entirely live, but because it did not sell advertising, performers, who were overwhelmingly local amateurs, normally were not paid. The station manager at this time at WHAS in Louisville, who had a similar schedule and the benefit of a somewhat larger city, later summed up this state of affairs as: "You may think the preparation of shows from four to five o'clock every afternoon, and seven-thirty to nine each night except Sundays, would be quite a simple undertaking. But sometime when you've nothing else to do, try it for a few years, depending entirely upon unpaid amateur talent. First, however, accept a friendly tip and engage your room in a sanitarium." WIAR was constantly on the lookout for people to sing, play instruments, and perform for listeners. The Sun also asked local residents to notify them when talented friends or family visited from out of town. The newspaper ran detailed reviews of each previous night's broadcasting. Performers included Jazz bands, Rotary Club performers, singers, and violinists. An African-American choir, billed as "Negro Harmonists" performed a set of "sacred songs". Paducah resident Joe Allen, known as an "expert imitator of animals and birds", presented a program called "Kentucky Possum Hunt" which featured Allen playing every character including the dogs and the coon. Alben Barkley, then United States congressional representative from Paducah and future Vice-President, made a broadcast, as did Paducah native and humorist Irvin Cobb. Cobb would later go on to perform on network radio, using his unique brand of southern humor to entertain listeners. Both Barkley and Cobb were said to have "made their first broadcast speeches over WIAR". Although newspaper-owned stations of this era commonly did not pay their performers, they could compensate them with free publicity, which as Rex White at the Detroit News station WWJ later noted, was always favorable, and sometimes lavish, "or we would have no show the next night". Representative Paducah Evening Sun headlines from January 1923 include "Concerts Continue to Bring Praises for Sun Station", "Impressive are Music Programs by Sun's Radio", and "Artists Keep Up Splendid Quality of WIAR Concerts". Operation In the mid-January, the station went off the air for a day in order to make improvements. The paper reported that technology was changing and the Sun wanted to provide listeners the best possible experience. The studio walls were padded — reportedly by draping old World War I army blankets —