Ekko Radio Reception Stamps

Hi group (and all who know sooooo much more about stamps than I). What are Radio Reception stamps? There are some on ebay now & I've never seen or heard of them. Interesting stuff - no value/denominations on the stamps, just different radio call letters from various stations. Thoughts on current values? Thanks! Leif

ps - thanks for the help with the Andorra charity stamps. I got some & they are terrific!

Checkout this previous link for some information about them:

https://goscf.com/t/10051

WOW - I had no idea...maybe I should "search" before asking....Thanks!

Ham operators are as likely to collect EKKO stamps as philatelists are. They are rare, relatively speaking, especially pasted on the letterhead of an old-time radio station. In the early days of radio, the techies of that time actually competed to see who could get confirmation of hearing a broadcaster located the farthest away. The EKKO stamp, as may be described in the link above, was actually a confirmation.

Here's a 1926 WJR (Detroit) EKKO transmittal letter:



Handwritten: "Reception received on Crosley 4-tube set (battery)"

Until 1926-27, ALL radios were battery-powered, none were yet manufactured that you could plug into the wall. Note the addressee lived in Los Angeles but had managed to pick up a Detroit station. Due to the characteristics of the ionosphere, which reflected radio signals in the absence of solar interference, in the middle of the night you might hear stations thousands of miles away.

I received this letter in October 1966, about the time I
started collecting stamps. I had read about EKKO stamps
in shortwave listeners magazines and I was surprised at
this `late` use.

It is a late use, but not a true EKKO stamp, just a Verified Reception Stamp. In fact the news article link below concludes with this quote:




Anyone have a Verified Receiption Stamp from the Adventist Church in the 1980s?

Some further reading at this link:

http://www.antiqueradio.com/gilbert...ko_6-97.html

A couple of interesting things about the 1966 letter - yes, an extremely late use, I agree. The contact was made in the middle of the night, as I explained in the previous post. The station in question was a "clear channel service," 640KHz, a concept that dates back to the early days of radio broadcasting, when the licensing authorities decided it might be a good idea to grant certain stations a "clear channel," i.e., they would be the only station to ever broadcast on that frequency. Note that KFI (above) bangs it out at 50,000 watts!

WLW in Cincinnati (700KHz) is another Clear Channel.

What many listeners don't realize is that if you are listening to a station in Ohio, broadcasting on 1240KHz, there are probably a dozen more stations around the country on the same frequency. Normally, their signal doesn't carry much more than 150 miles, so they do not interfere with each other, provided the stations are that far apart, and limited to a certain power output (in watts).

Apparently a competitor to the EKKO Stamps were stamps by Bryant Radio, of which an album is shown at this link:

http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/QSLs...mp_Album.pdf

Ha! Do not recognize ANY of the Columbus or Dayton (Ohio) stations listed, plus, I've never seen those before. Thanks!

Thanks for reminding me that I DIDN'T pick up the WRKO one I saw many moons ago on ebay... I wonder if I'll ever get the chance again!

Hi

WNAC became WRKO in 1967, which was a good 35 years after the Ekko firm closed up shop.

If you saw an Ekko stamp with WRKO on it, then it was handstamped by someone other than the Ekko firm.

Remainder copies of the Ekko stamps without a press-printed call sign have been readily available for decades. Those stamps with handstamped call signs have been, and continue to be, created many years after Ekko ceased to exist.

Jim

It's possible, but their value seems to be increasing! There are 33 EKKO stamps listed on ebay, 31 with eagles, 2 with beavers, all have at least a bid. Didn't know the Canadian radio stamps were different.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...amp&_sacat=0

James - THANKS for that info! I am pretty sure it was WRKO, BUT then again, it was a long time ago, so my memory may be incorrect.

So 1932 is the latest for actual stamps?

HOLD ON NOW! I see there's a listing for a WBZ stamp, now I think THAT is the one I saw years ago! AND it wasn't listed yesterday, either!

;-)

Doug, I like your letter from WJR. Not many three-letter call signs around these days but that station is still in business at 760 AM. I used to listen to baseball games on WJR in high school!

They sure are popular! I checked the sold listings of ebay, 159 copies are currently listed as sold, prices ranging from $3.99 to $80.00.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...045573.m1684