Book Description

This is the untold story of the very first electronic social network in America: The CB Radio. Citizen's Band Radio grew from to a small number of hobby users to a cultural phenomenon in the 1970s. The adoption by millions of Americans forced the FCC to give up nearly all regulation. CB life created it's own "slanguage, "music and values. What started with mostly truckers grew during Arab Oil Crisis and eventually went widespread. Users adapted CB's to their own economic and social uses. This adaptation changed the character of the radio use eventually making the radios truly the Citizen's Band. And then they disappeared... The book culminates 23 years of research with 296 pages, 44 illustrations and more than 200 sources. Interviews include Hairl Hensley of WSM, Bob Cole of aka the "Midnight Rider" from KIKK (now in Austin) and Bill Fries aka C.W. McCall the "Rubber Duck."