2023 marks 64 years since the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC) first landed with television cameras in Trail.
While this Silver City milestone may seem rather ho-hum given today’s seemingly endless access to media, it’s quite remarkable considering that CBC television broadcasts only began seven years previous, on Sept. 6, 1952. Moreover, CBC’s television signal wasn’t extended from coast-to-coast until July 1, 1958, only seven months before they came to Trail.
Understandably, in February 1959, having television crews arriving in town was a very big deal.
The goal of the broadcast was to dispel any concerns about Trail from people living in Vancouver and across B.C., explains Trail archivist Addison Oberg.
“And to showcase that Trail was a great place to live.”
The breakdown of this visit was published in the March edition of Cominco Magazine.
The three-man CBC crew included cameraman John Seale, soundman Norman Rosen, and script writer Roland Wilde.
They filmed largely at Cominco, but also throughout the city for the half-hour telecast.
For about a month, men working on the job at Cominco were television stars.
They were interviewed, the CBC dined with them and other local families, and followed them throughout their shifts.
The CBC would go on to do another Trail feature in 1966 about the Italian community as a part of the “Across Canada” feature hosted by Bob Contrel.
Read more: ‘Between Shifts’ was all in good fun
Read more: #Local History - Trail Blazers features
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