The Radio Planet
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1939–1940 · CBC

Canadian Snapshots

The radio camera turned on the wonders and oddities of a country at war

The stated aim was to turn the lens of the radio camera on the country and put the panorama on the air. In practice that meant a travelogue with a comedy troupe attached, going out weekly in the first year of the war with two of the most recognisable Canadian voices of the century in it — Lorne Greene, later the Voice of Canada and later still America’s television father, and J. Frank Willis, who had made his name at the Moose River mine disaster in 1936.

6 recordings · Across Canada

Six surviving broadcasts from the 1940 season. Recordings held by the Internet Archive.

19406

Transmission

31 January

No. 6

1940

Canadian Snapshots

Winter Fun and Romance

Network

CBC

Running time

30 min

Canadian Snapshots, CBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive;

Transmission

7 February

No. 5

1940

Canadian Snapshots

Sights for the Eyes and Ears

Network

CBC

Running time

30 min

Canadian Snapshots, CBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive;

Transmission

21 February

No. 4

1940

Canadian Snapshots

Big Discoveries, Small Sights

Network

CBC

Running time

30 min

Canadian Snapshots, CBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive;

Transmission

28 May

No. 3

1940

Canadian Snapshots

Glories of Niagara

Network

CBC

Running time

29 min

Canadian Snapshots, CBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive;

Transmission

4 June

No. 2

1940

Canadian Snapshots

Summer in a Vacation Treasureland

Network

CBC

Running time

25 min

Canadian Snapshots, CBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive;

Transmission

11 June

No. 1

1940

Canadian Snapshots

Bonny Vistas on the Cabot Trail

Network

CBC

Running time

28 min

Canadian Snapshots, CBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive;