History buff John Lanser is hoping someone in the Mountains might have a copy of an 80-year-old program.
It’s not an impossible request, he believes – many have boxes or cupboards full of all sorts of papers stored in their houses.
Mr Lanser is compiling a history of 2KA – The Voice of the Mountains, a radio station which opened its transmitter site at Wentworth Falls in February 1938.
An article about the event noted the celebration had staged “what was probably the first successful organised barbecue to be held in Australia”.
Sausage sizzlers now know who to credit.
As the Broadcasting Business paper reported: “The station went on air just after 1.30pm on Wednesday, February 23, from the rostrum erected beside one of the new transmitting masks, and with the tantalising tang of roasting bullock in their nostrils, the speakers paid tribute to the foresight and courage of the men behind the scenes in the ‘building up’ of 2KA.”
Mr Lanswer, who is writing up the history of 2KA for the Blue Mountains Historical Society, said a souvenir booklet was given away to mark the occasion.
“I’m hoping that, of the 10,000 copies printed, a few may have been kept by readers’ forebears and still be in the garage or attic”.
He would also like to hear from anyone with photos of the 2KA studios at Katoomba or Wentworth Falls.
Mr Lanser used the combined wisdom of the Gazette’s readers two years ago, when he submitted a mystery photo related to a 2KA broadcast.
“It was an old photo I obtained from Mitchell Library, of which no time or place was known... I was pleased, and impressed, to be contacted about 14 days later with information leading to identification of all but one person in the photo and when it was taken,” he said.
Mr Lanser is hoping lightning might strike twice and he gets a similarly successful response. Anyone with a program or photos, please contact him on 9498 7458 (voicemail) or johnlanser@iinet.net.au.
