Wingham Public School Class of 7&8 1955-6
Comments made in the year 1955

I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $14.00

Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2000.00 will only buy a used one.

if cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit; 20 cents a pack is ridiculous!

Did you hear the post office is thinking of charging 7 cents to mail a letter.

If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.

When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon. Guess we'd better off leaving the car in the garage.

If they think I'll pay 30 cents for a haircut, forget it.

The Ten Top Songs of 1955-6


1955
1. Tutti-Frutti - Little Richard
2. Maybellene - Chuck Berry
3. Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
4. Why Do Fools Fall In Love - Teenagers
5. The Great Pretender - Platters
6. Ain't It A Shame - Fats Domino
7. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two
8. Speedoo - Cadillacs
9. Story Untold - Nutmegs
10. My Babe - Little Walter

1956
1. Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
2. Long Tall Sally - Little Richard
3. Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins / Elvis Presley
4. Don't Be Cruel - Elvis Presley
5. Be-Bop-A-Lula - Gene Vincent & the Bluecaps
6. Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry
7. In The Still Of The Nite - Five Satins
8. Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino
9. Please, Please, Please - James Brown & the Famous Flames
10. I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two

XMAS WITH PATTISON

As you remember, Xmas was usually packed with snow.  For some reason or other my dad became great friends with John Pattison  (actually I thought  his name was Bill?} who owned an electric store.  In fact Uncle Sandy and his kids had just arrived at our house for the Xmas period.  It was Xmas eve.   We had just got our first automatic washing machine (from Pattisons) - a big Westinghouse with a sloping drop down door which also weighed the clothes.  The family was so fascinated by this new gadget that we sat there for a complete cycle watching the clothes go round.  it was just like a TV but a bit of a boring plot.  At the end of this viewing spectacle my Dad was heard to be coming down the path.  He had been celebrating Xmas with Bill Pattison and downed a few bevy’s and chose a present for Mum.  He was as drunk as a skunk and stumbled down the path with this big Kenwood food mixer box in his arms.  As he emerged into the kitchen he looked a little green so we went to get a bucket.  Sure enough he puked his guts up into the bucket together with his false teeth.  It was a great Xmas.

 

Brian Rider
CKNX

THE HISTORY OF CKNX

 

1926 Radio

 

10 BP Wingham, Ontario 250 metres 10 watts

 

CKNX 1200 Kcs 100 watts then 920 kcs 10,000 watts

 

Station History:

 

In 1926, in Wingham, a town of under 3,000 people, W. T. "Doc" Cruickshank took time out from his job in a local factory to experiment with a tiny radio transmitter he made from a drawing in Popular Mechanics magazine. It was so small, on the top of an old butter box, he could carry it from his home to his shop where he had started to sell and repair radios. There, local people would gather to entertain their neighbors who sat glued to their radios at home. This project was so much fun, "Doc" called it a "joke", and since he didn't have a turntable or records, all the programming was live and unscheduled.There was so much support and encouragement from the community that the station soon moved to amateur status as 10 BP, and then in 1935 "Doc" Cruickshank became the proud owner of a new commercial radio licence for CKNX on 1200 kcs at 100 watts.

 

In 1936, Harry Boyle,  Harry started  doing a fifteen minute "local" newscast, and CKNX was on its way to becoming an area radio station.

 

CKNX moved to 920 kcs on the dial in 1941, increased power to 1,000 watts in 1942, and 2,500 watts in 1959.

 

The CKNX radio service was greatly expanded after World War II, with former staff returning from the Services. Tory Gregg was brought in to organize another of "Doc" Cruickshank's fondest dreams - a league to bring sport opportunities to all the towns and cities in Western Ontario. This became the Western Ontario Athletic Association, soon the largest amateur sports oranization in Canada. These commitments to Agriculture and Sports continued.

 

In 1945, CKNX radio was broadcasting 16 hours each day with a staff of 26.   On air support was given to service clubs, farm organizations and other worthwhile causes  The concept was to serve the area as an electronic daily news and information service in the absence of a daily newspaper in any of the towns and villages.

 

On November 18th, 1955, CKNX-TV signed on the air providing a new depth of experience for many of the radio staff members.

 

On March 1, 1971, CKNX Radio along with Television was sold to The Blackburn Group of London, with long experience in broadcasting and newspapers. "Doc" Cruickshank died on February 28, the day before the sale was finalized. The end of an era. 

 

In 1975, the music format for CKNX AM was changed from the traditional country and western sound to Modern Country, appealing to a wider audience and known as Country Music 920. In 1977 CKNX-FM signed on from the Formosa TV tower with a popular music format covering Huron, Bruce, Grey, Perth and Wellington counties.

 

In 1982, CKNX was granted a power increase to 10,000 watts.

 

In 2009 caught up by the digital age CKNX signed off for the last time.

 

 

 

I was always proud of the fact that Wingham was the smallest town in North America, some say, the World, to have its own Radio and TV station.  There does some to be a bit of controversy over the exact population varying from 2700 to 5000.  Still that is a small place.  But Doc Cruikshanks certainly put the place on the map.  The image shown with this feature shows the CKNX studios at 199-201 Josephine St.  201 was originally Doc Cruikshank’s radio shop and he is shown on the inset top left with this first home made transmitter.  Just below that is the original CKNX logo.  Top right we have one of the small studio control rooms.  I remember doing a stint in exactly that room. I think it was singing but I am not sure.  I think some of my schoolmates might have been there as well.  My mum used to work at the Simpson’s order office just down the road so I passed by the CKNX building most days.  I remember distinctly stopping to wonder at the beautiful (but now very old fashioned) RCA colour TV actually work

Brian Rider
 
 
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