Dick Cavett (center) with Muhammad Ali and Juergen Blin on The Dick Cavett Show.

The Citizens Band Radio, familiarly known as the CB, was a device that enabled free mobile communication up to a ten mile radius for those who owned the requisite microphone, speaker, and control box. Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) first introduced it in 1947, the CB did not experience its heyday until 30 years later, when hundreds of thousands of automobile and tractor trailer drivers installed them in their vehicles.

In order to popularize the device among individuals for their personal use, the FCC, in 1958, opened up part of the broadcasting spectrum originally reserved for ham radio operators. This Class D band enabled the manufacture of higher quality, less expensive CB sets that were useful and affordable to ordinary people. By 1959 the average set cost between $150 and $200, but there were only 49,000 users licensed...