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The editor: I recommend reading the chapter entitled "The Mumbles Marconi’s' in Grafton Maggs excellent book, 'Didn't Quite Make It!' which describes, in more detail, Jim Kostromin’s part in constructing the first ever valve boosted radio set made in Mumbles in the 1920s, with the help of his two equally brilliant friends and fellow constructor's - Fred (Ginger) Williams of Gloucester Place and Emrys Owen of Llanelly who was Fred's brother-in-law.
To those of a certain age, it was known as 'The Wireless.'
To those of a certain age, it was known as 'The Wireless.'
When Radio came to Mumbles,
When Radio came to Mumbles,
by Grafton Maggs
by Grafton Maggs
This lovely photo of Jim Kostromin's premises in Newton Road, brought back many memories of the time and not just for the shop, but all around it - the fashions of the time - especially the flower pot hats and the daring glimpse of the ankles. Then there is the lovely old car parked casually outside the shop.
Then the lovely wood and glass shop fronts - little changed from Edwardian times and constructed to last . The days when a Mumbles name was emblazoned across the shop front!
I remember the shop a little later, after Jim moved the business to Gower Place which was in about 1932. (First house on the right -going up). Jim who was then a very young man lived with his family in the two storied apartment above the shop
Moving here had many advantages - the lane at the side, which he owned, gave Jim access to his garage which he converted to a store and battery charging unit. Charging up 'wet' batteries (or accumulators) was a vital part of the wireless trade in these days. Few of the new wireless sets bought were operated off the mains, but by two batteries - one 'wet' and one 'dry'. The dry ones lasted ages, but the wet ones needed topping up every week and a service was offered by Jim was weekly collection of these heavy, glass, acid loaded, power sources and returned fully charged. Local boys earned a few bob doing this of an evening and it gave a regular small income to the radio shop.
Jim's shop boomed. He sold radios and anything electric. Employed several experts for repairs and had a wonderful loudspeaker system for use at such functions as the Castle Field Fetes and dancing on the Greens. He never lost his niceness and married a lovely lady Vi Wignall
THEN
Broadway Service Equipment, mobile demonstration van, location unknown. The shop address was now advertised as 18, Gower Place.
Photo: Rf Roberts
NOW
The location of the van alongside has been discovered to be outside the Commercial Pub on Llangyfelach Road and at the junction of Eaton Road, Researched by RF Roberts and Graham Colwill, Swansea Past and Present
The advert alongside, published in 1933 by Curry's, promised 'The set with the Golden Voice in a polished walnut cabinet,
for £8-17s -6d
An advert for radios by Curry's, 1933
Broadway Radio Service
This was a very happy shop, lovely to deal with - buying torches, batteries etc. After the war Vi made him change course (the entrepreneurial Wignall). The shop became 'K's restaurant. I lunched there daily when in my first practice. A delightful restaurant. Gorgeous plain food and the fantastic K's Ice-cream he made and sold all over Mumbles.
Regarding choice of radio programmes. before the war they were primarily BBC but in the early thirties commercial radio struck up on the continent and targeted UK. We listened in on Sundays to the good reception from Radio Luxembourg, Radio Lyons, Radio Normandy, and others.
How familiar it all became! The Ovaltineys, the Horlick's with its cure for 'Night Starvation,'. Ralph Reader's Lifebuoy Soap Scouts programme, The 'Hoorah for Beetox - what a delightful smell!. Keep Fit! Take Feenamint etc etc!. Sunday whilst having dinner we had these cheerful commercial programmes.
Then who can forget that fantastic middle of the night broadcast in August 1937 of Wales' Tommy Farr fighting Joe Louis for the heavy weight title of the world - that magic atmospheric sound of an immense crowd in the Bronx cheering for 15 rounds as Farr took the fight all the way and lost by a fraction on points. There were enough wireless sets in Wales then to give everyone a hearing!
Tommy Farr
How important the radio was to us all in the thirties. By the outbreak of war in 1939 there was hardly a home without one - certainly in Mumbles. And what a part it played in bolstering moral - throughout the conflict with its introduction of the BBC Forces Station.
And our Jim Kostromin lead the way for us in Mumbles. From the humble and lovable crystal set (which I had!) to the powerful valve radios of the 30s and 40s. Three lads, Jim, Fred and Emrys broke new ground and introduced that first valve radio - it took months to do because they had to pay for the parts in dribs and drabs from their meagre earnings - and- not without mishap they did it!
What was their venture and what was the stimulus?
Early enthusiasts in this exciting new medium received news of the outside world, faintly and unpredictably, on the 'Crystal Set'. This was a fascinating instrument upon which weak signals were picked up, via a 'cat's whisker' gently tickling a crystal, and listened to through earphones. Perhaps its extreme unpredictability was part of its fascination, but at least what news it conveyed from afar was up to date.
An early crystal radio with earphones. The device at top is the radio's cat's whisker detector.
The invention of the radio valve, of course, changed all this dramatically. Studios transmitted far more powerful signals and the valve radio receiver was able to amplify reception to such an extent that loudspeakers were able to fill a room with its sound. Earphones were no longer needed and listening to radio had now become a shared social pastime.
The age of commercial radio was born.
The age of commercial radio was born.
Why was the radio called 'The wireless.'?
The receiver was called a wireless because there were no wires linking to the the transmitting station. It was called radio because the transmitting station radiated electromagnetic waves.
- The first advertised live Public Radio Broadcast in Britain was on 15, June 1920.
- The BBCs first radio programme, was transmitted in 1922, marking a new era for listeners at home.
- By 1930 there were five milion radio sets in Britain, but listeners had little alternative but to tune into the BBC.
- By the end of 1939 there were nearly 9 million licence-holders—and many more listeners—in Britain.
- Today - People of different ages and interests can choose from a plethora of radio and TV programmes broadcast across multiple media platforms, including the Internet.
An advert for Overland Radio from the 1970 Holidaymakers Guide to Mumbles, by Mumbles Chamber of Trade
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