1934 RCA Radiotron Radio Map of the United States

This is a 1934 RCA Radiotron Company, Inc. map of the United States. Presented as a game, radio stations, with their call signs and frequencies, are labeled throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Seven stations are even listed in Cuba!

A Closer Look

Printed during the Great Depression, when traveling was an extreme luxury for most people, the title cartouche includes text which promotes the concept of 'radio tourism.' By being a 'radio tourist,' one can listen to 'programs of local color but of wide interest'. Over 650 stations are listed here, from major cities like New York City, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, to smaller towns like Grand Junction, Colorado; Brooking, South Dakota; Scottsbluff, Nebraska; and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Another cartouche, situated in the Gulf of Mexico, contains a 'testing yardstick for your radio'. By attaching the 'poor' end approximately where the user lived, they could measure the effectiveness of their radio and know whether it needed serviced. This, of course, would have benefitted RCA, because they sold both radios and radio tubes. Along the left border, an index of radio station call letters is included, and the table along the right is a kilocycle index of broadcasting stations. The country is also divided into time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific.

Pubication History and Census

This map was copyrighted by the RCA Radiotron Company, Inc. and produced and published by Hagstrom Company, Inc. of New York City. We note three examples cataloged in OCLC which are part of the collections at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, the University of Missouri - Kansas City, and the Denver Public Library. An example is part of the David Rumsey Map Collection.