Summerside's War Effort During WWII

Anyone owning and operating a radio in Prince Edward Island in the early years of the technology was required to have a licence issued by the province. According to statistics on the number of Island licences issued in 1943, Summerside had 314. By 1944, there were 992 licenses issued for the town. In 1945, 39 local owners of radios were fined for operating without a license.

Radios were advertised as a valuable source of breaking-news stories. Two of the retailers who sold radios were Brace, MacKay Co. Ltd., which sold Marconi, and R. T. Holman Ltd., which sold RCA Victor. The RCA Company offered a Radiolink that could pick up a signal from a radio in another area of your house.

In Summerside the Journal printed the local radio schedule. The Summerside station at that time was owned and operated by Holman's Department Store under the letters CHGS, which stood for "Call Holman's - Guaranteed Satisfaction." Many local listeners also tuned into CBC or to CFCY in Charlottetown.

The private stations carried syndicated programs along with local programming. They were often a means to promote local events. For instance, CHGS was regularly used during Victory Loan campaigns to relay messages or speeches, and sometimes to conduct auctions with live entertainment.

The burgeoning use of radios in households across the continent caused some concern. An article in 1943 titled "Radio Acts Like a Drug" warned of the dangers of this appliance that could spoil a person's ability to reason.