Pioneer Memories: The Robinsons and Their Radio Station

Continuing with the memories of various CV pioneers that were published in a 1938 edition of our local paper, we turn to the remembrances of Formosa Robinson. In 1927, she and her husband Frederick Robinson created their own radio station in their home among the sagebrush, high up on New York Avenue. It was a powerful radio station, 100 watts, transmitting thousands of miles. This astounding achievement was due to the genius of Frederick Robinson, who was both an inventor and an artist. The radio station ran for just a couple of years, and a wide variety of local talent made their way up the hill to the top of New York Avenue to broadcast their homespun songs, jokes and lectures across the U.S., and even to other nations. My comments are in brackets [].

Here are Formosa’s memories:

“‘This is KGFH, La Crescenta, California! Owned and operated by Frederick Robinson.’ What a thrill for the old-timers of the valley! There was a big circus tent to hold all the visitors, many to talk and sing for the first time on radio. And oh, the shaking knees!

“Dear old Mr. Hauber, with loving gaze watching his daughter sing, ‘The Kerry Dance.’ Swami Paramanda with his good words, another first-nighter. [The Swami was the founder of the nearby Ananda Ashrama, which still exists today.]

“The studio in the home was different from a downtown studio for through the open door we heard the sounds of nature, the frogs in the pond or a coyote howl.

“Talent came from near and far in groups and alone; one brought another. There was no formal radio announcer or censorship, so the amateur who had never faced an audience had more courage to face the mic, and have the home folks listen in.

“There were banjo players and dance orchestras. Smiling Lala Justice, with her nimble fingers, played and accompanied many ambitious singers. Wally, who still entertains in a nearby city, just for fun sang his Scotch (sic) songs and handled his own program. He had his keen jokes on the side, for it was all too serious to ad lib over the air. Then Johnny, of Hoffman and Fowler, about the only grocers in Montrose, often brought up an [American] Legion crowd to sing and talk.

“Oh, but sometimes it was extremely funny or shocking. A church crowd came out one evening about nine o’clock. The handsome baritone stole out to his car and took a few swigs from a hidden flask, then came in and sang Kipling’s ‘To The Ladies.’ [This was a ribald song about a soldier remembering his many romantic liaisons.]

“Many times we had real musical treats: the Zoeliner Quartet [a world-famous string quartet], 16 violins, or Madame Sprotte and her pupil Betty Robbins, who won the ‘Hollywood Radio Trip Around The World.’

“So for nearly two years they came up New York Avenue to perform on an unsponsored, unpaid program, the only station of that type on record, and were heard from Nova Scotia to Australia. The first operators, Oliver Garretson and Glen Romenger, were proud of its distance on 100 watts. These men are now valuable soundmen in the film world. Yours truly was the ‘female announcer’ on KGFH.”

This was an amazing accomplishment, to create a radio station from scratch and out of one’s home no less. Frederick Robinson, after trying to expand the radio station, finally ran out of money and sold the station in early 1929. He went on to other ventures and, just after WWII, the Robinsons sold half their acreage at the top of New York Avenue to a developer. It can be assumed that Frederick Avenue, which runs next to New York, is named for Frederick Robinson. The Robinsons both died in the late 1940s.

KGFH, Radio La Crescenta was a boon to the valley’s growth as it brought the name La Crescenta to the world. Later this year, the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley will hopefully be self-publishing a small book on this unique radio station, written by local historian Fred Hoeptner.