New York

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Early Radio Announcers Invented Their Profession in the 1920s

KDKA announcer H. W. Arlin on the air in 1921 Anyone who listens to the radio knows that the announcer or disc jockey has gone through some form of training to do the job right. But obviously in the early days of radio, there were not any schools to train people in the field of communications. So that meant anyone who wanted to do on the air work could just walk down to the local radio and ask for a job, and most likely they would get one. The first person who deserved to have the title ... (read more)

2022/12/10

Radio: The Cure for Juvenile Delinquency

Monitor brand wooden radio from the 1920s Justice James Church Cropsey, one of the leading jurists of the state of New York, recently sentenced several young men, some of them scarcely more than boys, to long terms in Sing Sing Prison. Justice Cropsey, in making an address from the bench, offered the following to the boys: We can lessen the crimes in our midst by giving our attention to the youths. They need a man's guiding hand and helpful personality. They need the example of a true man's ... (read more)

2022/11/26

Last Call for Radio's Grand Central Station on CBS

Grand Central Station producer and director Hiram Brown in 1943 After more than 16 years of good entertainment, the voice of Grand Central Station on CBS is no longer heard in the land. What stilled it was not any sudden drying up of human interest drama in Manhattan's great railroad terminal, but rather the fact that Grand Central on the radio just couldn't compete any longer with the overwhelming force of TV playhouses. No doubt about it, the radio theaters are dwindling. Which is too bad ... (read more)

2022/11/24

Morris Littmann Brought the World Mountainville True Life Sketches

The Mountainville train station in around 1900 Out "thar" in the hills lies Mountainville. It is an ordinary village, nothing unusual about it -- it is just Mountainville! So typical was this quiet little hamlet nestled way up in the hills that Morris Littmann, owner of the Littmann Stores in New York City, sought to give the public in general a chance to see into this homey clump of houses and little businesses. Littman spent his last summer's vacation in Mountainville to get the trend of life ... (read more)

2022/10/29

Nelson Selby, the Busiest Organist in Buffalo

Organist Nelson Selby at Old Laube's Restaurant in Buffalo One rarely thinks of an organist as being a much-traveled man or one whose activities would run from virtually dawn to midnight. But WBEN organist Nelson Selby is currently providing the musical backbone of Breakfast at Laube's Old Spain five mornings a week, playing at the Hotel Lenox six evenings a week, and airing a Sunday afternoon organ program on WBEN. He also is heard frequently on Sundays at Buffalo's leading churches. ... (read more)

2020/07/23

Warden Lewis E. Lawes on Radio in Sing Sing Prison

Sing Sing Prison Warden Lewis E. Lawes on Time Magazine (Nov. 18, 1929) The other evening, I made one of my accustomed tours through the cell blocks. As I strolled along I could hear laughter issuing from practically every cell and could see, of course, that the radio was creating this atmosphere of joviality. "Hello, Warden," the men greeted as I passed by. "They got a swell program on tonight." I knew the program they were referring to. It was one of the prominent half-hour variety ... (read more)

2020/07/19

For Police Detective Danny Clover, Broadway is My Beat

Larry Thor as Danny Clover in Broadway is My Beat With the musical refrain of "I'll Take Manhattan," and the sound of impatient car horns in the background, another episode of Broadway is My Beat begins. New York police detective Danny Clover informs us that "Broadway is my beat. From Times Square to Columbus Circle -- the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world." Homicide detective Clover, played by Larry Thor, narrates the introduction to each program's plot. In ... (read more)

2020/07/15

Ida Bailey Allen Cooks on the Radio

Radio cook Ida Bailey Allen Ida Bailey Allen, known as the Nation's Homemaker, was found in her sunshiny and electrically equipped kitchen testing a recipe for Scotch soda scones, which was sent by a member of her National Homemaker's Club, which she organized last June, and of which she is now president. Each of her members are on their toes submitting their recipes in hopes of winning the monthly prize she offers for the best recipe. This kitchen, located on the 15th floor of an office ... (read more)

2020/06/25

Mandel Kramer Commits Crimes on TV, Solves Them on Radio

Mandel Kramer during his years on CounterSpy Ordinarily, on other programs in which he appears, Mandel Kramer is a two-faced, ornery killer, as likely to be erased on a show as not. It is seldom Kramer lasts to the end of any show -- except on CounterSpy, where he is Harry Peters, the hard-working associate of David Harding. At a time when TV has made tremendous inroads into the entertainment world, the 35-year-old Harrison, New York, gentleman is one of the handful of actors who has not ... (read more)

2020/06/23