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The Biggest Boners from Radio's Golden Age

Cover of Nick Carter Magazine Ever feel like pushing yourself under the rug when your tongue tripped, slipped or balked and turned up with a neat little phrase you never should have uttered? Or hopelessly muffed an important introduction, or stuttered on the snappy comeback that should have panicked your dinner guests? Then you can readily sympathize with the poor announcer or actor who suddenly finds themself pulling what they are sure must be radio's prize "boner." Though they can be laughed ... (read more)

2024/04/03

Radio Singer Frank Parker's Secret of Success: 'Be Ready'

Singer Frank Parker, an early Jack Benny regular Frank Parker already is an outstanding tenor, and under the tutelage of that master jester Jack Benny, he is garnering laurels as a comedian. Now they would make of him an oracle -- and Parker doesn't want any part of that. Even if he's the current matinee idol of the air, Parker is so level-headed that he has no idea that his achievements have equipped him to advise those whom fortune has spurned. What's more, he doesn't think people should ask ... (read more)

2023/03/19

William Beebe Broadcast Live on NBC 2,640 Feet Under the Sea

William Beebe in the Bathysphere in 1932 Radio has started countless thrills coursing through space but few, if any, have caught hold of the world's imagination in the same way that the broadcast of William Beebe, scientist and student of ocean life, will do when he talks to the anxious world from the ocean bottom on Sunday Sept. 11 over the NBC networks. Hundreds of thousands of radio fans will travel in imagination with Beebe when he enters his frail bell-shaped craft and is lowered -- gently ... (read more)

2023/02/25

How Ed Wynn Spent His $5,000-a-Week Radio Salary

Radio comedian Ed Wynn, star of The Fire Chief It certainly looks easy. All you have to do is walk into a studio, tell a few jokes, or sing a few songs, and walk out with five thousand dollars. Think of it: $5,000 for a half hour's work. Pretty soft! But is it? Is this business of being a radio star as easy as it looks? Is that whopping big weekly fee just so much pure gravy -- or does it take a lot of time and money to get up to the table, and is a lot of the gravy spilled on the way back? ... (read more)

2023/02/23

Maryland Dance Orchestra - How I Love That Girl (1924)

The Maryland Dance Orchestra recorded the song "How I Love That Girl" in New York in November 1924 for the Coliseum label. The performers were Ben Bernie and His Orchestra, featuring Donald Bryan and Harold Rehrig on trumpet; Frank Sarlo on trombone; Mickey McCullough, Len Kavash and Jack Pettis on reeds; Al Goering and J "Kenn" Sisson on piano; Paul Nito on banjo and violin; Al Armer on brass bass; Sam Fink on drums; and Irving Kaufman on vocals. Ben Bernie, whose real name was ... (read more)

2022/12/14

The Audition That Changed the Lives of Chester Lauck and Norris Goff

A print ad for Lum and Abner A strange sight would have greeted the eyes of anyone entering the board of directors room of the Quaker Oats Company on a summer morning in 1931. On one side of the room you would have found all the staid and dignified directors of the company, seated with their faces to the wall. On the other side you would have seen two young men talking hillbilly dialect to a broom handle! That was the turning point in the careers of the two boys who have become famous in ... (read more)

2022/12/13

Radio Broadcast of 1934 America's Cup Crossed the Globe

A model of the Endeavour, challenger in the 1934 America's Cup Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent, months of work have been devoted to obtaining and perfecting equipment -- all to the point that the greatest maritime sporting event on the yearly calendar, the America's Cup (International Yacht Races), may be brought to radio listeners in complete and thrilling detail. From the air, reporters will give accounts of the races as they circle above the competing yachts. On the water, ... (read more)

2022/12/07

Martha Tilton Thought She Failed Benny Goodman Audition

Movie poster for Swing Hostess (1944) Sam, the man who made the pants too long, gave Martha Tilton her first job on an air show. Her singing suited the tailor man fine and he paid her the lordly sum of twenty-five dollars for her renditions over a Los Angles radio station-thousand watter KFAC. The day she got her first paycheck from the sponsor Martha rushed over to a department store and bought three items: a new hat, imitation pearls for her mother and a pink sweater for her dog who was ... (read more)

2022/12/06

What Happened on Radio Soaps in December 1952

Augusta Dabney and William Prince in the TV series Young Dr. Malone (1958) Aunt Jenny: Two girls in love with the same man create a situation that can not help but lead to trouble for someone. In a recent story, Aunt Jenny told of a triangle made even more complicated by the fact that the two girls were identical twins. The Stillman girls not only looked alike, but acted alike and had led identical lives -- until Larry came along. What unexpected changes did love make for all three of them? ... (read more)

2022/12/05

Popeye Gave Up Spinach for Wheatena Toasted Wheat Cereal

Ad for Wheatena toasted wheat cereal from the 1930s Radio was a magical media for the children who heard it during its golden age. Just like the adults had their favorite programs, the small fry also had theirs. For the most part, these programs featured the children's favorite comic strip characters. Not only could they read about them in the Sunday newspaper, the children could also hear them live and in person over the airwaves. One of the comic strip characters is the subject of this ... (read more)

2022/12/02

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