THE HISTORY OF RADIO STATION KGF,
POMONA, CALIFORNIA - 1921-22
By Jim Hilliker, © 2023
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THE HISTORY OF RADIO STATION KGF, By Jim Hilliker, © 2023 |
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www.theradiohistorian.org Copyright 2023 - John F. Schneider & Associates, LLC (Click on photos to enlarge)
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Licensed: February
8, 1922
KGF in Pomona, California was the sixth radio broadcasting station to be licensed in Los Angeles County. Those first six stations in the area were either started by an amateur radio operator or a company that made or sold radios and accessories. By August of 1922, 17 of the first 28 radio stations licensed in the Los Angeles area were started as hobby for a ham radio operator, or promote a radio-related business or sell a radio store’s products. KGF
was one such radio station. It was small and on a shoestring
budget. KGF only went on the air once a week to give the early
radio owners something to hear on the air. In this case, the
station only played music from phonograph records and some voice
announcements between the songs and for station identification. Mr.
J. Frank Rambo, co-owner of the Pomona Fixture and Wiring Company, was
a ham radio operator and early enthusiast of radio telephone
broadcasting. KGF was licensed to broadcast on February 8, 1922,
but the station lasted only ten months. Before it was known as
KGF, J.F. Rambo had installed a wireless telephone transmitter in his
store under an amateur radio call sign, and placed it on the air in
June of 1921. Rambo’s store at 310 West Second Street started out
selling electrical appliances, light fixtures and other electrical
goods. When “wireless” was first gaining popularity, he decided
to add wireless equipment and accessories to his store. Rambo’s
partner was C.W. Jones, and they ran the store together starting in 1916. J.F. Rambo was responsible for the new radio department. On June 4, 1921, the Pomona Bulletin reported that J.F. Rambo of the Pomona Fixture & Wiring Co. had its first wireless telephone apparatus in place and had been testing it out since Thursday June 2, 1921. Rambo boasted that it was the first radio telephone transmitter in Pomona and was capable of transmitting the human voice for 1,000 miles. About two months later, on July 31, the same newspaper reported that J.F. Rambo had installed a new and more powerful wireless telephone system. The article said this transmitter was heard as far away as Fresno. The power of the transmitter was not given. So far, Rambo had only transmitted his voice and no music yet. The article also said anyone with a receiving set could hear this wireless telephone, if properly tuned. The reporter ended the story by saying Pomona Fixture & Wiring Co. had increased their stock of radio supplies and accessories, and the store was receiving regular phone calls about buying wireless receivers and other related questions. In that same newspaper for July 31, 1921, on another page, an ad appeared for Rambo’s store showing a drawing of a boy wearing radio headphones. The advertisement read, “Radio Telephone! Have you heard our Radio Phone yet? We have increased our range from 25 miles to 500 miles. Any amateur desiring us to give RADIO CONCERTS once or twice each week, please call our store and let us know which nights will be most suitable and what time in the evening.” On September 9, 1921, a story on the topic appeared in the Pomona Bulletin on page 6. It explained that the Pomona Fixture & Wiring Co. was transmitting a “free phonograph concert by wireless” every Thursday evening between 8 and 9 o’clock. These wireless concerts seemed to be aimed especially at boys with wireless receiving sets. On October 9, 1921, an ad for wireless supplies that were sold at J.F. Rambo’s store was in the Bulletin. This ad included this announcement: “Listen for our wireless concerts every Wednesday night between 8 and 9 o’clock, which will include many of the latest popular selections.” The only change was the move from Thursday to Wednesday evenings. On December 17, 1921, the Pomona Progress-Bulletin had a long feature article on J.F. Rambo, his radio telephone station inside his store and the radio set he had at his home. Mr. Rambo was quoted saying that anyone from Los Angeles to San Francisco with a radio set could hear the broadcasts. The story also mentioned that “Every Wednesday evening, he (Mr. Rambo) sends out sends out a phonograph concert for the enjoyment of all the rest of the radio fans from Los Angeles to San Bernardino.” On February 5, 1922, only three days before J.F. Rambo received his license to broadcast music and other entertainment as station KGF, he told the Pomona Bulletin that “Long distance phonograph concerts were growing popular with wireless fans here.” Mr. Rambo estimated that there were 50 to 60 homes in Pomona equipped with a wireless receiver set. With these radio receivers, listeners would be able to hear the radio concerts going out over the air from various U.S. cities. Rambo also emphasized that his wireless station was sending out phonograph concerts from his store, every Wednesday between 8 and 9 p.m. A good deal of the article was another reminder that his store had several types of wireless sets for sale and he would be happy to demonstrate these radios to his customers, and if they bought a wireless set, he would be happy to install it at the customer’s home. Broadcasting License Issued As KGF On
February 8, 1922, the Department of Commerce issued the Pomona Fixture
& Wiring Co. (J. Frank Rambo) a Limited Commercial License with the
call letters KGF. The new radio station would be able to broadcast on a
360 meter wavelength, but would have to divide time on the air with
other Los Angeles area radio stations. KGF took the place of
Rambo’s earlier wireless telephone station once the Commerce Department
stopped amateur stations from broadcasting music to the public on the
ham radio wavelength of 200 meters. When the Pomona store got the
new license as station KGF, there was no immediate announcement of this
event in the Pomona newspapers. The power of the KGF transmitter
wasn’t listed in any of the newspaper stories about the station.
