Dial A Trade: An AM Radio Flea Market

August 18, 2013 10:14 AM

Dial a Trade (link to charming You Tube documentary) is an AM version of a flea market on KURM out of Rogers, Arkansas. You might be able to listen to it occasionally on this Tunein station.
posted by PHINC (21 comments total)

The town in central Illinois where I grew up does this. 30 minutes every weekday morning, right before the farm report. I always wondered if other towns had something similar, especially out in the country where Craigslist hasn't really caught on as much.
posted by jackflaps at 10:47 AM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I moved to Fayetteville 6 months ago. I've caught Dial a Trade on the radio a few times and always get a kick out if it.
posted by thisisdrew at 10:52 AM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think this used to be more common. A friend of mine told me they used to do it here in Roanoke and I remember listening to that amazing full broadcast day of WJSV in DC from 1939 and hearing the announcer say "Wanna buy a boat!...so and so has a boat for sale."
posted by PHINC at 11:15 AM on August 18, 2013

Oh, this is a great little documentary. Cool find.

I'm also totally in love with that monster radio console the DJ is operating. And those big racks of 45s in the background.
posted by sixohsix at 11:15 AM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I remember catching a show like this years ago, somewhere between L.A. and Austin. I just love stuff like this, thanks!
posted by Room 641-A at 11:57 AM on August 18, 2013

One of the local stations in my area (Danville, VA) has had a program for as long as I can remember called "Swap Shop" that's pretty much identical to this.
posted by cropshy at 12:09 PM on August 18, 2013

I may be completely off base (I don't speak Spanish), but I think one of the Spanish-language stations here in Portland, Ore does a similar thing weekday mornings. Or at least has a very similar format/time slot where folks can call in and sell TVs, announce birthdays, announce job openings, ask questions...
posted by Nosmot at 12:20 PM on August 18, 2013

I heard something on the radio traveling through the south this summer, and first I thought it was something like this, but it seemed to be more like QVC, but with callers calling in and buying stuff. It was super weird. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
posted by Windopaene at 12:22 PM on August 18, 2013

Just realized that should be KARV and not KURM.
posted by PHINC at 12:31 PM on August 18, 2013

I used to host a weekly AM radio show like this in the 1980s; I think it was called "Trading Post." It was seriously random.
posted by obloquy at 1:07 PM on August 18, 2013

WPTF in Raleigh, NC used to air a show called 'Ask Your Neighbor' that did this very thing (plus recipe and household tip-sharing). It ran from the 1960s into the late 1990s, and has recently been replaced by Triangle Trader, which is still on the air every weekend.

I used to listen to 'Ask Your Neighbor' every single morning when I was on summer vacation when I was a child; I absolutely loved it.
posted by yellowcandy at 1:21 PM on August 18, 2013

The Trading Post, still on the air on WWCH-AM, Clarion, Pennsylvania, every morning except Sunday from 10 to 11 a.m. Just call in ("Good Morning, you're on the Trading Post") if you have something to sell or even give away. WWCH Contemporary Country and sister station WCCR-FM (some kinda satellite feed pop music, don't know what you call it) have been owned by the Hearst family (no, not that Hearst family) from the beginning. WCH stands for William C. Hearst, who started the station in 1960. His son Bill Jr. runs the place now. Nice fella.
posted by tommyD at 1:21 PM on August 18, 2013

Here in western Maine we've got "Country Corner" on WOXO.

After you've been on, wait one day, and then you can be on the day after that. Never two shows in a row.
You can keep your radio on - but really low in the background.
Please no C-B amps, alcohol, tobacco, or firearms.
You can just call in to wish someone a nice day if you want :)

posted by Knappster at 1:31 PM on August 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

Radio station back where I grew up did a version of this called "Swap Shop". It was always great entertainment for the mornings during the summer.
posted by deezil at 1:40 PM on August 18, 2013

"There are some rules to Dial-A-Trade: No cats, dogs, real estate or fire wood, and it almost goes without saying that callers can't sell people."
posted by Room 641-A at 1:42 PM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm having an awful time searching for this, but there's a This American Life segment about a similar local show, right?
posted by knile at 1:55 PM on August 18, 2013

Used to listen to a similar show in the mornings when I was a kid.

"Open Line 69" on KGGF 690 AM.

Most calls were in the vein of "I have an oven door for a 1976 Kenmore electric and I'd take $25 for it. I'm looking for the main muffler bearing for a 1980 Chevy Nova. My number is 251-----."

They had trivia call-ins and I won a dinner for two at the Southern Supper Club for knowing that a group of frogs is called an army back when I was 8.
posted by stltony at 2:07 PM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

A couple of years ago I caught something like this in the rural area northwest of Gainesville, FL. *Early* Saturday morning, before the day's football mania got started. Loved it.
posted by easement1 at 3:12 PM on August 18, 2013

135 minutes of Tradio Calls - Howard Stern Show
posted by NedKoppel at 4:16 PM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Radio Tradio on KMJ 580 AM in beautiful Fresno, Ca!
posted by FergieBelle at 11:25 AM on August 19, 2013

Oh wow! Hi, everyone. I'm Bethany; I'm the one who made the Dial-A-Trade documentary. If you have any questions about how the program works, just let me know.
PHINC, you're right. The program I did the documentary on is for KARV, but we simulcast with KURM most of the day. We have three hours a day of Dial-A-Trade and about 30 minutes dedicated to our local news and sports.
posted by blacy454 at 8:32 AM on September 4, 2013 [2 favorites]