Have You Met Someone From The Golden Days

[happyfilmluvguy]

of Radio?

What did they have to say about radio? How did they describe their experience? I attended one SPERDVAC meeting and in each meeting they have a guest speaker. Well, this particular meeting there was an older woman who was involved with many radio stations in the 40s. She worked with Bette Davis, with Joan Crawford, a few male actors here and there. She was very cheerful and seemed very sweet. I spoke with her a little afterwards and it was nice. I read that there was a Jack Benny convention a couple years ago, as well. http://www.jackbenny.org/39_Forever/39_forever.htm

It must have been nice.

[LizzieMaine]

I was very good friends with Florence Williams, an actress who was featured regularly on various soap operas of the '40s and retired to Maine in the '60s, and I even appeared with her in local amateur theatricals. After she died in 1994, I was asked to help clean out her basement, and got custody of what scripts and contracts and other radio-related paperwork she'd held onto over the years.

I attended the Friends of Old Time Radio conference in Newark a few years back to promote my book, and rubbed shoulders with quite a number of radio veterans there. There aren't many left, but they all seem to be very nice folks.

[pretty faythe]

A few summers ago we went to go suprise my moms mom (that would be our grandma) for her seventy something birthday (I am so glad the maternal side of our family has such youthful looking genes, I tell you!!!). One of her neighbors was there, was was a few years older than her my sister and I found to be an interesting character. We wound up going to her farm later that day to help her feed her llamas, have a few gazallon popsicles, and look through her photo albums. Back in her days of youth, when tv first begain, she used to make the rounds on tv with different animals, way before Jack Hannah or anyone else. Man, I wish I could remember her name. Oh, its just going to irk me now.

[Flivver]

I've never met anyone from the golden days of radio broadcasting, but I have met people from the golden era of radio manufacturing.

Back in the late 70s, I wrote a short biography of radio manufacturer Arthur Atwater Kent for the Alumni Journal at WPI. Kent had attended WPI for 2 years before being expelled for poor grades.

After the article was published, I received a call from Kent's son, Arthur Atwater Kent Jr., inviting me to Philadelphia for a meeting and tour of Atwater Kent landmarks in the area. Junior was just out of college in the late 1920s and was working with his dad at the Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company. During the late 20s, Atwater Kent was the largest manufacturer of radios in North America. This was a day I will never forget. Mr. Kent Jr. was a wonderful host with tons of great memories of working at the company with his dad. We even saw several of the cars his father drove back in the teens and twenties (no radios however!).

And upon reflection, I guess I have met some local historical broadcasters. When I was three, I met "Big Brother" Bob Emery from WBZ-TV and originally from Boston's WEEI (He began doing kiddie shows in 1924).

And I met WBZ's legendary announcer Carl deSuze when I was in high school.

[dhermann1]

I was on Joe Franklin's overnight radio show about 15 years ago. God knows how far back his career goes, but he's still going strong. He's himself, 100%. The way he is on TV and radio is how he is all the time. A genuinely nice man, and a real character. I had carte blanche to come on the show any time I wanted, and bring old music, but getting on the air at about 4AM was a little too much for my frail constitution. But it was a great experience, regardless.
In high school I was on our school's "High School Bowl" team. (If you don't remember the old GE College Bowl show of the era, google it.) It was at a little local radio station in Jamestown, NY, WJTN. We were in a small studio, and the announcer's name was . . . uhhh . . . gosh what was his name? I don't remember, but a real old fashioned radio announcer type guy. That was fun, too. And we won the championship in 1964!

[Pilgrim]

I went to college at Washington State University, home of the Murrow School of Broadcasting, and alma mater of - you guessed it - Edward R. Murrow. I grew up in town and graduated in 1973, so many of my early contacts were people who were broadcasters in the 50's or earlier.

When I was an undergrad at Wazzu, The production studio downstairs in what used to be Arts Hall (now the Murrow Center) still had a door and window mounted in the wall for sound effect use. (Open and close the door, open and close the window, etc.) The old sound effects cart was still around, sititng in storage at the warehouse.

And to this day I have an RCA 77DX mike sititng in my office - it and the 44DX were two of the most-used studio mikes because of their adjustable directionality - perfect for two people standing facing each other to work from a script.

77DX:


So while I can't name names other than some of the folks like Cal Watson, Gordon Law, Burt Harrison and others who worked behind the scenes (and some of whom were involved in starting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting), I feel a strong connection to those days in terms of my early professional experience.

[HadleyH]

No I have not.

[happyfilmluvguy]

You must then. Find out if there was a radio station in your town or close by.

[panamag8or]

I went to college at Washington State University, home of the Murrow School of Broadcasting, and alma mater of - you guessed it - Edward R. Murrow. I grew up in town and graduated in 1973, so many of my early contacts were people who were broadcasters in the 50's or earlier.

When I was an undergrad at Wazzu, The production studio downstairs in what used to be Arts Hall (now the Murrow Center) still had a door and window mounted in the wall for sound effect use. (Open and close the door, open and close the window, etc.) The old sound effects cart was still around, sititng in storage at the warehouse.

And to this day I have an RCA 77DX mike sititng in my office - it and the 44DX were two of the most-used studio mikes because of their adjustable directionality - perfect for two people standing facing each other to work from a script.

77DX:


So while I can't name names other than some of the folks like Cal Watson, Gordon Law, Burt Harrison and others who worked behind the scenes (and some of whom were involved in starting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting), I feel a strong connection to those days in terms of my early professional experience.

Pilgrim,
I have one of those mics, but it is the next generation...the RCA band is different on mine.

As for meeting golden era people, my advisor at college was an old time radio guy. He even had us recreate an episode of "The Shadow" in one of our classes.

I also met and hung out with Buddy DeFranco, a clarinetist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, who took over that group for 8 years. He lives in Panama City, and would drop into the station often.

[dhermann1]

I've also met several big band musicians from the Golden Era, including Andy Kirk (he was 94 at the time, about 1986), Erskine Hawkins, Buck Clayton, Al Cobb, Heywood Henry, and at the age of 15 I got Count Basey's autograph, along with the autographs of the entire band.
About 25 years ago Rich Conaty had Vet Boswell as a guest on his show, The Big Broadcast. He had a call in segment and I got to chat with her for a minute on the phone.
I have to say ALL OF THE ABOVE were a big thrill.