The Short History of Radio Station KLB, Pasadena, CA
By Jim Hilliker
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The Short History of Radio Station KLB, Pasadena, CA By Jim Hilliker |
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www.theradiohistorian.org Copyright 2023 - John F. Schneider & Associates, LLC (Click on photos to enlarge)
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Licensed on January 4, 1922
Mr. Dunn started selling wireless parts and equipment in August of 1920, according to an article in “Radio Doings” magazine by Mr. Dunn. The headline reads, “History of K.L.B. Pasadena.” At that time, his store was the only place in the city to buy a wireless set. This led Dunn to help a few local high school boys set up an experimental radiotelephone broadcasting station to transmit phonograph records over the air in October of 1920. This writer has a photocopy of the article, which includes a photo of Dunn. There’s also a small picture of a typical radio studio of 1922. A sign on a wall says “Radio KLB.” The picture also shows a piano in the corner, and to the other side is what looks like a radio transmitter, microphone and a phonograph. The Beginning of Station KLB—January 29, 1922 On January 27, 1922, the Pasadena Star-News reported that J.J. Dunn had received his Limited Commercial License for broadcasting music, talk and news and would go on the air for the first time on Sunday evening, January 29, 1922. The headline said, “Melodies Will Be Sent By Wireless -- Local Talent Broadcasted as Singer’s Voices Are Heard Everywhere.” The story reported that Dunn was “arranging some special features in the air from 8 to 9 o’clock Wednesday and Sunday nights and from 3 to 4 Sunday afternoons.” “It is announced that the music will be transmitted on a 360 wave meter, while the station from which Mr. Dunn will broadcast the melodies will have K.L.B. as its call, all of which will prove valuable information to those interested in wireless, even if it is Greek to other readers. What is more, Mr. Dunn will boost Pasadena in a most unique way, namely by broadcasting local talent throughout the country. That is, starting next Sunday (January 29th) between the hours of 8 and 9, he will have some soloist of this city sing, the result being that her voice will be carried to San Francisco, New York, Chicago, in fact all parts of the country. On Sunday, Miss Dorothy M. Grosse will give people afar their first chance of listening to a Pasadenan over the air.” The newspaper also reported that Mr. Dunn informed the city’s wireless owners that he would be glad to play music over KLB for them at their dinners and other social functions, any day between the hours of 6 and 8 o’clock, if notified. Dunn claimed that music may also be broadcast over the air for dancing, which is another proof of the “music in the air” assertion. The first broadcast on Sunday evening, January 29, was apparently a success. The Star-News had a few paragraphs on Tuesday, January 31, 1922 about KLB, though the call letters were not given. The headlines proclaimed, “Wireless Concert Is Great Success---Many Enjoy Miss Dorothy Grosse’s 'Ave Maria' Sunday Evening.” The article began this way: “Wireless activities in Pasadena are becoming more pronounced every day, and the latest 'stunt' which was Sunday night’s 'solo in the air' introduced by J.J. Dunn, 1292 East Colorado Street, has proven quite a sensation.” The article said that those who had a radio enjoyed the wireless concert and the singing of Miss Grosse. The last paragraph stated that, “Owing to the great amount of information desired regarding 'Who’s who among the wireless warblers,' Mr. Dunn has announced his intention to prepare schedules telling who will be heard at his various concerts, which will be given from 8 to 9 o’clock Wednesday, Sunday afternoons from 3 to 4 and Sunday evenings from 8 to 9 p.m.” On February 2, 1922, the Star-News featured an article about the new schedule of “music heard by wireless” which could be heard by radio fans in Pasadena. This early schedule of the area radio stations included KLB, KOG in Los Angeles and KYJ in Los Angeles. The new schedule of broadcasts sharing time on 360 meters included KLB-J.J. Dunn on the air Wednesday and Sunday evenings from 8 to 9 p.m. On Tuesdays and Fridays, KOG-Western Radio was to “send melodies from the top of the Kinema Theater, with organ selections being the feature of these concerts.” Every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, music was to be broadcast by KYJ from the top of Hamburger’s Department Store. On February 4, the same newspaper ran another short item telling radio fans that J.J. Dunn’s “wireless station” would be on the air again Sunday evening from 8 to 9 p.m. Dorothy M. Grosse returned to sing before the KLB microphone. The Star-News story added, “An