In the late 1920s, cars and radios began to appear in our town of Grand Bank. Our family's first radio was equipped with earphones and only one person at a time could listen to it. It was powered by a pack of large, round screw terminal batteries. Later, when main line electric power came along, we became proud owners of a Philco cabinet radio with a loud speaker. It was on this radio that we kids first heard Big Ben and the voice of the King on Christmas Day. We also owned a 1928 (second hand) Studebaker sedan. It was referred to by (envious?) non-owners as the "Frazer Hall" on wheels because it allegedly resembled that ugly church meeting hall. Short-wave radio reception from the U.K. was good, while standard AM broadcasts from Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Newark, New Jersey, were the only two stations we could be sure to be able to tune in. And this was in the early 1930s! By some lucky freak of radio wave propagation, we were unable to receive VON St. John's! Later on we were privileged to be able to tune in the St. John's station, but disappointed that the "Barrelman" show, sponsored by Gerald S. Doyle Cod-liver OIl and starring Joey Smallwood telling tall tales, was a large part of the main bill of fare. There was little else of much interest outside the environs of St. John's being aired. For example, we had to tune in New Jersey to listen to things like the Joe Lewis boxing matches, but not much besides Joey's wisdom and the St. John's weather was heard when we tuned in VON. This same Joey Smallwood's gift of gab and twisty oratory propelled him to much greater heights and achievement including the bringing of Britain's oldest colony into Canadian Federation. Without Joey, the completion of the Canadian Federation might not have happened. He modestly referred to himself as "The Only Living Father of Confederation." He believed, though, that only a Liberal government in Ottawa made any sense and at every opportunity he made clear how little he admired the PCs led by Diefenbaker when they came to power. He willfully left the impression with the less sophisticated populous of the outports that were he and his Liberals not to be reelected at any time in the future, such Confederation benefits as Old Age Pensions and Child Allowances could be lost! On one occasion, in 1959, to ensure his omnipotent image was justified, I witnessed Joey use his position to make sure he, and nobody from Ottawa, would be seen to be first to greet the Queen when her aircraft anded at Torbay airport on the first stop in her upcoming Canadian Royal Tour. I was there as Captain of the C5 VIP aircraft which we would use. The official printed program for her arrival by BOAC Comet jet indicated that Prime Minister Diefenbaker would officially greet Her Majesty as she deplaned. However, the PM's aircraft from Ottawa was late and his appearance was further delayed by the fact that his aircraft had been (craftily?) diverted to a remote, supposedly secure, parking spot on the airfield. Joey took matters into his own hands and while the PM was being rushed by limo from his aircraft to the terminal area where the Royal aircraft was already parked, rather than wait, Joey stepped forward and indicated to all concerned that the Queen should now deplane. She did and Joey welcomed her officially first to Newfoundland and then to Canada! And when he finally appeared to greet the Queen, the PM's famous jowls were visibly shaking as he realized he had already been upstaged by Joey. Joey was beaming from ear to ear as he presented the PM to Her Majesty! Prime Minister Diefenbaker did not act as happily as he tried to look.   Submitted By: NULL