WOWO Historical News Clippings!

This is the page for newspaper clippings and other similar historical material about WOWO Radio.

Recently, a researcher named Roger Crawford sent us a huge cache of historical newspaper acticles from the early days of WOWO. Roger has been researching the history of theaters in Fort Wayne. During that project, he has also collected literally hundreds of articles pertaining to the city's early radio history. The Journal Gazette and News Sentinel have given us permission to post them online.

1927- WOWO Increases Power to 5,000 Watts

"Wayne Offers Wonderful Opportunities, slogan used by WOWO---a Local Broadcasting Station" full-page article from the Journal Gazette, February 13, 1927, page 17. (This is a large image; if it is too large for your screen or too difficult to read, right-click on the image below and select "save target as" to save the image to your computer. You can then click on the downloaded file to open it in your computer's image viewer.)

 

 

 


 

1929- Fire at Main Auto/WOWO Radio

Main Auto Supply and WOWO suffered a devastating fire on July 4, 1929. Here are two articles that relate the details of that day.

Journal Gazette, July 5, 1929, pg. 1 "Fireworks Burn, Big Loss"

 

 

 

 

 

Journal Gazette, July 6, 1929, pg. 1 "Radio Station WOWO Resumes Broadcasting"

 

 

 

 


1936- WOWO and WGL sold to Westinghouse

"Sale of WOWO and WGL Looms, Westinghouse Dealing for Radio Stations," article from the Journal Gazette, Jan. 19, 1936, page 1.

 

 

 


"Sale of WOWO and WGL Approved, Westinghouse Takes Control on August 1," article from the Journal Gazette, July 3, 1936, page 1.

 

 

 


1937- Westinghouse Opens New WOWO/WGL Studios

"Westinghouse Dedicates New Studios Next Saturday," full-page article from the Journal Gazette, April 25, 1937, page 20. (This is a large image; if it is too large for your screen or too difficult to read, right-click on the image below and select "save target as" to save the image to your computer. You can then click on the downloaded file to open it in your computer's image viewer.)

 

 

 


 

1937- WOWO Broadcaster Profiles

From May to November of 1937, the Journal Gazette published a profile of a WOWO/WGL broadcaster each Sunday, a total of 26 articles.

Bob Sievers from Oct. 10, 1937, pg. 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeanne Brown from May 16, 1937, pg. 21

 

 

 

 

 

Jane Weston from May 23, 1937, pg. 20

 

 

 

 

 

Maury Cross from May 30, 1937, pg. 18

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Berghoff from June 6, 1937, pg. 20

 

 

 

 

 

John Hackett from June 13, 1937, pg. 20

 

 

 

 

 

Bob Shreve from June 20, 1937, pg. 36

 

 

 

 

 

Dorothy Moeller from June 27, 1937, pg. 29

 

 

 

 

 

Shirley Wayne from July 4, 1937, pg. 16

 

 

 

 

 

Ralph Hecht from July 11, 1937, pg. 26

 

 

 

 

 

Aaro Hershey (real name Aaro Hirsimaki) from July 18, 1937, pg. 15

 

 

 

 

 

Rozanne Stephens from July 25, 1937, pg. 18

 

 

 

 

 

Howard Ackley from Aug. 1, 1937, pg. 18

 

 

 

 

 

Franklin Tooke from Aug. 8, 1937, pg. 18

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Davies from Aug. 15, 1937, pg. 18

 

 

 

 

 

Dorothy Durbin from Aug. 22, 1937, pg. 18

 

 

 

 

 

Bob Wilson from Aug. 29, 1937, pg. 18

 

 

 

 

 

Cliff Garfield from Sept. 5, 1937, pg. 16

 

 

 

 

 

Mary O'Rear from Sept. 12, 1937, pg. 22

 

 

 

 

 

Howard Ropa from Sept. 19, 1937, pg. 34

 

 

 

 

 

Carl Vandegrift from Sept. 26, 1937, pg. 22

 

 

 

 

 

Linda Shank from Oct. 3, 1937, pg. 16

 

 

 

 

 

Dick Galbreath from Oct. 17, 1937, pg. 21

 

 

 

 

 

Hilary Denley Kuhl from Oct. 24, 1937, pg. 19

 

 

 

 

 

Rosemary Stanger from Oct. 31, 1937, pg. 18

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Herb Hayworth from Nov. 7, 1937, pg. 19

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Early 1940s - A Time of Rapid Change

"Radio Station Shifts Ordered" article from the Journal Gazette, Feb. 2, 1941, pg. 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"WOWO, WGL To Move To New Wavelength Listings Saturday" article from the Journal Gazette, March 27, 1941, pg. 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"WOWO Petitions for More Power" article from the Journal Gazette, April 8, 1941, pg. 1 (Editor's note: While fulltime operation was granted by the FCC within a couple of months, the increase to 50,000 watts did not occur until 1954).

 

 

 

 

 

 

"WOWO Frequency Sought By WIRE" article from the Journal Gazette, Sept. 17, 1941, pg. 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

WOWO ad celebrating its first year of full-time operation, from the Journal Gazette, June 24, 1942, pg. 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Westinghouse Granted Permit To Build Frequency Modulation Outlet" article from the Journal Gazette, Feb.20, 1941, pg. 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"New Broadcast Starts Monday, Westinghouse Begins FM Programs" article from the Journal Gazette, Oct. 9, 1942, pg. 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wolf & Dessauer ad congratulating Westinghouse on their new FM station, W49FW, from the Journal Gazette, Oct. 9, 1942, pg. 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Figure In Radio Transfer" (New Chief Engineer) article from the Journal Gazette, Jan. 30, 1940, pg. 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1950s- Igniting the 50kw Blowtorch!

"WOWO Moves Ahead With Power Hike Plan" article from the News Sentinel, August 8, 1953 (item courtesy of Ron Gregory)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"WOWO Goes to Full Power at 9 Tonight" article from the Journal Gazette, Feb. 1, 1954, (item courtesy of Ron Gregory)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Radio Tower, Once State's Tallest Structure, Falls," article from the Journal Gazette, May 1, 1954, (item courtesy of Ron Gregory)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News Sentinel: WOWO's switch from network to independent operation with local disc jockeys (July 28, 1956, pg. 13)

 

 

1970s

"Carol Ford...WOWO" article from the News Sentinel, Feb. 12, 1977 (item courtesy of Mark Erdman)

 

 

 

 

 

 

1980s

"Silver Fox Celebrates 25 WOWO Years" article from the Journal Gazette, July 30, 1981, (item courtesy of Ron Gregory)

 

 

 

 

 

"Personal Touch: Broadcast Style of Bob Sievers" article from the Journal Gazette, August 28, 1981, (item courtesy of Ron Gregory)

 

 

 

 

 

More historic news clippings are coming soon!

 

If you have old news clippings or know of an important date in WOWO history, please click the "contact us" link at the bottom of this page and find out how to share them here!

 

 

More about this site

The History of WOWO.com is a labor of love by several former WOWO staffers and Fort Wayne radio history buffs.

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