. The choices were somewhat limited, but many of the major manufacturers came out with at least one FM receiver.

General Electric’s top-of-the-line offering is shown here. It is the HM-136, and is shown in an update on FM in the May 1940 issue of Radio Today.

In addition to the FM band, the 13-tube model covered the standard broadcast band and two shortwave bands, 2.4-7.5 MHz and 7.5-22 MHz. Interestingly, the set didn’t tune the entire prewar band. It tuned only 39-44 MHz, meaning that it wouldn’t be of use in areas with stations higher in the band. Fortunately, however, the existing stations were below 44 MHz, even though the larger band was allocated.

A schematic and service information for the set can be found at Antique Electronics Supply. I haven’t found links to modern photos of surviving examples.

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Shown here is Miss Yukona Cameron, a singer who appeared nightly on WQJ in Chicago. The caption of this photo from the April 1925 issue of Radio Age notes that she often favored her audience with old-time selections, but that she received the most requests when she presented a popular ditty.

According to an article in the May 17, 1925, Chicago Tribune, the station had come on the air on May 22, 1924. It was owned by Calumet Baking Powder Company and the Rainbo Gardens Ballroom and broadcast from the Rainbo at 4812 North Clark Street.  Interestingly, when the building was finally torn down in 2003, a collection of human bones and tennis shoes were discovered in what had been the building’s basement. The mystery of how those bones ended up there has never been solved.

WQJ shared time at 670 on the dial with WMAQ until it was finally bought out by WMAQ in 1927.

After the station closed, Miss Cameron appeared in two Broadway shows in 1927 and 1930. In 1935, she was back in Chicago, at least for one engagement. According to the Chicago Tribune, August 4, 1935, she was appearing at the Palace, doing a show with comedian Al Trahan, with whom she also appeared in the 1930 short film The Musicale.

Trahan and Cameron, in addition to being Vaudeville partners, were also husband and wife. According to the Palm Beach Daily News, Feb. 20, 1934, the pair had performed before King George, who reportedly remarked, “that American made me laugh.” They had also performed for King Gustav of Sweden and the Prince of Monaco.

Miss Cameron owed her first name to the fact that she was the first White child born in the Yukon, where her parents were prospecting for gold. She was a musical prodigy, and was a concert pianist at the age of 18 with the Chicago symphony.

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