It was probably only 5 or 10 watts, but J.F. Rambo never mentioned the
power of his station. On March 2, 1922, a short article on page 8 of the Pomona Progress Bulletin stated that, during the radio concert the previous night, there was a pause between the records for a moment. Then, the voice of J.F. Rambo announced on his station that Pomona would have a radio club and that all radio fans in the area should attend the first meeting on Monday night above his store. The article said that Mr. Rambo gave radiophone concerts regularly three times a week. The station’s call letters, KGF, were not mentioned in the article. On March 18, 1922, there was was a long feature story about radio on pages 8 and 9 of the Pomona Progress Bulletin. Much of the article quoted a booklet called “Radio In Every Home,” by Edward M. Sargent, sales manager of the Western Radio Electric Company, the owner of station KOG. Mr. Sargent called their 1920 experimental station 6XD “the pioneer broadcasting station in Southern California.” J.F. Rambo of the Pomona Fixture and Wiring Company had a copy of this booklet and shared it with the newspaper. At the end of the article, which described how radio works, receivers, antennas, batteries, etc., a schedule of radio stations in California was printed, but only by the owner and not by their call letters. The Pomona station owned and operated by J.F. Rambo’s store was on the air only on Wednesday from 8 to 9 p.m.; but KOG at the Kinema Theater in Los Angeles was on the air at the same time. The stations listed from Southern California were KOG, KYJ, KGC, KLB and KGF. In the April 15, 1922 edition of the Pomona Bulletin, the headline read, “Pomona Sending Station Given Radio Sending Times.” The Southern California Broadcasters Association had held its first meeting in Los Angeles. The first order of business was to assign the days and times that the area radio stations would broadcast, sharing time on the 360-meter wavelength (833 kHz). J.F. Rambo attended this meeting representing KGF. Lex B. Benjamin was the president of the new group, and was given the authority to assign the air times for 8 radio stations. KFI, owned by Earle C. Anthony, was preparing to go on the air the next day,April 16th, making nine Los Angeles area radio stations in the group. The April 14, 1922, edition of the Los Angeles Times also ran a similar story about this on its radio page for KHJ. For
the next few weeks, KGF was not on the air regularly, and probably
broadcast phonograph music with little notice when they did go on the
air. On July 9, 1922, on page 6 of the Pomona Bulletin, a small article appeared in the bottom left corner. It said, “Complete programs each week of all broadcasting stations in Southern California can be obtained free of charge at the Pomona Fixture and Wiring Company. These programs are prepared with the co-operation of the broadcasting stations and give the daily concert schedules. J.F. Rambo announces that his store will resume radio concerts two weeks from next Thursday.” During
the months of May and June, the Pomona Fixture & Wiring Co. placed
ads in the newspaper to sell radios and tell potential customers how
they could hear other radio stations in Southern California. But,
the phonograph concerts that were broadcast weekly by KGF had now
become very irregular and rarely were promoted at all. The July
9th item on KGF going on the air again to broadcast a concert in two
weeks, was the first time in nearly two months that the Pomona radio
station was promoted in the newspaper. As it turned out, it took
