Post Card Tuesday: Sarie and Sallie are heard over WSM

Sarie and Sallie were a hillbilly comedy act of the early days of WSM.



This is the famous WSM 650 AM 50,000 Watt radio transmitter just off Interstate 65 and Concord Road south of Nashville in Brentwood, TN.

When it was constructed in 1932, it was the tallest radio tower in America. In fact, at the time, you could purchase a post card that stated its height at 878 feet and then pointed out it was 323 feet taller than the Washington Monument. This tower turned WSM into the radio blowtorch which helped much of America be able to hear the Grand Ole Opry and cement Nashville's place as the home of Country Music. WSM remains the only "clear channel" in the U.S. to still play music.

From a technical perspective, this is a dual cantilevered center guyed tower, a.k.a a diamond antenna. It was made by Blaw-Knox company of Pittsburgh who went on to make similar towers until going out of business in the 50s. This tower still is the tallest Blaw-Knox tower in the U.S. but today it is only 808 ft. tall.