Radio

At 9 pm on November 2, 1925, WRVA sent out its first radio broadcast to the city of Richmond and beyond.  Owned by tobacco manufacturer Larus & Brother Company, WRVA initially operated as a community service without advertising revenue and was limited to two evening broadcasts a week.  WVRA, the “Voice of Virginia,” has grown over the past nine decades and continues to be a presence in the city.

With a stylish “Jacobean Revival” cabinet, Model 92 was a popular radio receiver manufactured by the Gribsby Grunlow Company of Chicago, Illinois, selling for $167.50.  The rail system made the transportation of goods from Midwestern factories to Richmond economically viable, and the public interest in radio programming for entertainment and news began to supplant newspapers and other media in the “Radio Age” of the 1930’s.