32 times • JULY 9, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com old timer When the Ridgewood Times went on the air One of the first radio stations in New York City not only has ties to Ridgewood but also to this very newspaper. The Ridgewood Times and its first publisher, George Schubel, launched WHN-AM in February 1922 in the very early days of radio in America. Back then, few homes in the city owned radios — a costly luxury at the time — but the medium was quickly gaining popularity nationwide. Schubel realized this and decided to get in on the ground floor of radio in the city. As early as 1921, he had purchased and installed equipment including a DeForest Radio Telephone Company 15-watt transmitter and erected a flattop transmitting antenna between two flag poles atop 816 Cypress Ave. He then made arrangements with the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce to use its first-floor meeting room at the location as his station’s broadcast studio. M e a n w h i l e , Schubel went to Washington in early 1922 and successfully obtained from the federal Department of Commerce a broadcast license. The new Ridgewood station was assigned the call letters WHN and provided instructions to broadcast on the 360-meter wavelength (833 on the AM dial). The broadcast George Schubel license, however, instructed WHN to share air time with WJZ, a station in Newark, NJ, owned by the Westinghouse Company. WHN debuted in Ridgewood in February 1922 with a 10:30 p.m. broadcast. The first program featured Joseph Stroehlein, a local music store owner who had been hired as WHN’s first program director, playing a grand piano in the WHN studio. At intervals, Stroehlein paused for station identification: “Radio Station WHN, Ridgewood, Long Island, telephone Evergreen-3420 and Evergreen-10202.” Within minutes, the telephones were ringing from local radio owners claiming they could hear the broadcast “loud and clear.” With the dawn of its own radio station, the R i d g e w o o d Times began running a weekly radio c o l u m n i n f o r m i n g readers of the latest developments regarding radio programming. Much like the paper itself, the programming on WHN was locally based, with many R i d g e w o o d Times employees — including future publisher Carl Clemens — contributing to programs. There were daily weather reports and Bible lessons, segments on beauty, fashion and health, cooking programs, musical recitals and even a “Lunch Hour Gossip” show. WHN held gala music events involving local acts such as the Universal Dance Orchestra of Woodhaven, the Original Swanee Entertainers of Woodhaven, the Century Syncopators of Brooklyn, the Avon Serenaders of Yorkville and the European Five of Richmond Hill. But Schubel ran into problems keeping WHN going because, at the time, the federal government prohibited radio stations from selling advertisements. No advertisements meant no income. Schubel sought a bank loan to keep WHN afloat, and was told by one official that the bank didn’t believe there was a future in radio. Finally, in August 1922, the U.S. Department of Commerce permitted advertisements on radio stations. In the months that followed, Schubel — whose WHN now had a revenue stream of its own — was persuaded to purchase a more powerful 50-watt transmitter for the station. But in July 1923, Ridgewood’s radio days ended when WHN was purchased by the Loew’s Theatre Organization, and it relocated from Ridgewood to the Loew’s State Theatre in Times Square. Schubel was given a 10-year contract with Loew’s to remain the station’s general manager. He continued on as Ridgewood Times owner until 1937; reportedly, the paper nearly went bankrupt as a result of the radio venture. Of course, the Ridgewood Times would survive and thrive for generations to come. The first staff at WHN radio in Ridgewood If you have any memories and photos that you’d like to share about “Our Neighborhood: The Way it Was,” write to The Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 62-70 Fresh Pond Rd., Ridgewood, NY 11385, or send an email to [email protected]. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned upon request.
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