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WCJ was a radio station, located in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
, that was licensed to the
A. C. Gilbert Company The A. C. Gilbert Company was an American toy company, once one of the largest in the world. Gilbert originated the Erector Set, which is a construction toy similar to Meccano in the rest of the world, and made chemistry sets, microscope kits, ...
from September 29, 1921 to December 1, 1922. Although short-lived, it was the first broadcasting station licensed in the state of Connecticut, and one of the first in the United States.


History

Founded in 1909, the A. C. Gilbert Company was a prominent toy manufacturer with a target audience consisting primarily of young boys, best known for its Erector Set construction sets. After War World One, the company briefly expanded into selling amateur radio equipment, offering "Superdyne" regenerative
vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. The type kn ...
receivers designed by the C. D. Tuska Company. In conjunction with the radio receiver sales, on September 29, 1921 the company was issued a Limited Commercial radio license with the randomly assigned call letters of WCJ, operating on a wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz). There were no formal regulations in the United States about stations making broadcasts intended for the general public until December 1, 1921, when the Department of Commerce began requiring Limit Commercial licenses operating on wavelengths of 360 or 485 meters (833 and 619 kHz), which WCJ already held. This station was located at the A. C. Gilbert factory at 493 Blatchley Avenue in New Haven. A 125-foot (38 meter) tower was constructed in back of the factory, and an antenna and counterpoise were strung, over the building, from this tower to a pre-existing smokestack. The company inaugurated a limited series of broadcasts, both in
Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...
and full audio, some by company employees drafted by the company president,
Alfred Carlton Gilbert Alfred Carlton Gilbert (February 15, 1884 – January 24, 1961) was an American inventor, athlete, magician, toy-maker and businessman. Gilbert invented the Erector Set and manufactured American Flyer Trains. Early life and education Gilber ...
, to provide entertainment. WCJ's most prominent use occurred in the summer of 1922, when the company outfitted a railroad car with samples from its catalog, which company publicity described as "The most far-reaching and effective undertaking in co-operative merchandising between manufacturers and dealers ever conceived". Included was a demonstration radio receiver used for reception of twice-daily broadcasts made by WCJ. (Once the train traveled beyond the station's range, covertly made transmissions from within the railroad car were substituted). The company soon faced difficulty related to its radio receiver sales, when the Radio Corporation of America complained that the patent rights held by Tuska were not transferable to additional companies like A. C. Gilbert. To avoid a lawsuit, the company ended the offending receiver sales, and WCJ ceased operations, and was formally deleted on December 1, 1922. Although WCJ was no longer in operation, the radio tower was left standing, and large letters spelling "ERECTOR" were installed vertically down the structure. This tower remained standing until January 9, 1978, when it was knocked down by a wind storm.Watson (2002), page 183.


References

{{New Haven Radio History of radio Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1921 1921 establishments in Connecticut 1922 disestablishments in Connecticut Radio_stations_disestablished_in_1922 CJ