The American Museum of Radio & Electricity isn't a part of the Smithsonian, nor is it on the East Coast. This somewhat obscure museum is in the Pacific Northwest.
Located some 91 miles north of Seattle, in Bellingham, Wash., this is a one-of-a-kind museum that will likely not only appeal to radio buffs but also history lovers. It has one of the largest collections of its kind in the world.
Sadly, the museum was closed the early summer day I went through the area (a Sunday); the facility is only open Wednesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Although the museum's location is an unlikely one — in a town of just 70,000 residents — what I could see through the front window was still intriguing. The museum has thousands of rare artifacts beginning at the dawn of the electrical age (year 1600) and going through the golden age of radio and the end of analog technology (1950).
Visitors can also have a "hands-on" experience at the museum by operating some selected radio artifacts. The museum has a replica of the Titanic radio room.
Jonathan Winter's collection of more than 800 radios from the 1920s was the foundation for the Bellingham Antique Radio Museum, which began in 1985. When John Jenkins, another radio collector, donated his own collection of radios, plus related manuscripts, books and an interest in electricity, it added greatly to the museum.
Today Jenkins is co-curator and chairman of the board of directions for the museum, while Winter is co-curator and president.
"Where discovery sparks imagination" is the museum's motto.
The museum also has its own local radio station, KMRE (FM-102.3), which broadcasts historical, educational and local content.
Admission to the museum is $5 for adults, and $2 for students and children. It is located at 1312 Bay St., west of I-5 exit 253, in an older, historic portion of Bellingham.
For more information go to www.americanradiomuseum.org.
— This out-of-state museum begs the questions: Does Salt Lake or Utah already have (somewhere of which I'm not aware), or should it someday have its own limited-broadcasting museum or collection? If some radio relics, antiques and tapes from Utah's radio past aren't preserved now, they may be lost forever.
RADIO HAPPENINGS — Is Tom Barberi soon returning to the morning radio dial in Salt Lake City? Rumors abound that he's part of a near-future resurrection of the old KALL (AM-700). Stay tuned.
—Twelve U.S. radio-station news managers, including Bryan Schott of Salt Lake's KCPW, have been selected for an expenses-paid, one-week fellowship to Germany, conducted by the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, Sept. 9-15.
Sponsored by the RIAS Berlin Commission, the program will feature briefings with top-level German political, business and media figures, in Berlin and Hamburg. This program will focus primarily on news management, news judgment, editorial decision-making and production.
—Bonneville International is the U.S. leader in HD radio technology. The Salt Lake-based company has 90 percent of its stations now broadcasting in high definition, the highest of any company so far, according to Inside Radio.
—Jon Carter, mornings on KRSP,isn't a solo DJ as was incorrectly reported last week. He's paired withco-host Bret Connor.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com