CFRB turns 100 on February 19, 1927. There has been some speculation here that they will ignore the historic date altogether, fearful of being seen as old fashioned and ancient. I do hope they at least acknowledge the milestone, but we'll know more next year. 

But even if 1010 doesn't remember its own history, you can. I discovered this terrific website on Tuesday that has hundreds of samples of radio history. From old time dramas and comedies to newscasts, "Radio Echoes" has a ton of material, including Paul Harvey newscasts, programming that aired on CBS and NBC radio in the years gone by and a whole lot more. 

And that includes a terrific special that was broadcast on the station for its 30th anniversary way back in 1957. It's partially narrated by the great Jack Dennett and it tells the story of the station from its first test signals all the way to the year it was produced. 

Times have changed since then, of course, but the story is really compelling, beginning with its first time on the air as "RB Testing." (I suspect that audio is recreated, but it's still amazing to hear.)  

Did you know that the station's main control room was completely destroyed by a late night fire in August 1934? Yet through the superhuman efforts of their engineering department, they were still able to sign on the next day at sunrise. 

Not only is it a great time capsule, but because of when it was made it's also a time capsule of a time capsule. Some of the names that have been almost lost to history, like the great newsman Jim Hunter, are heard again. His "Hunter's Horn" intro was used on the station for decades, even after he passed away in 1949.

And there's more - the Dionne Quintuplets, World War II, the death of founder Edward Rogers (which led to them signing off the air for several hours as a tribute - something that would never happen today.) 

A lot has happened since 1957, of course. But this is a fascinating footnote to Toronto radio history that hasn't been heard in decades. I really enjoyed hearing the old style radio the way they used to do it. 

You can hear it here.