Some time ago, I wrote a series on WREB Radio 930, which broadcast in Holyoke from September 1, 1950, to October 1991. Nine years earlier, in 1941, another broadcasting station took root in Holyoke and Northampton: WHYN radio, the topic of today's story.
Prominent in the field of newspaper publishing, William Dwight of the Holyoke Transcript and Charles DeRose of the Daily Hampshire Gazette forged a partnership and formed the Hampden-Hampshire Corporation. The company was formed to operate a new radio station with studios in Holyoke and Northampton. Mr. Dwight was named President; Mr. DeRose, Vice-President; Minnie Dwight, the Treasurer.
The station began as a 250-watt station at 1400 on the AM dial. The station was formerly dedicated on March 24, 1941, and went on the air on March 29, 1941.
WHYN had studios at 180 High Street in the Holyoke Transcript building and in Northampton on the 5th floor of the Nonotuck Bank Building on Main Street. The transmitting tower was located on the banks of the Connecticut River in South Hadley, near its South Hadley studio on Canal Street. The South Hadley studio, since demolished, was located opposite Canal Park.
The call letters "HYN" originated from their respective cities, Holyoke and Northampton.
WHYN-1400 had a broad-based programming schedule. The station featured broadcasts of international and national news, sports, finance, and politics from the United Press Coast-to-Coast Wire, as well as local news coverage throughout Hampden and Hampshire counties.
Programming was intended to entertain, inform, and educate. Music would be selected from a number of different styles. Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and Massachusetts State College (now the University of Massachusetts), as well as the Holyoke and Northampton public schools, would contribute to public service programming.
The station planned to conduct on-the-street interviews, live chorale singing and plays, and serve as the voice for Hampden and Hampshire County residents during its operating hours of 6:30 A. M. to 12 Midnight.
In September 1941, the station broadcast BBC news from London that it had received via shortwave radio. Also during World War II, the station, like many others, received military blackout orders to curtail transmissions in the event of an air-raid warning.
One of the early WHYN radio personalities went by the on-air name of Friendly Fred. During World War II, he and another morning radio announcer, Hi Neighbor, launched a fundraising campaign for the war effort. They had collected over 12,000 pieces of fan mail and postcards since they began their broadcasts, and would auction off the paper at a future date. The money would go toward purchasing defense stamps, which would be given out, one to each fan who had verified a purchase of at least $1 in defense stamps.
Friendly Fred's real name? Well, that would be Richard Lavigne, who, after leaving WHYN in 1954, became the long-time, storied news reporter for WREB 930 AM in Holyoke.
In 1942, WHYN joined the Mutual Broadcasting System and the Yankee Network to expand its sports and entertainment programming. The station would carry baseball's World Series and select college football games.
In 1944, WHYN acquired a broadcast site atop Mt. Tom for its future FM and television transmissions. Principal shareholders of the land acquisition were Minnie R. Dwight, publisher of the Holyoke Transcript, Harriet W, DeRose, publisher of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, and Louis Pellissier, President and General Manager of the Holyoke Street Railway. The purchase included 577 acres of land. The owners planned to build a 3,150-foot road along the old trolley bed to the summit. A right-of-way would be granted from the Whiting Street Reservoir entrance.
More information will be shared in the concluding chapter of this two-part series.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Genealogy Records and Price & Lee, Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories
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