An original scan of this article is located at the University of Chicago Digital Preservation Collection.
Radio in the Home, February, 1925, pages 29-30:
KLZ is a Real Radio in the Home
By VERA BRADY SHIPMAN
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AS I sat in the office of Dr. Reynolds in Denver recently I heard a small though powerful child voice coming through the receiving set in the outer room.
"Oh, that's Sonny, now," explained Dr. Reynolds, owner and director of KLZ. "That's KLZ Junior, telling some friends of his about his new rooster feathers."
I found Sonny to be a sturdy 4-year-old youngster whose radio activities were a part of his daily life routine. KLZ Junior is as well known within hearing of Denver radio as is Fitzpatrick's twang with the WDAF Night Hawks, or Uncle John of KHJ, Los Angeles. His real name is George William Reynolds, but the radio world knows him alternately as Sonny and KLZ Junior.
The pretty little cottage on University avenue is the KLZ broadcasting station, operating on an average of 250 watts. Its distance records remarkably over-shadow many of our 500-watt stations of less perfect climatic conditions.
Mrs. Reynolds is an accomplished pianist. Fans write in for certain piano numbers which they wish to hear again. The saxophone sextette, directed by Dr. Reynolds, is always welcome on the air, as are visiting artists who are glad to be entertained in the cottage with the antenna so much higher than its roof.
Mrs. Reynolds gives daily stock markets--and while some might call KLZ a one-man station, built and operated by Dr. Reynolds, the real broadcasters are the attractive wife and Sonny--who is always ready to go on the air and in his little, penetrating voice, tell the listeners just what is coming next from KLZ.
KLZ was one of the ten original licensed stations in the country and the first commercial broadcaster in Denver.
Dr. Reynolds came to Denver some years ago as a practising dentist, but radio grew too strong for his professional bent and transplanted its dental predecessor.
He is his own announcer, known on the air as "Doc" and frequently gives whole Reynolds family programs, playing the violin and saxophone with piano accompaniment and solos by Mrs. Reynolds and Sonny's able assistance with short-story telling. Concert and operatic visiting stars have appeared over KLZ from time to time.
The visitor sits comfortably in the arm chair in the living room enjoying the piano solos of Mrs. Reynolds, while in the adjoining room "Doc" and Bonny are at the microphone.
The simple operation of KLZ has become a tradition at one of the largest broadcasting stations in the East, where fifteen to twenty men are on duty during the broadcasting of a single program. Now and then, when these men ask for more help, they are told: "Just think of KLZ."
"The building and operation of a broadcasting station are difficult matters," Dr. Reynolds said, "There is very little written on the subject, and the details and difficulties in construction must be worked out from experiments before real results are obtained
"One of the chief difficulties in operating is that of securing real talent.
"It is a comparatively simple matter to obtain jazz orchestras, but we have always tried to obtain at least one or two programs a week featuring classical selections. We believe that the city's music societies and the Chamber of Commerce should co-operate in the effort to secure this higher grade of entertainment, and thereby benefit the entire city. This can be accomplished only by closer cooperation between public-spirited organizations and musical societies.
"One way in which the radio fans do their part to help improve broadcast programs is to send their appreciations to the entertainers personally, rather than in care of the station. Those who listen in should make it a point to take down the names and addresses of the artists and send at least postal cards direct to the entertainers. commenting on some part of the program.
"If more of this is not done, it will be still more difficult to obtain the best artists."
During a recent Youth's Companion radio week two fifteen-minute programs were given over KLZ in children's interest. The Denver Real Estate Board arranged weekly talks by Denver business men for Tuesday evenings over KLZ, doubling to Friday evenings as well, as their popularity increased. These attracted wide interest and gave extensive publicity to the Denver organization as the talks were on subjects of interest to the average radio listener, constructive and city building.
A Radio in the Home station you may call KLZ, with its home circle, the family broadcasting and the heart of the little child going out to the listener, in sympathetic appeal.
I am loath to leave when Sonny signs off, "This will be about all for now"--but there is no more until tomorrow.
