# Call letters in radio were named after...? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 25, 2009, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-letters-in-radio-were-named-after/507611 "2009-08-25T07:23:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ryan\_D.Palmiter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Ryan\_D.Palmiter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_D.Palmiter)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-letters-in-radio-were-named-after/507611/1 "2009-08-25T07:23:28Z")
K in the west. and W in the east.🆒🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-letters-in-radio-were-named-after/507611/2 "2009-08-25T07:33:22Z")
Cecil knows all, tells some, and occasionally gets corrected: [Why do U.S. radio call letters start with W in the east and K in the west (revisited)?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2303/why-do-u-s-radio-call-letters-start-with-w-in-the-east-and-k-in-the-west-revisited) ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-letters-in-radio-were-named-after/507611/3 "2009-08-25T07:33:32Z")
I’m sorry. Is there a question in here someplace, or are you just wanting confirmation of your thoughts? Yes, in general, radio stations west of the Mississippi have call signs beginning with K, and stations east begin with W. More details [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_letters#Broadcast_call_signs). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-letters-in-radio-were-named-after/507611/4 "2009-08-25T11:03:00Z")
Welcome to the Boards, **Ryan**. Since you’re obviously referring to one of Cecil’s columns, let’s move this to _Comments on Cecil’s Columns_. **samclem** Moderator, General Quesions ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-letters-in-radio-were-named-after/507611/5 "2009-08-25T15:04:01Z")
\*\*Call letters in radio were named after…? \*\* Aximander Phineas (C. Q.) Call, 1804-1938, a pioneer in early telegraphy. He strung his house in Dotdashington, VT, with a series of wires leading from room to room so that his wife, children, and servants could alert him to their movements, as he had a horror of being interrupted at his work, or during masturbation. The system quickly proved unwieldy, as dinners grew cold while servants attempted to swing the heavy apparatus in the circles of Palmer penmanship, prompted by Call’s command that they communicate in the lengthy sentences dictated by early 19th etiquette. Eventually, Call’s wife, Hera Juno Astarte Jane, put her foot down. She reduced the paragraph-sized announcements to a series of coded letters, shouted out before entering a room. A meant “I’m picking up your dirty laundry that you left on the floor again.” B meant “Yes, they are sticking out, but the battery acid has eaten through the fabric.” C meant “Don’t tell me I can’t come into my own bedroom, mister. I know what you’re doing in there.” and so on. The ease and startling reduction in time served the needs of the growing industrial might of the U.S. perfectly. Call letters became all the rage in telegraphic circles and would be adopted in many other industries from wine fining to organ grinding. Radio stations appropriated them for themselves almost from the first, stations in the east using W, “Did you hear me? I have a headache tonight. And every night,” and stations in the west using K, “They’re children, that’s why they’re so small. It’s not from the electricity. There’s no breakthrough.” C. Q. Call received all the credit for his wife’s creation after she took the children and went home to mother. Call died of neglect after she left, 102 years later. Both would be forgotten today if it were not for Wikipedia and its lack of editorship and oversight. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-letters-in-radio-were-named-after/507611/6 "2009-08-25T16:03:06Z")
\ Fabulous! 😛 You forgot his sign in front of the house, though…