This day in history: CB radio thefts grow 500% from previous year. Air mail gets a boost, now able to arrive in Spokane within 40 and a half hours from NYC

From 1976: The country was in the midst of a citizen band radio craze, and in Spokane, that meant a big increase in CB radio thefts.

Police reported 23 thefts in the first two months of the year, an increase of 500% over the previous year.

The reason for the increase was obvious. Far more car and truck drivers had CB radios than in previous years.

“What puzzles the detectives investigating the CB radio thefts is where the devices go after they are stolen,” the Spokane Chronicle wrote.

Detectives said a CB radio that costs between $150 and $300 new, “goes for about $20 to $50 on the stolen market.”

The only way owners could protect themselves was to engrave the serial number and driver’s license number on the set, so that detectives could return it to the owner.

From 1926: Spokane mail would soon be “only 40 and a half hours from New York City by air mail” when mail planes began running from Elko, Nevada, to Pasco.

This was a major improvement over previous mail times by rail.

This was possible because Elko was an important stop on the transcontinental air mail route between New York and San Francisco. Mail originating in Spokane would be taken by train to Pasco, and then put on the Pasco-Elko plane in time to make the transcontinental plane. Incoming mail would arrive in Spokane by a reverse of that route.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.org)

1807: Congress bans slave trade within the U.S., effective Jan. 1, 1808.

1965: “The Sound of Music” premieres at the Rivoli Theater in New York City.