Post by End80 on Jul 20, 2022 15:34:23 GMT
The GoodSam Rv club website has an article titled "Celebrate 70 Years of RVing In the Far West", which mentions:
"...If you slow-drive the Kit Carson Trail in your RV, you can hear about celebrated locals of yesteryear at historic stops via locally-available AM radio broadcasts..."
So I did some googling for further details and found several breif mentions:
"Nevada Appeal" Magazine:
December 2001 .
Take a walk through historic Carson
"..The Kit Carson Trail, location of the annual Ghost Walk, is open year-round as a self-guided walking tour. For walkers interested there is a recorded "talking" history available on AM radio covering 24 of the houses..."
Same magazine August 2004:
Carson named 'best Western historical site'
...They especially liked Carson City's west-side Kit Carson Trail, which provides walkers with a 2.5-mile path through some of the town's historic structures. The "Talking Houses" aspect - recorded information played on AM radio stations - sealed the deal..."
In the book Nevada Adventure Guide by Matt Purdue — 2009 (page 68)
"...The Capitol Building & Museum is one highlight along a unique visitors path called the Kit Carson Trail. Identified by a blue line on downtown sidewalks and a driving-tour map, the trail hits more than 50 sites dating from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The entire tour can easily eat up an afternoon. Recorded narration on The Talking House Tour can be heard by tuning your radio to 1020 through 1080 AM on the dial..."
The 'Best Trip Choices' website posted on January 16th, 2012:
Tour Carson City on foot following the Kit Carson Trail (marked with a blue line and bronze medallions) through a large historical residential district. Through locally available AM radio frequencies, you can tune in for “Talking Houses” tales, 90-second narratives that highlight the stories of 24 houses.
----------------
So...
Presumably, Talking Houses transmiters were used (though not specified), each house broadcasting on a different frequency to avoid interference with other nearby house broadcasts (1020 through 1080 AM). All 24 of them broadcasting daily for over 20 years... Pretty cool huh?
That all changed a few weeks ago. On July 5th they made the following post on Facebook:
"The NEW, mobile-friendly Kit Carson Trail Audio Walking Tour is finally here! One of our most popular attractions is now digital. Let us know what you think!
Access the tour at: visitcarsoncity.com/kct. 🏡"
That's right, those part 15 AM broadcast have been replaced by a smartphone app.
This reminds me of the rise and fall of the Talking Houses used by the realtor market. During the 1990's there were three different models, each an improvement of the previous. If I recall right,, each model sold over 30,000 units and by the late 1990s over a million homes in the US had been sold utilizing a Talking House... but by then the home computer had become more commonplace and the talking house began to rapidly lose favor as a tool in the reality market; an online picture or video tour was much more appealing, people could shop from their computer. --- Adam Midler saw the writing on the wall, and that's when he sold the Talking House Company. You can follow all this in the 1990 reality magazines.
"...If you slow-drive the Kit Carson Trail in your RV, you can hear about celebrated locals of yesteryear at historic stops via locally-available AM radio broadcasts..."
So I did some googling for further details and found several breif mentions:
"Nevada Appeal" Magazine:
December 2001 .
Take a walk through historic Carson
"..The Kit Carson Trail, location of the annual Ghost Walk, is open year-round as a self-guided walking tour. For walkers interested there is a recorded "talking" history available on AM radio covering 24 of the houses..."
Same magazine August 2004:
Carson named 'best Western historical site'
...They especially liked Carson City's west-side Kit Carson Trail, which provides walkers with a 2.5-mile path through some of the town's historic structures. The "Talking Houses" aspect - recorded information played on AM radio stations - sealed the deal..."
In the book Nevada Adventure Guide by Matt Purdue — 2009 (page 68)
"...The Capitol Building & Museum is one highlight along a unique visitors path called the Kit Carson Trail. Identified by a blue line on downtown sidewalks and a driving-tour map, the trail hits more than 50 sites dating from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The entire tour can easily eat up an afternoon. Recorded narration on The Talking House Tour can be heard by tuning your radio to 1020 through 1080 AM on the dial..."
The 'Best Trip Choices' website posted on January 16th, 2012:
Tour Carson City on foot following the Kit Carson Trail (marked with a blue line and bronze medallions) through a large historical residential district. Through locally available AM radio frequencies, you can tune in for “Talking Houses” tales, 90-second narratives that highlight the stories of 24 houses.
----------------
So...
Presumably, Talking Houses transmiters were used (though not specified), each house broadcasting on a different frequency to avoid interference with other nearby house broadcasts (1020 through 1080 AM). All 24 of them broadcasting daily for over 20 years... Pretty cool huh?
That all changed a few weeks ago. On July 5th they made the following post on Facebook:
"The NEW, mobile-friendly Kit Carson Trail Audio Walking Tour is finally here! One of our most popular attractions is now digital. Let us know what you think!
Access the tour at: visitcarsoncity.com/kct. 🏡"
That's right, those part 15 AM broadcast have been replaced by a smartphone app.
This reminds me of the rise and fall of the Talking Houses used by the realtor market. During the 1990's there were three different models, each an improvement of the previous. If I recall right,, each model sold over 30,000 units and by the late 1990s over a million homes in the US had been sold utilizing a Talking House... but by then the home computer had become more commonplace and the talking house began to rapidly lose favor as a tool in the reality market; an online picture or video tour was much more appealing, people could shop from their computer. --- Adam Midler saw the writing on the wall, and that's when he sold the Talking House Company. You can follow all this in the 1990 reality magazines.