To our parents, radio was a lifeline. It had kept them informed during the war. It had given them the big band sounds and consoling music of their own teen years and young adult years.
At my house the radio was nearly always on . Families differed about what to listen to though.
My mother liked music and did not listen much to news stations. My dad liked country music. Other homes I know were much more tuned to world news.
As little kids of course, my sister and I in the 50s did not care much about news at all.
The stations we had to choose from in the 1950s in Calgary were:
CFAC 960- – which had The children’s Corner, famous hosts Allen Barker and Clarence Mack
CKXL which had been CJCJ
CFCN 1060
CBX
In the 1960s when we were teens we took our music with us, with transistor radios. Often a teen would hang the transistor radio off the rear view mirror in the car if the car did not itself have a radio.
The stations we had then included:
CKXL – 1140 that played Top 40 hits. Norm Edwards was a famous host
CFCN -news, entertainment and many commercials were for local stores
CBR – CBC radio that by 1964 expanded to offering 24 hour broadcasts . One famous host was Norris Bick
Radio programs 1950s
1950- Opportunity Knocks
1950s – National Farm Radio – Canada
The Guiding Light- CBC
Jack Benny, Lux Radio Theatre, The Shadow, Arthur Godfrey,
Amos n’ Andy ,Gunsmoke
1959 – The Happy Gang
Our Girl Sunday
Suspense
Dragnet
The Adventures of Philip Marlowe
Radio programs 1960s
Ma Perkins
Max Ferguson Show (CBC)
1965- Cross country Checkup CBC, Ideas (CBC)
1967- As It Happens- CBC
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