The Short History of Los Angeles Station KYJ, 1921-23

By Jim Hilliker

www.theradiohistorian.org

Copyright 2023 - John F. Schneider & Associates, LLC

 [Return to Home Page]

(Click on photos to enlarge)

This image shows the complete installation of station 6XAK in Hamburger's Department Store, as published in "Radio News", December, 1921.

E. J. Arnold and H. Berringer operate the transmitter of station 6XAK; "Los Angeles Evening Record", October 8, 1921.

This advertisement was placed in the "Los Angeles Times" on April 1, 1922.

 Oliver Garretson and Charles Austin are seen here making a KYJ broadcast, dated June 15, 1922.

This program schedule for KYJ appeared in "Radio Doings" Magazine on December 16, 1922

This announcement of KYJ's closure appeared on December 29, 1922.

The KYJ Story:

This 5-watt radio station was owned by the Leo J. Meyberg Company and had a ‘studio’ on the top floor of the M.A. Hamburger's Department Store (which became the May Company in 1923).  The store was located at the corner of 8th and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.  KYJ was also known as “Hamburger's Radiophone.”  ¹

6XAK:

The Hamburger Radiophone began broadcasting on October 1, 1921, as 6XAK on 310 meters or about 968 kilocycles. The station was built and installed by Mr. E.G. Arnold and Hall Berringer, who was sales manager of the Western Radio Electric Company. This company also owned station 6XD (later KZC/KOG), which Berringer called “the first broadcasting station in Southern California."  In the Los Angeles Evening Express on September 30, 1921, a story on 6XAK reported that Mr. Arnold and Mr. Berringer were both radio engineers of the Leo J. Meyberg Company.  The Hamburger’s store used their new radiophone station to broadcast music and news, and for advertising purposes; especially to sell phonograph records and the radios and radio parts that were on display in the store's radio department. Many other Los Angeles radio supply stores and electrical stores would also soon start a small radio station to promote their business and encourage interest and sales of radios and related equipment. The “wireless concerts” transmitted by the Hamburger’s radiophone station were publicized often in more than one Los Angeles newspaper.  

In the October 15, 1921 edition of “The Talking Machine World,” a small item on page 101 describes the wireless broadcasting station on Hamburger’s roof: “Harry N. Briggs, general manager of the music department at Hamburger’s has arranged for the transmitting by wireless of the six latest Brunswick records daily at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., from the roof of Hamburger’s Department Store.  The records are played on a Brunswick phonograph and announcement is made by the operator.  The wireless is an extremely powerful instrument and operates at a radius of 1,500 to 2,000 miles.”

Three months later, “The Talking Machine World” from January 15, 1922 printed a similar article about the wireless phonograph concerts from Hamburger’s Department Store in Los Angeles helping to increase sales figures in its phonograph department.  Quoting from the story, it reads, “A short time ago, wireless operators, both amateurs and professionals were surprised to get the following announcement through their receivers: “This is experimental station 6XAK speaking, Hamburger’s wireless station, located on the roof of the store.  Commencing today and continuing for an indefinite period, there will be various concerts and other announcements.  We will now have a selection from the phonograph.”  Then followed one of the latest records, and thousands of radio operators listened in while Hamburger’s gave a concert lasting from 4 to 5 p.m.  Announcement of the new service was made in the papers with the statement that in addition to the afternoon concerts, the store will give concerts on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights, from 8 to 9 o’clock, and will later establish a service between 8 and 9 o’clock in the morning.” 

Every afternoon from 4 to 5 p.m., the store sent out a “free radio concert” for the increasing number of people with radios.  By October of 1921, the fame of the Hamburger radio station had spread so quickly, that when the Scotti Grand Opera Company was in Los Angeles, four famous opera singers looked for the store, and arranged to sing into the 6XAK transmitter.  Advance publicity of the event resulted in thousands of radio listeners tuning in that day.  The station also broadcast results each day of the 1921 World Series to Southern California baseball fans.  When the U.S. Department of Commerce began to license radio stations for the purpose of broadcasting music, news, talks, etc. to the general public, 6XAK applied and became radio station KYJ on December 9, 1921.

