{"id":3590,"date":"2014-05-28T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T11:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=3590"},"modified":"2014-05-28T06:01:47","modified_gmt":"2014-05-28T11:01:47","slug":"those-were-the-days-salutes-wgns-90th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/05\/28\/those-were-the-days-salutes-wgns-90th\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Those Were the Days\u2019 salutes WGN\u2019s 90th anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u201cChicago<\/a>

<\/a> \u201cChicago Theatre of the Air\u201d (1940s)<\/p><\/div>\n

On June 1, 1924, Colonel Robert McCormick transformed his fledgling radio station into WGN, inspired by the motto of his Chicago Tribune as \u201cWorld\u2019s Greatest Newspaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ninety years later, WGN AM 720<\/a>\u00a0has\u00a0come a long way from McCormick\u2019s vision of the novelty as \u201cthe little box that picks sounds from the air\" and by most estimates still ranks among America\u2019s greatest radio stations.<\/p>\n

To celebrate the milestone, Steve Darnall will devote a special edition of \u201cThose Were the Days\u201d<\/a> this weekend to programs and personalities from the station\u2019s illustrious past. \u201cHappy 90th Birthday, WGN!\u201d will air from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday on College of DuPage\u2019s WDCB FM 90.9 <\/a>and online at wdcb.org.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/a>

Steve Darnall<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIn the early days of radio, Chicago was a major radio epicenter, and WGN had a large hand in creating genres that eventually became fixtures of the medium,\u201d Darnall said. \u201cWGN was there for the birth of soap operas\u00a0and juvenile adventure shows. When times and budgets changed, WGN became a personality-driven station with a roster of talent that remains the gold standard. We're pleased for the chance to put the spotlight on some of the shows and personalities that are indelibly associated with WGN.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among highlights included in Saturday\u2019s show:<\/p>\n