longer than 2 weeks for KGF to get back on the air. Extra Publicity For Early August Radio Concert On Thursday, August 3, 1922, the Pomona Progress Bulletin ran an article stating “Here Is Tonight’s Radio Program.” The article began, “Thursday evening radio concerts furnished by Brown Music Company, and broadcasted by the Pomona Fixture and Wiring Company, are steadily increasing in favor. The program starts at 7:15 and lasts until 8, during which time, twelve of the popular new Victor records are played.” The names of the songs from the 12 records to be heard on KGF that night were also listed. Again, the call letters KGF assigned to the J.F. Rambo station were not given in this article. The first sentence of the story gives the impression that wireless concerts from the Pomona station had been on the air each Thursday, even if they had not been listed each week in the paper. (In fact, the two Pomona newspapers did not have a radio page or program listings for KHJ, KFI or any other Los Angeles radio stations in 1922.) The KGF radio concerts were now being furnished by the Brown Music Company. They provided the records for the Pomona Wiring & Fixture Co. radio broadcast in exchange for plugs on the air for the music store between each record. J.F. Rambo was probably the station’s only announcer and engineer. Meanwhile,
on page 4 of the Progress Bulletin on the same day, the new broadcast
times assigned to Southern California radio stations for the month of
August, 1922, was printed. There were 14 radio stations
listed in the time-sharing schedule, giving broadcasting times from 10
a.m. to 9 p.m., with one station also on the air at 7 a.m., for 30
minutes. KGF in Pomona was not listed at all in this August radio
schedule. But the article explained, “This standard program is
often varied somewhat and as there are several additional broadcasting
stations in this vicinity, which are not given a definite period for
transmission, on different days of the week, they transmit on the time
of another station.” Pomona Fixture & Wiring placed another ad in the newspaper for the “Thursday Night Concerts, Broadcasted by Pomona Fixture & Wiring Co., Music Furnished by Brown Music Company.” This ad said the broadcast would last from 7:30 until 8:15 p.m., and not 7:15 until 8:00 p.m. The last line in the ad said, “All the latest music, broadcasted by the very latest radio equipment.” KGF Disappears From the Air After August 3, 1922, there is no evidence that the Pomona Fixture & Wiring Co. station was on the air at all for the remainder of 1922. The only clue about the station's demise is in article on page 9 of the Pomona Bulletin dated February 3, 1923. The story said that in the February issue of the magazine Radio News, a radio hobbyist in Detroit, Michigan said he distinctly heard a message sent from K.G.F., the Pomona Fixture and Wiring Company, on September 30, 1922! However, KGF had gone off the air well before September 30, 1922. The newspaper article continued: “C.W. Jones and J.F. Rambo, owners of the local firm, stated last evening that they hated to spoil a good story, but the fact remained that their sending set had been dismantled more than thirty days before the Detroit lad thought he heard the Pomona station. They explained it as a mistake that could easily be made, for many times, call letters are confused when received, especially when the message is faint.” The
exact date of the final KGF broadcast was not given, but it was
probably sometime between August 3 and August 30, 1922. The
article continued, “The Pomona Fixture and Wiring gave up their sending
apparatus the same time the Los Angeles Times came on the air, and
since then, they have devoted their time to nothing except
receiving.” In reality, the Times radio station KHJ didn’t
put their new 500-watt transmitter on the air until November 1, 1922,
but it is clear that KGF was dismantled during August of
1922. The article ends by saying the Pomona broadcasting station was first installed by the Western Radio Electric Company in June of 1921. Western Radio had possibly the first or one of the first experimental radio telephone broadcasting stations in Los Angeles, 6XD, in 1920, which became KOG. KGF License Deleted The
broadcasting license for KGF Pomona appears to have been renewed one
more time, but the license was finally deleted by the Department of
Commerce on December 6, 1922. As for J.F. Rambo, by the end
of 1923, he left Pomona Fixture and Wiring Company to become a partner
in a Pomona hardware store. His former partner, C.W. Jones
continued at the electrical and radio store with a new partner.
J.F. Rambo continued his enthusiasm for radio, and was
occasionally quoted in the local newspaper about various radio
related topics.
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