Hurricane Carol, WBZ Boston, August 31, 1954 (0:02:34)

… stay in your homes …
[Description by Uncle Ricky]
The 680-foot WBZ-TV transmitter tower falls on the WBZ Radio building as Hurricane Carol attacks the New England coast on August 31, 1954.And the newscaster (who I hope will be identified in COMMENTS) just picks up where he was before the tower fell. You couldn’t write a better script than this! Right after we are warned to stay in our homes, the tower falls on the studio with a tremendous BOOM, and he is not sure if he is on the air! Thankfully, he is able to warn us to STAY CALM and that our ONLY DANGER IS…. before he is cut off. WOW! Now THIS builds quarter hours!

Let me know if I am still on the air, will you please?

One online source claims that WBZ-AM was only off the air for 3 minutes. This recording was edited before it got to the contributor, and I don’t believe it is chronologically accurate. I do believe this recording was made from microphone to speaker (accounting for the background chatter) and at some distance from the station, and that this copy was transferred from a noisy acetate. But after all, there were no memory sticks in 1954.

Welcome to the new ReelRadio!

This site is now operated by the North Carolina Broadcast History Museum. 

We want to thank the board of ReelRadio, Inc. for their stewardship since the passing of the founder Richard Irwin in 2018.  It has not been easy and they have maintained the exhibits for future generations to enjoy.

I met Richard Irwin, aka Uncle Ricky, when we were freshmen at East Carolina University.  We both had worked at local stations in our hometowns.  No one was more passionate about radio, especially Top 40 radio, than my friend Richard. 

Our goals with this site are to preserve the exhibits and make them available free of charge for people to enjoy.  Over time, we hope to add some airchecks to the site.  This will not happen immediately.  Time and resources will determine the future of new exhibits. 

Many thanks to the web folks at the Beasley Media Group for countless hours of work.  Again thanks to the board members of ReelRadio, Inc. for their faith in us. 

Richard Irwin’s hope was that his site would live on long after his passing. He said, “I hope REELRADIO will survive as my contribution to the ‘radio business’. The business is allowed to forget me, but the business should never forget the great era of radio that we celebrate here”.

We remember Richard and we thank him. If you enjoy this new site, we would appreciate a contribution. We hope you enjoy the new ReelRadio!

Board of NCBHP
North Carolina Broadcast History Project