KYJ:

Bertam O. Heller was KYJ’s first engineer/operator, but he later left KYJ to get KWH on the air for the Los Angeles Examiner, and became that station’s chief engineer.   Oliver S. Garretson, an amateur radio operator and wireless pioneer in Southern California, rebuilt the KYJ equipment and became chief engineer for a few months.  He increased KYJ’s power from 5 to 50 watts on April 27, 1922.   The Los Angeles Evening Express newspaper joined with station personnel to select the programming.  One schedule for KYJ in late-1922 shows that it was on the air seven days a week.  The station was typically on the air for 1 or 1-1/2 hours in the afternoon.  The station came back on for 45 minutes in the evening. The listening public of the day tuned in to hear a variety of talks and music.  One program schedule shows that KYJ aired operatic soloists, a singing comedian or saxophone artist, both from vaudeville; readings of materials from editors of top magazines of the day; and even a talk by the store's radio operator Charles Austin, "giving an authoritative discourse on an interesting phase of radio receiving."

Southern California resident Jack Bascom of Glendora told me in a 1990 letter that when he was 13 or 14, he visited KYJ while they were on the air.  It was in mid-afternoon, and people in the store could watch the KYJ broadcast through a window and listen to the broadcast over the outside speakers.  A few rows of chairs were placed on the other side of the window for the visitors. On the same floor, customers could look at the displays of radios and radio parts for sale.

In addition to the radio department on the 4th floor, the store also had its own radio school. The subjects taught included classes in radio theory, Morse code, how to become an amateur radio operator, etc.

KYJ, like other small short-lived stations that were broadcasting during 1922 in Los Angeles, was well remembered by other "old-timers" many years later.  Wallace Wiggins was chief engineer and co-owner of KREG/KVOE in Santa Ana in the 1930s and '40s, after working at KHJ and KGFJ.  In a 1974 oral history interview with Cal State Fullerton, Wiggins remembered KYJ as one of the first stations he listened to on a crystal set in 1922.  George Farmer, W6OO, wrote in his book "Radio Almanac", about picking up the KYJ signal aboard a ship he worked on as a wireless operator in 1922.  Adding to the KYJ memories in later years, in 1950, Ed Stodel, owner and president of Stodel Advertising Company in Los Angeles, talked about his early interest in radio broadcasting.  He told Broadcasting magazine that he was 12 years old in 1922 and built his first crystal set.  Stodel remembered that when a radio station was off the air on certain days, he used to telephone the Hamburger’s Department Store and request that they put KYJ on the air, so he could hear their music. 

Station owners in 1922 learned quickly that radio could be used to discuss important issues.  In early April of 1922, W. L. Pollard, who was in charge of KYJ, told the Los Angeles Times he was giving a half-hour of air time to an attorney opposed to a state bond measure on the November 1922 California ballot. The April 6th talk went out on the 500 meter wavelength, which was allowed by a special permit from Washington, instead of the usual 360 meters, from 9:00 to 9:30 p.m.  Since then, local and national politics have filled countless hours of radio air time.

One example of how a radio station's signal could travel quite far in the un-crowded broadcast band in those days is a letter KYJ received in mid-April, 1922.  It was a reception report from a listener in Halifax, Canada, more than 3,500 miles away!  The Los Angeles Times reported that the letter correctly quoted the names of the phonograph records played on a March 24th broadcast.  Owner Leo J. Meyberg said, "Of course, this represents a freak result, particularly as the station was operating at 5 watts and a radiation of 1.6 amperes.  Atmospheric conditions must have been nearly perfect to have made the reception at Halifax possible. However, we have received similar reports from the Panama Canal Zone."  An ad in the April 1, 1922 edition of the Times also indicated that KYJ's signal was received in Honolulu!  

