Home · Days to Remember · A weekday in 1938
A weekday in 1938
The schedule below is a composite of regular CBC programming and specials that were broadcast in 1938. The CBC's radio archives for 1938 are sparse, as are program guides for the 1930s; a 1939 CBC program schedule was used as the basis for the following grid. Most of the programs listed below were nationally broadcast; others were heard only on local stations such as CBL in Toronto, CBO in Ottawa and CBY, also in Toronto.
The CBC didn't have its own news service until the Second World War. In the earliest years, CBC stations depended on news reports prepared by the Canadian Press or on news from local newspapers such as the Toronto Daily Star.
In 1938 much of the CBC's daytime programming consisted of American soap operas like this one. The programs were dubbed "soap operas" because many were sponsored by household products such as laundry soap or toothpaste.
The U.S. president and the Canadian prime minister agree: good bridges make good neighbours.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returns to cheering crowds in London after negotiating the Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler.
The former prime minister of Great Britain appeals for aid for Jewish refugees fleeing Germany.
As conflict looms, CBC correspondent Graham Spry looks at Britain's readiness for war.
Harry "Red" Foster got his start in radio selling advertising time on sports programs. He also wrote the ad copy, read the commercials on air, did commentary on the sporting event and printed the programs for the fans.
The Carnation Contented Hour was a music program sponsored by Carnation milk (which, according to its slogan, came from "contented cows") and originating with NBC in the United States. The CBC aired many other U.S. prime-time shows, including the comedies, dramas and variety shows.
Wilf Carter was a Canadian-born yodeling cowboy singer who got his radio start at a private Calgary station, CFCN, in 1930. By 1937 his records were selling well in both Canada and the United States (where he was known as Montana Slim). His 15-minute CBC show was broadcast from a studio in Calgary.
In 1938, as the Depression wore on and another war in Europe loomed, Canadians embraced radio as a source of free entertainment and news from across the country and abroad. The CBC, now only two years old, succeeded in providing both. New entertainment programming included broadcasts from Canadian symphony orchestras, a series of Shakespeare's plays featuring British and American actors, and the National Drama Contest.
Information programming was beefed up too, as a new mobile unit – a van equipped with short-wave broadcasting gear – was introduced to take listeners beyond the studio. A "talks department," established in 1937, presented experts speaking on a wide range of subjects, from nature study to poetry to adventure. International events brought current-affairs commentaries to the fore, some of them coming to Canadians from London and New York. In British Columbia, the CBC worked with the Department of Education on an experiment with school broadcasts that took radio into classrooms.
Under the Canadian Broadcasting Act of 1936, the CBC played two roles. It was both the public broadcaster and the broadcast regulator. As of March 31, 1939 the public broadcaster owned or leased nine of its own stations – three broadcasting in French – from Sackville, N.B. to Vancouver. Another 27 stations were affiliates, meaning certain hours were reserved for CBC programming, and 22 more had optional use of CBC material. By 1939, 84 per cent of Canadians had access to CBC programming, up from 49 per cent just three years earlier. All radio owners in Canada paid a $2.50 licence fee whether they listened to CBC or not.
As the broadcast regulator the CBC reviewed licence renewals and applications for new radio stations, although the federal Department of Transport had final say. The same guidelines held for requests by stations to boost their signals. The CBC also had the power to enforce the regulations of the Broadcast Act of 1936.
