Tommy Tong and his wife May Chin Tong created North America’s first Chinese-language radio broadcast in 1939. Their Chinese Radio Hour, also known as Golden Star Radio to mark the name of their San Francisco radio shop and recording studio, was heard for forty years, making it among the Bay Area’s longest-running broadcast in any language.
Born in China’s Shandong Province in 1912, Tong Chun Choy arrived in the United States in 1915. He would adopt the Westernized name Tommy Tong and marry San Francisco native May Chin.
Tong studied radio and electronics and earned a Federal Communications Commission radiotelegraph license in 1934.
The Tongs founded Golden Star Radio Company on San Francisco’s Clay Street, selling radios and other appliances upstairs and recording Chinese-language music downstairs.
In April 1939, they aired the first Chinese Radio Hour on KSAN. Tommy Tong handled the technical and business aspects of the operation while May served as its voice.
The program would eventually be heard on KLOK and KBRG before the Tongs’ final broadcast in 1979.
Tommy Tong’s role in the Chinatown community was notable. The Chinese Radio Hour provided a source of information and a sense of community to newly-arrived immigrants and also created advertising opportunities for Chinatown merchants.