interesting feature of these new and unique concerts is the fact that arrangements have been made to have them recorded each week in Los Angeles at the Manual Arts Radio, and in Pasadena by K.B. Dilts of South Los Robles Avenue, and C.H. Morse in Altadena.” KLB Moves to Chamber of Commerce By the end of March 1922, several newspaper stories were written about J.J. Dunn’s radio station moving to the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce building at 100 South Raymond Avenue. KLB was soon to be called the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce broadcasting station. Mr. Dunn never tried to increase the station’s power from 10 watts, but a bigger studio was built at the Hotel Green. An article in the Pasadena Star-News said, “Mr. Dunn hopes to make this one of the principal broadcasting stations on the Pacific Coast and with this end in view, he is installing the finest equipment available. Wires have been stretched above the east and west wings of the Hotel Green, and the station office will be on the top floor of the east wing. A Magnavox instrument will be placed in the main lobby of the Chamber of Commerce quarters on the first floor of the east wing.” A March 31, 1922 newspaper article was written about a broadcast on Monday night, April 3, 1922, of the Cauldron Club Singers over KLB from 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. The article noted that at J.J. Dunn’s “sending station,” a special transmitting apparatus was installed by Hugo Benioff, the operator in charge of KLB. The newspaper reported that, “Mr. Benioff has devised a very clever contrivance for equalizing the volume of tone produced by the vocalists, fifty in number. By this arrangement. All the voices will be heard just as they would in a concert hall with proper acoustics. Every little nuance and shading will be discernible to correctly tuned instruments to aid radio listeners to tune to 360 meters for KLB.” Miss Dorothy Grosse sang a soprano solo just before the Cauldron Club Singers performed their numbers on the air. The article pointed out that Miss Grosse has sung over the J.J. Dunn radio station on previous occasions and most of the radio fans are able to catch her voice very quickly. An item in the April 2, 1922 Los Angeles Times also noted that the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce was arranging with J.J. Dunn to install his radio station at their location for broadcasting. The article said Mr. Dunn had been operating KLB in Pasadena for some time, and it had a reputation for being one of the “clearest sounding stations on the coast.” The paper also mentioned Mr. Hugo Benioff had installed the 10-watt station. The antenna towers were 50 feet high and the 7-wire antenna had a total length of 125 feet. On Tuesday evening, April 18, 1922, California Governor William Stephens was in Pasadena and gave a short talk over KLB. The Star-News said, “Pasadenans with radio receiving apparatus may 'listen-In' Tuesday from 8:40 to 8:50 o’clock sharp, when Governor Stephens will give a ten-minute address at the J.J. Dunn broadcasting station, Colorado Street at Chester Avenue.” After appearing on KLB, the Governor attended an Elks event in Pasadena. On June 29, 1922, the Pasadena Post reported on the Chamber of Commerce meeting from the previous night. E.R. Sorver, the president of the organization, told those in attendance at the meeting, that the Chamber “would do everything toward the maintenance of the broadcasting station (KLB) located in Hotel Green.” The article continued, saying “Much credit was given by Mr. Sorver to J.J. Dunn, who at his own expense installed the station and is keeping it up. Those present expressed their approval of the high character of programs furnished by the Pasadena broadcasting station.” The article ended with a request from the Chamber of Commerce for the owners of a radio set in and near Pasadena to write them a letter or postcard so the Chamber could determine how many radios were in use locally and what brand of radio they owned. Letters Arrive From Near and Far Letters and postcards steadily arrived in the mail for KLB, care of J.J. Dunn, for the next several months. Some were from local listeners and others were reports of distant reception from outside of California. In the latter category, some radio listeners were positive they heard KLB. Others only guessed and sent in reports of music heard on a certain night and time, and asked Mr. Dunn if KLB was on the air on the night in question. By some miracle, the Pasadena Historical Museum has a folder in their collection of 63 cards and letters sent to J.J. Dunn about his radio station KLB from one hundred years ago. (It's not known if any of these cards and letters were answered by Mr. Dunn.) A few of the letters are typed, but most are handwritten and difficult to read clearly. There