4. One of the first radio commercials advertised a Jackson Heights apartment
On August 28, 1922, radio station WEAF broadcasted one of the first radio commercials. The radio station, which is now WNBC, played a recording of a soprano singing “Carry Me Back to 01’ Virginny” before allowing a 15-minute talk about the Hawthorne Court apartments in Jackson Heights. The Queensboro Coorporation payed $50 for the Griffin Radio Service to place this advertisement.
Throughout the 15-minute advertisement, a salesman boasted about the openness of the neighborhood, its close proximity to Manhattan, and the close-knit community within an apartment building. With such a long time to set up his pitch, the salesman finally asked listeners to consider living in a Hawthorne Court apartment built by George H. Wells. Three more commercials of this kind were broadcasted to fill the empty apartments of the complex that still exists today.