On several occasions in recent time here in Wavescan, we have presented information about the early history of radio cards. In summary thus far, the earliest QSL cards, issued in the United States in 1916, were Reception Report Cards, and they were re-introduced in 1919 when amateur radio was again permitted. Soon afterwards, a new form of radio card was introduced and these are known as Applause Cards.As far as can be determined, the first Applause Cards were printed and issued in the United States in the year 1923 and one of the main purposes of these cards was to draw attention to the programming from a local mediumwave station. In this way, they were a form of advertising.
The pre-printed cards were circulated freely, through radio shops and in any other convenient way. The card encouraged listeners to tune in to a mediumwave broadcasting station, listen to the programming, write their comments on the card of what they enjoyed about the programing, and then post the card to the station. It is probable that the station did not respond to the listener with a QSL verification card in reply.
Some of these cards were designed with a particular station in mind, with the address of the station already printed on the card. Other cards were printed and issued on behalf of radio manufacturers encouraging listeners to respond with the use of their brand of radio equipment; and still other cards were generic, and could be used with any type of receiving equipment and posted to any station that the listener could hear.
It would appear that the earliest of these Applause Cards appeared on the American market in in the year 1923 and our copies advertised radio equipment made by the Dictograph Corporation in New York City. These particular cards were all posted in 1924 during the month of May and they were addressed to an experimental mediumwave station W1XAL in Mattapoisett Massachusetts. The owner of this station was the famous Irving Vermilya who is credited as being the first licensed amateur radio operator in the United States with license number 1. The callsign for his mediumwave station during broadcast hours was WBBG.
Our earliest Applause Card with a valid postmark is dated March 23, 1924. It was from a listener in Cincinnati Ohio and addressed to the radio station WHAS in Louisville Kentucky. This is actually a postal card, typed and handwritten in the style of the then current Applause Card, and the listener simply states that he heard a musical item in their evening broadcast.
Two other listeners reported hearing the same broadcast, one in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and the other in Baltimore Maryland. The listener in Baltimore described the program as excellent, and the Pittsburgh listener stated that he enjoyed the program.
Listener comments on several Crosley cards addressed to the Crosley radio station WLW in Cincinnati Ohio described what they liked about the programming, such as:-
We enjoy your programs at all times.
We always do enjoy your musical programs.
We particularly enjoyed your minstrel music.
We enjoy the singing.
Two slightly different versions of the Applause Cards issued by the Grebe Radio Company in Richmond Hill New York list the callsigns of their two broadcasting stations, WAHG & WBOQ. It will be remembered that these two Grebe mediumwave stations were the early fore-runners to the CBS shortwave stations that were subsequently installed at Wayne New Jersey and Brentwood on New York’s Long Island.
Two Applause Cards from California during this same era in the early mid 1920s present a glimpse of their usage over on the west coast. One card was prepared by the Chamber of Commerce in San Jose and it shows five small pictures in color, representing their early Spanish history, and food production in the well watered areas of the Santa Clara Valley. This is a generic Applause Card that could be addressed to any radio station. The other California card was addressed to the mediumwave station KGO and it is the regular Dictograph card referred to a little earlier and printed in the year 1923.
We mentioned at the beginning of this feature on Applause Cards that they were in use in the United States in the early to mid 1920s. That statement is correct, but we do hold one card from another country. This card was printed in Cuba for use in responding to the programs broadcast from station PWX, the mediumwave station operated by the Cuban Telephone Company. The style of the Cuban card indicates that it was copied from the American cards and it would be dated around 1924. The picture on the front of this card shows the station building with the radio towers behind the building. This style of card was also used as a QSL verification card by station PWX.
The usage of these Applause Cards in the radio scene in the United States did not continue for very long, no more than two or three years, and they are now regarded as an interesting curio from the early history of radio broadcasting.
(AWR Wavescan/NWS63)
(sample applause cards via auctionbytes.com)