are no envelopes in the folder and some letters are fragile. For example, a letter dated April 18, 1922, was written by a man in Anaheim, 35 miles from Pasadena. The writer used amateur radio terms such as QSA and QRM. He told Mr. Dunn that he heard KLB Monday night and the signal was quite strong through interference and noise, but the modulation was very good. He asked for the station’s broadcasting schedule. Meanwhile, the Pasadena Star-News of April 17, 1922, reported that J.J. Dunn had received a letter from a radio hobbyist who heard KLB in Chicago, which the paper pointed out, is 2,221 miles from Pasadena. In his letter, Sidney H. Stone said he received the phonograph music selection and voice announcement clearly and distinctly. The paper printed the letter as follows: “Last Wednesday evening at 11:45 Chicago time, I listened to a phonograph and voice from your station. Both were very clear and distinct. I was using a regenerative short wave tuner with a detector and two steps of amplification. My antenna consists of four wires of No. 14 solid copper, no soldered connections. You spoke of being interfered with earlier in the evening. Will you please let me hear from you, as I believe it is quite unusual to receive a station west of the Rockies.” Another letter written on May 6, 1922 came from Monterey Park, only 6.4 miles from Pasadena. The KLB listener wrote to J.J. Dunn, “Gentlemen---In response to your request for information as to how your concerts are received. It came to me very clearly last night. The whistling numbers were the best I have ever heard 'thru the air,' and I particularly enjoyed Mrs. Durner’s singing. Thank you for the entertainment.” A letter written on May 11, 1922, was from a drug store where customers could listen to a radio installed inside the store. No name was given in the letter from the drug store at Vermont and Manchester in Los Angeles, but it was sent to Broadcasting Station K.L.B. Pasadena, Calif. “Gentlemen, On behalf of our customers and friends, we take great pleasure in thanking you for the many concerts broadcasted from your station. These concerts which are of the highest quality, are being enjoyed by the many people visiting our store. For audibility and modulation, your broadcast is Paramount. Hoping we may continue to receive your interesting concerts, we are, Yours Truly, Clark Drug Co.” A letter written May 5, 1922, from Los Angeles said that “the music in your Friday night concert (K.L.B.) came in grand at my house, needing no amplification other than detector to bring in your concert clear and loud.” This was followed by a request for a song to be sung or played. A listener in Hollywood sent J.J. Dunn a rather long letter on June 3, 1922. Fred Walters wrote, “Mrs. Walters and I are indebted to you for the splendid programs of high standard you give to the public by Radiophone. No real music lover could ask for better entertainment, with the exception of our Times (KHJ), your program is the best of all the sending stations. The universal clamor now a days is for popular music. Pity to say, we have too much of 'jazz' and 'trots' and 'steps' and whoever likes that kind of stuff, the other stations will more than satisfy them. Every time when KLB is on the air, we never fail to listen-in. Every number of your programs comes out clear and distinct. It is always a treat for us.” Several regular listeners mailed postcards more than once to KLB to tell Mr. Dunn how weak or strong the signal was, comment on the modulation or tell him there was generator hum noticeable, or how much they liked the music. One such regular writer/listener was from El Monte, 18 miles from Pasadena. The postcard says, “Dear Sir, You know that KWH (Los Angeles Examiner) has lowered his wavelength. You are so close to him, I cannot tune him out, and I don’t think anybody else can either. So, you had better drop your wave a little. I can get KFAC (Glendale Press) fine without interference; He is below the low wave of Catalina.” Along with being heard in Chicago, KLB got several more letters from the DX radio hobbyists tuning for distant radio stations. Reports came in from the Midwest, south and east, and as far as Hawaii and Panama. From South Bend, Indiana, William Jackson wrote, “Though I use only one tube, I have picked up your station many times. It comes in as good as any station I have received from the Pacific Coast.” E.C. Kimmel of Brooklyn, New York wrote, “I hope you will confirm this letter as soon as possible. My set consists of a detector and two steps of amplification. I had to use both steps to listen to you.” Elmer Berg of Plymouth, Massachusetts wrote to KLB on December 6, 1922 with a report of hearing the station. “I am sure that there was a talk or lecture on the radio. There was a great deal of interference. I heard station call letters KLB