The time-sharing agreements on 360 meters didn’t always work out in the best way for listeners trying to hear a particular station at a certain time.  In the Los Angeles Times of July 27, 1922, the radio page printed some letters from the 64 letters received from radio fans with general complaints about local broadcasting stations.  One Los Angeles writer complained about interference caused by two stations on the air at the same time on 360 meters.  The writer didn’t think anyone could tune his radio set to separate KLB Pasadena and KYJ Los Angeles.  T.M. Simpson wrote, “KLB got on the air about one minute before KYJ and was doing fine and delivering a fine program, and immediately KYJ came on, and from the sound of things, they must have had a thousand watts on their tubes and that settled it.  Then we listened in to such announcements as the following:  “Our next offering will be a fox trot, “By the Silvery Nile” by the Isham Jones Orchestra,” followed by “Our next selection will be “Blue Bird Land,” a fox trot by the Isham Jones Orchestra.”  Other letters also complained about playing phonograph records over the air.

Four months later, the radio department of Hamburger’s Department Store told the Evening Express newspaper about interference from other stations.  The radio page from November 8, 1922 started this way:  “Complaints have been received by the radio department that broadcasting stations working off their scheduled time on 360 meters last week, interfered with programs being broadcasted from KYJ.  Notices of this sort are repeated to the erring station with the request that they keep the schedule agreed upon.  If such interference takes place again, KYJ would appreciate being notified at once.”       

By December of 1922, their final month on the air, KYJ was using mostly live talent during all broadcasts.  In Radio Doings of December 17 to 24, 1922, the KYJ program schedule indicated the station was on the air 7 days a week from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m.   Monday through Saturday, KYJ was on the air 3 to 4 p.m. and some days from 3:30 to 5 p.m.   There were several instrumental performers, mainly on piano and violin.  One evening, the entertainment was from a saxophonist and a pianist, who offered “Jazz From the Great White Way.”  The next night, another jazz orchestra performed through the courtesy of two songwriters.  A song duo from vaudeville appeared one night and a concert baritone from the Ambassador Theatre in Los Angeles sang another evening.  During the half hour from 4:30 to 5 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, the broadcast featured “A reading of special radio articles by the associate editors of “Vogue,” “Vanity Fair” and “House and Garden.”  KYJ listeners also heard an actress from the local theater reading extracts from a drama by Eugene O’Neill, during a Thursday afternoon broadcast.

For various reasons, KYJ could not make a go of it, even though it seemed to be popular with listeners of the day. Without commercials to pay for operational costs, the sale of radio sets apparently was not enough to keep the station on the air, or perhaps the owner lost interest in the project.  ²

On Friday, December 29, 1922, the Los Angeles Evening Express reported that KYJ, the “Express-Hamburgers Radio Station,” would be going off the air for good.  The decision was made by the Leo J. Meyberg Company, the owners of KYJ radio.  A “goodbye program” was broadcast on Saturday, December 30th, which included the playing of “Taps.”  The newspaper reported that the schedule for KYJ that day included speeches by officials of the Hamburgers store and KYJ announcers and engineers.  KYJ’s final one-hour broadcast on 360 meters/833 kilocycles, took place on Sunday, December 31, 1922.  This 50-watt broadcasting pioneer that entertained early Los Angeles crystal set and radio owners for approximately 14 months, signed off for the very last time.   Because the Evening Express did not publish a paper on Sundays, there was no coverage of KYJ’s last broadcast and I couldn’t find any mention of the ending of this radio station in their Monday January 1, 1923 edition.  It seems that other Los Angeles newspapers also ignored the situation.  I found however, that the Evening Express radio schedule continued to list KYJ times on the air for several days, after the station signed off for good.    

In the January 6, 1923 edition of Radio Doings, it was announced that the Hamburger’s store had discontinued broadcasting.  But the Leo J. Meyberg Company, which owned and operated KYJ, was to broadcast from their studio via phone line over KFI at a later date.  KYJ's station license was deleted by the Dept. of Commerce on May 1, 1923.  Some of the information on the history of KYJ was gathered from a December 1921 story in the magazine Radio News.