Library of American Broadcasting

"Two husky groan artists perform for the WLWT television cameras at Cincinnati's Music Hall. Friday night wrestling matches are a regular WLWT feature. Cincinnati wrestling promoter Ross Leader credits television with boosting ticket sales to his matches through awakening or heightening interest in the sport. WLWT sports director Red Thornbush narrates the events and conducts a pre-match demonstration on basic rules." – from an April 1948 press release.

One in a series of photos from the Rudy Bretz papers at UMD.

WHEC (now WHIC) is Rochester, New York's second-oldest radio station. It went on the air in 1925, owned by the Hickson Electric Company. It was the city's CBS Radio Network affiliate from when the network began operating in 1928. The station was acquired by the local newspaper publishers, the Democrat and Chronicle, in 1932. This verification went to a listener in Baltimore, Maryland.

The long-running radio program Vox Pop traveled around the country interviewing people from all walks of life. Occasionally, the tables were turned, and host Parks Johnson became the interviewee on local man-on-the-street radio programs.

While in San Francisco, California on January 14, 1947 to highlight the history of that city, Johnson was interviewed on Bob Goerner’s man-on-the-street program "From Union Square" over radio station KQW. Here Goerner, with a KQW microphone in hand, interviews Johnson.

Bob Goerner spent his radio career in the San Francisco Bay Area, doing announcing and hosting jobs at KROW (Oakland, CA), KYA (San Francisco, CA), and KQW (San Francisco, CA). In 1949, KQW became KCBS when it was bought by CBS. After he retired from KCBS in the early 1970s, Goerner became a local wine expert. He passed away in 1998 at the age of 86.

Illustrator John Groth created "Giant in a Hurry" for a 1949 CBS advertisement in Sponsor magazine. "Television Scripts for Staging and Study," by Rudy Bretz and Edward Stasheff (1953), includes this artwork as endpapers in the front and back of the book. (Click to enlarge.)

The second image is "an exercise in poor composition. The white frames represent the field of view of a camera as it pansaround the scene. In order to show what not to do, the authors have stopped the camera on six framings with the worst compositions they could find. What makes these compositions poor? The reasons are discussed in Chapter 2."

A rarity this week: a listener in Doniphan, Kansas, received a confirmation from KFRU in July 1925, the only year KFRU was "The Voice of Oklahoma."

KFRU was founded in Bristow, Oklahoma, by E.H. Rollestone in January 1925. That fall, the station was purchased by Stephens College and moved to Columbia, Missouri. Rollestone, a young oil millionaire, went on to found KVOO, also known as "The Voice of Oklahoma," in June 1926.

The promised "EKKO" stamp has not survived with the letter.

Source: Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications

The long-running radio program Vox Pop traveled around the country interviewing people from all walks of life. Occasionally, the tables were turned, and hosts Parks Johnson and Warren Hull became the interviewees on local radio programs.

On October 1, 1946, during Vox Pop’s visit to St. Louis, Missouri, to highlight the upcoming baseball World Series, Johnson and Hull were interviewed on Howard Dorsey’s morning Man-on-the-Street program over KMOX. Here, Dorsey is shown interviewing Johnson and Hull from the Loew’s State Theatre lobby at 715 Washington Ave. Another view shows the radio audience gathering outside with local businesses along Washington Ave. in the background.

Dorsey joined KMOX in 1945 and became a fixture of morning programs, co-hosting the KMOX Open House, the Chuck Barnhart Show, and his own Man on the Street program. He also hosted the weekly Quizdown program, an academic quiz program featuring children from schools around the city. In 1950, Dorsey moved to WGN in Chicago, where he did news and hosting jobs on WGN radio and television until 1962. Dorsey later worked at stations in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Source: Parks Johnson collection on Vox Pop

An overhead shot of the set for one episode of "Lights Out" (NBC), although we can't say which one.* This television production was adapted from a popular radio program of the same name, an anthology devoted chiefly to horror or supernatural stories.

Broadcast on NBC from July 12, 1949, until September 29, 1952, the program's demise began on October 15, 1951, with the debut of "I Love Lucy" as its competition on rival network CBS. Mike Dann, then program chief at NBC, said, "We never knew what had happened, but it happened and it happened fast."

(*) If the recumbent figure in the garden is the actress Anne Francis, then this episode would be "The Faithful Heart" (1950).

One in a series of photos from the Rudy Bretz papers at UMD.

WNAX is the oldest surviving radio station in the state of South Dakota. It was first licensed to the Dakota Radio Apparatus Company on November 7, 1922. WNAX was the last AM station in the state to receive a call sign starting with a W instead of K; all subsequent AM stations in the state were established after the January 1923 shift that moved the K/W call letter boundary from the western border of South Dakota to the Mississippi River.

