The first radio “stations” to broadcast were little more than private entities, typically business owners, who beamed out messages promoting their goods and services. It would take a while, as radio infiltrated the broader population, but eventually other businesses realized there was an advantage to be had in advertising themselves on the radio as they would in the newspaper — and like that, commercial radio began.

On this day, August 29, in 1922, the first radio commercial went out over the air from New York’s WEAF. The advertising entity was the Queensboro Corporation, selling real estate, who paid $50 plus a long distance fee for five days of sponsorship.

Although WEAF was the first true radio broadcast, others combined the radio sponsorship with newspaper ads. Six months before the WEAF broadcast, for example, the Seattle, Washington Remick’s Music Store, purveyors of fine sheet music, sponsored a one weekly evening program on station local KFC radio station. Remick’s supported the show with large ads in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, co-owners of the radio station, inviting music listeners to come in after the show and purchase the songs they just heard.