Although radio technology had been around in some form or another since the late 1800s, entertainment broadcasting didn't take off until the early 1900s. According to an article on the PBS American Experience website, "The period between the late 1920s and the early 1950s is considered the Golden Age of Radio, in which comedies, dramas, variety shows, game shows, and popular music shows drew millions of listeners across America." In Chicago, in 1924, the Southtown Economist newspaper had a radio station with a WBCN call sign. It was on this radio station that you could hear the dulcet tones of my great grandma Lena's brother, Berger Wedberg.
He frequented other radio stations as well, and his radio popularity led to many other non-radio jobs. Newspaper articles tell us Berger sang at at a football benefit for the Maywood Boosters in 1926. In 1929, Berger was supposed to sing at a police benefit, but beforehand, a thief made off with his overcoat and sheet music. It seems that Berger was still able to perform, though. In 1928, he sang at the Greater East Chicago-Indiana Harbor Exposition. An article detailing the exposition referred to Berger as the "golden-voiced tenor who is known to radio fans over the entire country." In 1934, Berger even sang at the funeral of Hammond, Indiana's locally famous boxer, Jimmy Clabby.
The Times (Munster, Indiana), 22 Jan. 1934, p. 1.
In his later years, Berger switched to a slightly older 'technology' to work for the railroad. (If you've followed this blog at all, you'll know that railroads were a dangerous place for my relatives. Among other incidents, one of Berger's brothers, Nels, lost one of his legs to a railroad accident.) The article below details much of Berger's musical life, and I imagine not all of it would have been possible if not for the advent of the radio.
The Times (Munster, Indiana), 7 Apr. 1952, p. 3.
Sources:
"The Development of Radio," PBS, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/rescue-development-radio/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
"Sings a Maywood Booster Dance," The Times, 23 Nov. 1926, p. 18.
"Theft of Tenor's Coat and Music Endangers Ball," The Times, 12 Nov. 1929, p. 15.
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