quite distinctly. This was at 11:30 p.m. Eastern time. No amateur here has received Pacific Coast Stations.” KLB Did Not Broadcast the 1923 Rose Bowl Game Probably the most interesting correspondence in this collection of cards and letters mailed to KLB-J.J. Dunn in Pasadena, are seven letters from distant radio listeners across the U.S.A., who all said they heard a play-by-play broadcast of the Rose Bowl game from Pasadena, California on January 1, 1923. Since the game was played in Pasadena, these radio listeners assumed that 10-watt KLB must have been the radio station they heard broadcasting the football game between USC and Penn State. However, KLB was off the air on New Years Day of 1923! I discovered this fact about 20 years ago, when I was looking for more information about these letters to KLB. The radio page of the Los Angeles Times lists nine radio stations on the air in Southern California that day, but not KLB. Also, it turns out that 500-watt KHJ was broadcasting “a play-by-play report of the East-West football game” at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time. (The New Year’s Day football game at the Rose Bowl was still called the East-West game at the time.) In addition, I learned in 2023 that the Westinghouse station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, KDKA, was also scheduled to broadcast play-by-play results of the Penn State-USC game, from a Pittsburgh Post Sports Editor who was describing the plays on the phone, and according to the Post, “within a moment of the play, it will be announced from the Post-KDKA broadcasting studio.” Newspapers up and down the East Coast listed in their radio schedules on January 1, 1923, that KDKA would be on the air at 6:30 Eastern time, announcing the play-by-play of the game in Pasadena. However, the only paper I could find that listed the KHJ broadcast of the USC-Penn State game was in the Los Angeles Times, which owned KHJ. Since the KDKA broadcast in Pittsburgh started at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, it was 3:30 p.m. in Pasadena and still in full daylight. It’s likely that the letter writers were hearing the football game via KDKA and not KHJ Los Angeles, even though at least one DXer said he had heard KHJ at his location a few times. Since KLB was off the air on the day of the Rose Bowl football game in 1923, it was certainly not KLB and not KDYR Pasadena, which was never built and whose license was deleted December 1, 1922. Some of these reception reports for the Rose Bowl broadcast were addressed to both KLB-J.J. Dunn and KDYR, which apparently never got on the air. A couple of letters to KLB asked if the J.J. Dunn Station was on the air testing during the hours after midnight with phonograph records. The writers claimed they heard either the call letters KLB or the city of Pasadena mentioned on the air. Three letters were sent to KLB during August of 1922 from Needles, California, Everett, Washington and Vorland, Wyoming. All of them told Dunn that they heard KLB talking to an amateur radio station 7XL, and that KLB played some “gramophone records” for this particular ham radio operator. The letter from Needles was a more detailed reception report. The 7XL special amateur radio station was licensed to the Northwestern Electric Company in Portland, OR. It’s not known why J.J. Dunn would have been communicating with the ham radio operator, but, one of the letters specifically said he could hear KLB and its music and announcements on 360 meters, and his conversation with 7XL on 200 meters. The letter from Wyoming was dated August 18, 1922. The radio fan wrote that he heard KLB “clear as a bell,” and he also heard the conversation with ham station 7XL. The writer said he had a Westinghouse two stage receiver with a special tuner. The letter ends with the question, “Do you put on programs and what nights?” The other two reception reports added that Dunn had a phone call from a party in Los Angeles and was hearing the records and the talk, as was mentioned in another reception report. The Pasadena Historical Museum file on radio station KLB and J.J. Dunn also includes two typewritten pages of program details for June 3, 4 and 5, 1922. These look like the usual type of press releases sent to the local newspapers, with a list of the songs and artists scheduled to be heard over KLB on those three dates. A postcard from Wyoming to KLB noted that they got the station loud and clear through the loudspeaker and “the music was enjoyed by a half dozen of us.” A radio fan from Youngstown, Ohio didn’t mention the call letters, but said he “picked up your station and the music was plain for the great distance.” The man also wrote to say he paid over $500 for his radio set and bought it a month earlier. An April 9, 1923, letter was received not long before KLB had stopped broadcasting and went