100 years ago
The Columbian reported on Feb. 9, 1923, that Vern Isom, a former Vancouver resident and well-known violinist, was performing concerts on KHJ, a radio station associated with the Los Angeles Times. The station received so many “enthusiastic letters” after Isom’s Jan. 29 concert that KHJ gave him a five-program spot.
75 years ago
During the second week of February 1948, students from Camas High School put on a talent show featuring musical numbers, skits and a one-act play. The teens’ efforts would reach all of Clark County when a Vancouver radio station broadcast 30 minutes of the show on its airwaves.
50 years ago
After nearly 25 years in business, Beall’s Burgers was still going strong on Feb. 6, 1973. Helen Beall flipped burgers and served fries to hungry customers as music lilted out of a transistor radio in the midcentury burger stand at 2511 E. Evergreen Blvd. in Vancouver.
25 years ago
The Columbian highlighted Washougal-based KMUZ, a radio station serving the Spanish-speaking community, on Feb. 8, 1998. Known as La Z, the station played popular artists such as Los Tigres del Norte, Los Tucanes de Tijuana and Banda El Recodo, as well as salsa and mariachi for a community estimated to be between 120,000 and 180,000, depending on the season.
Katie Bush is public historian at the Clark County Historical Museum
