I thought getting up early on a Sunday morning would spare me the crowds on the cable car. I was wrong. There was already a line at the Powell Street turnaround. I walked up one stop — as advised by a local friend — but I was aced out of the good seats by a family with a small child. I ended up in the middle of the car, crushed by German tourists. The Germans chattered like hens and shot photos of each other; I tried to get pictures of the car, but it was impossible, all of my photos are a collage of German limbs.
I gave up and got off at Clay and Powell. I figured I’d find my way to North Beach to get coffee. I turned downhill and I was in Chinatown. The streets were just starting to fill, the line at the steam bun place was not quite out the door, tiny grannies in street pajamas were buying great piles of produce, serious faced old men stood watching the negotiations over which eggplant, exactly, should go in the plastic bag. There were very few tourists and I heard very little English.
On the corner of Spofford and Clay, above the awnings for hair stylists and “new” fashion and travel agents and ginseng, I spotted the faded neon for Golden Star Radio. Between 1939 and 1979, Golden Star aired the Chinese News Hour. According the Free-lance Star (1953), they had an audience of 25,000 Chinese immigrants. The station broadcast from a basement studio below Tommy Tong’s appliance shop. May-Chin Tong (Mrs. Tong) read the news in Cantonese. Golden Star was the first Chinese language radio station in North America.
The program’s format calls for 15 minutes each of opera and newscast, with six or seven commercials spotted in between — all of Chinatown’s retail business. The last half is devoted to straight music from Hong Kong.
I couldn’t find any mention of why Golden Star went off the air — maybe it wasn’t needed anymore. The world became a more connected place; it was no longer difficult to get news of home as other Chinese language sources of information became readily available. The neon still hangs over Chinatown, though, on a street where you can walk into a shopfront and leave 20 minutes, half an hour later, holding a plane ticket to Beijing or a cell phone with a special calling plan with discounted rates for long distance to Taiwain, Hong Kong, China, wherever you need your news to come from, first hand.
Local tip: My San Francisco based friend Aric suggests the docent led walking tours of Chinatown. More information here.
My Grandfather ( Din Tong – Director) and Dad (James Tong – Technician) both worked at the radio station. I as a baby briefly lived above the store.
Amazing — I would love to find audio to see what it sounded like — you don’t have anything from your family’s time with the radio station, do you?
Hi Pam,
I’m also looking for audio from Golden Star Radio for a research project. Any chance you ever came upon any?
Thank you!
Joe
So I was just at a tattoo shop which now occupies part of the building where this sign is.
Called Golden Star Tattoo.
I asked about the sign and they td me stories of the radio station and how there were hidden messages in the broadcasts to friends a families of immigrants letting them know they were safe.
I am so glad I found this shop and sign and asked questions.
It is all so fascinating to me !!