off the air. The letter from Indiana, was addressed to J.J. Dunn and said he enjoyed the excellent programs from the station. He adds that “I have picked up your station many times. It comes in as good as any station I have received on the Pacific Coast.” It was signed, “Yours for better radio.” One man said this was his second letter to KLB because his first letter was never answered. Another letter was mailed to “KDYR, Pasadena, Calif.,” but it was delivered to KLB, as it is also in the files for the J.J. Dunn station. The last two letters reported reception of KLB in the Midwest in October and November of 1923, after KLB had signed off for good. Regular KLB Broadcasts Continue By June and July of 1922, KLB was on the air regularly, sharing 360 meters with the other local radio stations. A press release story in the Star-News reported that J.J. Dunn had started using a phonograph and a piano made by the Coops and Sons Co. of Pasadena, because he believed the locally owned company made the best toned instruments to broadcast music over his station, KLB. The rather long article made a point to tell readers that KLB had been heard as far as the Canal Zone, Hawaii, and Chicago. The radio pages of the newspapers which listed KLB’s schedules still called KLB the "Chamber of Commerce Radio Broadcasting Station". The Coops phonograph was always mentioned, to play “select records” along with the live musicians and vocalists. By July, a paper in Long Beach in its radio listings for KLB gave the wavelength as “under 360 meters” and said that the station would play vocal and instrumental music, without giving further details. For the remainder of 1922, KLB was on the air Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday from 40 minutes to one hour. The broadcast schedule by January 1923 was changed slightly, showing that KLB was on the air on Sunday, Monday and Friday from 40 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes. In 1923, KLB’s schedule appeared once in January in the Los Angeles Times, but disappeared from other papers in Southern California. “Radio Digest” continued to include KLB in their regular schedule of broadcasting stations. This remained the same between January and April of 1923: "KLB Pasadena, J.J. Dunn & Co. Monday and Friday from 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. and Sunday from 3 to 4 p.m. and 8 to 9 p.m." The End of KLB KLB radio eventually stopped broadcasting, and J.J. Dunn’s 10-watt station was deleted by the Department of Commerce on April 25, 1923. Researching the pages of the Pasadena Star-News may give us answers as to why J.J. Dunn took the station off the air. Like other small stations in Los Angeles and around the nation, it could have been for one reason or several. Dunn may have lost interest in KLB and wasn’t making enough at his regular job to keep the station equipment in good condition. KLB was also getting less air time on 360 meters due to bigger stations that were well financed. Plus, it was likely getting difficult to keep putting fresh talent on the air, instead of playing records. KLB was most likely a "hobby" station for Dunn, using homemade equipment that may not have performed well at times. It would have been expensive to improve the station and increase transmitter power. Otherwise, not much is known about James Jerome Dunn. He was born in Pennsylvania December 18, 1868 and died in Los Angeles County July 25, 1955. J.J. Dunn married his wife in Los Angeles in 1920. From the census records, it appears that they did not have any children. His wife died in 1949. No obituary for Dunn or his wife have yet been found. Dunn’s only claim to fame was apparently expanding a battery service station into a radio broadcasting station in 1922, which he owned and operated for about 15 months in those early days of radio. Both KLB and Dunn are forgotten today, except for those of us who want their names and stories to be remembered. I’ve told the story of KLB and J.J. Dunn, to learn about their contributions to those first few months of broadcasting to listeners of crystal sets and one-tube radios, sometimes homemade, sometimes store bought, who got so excited about hearing a voice and music come through the air, without wires! KLB, which operated with only 10 watts during the 15 months it was on the air, is a typical example of a small radio station and its programming of 100+ years ago. My thanks to the staff of the Pasadena Historical Museum for their photo of J.J. Dunn and many newspaper stories about Dunn and KLB. Also, their rare file of letters and cards mailed to KLB in 1922-23 was fascinating and I wanted to share some of them in this article. And finally, a big thank you to my friend Diana Kelly, for her research to find the dates of birth and death for J.J. Dunn.
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