WNAX was purchased by Gurney's Seed and Nursery Company in 1926 and became known as "WNAX—-Voice of the House of Gurney in Yankton." The station was used to promote Gurney products and services, making Gurney's a household name.

The long-running radio program Vox Pop broadcast from locations around the country. The photographers often captured the streets and buildings of the local communities before and after the broadcast.

On March 11, 1946, Vox Pop broadcast from the St. Petersburg Coliseum in St. Petersburg, Florida. A crowd lining up at the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce building for tickets to the broadcast is shown here.

The Chamber of Commerce was located at Fourth Street and 1st Ave. South. Philanthropist Edwin H. Tomlinson built the building in 1902 as the Manual Training School Annex. It served as the City Hall from 1905 until 1939, when it became the Chamber of Commerce. By 1952, only six years after the Vox Pop broadcast, the building had fallen into disrepair and was torn down to make way for a parking lot.

A production still from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," adapted for a live television broadcast produced by Worthington Minor for Westinghouse Studio One. The episode aired on April 3, 1950.

"CBS produced the show in New York, and it was telecast live in the east, but a kinescope had to be shipped to LA for broadcast the next week until AT&T connected east and west in 1951. In later years, they moved the show to Television City as 'Studio One From Hollywood.' Offering a wide range of dramas, Studio One received Emmy nominations every year from 1950 to 1958 and produced 466 memorable teleplays. – Eyes of a Generation

One in a series of photos from the Rudy Bretz papers at UMD. For the curious, the episode is currently available on YouTube.

Talking With Giants of Broadcasting: Steve Jones - Radio Ink Radio Ink talked with Skyview Networks CEO Steve Jones about what it means to be named one of the Giants of Broadcasting by the LABF.

The long-running radio program Vox Pop broadcast from locations around the country. The photographers Vox Pop hired often captured the streets and buildings of the local communities before and after the broadcast.

On September 4, 1944, Vox Pop broadcast from Yankton, South Dakota, to participate in the second annual Midwest Farmers Day and highlight the war work of American farmers. Here, Parks Johnson and Warren Hull ride in the Midwest Farmers Day Parade sponsored by Yankton radio station WNAX.*

Their car is passing by crowds along the parade route. The Dodge / Plymouth dealership in town can be seen behind them.

* More about WNAX tomorrow.

On November 12, The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation will induct the 2024 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts at New York City’s Gotham Hall. Among those honorees is McVay Media President Mike McVay. Radio Ink talked with him about it.

Talking With Giants of Broadcasting: Mike McVay - Radio Ink Radio Ink talked with McVay Media President Mike McVay about what it means to be named one of the Giants of Broadcasting by the LABF.

"Even without the movement of the dolly, the cameraman can place his camera in a great variety of positions by utilizing the full possibilities of the camera boom."

Below: "Howard Hayes, top CBS cameraman, demonstrates the flexibility of the camera when mounted on the Panoram dolly. Hayes never sits astride the boom." – Techniques of Television Production, by Rudy Bretz (McGraw-Hill, 1953)

One in a series of photos from the Rudy Bretz papers at UMD.

WADC (now WARF) is Akron's oldest surviving radio station. It was founded and owned by Allen T. Simmons, owner of the Allen Theater, in 1925. The slogan matching the call letters—"Watch Akron Develop Commerce"—was later modified to "Watch Akron Develop Commercially." WADC was a charter affiliate of the CBS Radio Network and a key station in the network up to the early 1960s.

"Evelyn Gilhooly, an Akron contralto, has been gaining favor with her blues sung over WADC… Miss Gilhooley, just returned from New York, placed second in a [Paul] Whiteman audition while in the east." – The Akron Beacon Journal, 12/9/1932

Miss Gilhooly was later known professionally as Evelyn Gill.

The long-running radio interview program Vox Pop stopped in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 29, 1947. A few days before, the St. Louis Star & Times announced:

"Vox Pop" will feature local participants in the first annual nationwide radio competition to choose four high school students from four sections of the country as "Voices of Democracy." The students wrote five-minute scripts on "I Speak for Democracy"...

The competition is under the sponsorship of the National Association of Broadcasters, the Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the radio dealers of america.

"The ultimate in field-level coverage is the camera mounted on a jeep. This too has been talked about for many years, but in the 1950 season KTTV in Hollywood actually put the idea into practice. The jeep was converted into a 'camera car' by bolting on a channel steel support which extended a foot or so out from the back, on which could be mounted the rotating turret of a studio Sanner camera crane. Although this camera was not used for trucking shots, it could easily keep abreast of the line of scrimmage and a very dramatic low shot down the line was obtained which could be used just before the start of each play." – Techniques of Television Production, by Rudy Bretz (McGraw-Hill, 1953)

One in a series of photos from the Rudy Bretz papers at UMD.

