WOWO - the great 50K blowtorch at 1190 AM - will turn 100 years old in just two years. But a fan and a former employee of the station doesn't want to wait that long, penning a tribute to the place that put Ft. Wayne, Indiana on the map with DXers across much of North America. 

He traces the origin of the station - an auto shop in the small town trying to sell newfangled radios back in 1925 - and then reveals something I never knew: where those legendary call letters came from. 

"One of the people who loved listening suggested the slogan “Wayne Offers Wonderful Opportunities” – and that clever phrase became the famous call letters W-O-W-O."

I used to listen to Ron Gregory and Carol Ford late at night from Toronto and always marveled at how an outlet in such a small place could become such a great station. Those Top 40 days are long gone, of course, and it's now your run-of-the-mill talker, but WOWO is special to me in one other way - it was the very first station I ever DXed as a kid, fooling around with the dial. So though it's a long way from Toronto, it will always hold a good memory for me. I suspect I'm not alone. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to check the weather outside on the world famous WOWO fire escape...
 
Fort Wayne's ambassador broadcast city to the world

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