A project tying together CKUA, the Alberta Aviation Museum, and a fascinating piece of history all started with a casual comment.
“I’m an avid record collector,” says Jade Edwards-Modry, collections technician at the Alberta Aviation Museum. “I love records. I’m very passionate about them. And two years ago I was talking to one of our volunteers about this and he mentioned that the museum had, at some point, these massive, massive records.”
It launched her into a year and a half of searching the museum’s vast collection. “I was obsessed with the idea of these huge records. I’d go through every room that I could, trying to track them down.”
Then one day, there they were, on a top shelf in the museum vault. “Oh, the relief,” she laughs, “to have finally found them.”
But then, what to do with them? The mystery records were transcription discs and they are, indeed, massive. A whopping 16 inches in diameter compared to the 12 inches of their next-largest vinyl relative. They require a specific player.
Luckily, Edwards-Modry came across an article about CKUA’s history with transcription discs.
She got in touch and was thrilled to hear that CKUA still has its transcription disc player, which are, of course, not easy to find in 2024.
Now the two organizations are working together to bring these pieces of audio history back to life.
The museum has five discs, all from the United States Armed Forces. Transcription discs date back to the 1930s and 1940s. At the time, Edmonton was a World War Two aviation hub, used extensively by American military personnel.
To keep up morale, the US Armed Forces used transcription discs to send syndicated radio programs of music and entertainment to Canadian radio stations (including CKUA!) who would then play it either over telephone lines or shortwave radio to reach the American personnel. It would also reach anyone who managed to tune in on their short-wave radios.
“It was stuff like big Hollywood actors, big band music, all kinds of things to entertain and keep people involved in popular culture from the States,” says Edwards-Modry. “And so of course it was such a treat in Edmonton to hear all of these big names in Hollywood talking through their radio.”
She hasn’t listened to the museum’s five discs yet. The plan is to digitize them over the next few months and create a mini-documentary of the process.
“I’m so excited,” says Edwards-Modry. “I think it’s the coolest thing about audio, that it provides such a window into what was interesting to people at the time and what they wanted to hear and engage with.”
It’s a fun project for CKUA staff too, says Brendan Cross, CKUA’s interim production services supervisor.
“It’s really exciting, I can’t think of anybody who’s doing this kind of work currently. It’s a unique opportunity for us to use the older equipment we have. We have so much of it that hasn’t been decommissioned. It also feels good to help preserve a piece of history, especially when transcription discs are a part of CKUA’s story as well.”
With CKUA nearing its 97th birthday (on November 21!), preserving Alberta’s radio history has always been a part of its mission, as evidenced by its legendary library.
“The fact that CKUA had a transcription disc player and that we could help out the aviation museum was a really exciting prospect for me, to document a bit more of Alberta and CKUA’s history as well as the military history here that’s so rich. It’s a really cool opportunity to learn about unique material that could easily be lost to time otherwise,” says Cross.