WBIG was a radio station in Greensboro, North Carolina, that broadcast from 1926 to 1986. (The call sign was also said to stand for "We Believe in Greensboro.") In 1930, the transmitter site was moved from the O. Henry Hotel—where the studios would remain until 1956—to the Jefferson Standard Building in downtown Greensboro, and daytime power was raised to 1,000 watts in 1932

This QSL was received by a radio listener in Port Richmond, NY.

Okay, so you’re a television station in the mid to late 1940s. You’ve got a 16mm copy of a movie you want to show. You’ve got a 16mm projector. And you’ve got a television camera. But how do we get them to work together?

How about a paper towel tube and some duct tape? No, wait! How about an old-fashioned camera bellows?

Pictured below is a Dumont projector attached to an Image Orthacon camera – an early version of a film chain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_chain

KBPS (1450 AM) is a high school radio station in Portland, Oregon. It is owned by Portland Public Schools and run by Benson Polytechnic High School students enrolled in its radio broadcasting program. Since its founding, the station has been based on the Benson campus and staffed by its students.

In 1923, the student body purchased equipment previously used by a short-lived station, KYG. In 1930, the original call letters, KFIF, were changed to KBPS (for Benson Polytechnic School). A station representative explained, "the letters KFIF were difficult to utter over the radio... and they were harder still to understand."

This 1935 radio verification was sent to a listener in Baltimore, MD.

The long-running radio interview program Vox Pop highlighted many aspects of American culture during the 1930s and 1940s. One of the show’s favorite themes was college life. From 1940 to 1947, Vox Pop broadcast from 23 college campuses nationwide interviewing students, faculty, administrators, and coaches.

On November 15, 1943, Vox Pop broadcast from Penn State University in University Park, PA, to highlight the war work on campus. Here, Parks Johnson interviews Harold F. Bucher, Jr., who had just been elected 8th-semester president. He also received a gift: a live mountain lion cub to serve as a live version of the Penn State Nittany Lion mascot.

After graduating from Penn State in 1944, Bucher was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Naval Reserve. In 1945, he married fellow Penn State graduate Margaret Campbell. He settled in Rockville, MD, where he became a marketing director for the UNIVAC computer division of the Sperry Rand Company. He died from a heart attack in 1974 at the age of 52.

Source: Parks Johnson collection on Vox Pop

“Literary-minded people will get a chance to see a video adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little Women’ over CBS… when ‘Studio One’ presents the classic. To preserve the charming detail that Miss Alcott wrote into her novel, the presentation has been divided into two parts.” – The Cincinnati Enquirer, 12/17/1950

The first of these two live presentations, “Meg’s Story” (seen below), was broadcast on December 18, 1950. The second part, “Jo’s Story,” aired the following week.

One in a series of photos from the Rudy Bretz papers at UMD.

North Dakota's KFYR was founded in 1925 by Phillip J. Meyer and his wife, Etta Hoskins Meyer. It is Bismarck's oldest radio station. In 1939, they sent a radio verification of a listener in Lansdale, Pennsylvania (bottom). In 1958, they responded to a listener in Issaquah, Washington, and surprisingly, they still had some EKKO stamps!

The long-running radio interview program Vox Pop highlighted many aspects of American culture during the 1930s and 1940s. One of the show’s favorite themes was college life. From 1940 to 1947, Vox Pop broadcast from 23 college campuses all over the country interviewing students, faculty, administrators, and coaches.

On September 15, 1941, Vox Pop broadcast from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, to interview incoming freshmen. Wally Butterworth interviewed 18-year-old Claude Bittle of Madisonville, Kentucky. Here, Bourne Ruthrauff of the Ruthrauff & Ryan Advertising Agency presents Bittle with several textbooks for the coming semester. Bittle is surrounded by an old jalopy and firewood presented to other students.

As was the case for many men of his generation, Bittle’s schooling was interrupted by service in World War II. He reported for active duty in 1943 and served with the United States Army Air Force in China, where he was awarded a Purple Heart. After the war, he graduated from Duke, passed the bar exam, and started a law firm in Durham, North Carolina. He died in 1997 at the age of 73.

Actors in rehearsal for a live, one-hour adaptation of The School for Scandal, an 18th-century comedy of manners, to be presented on "The Ford Television Hour" (CBS) on Friday, April 21, 1950, at 9 p.m.

That same night, at least in New York City, the competition on NBC was "Versatile Varieties" (sponsored by Bonnie Maid Linoleum), and on ABC, "Auction-Aire," a game show.

One in a series of photos from the Rudy Bretz papers at UMD.