WTIC Radio, 1924-1934 | Hartford, CT | Merry Madcaps, Rudy Vallée, Art McGinley, Ed Begley | 1965

Описание: To celebrate its first four decades, WTIC Radio in Hartford, Connecticut presented four episodes of “The Broadcaster at Forty,” written and produced by David Wilkinson, as special editions of Dick Bertel’s daily “Americana” program. Announcer Bob Ellsworth also participates.

This hour, which covers the years between 1924 and 1934, was broadcast on Monday, February 8, 1965. Highlights include:

• The Travelers Insurance Company’s 1924 application for WTIC’s license

• Upgrading the power from 500 to 50,000 watts, changing frequencies, sharing time with WBAL in Baltimore, and moving the transmitter to Avon Mountain

• Descriptions of the original studios and transmitting facilities at the Travelers’ building at 26 Grove Street (Bob Steele Street since 2013)

• The development of commercial advertising

• Fred Wade remembering the popularity of Norman Cloutier and the Merry Madcaps as well as how “The Wrightsville Clarion,” a comedic serial, was produced

• The 1925 inauguration of President Calvin Coolidge

• Engineer Al Jackson recalling how WTIC conducted an intense schedule of remote broadcasts

• Affiliating with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and carrying its inaugural broadcast

• Bill Hennessey interviewing singer, actor, and bandleader Rudy Vallée

• Bob Steele interviewing A.B. “Art” McGinley, the former host of “Speaking of Sports”

• Dick Bertel interviewing Leonard J. Patricelli, WTIC vice president and general manager, and Paul W. Morency, president of Broadcast Plaza Inc., both hired in 1929

• Wire services protecting newspapers from radio competition

• Oscar-winning actor Ed Begley telling George Bowe about performing on “WTIC Playhouse”

The theme music is from “The Broadcaster: A Symphonic Suite” album, composed by Robert Maxwell. It was commissioned by WTIC to dedicate the 1961 opening of its Broadcast House radio and television facility on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford.

MENTIONS

Travelers executives: Walter G. Cowles, Lawrence F. Butler

WTIC personnel: engineers J. Clayton Randall and Herman Taylor, musical directors Dana S. Merriman and Ralph L. Baldwin, business manager James F. Clancy, “The Mixing Bowl” host Florrie Bishop Bowering, conductor Moshe Paranov (co-founder of the Hartt School of Music), composer Christiaan Kriens, news director Tom Eaton, drama director Guy Hedlund, announcer Ed Anderson, writer Paul Lucas, program manager Bernard Mullins

Historical figures: Colonel William Mitchell, Governor John H. Trumbull, aircraft builder Igor Sikorksy, aviation pioneer Charles A. Lindbergh, newscaster Lowell Thomas, film director D.W. Griffith, Lindbergh baby kidnapping suspect Henry “Red” Johnson

Landmarks and institutions: West Hartford Public Schools, Hartford Public Schools, Brainerd Field airport, Hotel Bond, Joseph P. Neville’s Dancing Academy, Austin Organs, Footguard Hall, the dance pavilion at Colt Park, Club Palais Royale, Yale University, (Loew’s) Poli’s Capitol Theatre, Heublein Hotel, Bulkeley Stadium, American Industrial Bank, Hartford National Bank, The State Theatre, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), “The Hartford Players” theater group, the Hartford County Building

Musical acts: Emil Heimberger Trio; organist Walter Dawley; The Heublein Trio; The New York Symphony Orchestra; Edwin Franko Goldman’s band; trumpeter B.A. Rolfe and his orchestra; operatic baritone Titta Ruffo; pianist Harold Bauer; operatic soprano Mary Garden; Rudy Vallée and his Connecticut Yankees; composer Irving Berlin; Mike Hanapi's Ilima Islanders; Hank Keene and his Connecticut Hill Billies; The Men of Song; The Travelers Chorus; the Modern Symphonic Choir

Songs: "I’ve Got a Feeling You’re Fooling," "Betty Co-ed," "Isn’t This a Lovely Day," "Broadway Rhythm"

Phillips Carlin and Graham McNamee covering the 1925 Cornell – Penn football game

Vaudeville acts: Bergen and McCarthy, Phil Baker, Jack Benny, “Sliding” Billy Watson, Harry Houdini, Will Rogers, Weber and Fields

Radio network shows: "The Fleischmann’s Yeast Hour," "The Sealtest Show," "Duffy’s Tavern," "Madcap Varieties"

Actors: John Barrymore, Durelle Alexander, Brad Reynolds, Michael O’Shea, Gertrude Warner, Jay Ray, Charlie Richards, Eunice Greenwood, Louis Nye

Writers: Ed Gardner, Abe Burrows, Paul Henning, Jess Oppenheimer, Frank Galen, Charlie Issacs, Norman Panama, Melvin Frank

TV shows: "The Ed Sullivan Show," "Beverly Hillbillies," "Petticoat Junction," "I Love Lucy"

Media organizations: “The Hartford Times” newspaper; WTHT Radio in Hartford; Associated Press (AP); United Press International (UPI); International News Service (INS); Transradio Press Service (founded by Herbert Moore); WOR Radio in New York; KRLD Radio in Dallas; KTHS (now KAAY) in Little Rock, Arkansas; RCA Laboratories

Athletes: boxers Max Baer, Jack Dempsey, John Henry Lewis, Henry Armstrong; baseball players Frankie Frisch and John “Pepper” Martin, both of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Gashouse Gang