History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia/Topical/Publications/Australasian Radio World

Australasian Radio World was an early radio periodical which circulated primarily in Australia but also to a lesser extent in New Zealand. It commenced publication in April 1936 and its content was initially focused on the amateur and broadcast listener community with a variety of technical articles as well of reports of amateur radio activities and details of recent loggings of amateur and broadcast (medium wave and shortwave) stations.

Publishers, Owners and Editors
Australasian Radio World was a relatively small publication and throughout its print run the roles of ownership, publisher and editor were mostly commonly held and driven by a single passionate individual, often with little additional support. At its commencement in May 1936, it was published by Alfred Earl "Earl" Read, an expatriate New Zealander and former editor of the New Zealand Radio Times. From the December 1936 issue, the publisher formally became Trade Publications Proprietary Limited, but that firm had been behind the publication from its outset. The company was formed in April 1936 as printers and publishers, with initial subscribers Edward Marriott, Alfred Earl Read, Frederick S. Wales, Archie N. A. Wales, John C. L. Driver, Doris Wood and Clive B. Mellor. First directors were Frederick S. Wales and Archie N. A. Wales. Frederick S. Wales, Archie N. A. Wales and John C. L. Driver also had major interests in the magazine's printers Bridge Printery Pty. Ltd. From the April 1939 issue, with the magazine in financial difficulties, the publisher transitioned to Read Publications, a partnership solely between Alfred Earl Read and Frederick Stephen Wales. The rights to the publication were acquired by Allan Galbraith "Braith" Hull, with the first issue under his proprietorship being March 1940.

Publishers
The magazine was initially published by Trade Publications of Sydney, with A. Earl Read as Editor (he was an expatriate New Zealander). Allen Galbraith Hull (brother of the more widely known Ross Hull) purchased the magazine in 1940 and resigned his editorship of Radio and Hobbies. Hull became editor of Australasian Radio World and continued in that capacity until he sold the publication in November 1950. The new owner was Radio and Electronics (N.Z.) Ltd.

Notes prepared to develop this portion of the article (including transcriptions of publication notes from each magazine issue) can be found here:

Australasian Radio World - Publication Notes - all available issues complete

Printers
Printing of the magazine was undertaken by Bridge Printery from the initial issue in May 1936 until February 1949 and there was a close relationship between this printer and the two publishers of the period. At commencement the printer was located at 214 George St, Sydney, but in January 1940 the firm relocated to 117 Reservoir St., Sydney. Bridge Printery's period of responsibility for production was almost 13 years, including all but the final two years of the magazine's print run. In the magazine's tenth anniversary issue on May 1946, Braith Hull paid tribute to Bridge Printery's service in glowing terms, noting that production was personally supervised by the principal Fred Wales and his son Noel. As well as the actual printing, the firm took responsibility for magazine wrapping and bulk postage. Publisher Hull had relocated to Melbourne in the mid 1940s to assist with the war effort and struggled with liaison with a Sydney printer. Hull's plan was to establish his own printshop at his Mornington mansion. As an interim measure, Crusader Press of Auburn, Victoria printed two issues in early 1949. The following ten issues till March 1950 were printed by Hull's local newspaper, the Mornington Post. As a result of post World War 2 problems with paper supply and printshop capacity, there were no issues produced for April and May of 1950. Hull again reallocated the placement of printing to The Clyde Press of Thornbury and that firm produced the remaining magazine issues for 1950. However, the magazine was sold late 1950 with transfer of ownership commencing 1 December 1950. The new owners Cranch / Radio & Electronics (NZ), returned printing to Sydney, commencing January 1951. Printing was undertaken by R. V. Byers (an ARW advertiser) of North Lidcombe for the first half of 1951. When Cranch's own company Radio & Electronics (Aust.) assumed control, printing was undertaken by Acacia Press of Annandale, New South Wales. However Cranch's financial difficulties resulted in cessation of production, with the last issue being October 1951.

Notes prepared to develop this portion of the article (including transcriptions of statements as to printer from each magazine issue) can be found here:

Australasian Radio World - Printers - all available issues transcribed

Editorials
There were three editors over the lifetime of the magazine: Read, Hull and Cranch. Read only chose to include editorials sporadically, while both Hull and Cranch rarely missed an editorial each month.

For ease of reference, a complete set of the text-corrected editorials is being progressively developed here:

Australasian Radio World - Editorials (all available issues complete)

Issues
An almost complete set of magazines (primarily links to the AmericanRadioHistory webpages) can be found here, a small number have text cut and pasted from the OCR'd PDF, and an even smaller number have been fully text corrected:

Australasian Radio World - Issues

Contents
The contents pages of each issue have been amalgamated here as an index and finding aid to specific articles and authors:

Australasian Radio World - Contents - A brief start

Issue List
For ease of reference, to supplement the transcriptions of each monthly issue, particular types of magazine content have been brought together in single pages (eg. publication notes, printer statements, editorials etc.). To assist the creation of this type of content a list of issues has been prepared for use as an initial proforma:

Australasian Radio World - List of Issues ARW

Guide to Editing
Several sections of ARW changed little in format and even content from month to month. To assist in achieving greater consistency of presentation in this Wikibook, a proforma approach has been developed:

Australasian Radio World - Guide to Editing ARW