OTTAWA — Canada Post issued today a pair of stamps to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first scheduled radio broadcast in Canada.
On the evening of May 20, 1920, as we reported, members of the Royal Society of Canada gathered at Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier Hotel for an event that would launch Canada into the radio age. A performance by soprano Dorothy Lutton was broadcast live on XWA (Experimental Wireless Apparatus), the first station in Canada to receive an experimental radio licence. Although the broadcast was transmitted from the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of Canada’s factory studio in Montreal to the Naval Radio Service in Ottawa, a receiving station and large amplifier had been set up in the hotel’s ballroom for the occasion.
After XWA changed its call letters to CFCF (Canada’s First, Canada’s Finest), the station began commercial broadcasting in 1922. That same year, Montreal’s CKAC became the first licensed radio station in North America to offer French-language programming.
Within two years of Canada’s historic first broadcast, 34 radio stations were operating across the country. By the end of the decade, Canadians were tuning in on more than 300,000 radios.
Canada Post’s new pair of “se-tenant” stamps — two joined stamp designs — showcases a selection of early 20th century radio broadcasting equipment and receiving devices. More information about the stamps can be found in Canada Post’s news release.
