Ladies and gentlemen, we're coming to the close of stories about Pittsburgh radio days. Just a few more:

KDKA was out there, but it took 'coils and coils' for us to get it

Years ago, KDKA was a radio, but few people had radios to listen to it.

In Regent Square, a young man, Wilson Flint, amazed his younger sister by assembling "coils and coils" to build his own wireless. Aunt Marion remembered the night they first heard through earphones music coming from the Conrads' house! This proved to be the history-making start of KDKA.

Stacy Innerst/Post-Gazette

I would hurry home from school to get my glass of milk and graham crackers loaded with butter so I could curl up next to the radio and listen to Stella Dallas, Lorenzo Jones and Our Gal Sunday. ("Could a girl from a small mining town ever find happiness with the rich and famous Lord Brinkley?")

Now they watch "The Young and the Restless." Most aren't very young, but they are very restless.

-- CAROLYN WILSON, O'Hara

Getting all warmed up with Joe Tucker

As a young boy, I used to love listening to Pirates games and Rosie Rosewell.

Before each game, Joe Tucker had a pregame show which I listened to intensely. A crack of a bat, the sound of a roaring crowd, and the exclamation "Warm-up Time with Tucker." He'd comment on the previous days' games, have a baseball-related question and the "As I See Them Department" predictions of upcoming games.

This was during the Kiner days and their outcome was almost certain.

Anyone I mention this to does not recall the show. I wonder if any other readers do.

-- RONALD F. USELTON, Stanton Heights

Kids, gather round: The comics by Puck will commence

In the early 1950s, I remember lying on my stomach on the floor in front of the radio and having the Sunday funnies read to me by "Puck, the Comic Weekly Man." My favorite was "Prince Valiant."

I have never been able to find anyone who remembers this radio program. I need someone to tell me that I did not imagine the whole thing. Help!

-- MICHAL M. STAMPS, Homewood

Jingles that put a spring in your step

Thinking back on the old days of radio, I remember that the advertisements were mostly musical:

Walnettos simply can't be beat
Twenty carmels good to eat
A nickel for a whole day's treat
Yum yum Walnettos

Of course the "Wilkins Amateur Hour" was a must on Sundays. It was "Pittsburgh's own opportunity hour for talent of the Tri-State," brought to us by the Wilkins jewelry stores, "Pittsburgh's most famous name in diamonds."

Singing the tune were the "Wilkins EZ Credit Girls":

Easy credit, easy credit
Wilkins is the place where you can get it
Where credit won't cost you an extra cent
You get quality and value for what you spent
So here's a little for every lady and gent

Back in those days, you could buy some jewelry with a monthly payment of 50 cents.

-- JO McMANUS, Stanton Heights

Before we really had a TV, there were 'movies on the radio,' courtesy of Cecil B. DeMille

In the early 1940s, I was 10 years old and my parents bought a large standup radio. It was a Philco and it had push buttons on it. No need to dial. Just select a button and the station it was on came up.

The large face plate, which lit up, had a number of large bands on it. Such as AM, FM, shortwave. But I was fascinated by one labeled "television."

Almost every day I would push the TV button and look at the screen. No TV today, maybe tomorrow.

In the early evening, I would listen to "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy," "Terry and the Pirates" and "The Lone Ranger." (How did the Lone Ranger manage to find a cave every night?) Late on I would listen to Fibber McGee and Molly, Fred Allen and Baby Snooks.

I also listened to movies on radio. Cecil B. DeMille would come on at the start to tell what the movie was about. I would listen to the audio and during the silent parts, Mr. DeMille would narrate what was happening. I tell people about movies on radio and no one believes me.

-- GEORGE BEDNARIK, Richland