Requested Broadcast Calls of the 1920s

Most calls from the 1920s were assigned from an alphabetical sequence, and were not requested. Some famous sequentially-assigned calls are KDKA, WBBM, WCAE, WCAO, WCAU, WCBM, WDAE, WDAF, WDBJ, WDBO, WEAF, WFAA, WHAM, WHAS, WIBG, WJAR, WJAS, WKBW, WMAQ, WOAI, WQAM, WSAI, WSAZ, and WTAM. Notice that many of the "W" sequential calls had an "A" as the third letter; many of the "K" sequential calls began with "KD" or "KF." (In the early 1920s, calls beginning with "KA," "KB," and "KC" were not allocated to the U. S.)

It seems likely that almost every requested four-letter call of the 1920s is listed here because the four-letter alphabetical sequence is very easy to follow through the 1920s and the requested four-letter calls stand out. However, the three-letter calls were not issued in a recognizable order, and calls that were specially requested do not stand out. So there may well be some three-letter requested calls not on this list.

The following appear to be the earliest requested or arranged calls:

This page previously showed KMOX (originally in Kirkwood, Mo.) standing for "Missouri" and "Christmas." However, Frank Absher writes: "The story of the KMOX calls Kirkwood MO Xmas is a legend but untrue. My research has shown the calls were essentially random after the station applied for KVSL and KMO, both of which were denied. The Xmas attribution came from the Kirkwood Mayor who proclaimed on the station's first broadcast from its transmitter on Christmas Eve that KMOX was Kirkwood's Christmas gift to the nation."