The Barrelman was a name adopted by Joseph Smallwood for his fifteen-minute radio program on the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland to promote pride in Newfoundland's history and culture. The show began as a column in the Daily News newspaper, and later appeared as a radio show on St. John's radio station VONF (Now CBN) in 1937 and became part of BCN's schedule when the network was established two years later. Within a week of its 1937 premiere, it had gathered an appreciative audience that it caught the attention of F.M. O'Leary Limited who began sponsoring it. The program was aired six nights a week and remained on the air for seven years.