This week marks the birthday of the first FM station in the world. It was on March 4, 1941 that the first FM station went to air, in Nashville USA.

The station was known as “W47NV” and operated as a sister to the country station WSM on AM 650.

A year later when an FM station launched by New York’s WOR AM 710, sold the first advertising on the new technology. Watchmaker Longines-Wittnauer Co. sponsored the top-of-the-hour time check on that station.

Photo (click it to enlarge) shows shows what was billed as “the ultimate home AM/FM radio” available in the 1940s.

According to the Western Historic Radio Museum this radio was state of the art back then and included wireless remote control and CD Burner (oops, make that ‘record cutter’) and Karaoke mic input:

“With the 33 tube AM-FM Philharmonic chrome-plated chassis, 60 watts of audio power from Push-Pull-Parallel 6L6s, a Scott Record-o-matic (record cutter) with PA microphone pre-amplifier (another tube and small chrome chassis), three speakers, “beam of light” tuning plus the capability of receiving the new Armstrong FM broadcasts, this Scott receiver did provide absolutely incredible performance at a thunderous volume.

The cabvarchar(15) is The Georgian and this particular Scott receiver pictured was originally owned by Ada Leneke of the Reno Business College and Leneke Electric in Reno Nevada.