June 21, 2013
Artifact: Double-button carbon microphone
Size: 6.5 x 8 x 5.5 inches
Date: 1920s
Significance: The microphone pictured is an early microphone used at KFUO Radio, possibly the first used. It is a microphone for the Western Electric 1-B transmitter and was apparently used at KFUO from its founding in 1924 until 1935. Walter A. Maier, one of the founders of KFUO and first speaker of The Lutheran Hour, used either this microphone or an identical model as seen in old photographs.
KFUO Radio Collection at CHI: Concordia Historical Institute recently received a large collection of documents, photographs and artifacts from KFUO Radio as the station prepared to move from their longtime studios on the campus of Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, to new studios at the LCMS International Center in Kirkwood, Missouri. The artifacts in the collection range from microphones, speakers and radios to tower beacon lights, transmitter tubes and station memorabilia. Numerous photographs and scrapbooks were also donated, which give a glimpse into what the studios looked like through the years.
Stop by the LCMS International Center to see some of these artifacts on display outside the new KFUO Radio studio. While you are there, you may also want to visit the Concordia Historical Institute Museum, which includes
an exhibit on KFUO and a re-creation of an old studio back when Dr. Walter A. Maier was speaker of The Lutheran Hour.
The new KFUO studios will be dedicated on Monday, June 24, at 10:00 a.m. at the LCMS International Center. The service will be streamed live.
