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VOL. 5

NBC

NO. 1

Walter Keens Decorated By French Government

COUNT CHARLES DE FERRY DE FOUNTNOUVELLE, French
Consul General of New York, conferring upon Walter Koons, NBC
Music Editor, the Palms of Officier d’ Academie, an honorary commis-
sion from the French government.

The French gov-
ernment again has
honored American
broadcasting by con-
ferring the Palms of
an officer d’Acade-
mie upon Walter
Koons, NBC Music
Editor in New York.

The award was made
on January 18 with
due ceremony by
Count Charles de
Ferry de Fountnou-
velle, French Consul
General of New
York. The decora-
tion was given "in
recognition of serv-
ices rendered in the
promotion of music
culture and for fur-
thering the interests
of French music in the United States.”
The Palms of an Officer D’ Academie which
is seldom bestowed upon other than
Frenchmen was established by decree of
Napoleon I on March 17, 1808.

Other known members of our organiza-
tion who hold decorations from the French
government are General James G. Har-
bord. Commander of the Legion of Honor

and a croix de guerre; David Sarnoff,
Chevalier of the Legion of Honor; Alfred
H. Morton, Manager of NBC Operated
Stations Department, Chevalier of the
Legion of Honor; Frank Black, Palms of
an Officer d’Academie; and Franklin
Dunham, Educational Director, Palms of
an officer of Public Instruction.

TELEVISION TESTS NOW
USING THE NEW
441 LINE STANDARD

President Lohr announced on January
19 that the first tests of high definition
television using the new standards which
have been recommended by the radio in-
dustry to the Federal Communications
Commission are now being conducted by
engineers of RCA and NBC.

Images scanned by the RCA Iconoscope,
the pick-up tube, at the rate of 441 lines
per frame have been transmitted from the
NBC experimental station in the Epipire
State Tower and successfully received by
a selected number of experimental tele-
vision receivers in the homes of RCA-NBC
engineers and technicians.

"Pictures of 441 line definition are much
clearer than those of 343 lines, the defi-
nition employed in previous tests from the

Empire State,” said Mr. Lohr. "As we
proceed in this fascinating adventure of
bringing radio sight to distant eyes, it is
encouraging to be able to report this sub-
stantial progress.”

"The development of television service,”
said Mr. Lohr, "promises to be orderly
and evolutionary in character and is a
tribute to the radio industry which has
enjoyed public favor on a scale that is
most encouraging to its future. The public
may purchase present day radio receiving
sets with confidence as to their continuing
serviceability. Television receiving sets
cannot precede a television program ser-
vice of satisfactory quality, which will be
available at the beginning only in sharply
restricted metropolitan areas following
the eventual solution of technical, eco-
nomic and program problems.”

Y Y *

Don't forget to send in your entries for the
next Photo Contest before February 12.

ATTENTION MR. RIPLEY !

Don’t look now, Mr. Ripley, but because
George McElwain, NBC field engineer, is
a short-wave enthusiast in his spare time,
a man in San Francisco and a boy in Los
Angeles started 1937 with happier hearts
than they have known in a long while.

Tapping Morse code messages out into
the ether to other "hams,” George fell
into an airy conversation one night with
an eighteen-year old lad who confided that
he was seeking his father whom he had
not seen since babyhood when his par-
ents separated.

"All I know about him is that he is on
the stage and travels all over the world—
I don’t even know his stage name so I
can’t locate him,” the boy said.

A few nights later "Mac” was sitting
at the key again, talking to the wide world
and contacted a man who said he had but
one purpose in "hamnring”— to find the
son he had lost through a broken mar-
riage years ago. "Mac” asked a few
guarded questions and — you can turn
around now, Mr. Ripley— you’ve guessed
it. The NBC man called NKE in Los
Angeles, told him to get in touch with
W6BBQ, and united the father and son.

Then only did he learn the identity of
the former. He is R. K. Johnson, inter-
nationally famous stage magician known
as Valdemar the Great. Most of his tours
in recent years have been in Europe and
the Orient and it was pure chance that
he happened to be in San Francisco pre-
( Continued on Page 5)

GEORGE McELWAIN

. . . field engineer, with an NBC San Francisco
mobile unit at the opening of the power plant
at Boulder Dam.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NEW BUSINESS MANAGER
OF

PROGRAM DEPARTMENT

C. W. FITCH, manager of personnel
for NBC since September 1, 1936, has been
appointed business manager of the Pro-
gram Department to fill the position left
vacant by the promotion of Alfred H.
Morton to the managership of the NBC
Operated Stations Department.

Mr. Fitch already has assumed his new
duties, which consist of handling the per-
sonnel, budgets and all problems con-
nected with the administration of the
Program Department. At present, he is
spending several days with each division
of the department to acquaint himself
with their various activities.

Before joining NBC, Mr. Fitch resigned
as assistant director of the Housing Divi-
sion of the Public Works Administration,
a post he took in 1935. From 1930 to
1935, he was associated with A Century
of Progress in Chicago as director of
exhibits and assistant to the general
manager.

THE SAINT PAUL CARNIVAL

The Saint Paul Winter Carnival which
is being revived after nineteen years at a
cost of approximately $500,000 will be
broadcast over the NBC-Blue Network
Saturday, January 30, from 10:00 to
11:00 P.M., EST. Announcers will de-
scribe the Carnival Parade, the Dog Derby
and the Skating Races which will mark
the opening. The music of fifty bands
and dozens of glee clubs taking part in
the carnival also will be heard.

i i i

Don't forget to send in your entries for the
next Photo Contest before February 12.

BRAZIL JOINS ARGENTINA
IN COMMERCIAL BROAD-
CAST OF METROPOLITAN
OPERA SERIES

Radiobras at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
began broadcasting the regular Saturday
matinee performances of the Metropolitan
Opera Company in New York, on Satur-
day, January 23, under the sponsorship
of the Radio Corporation of America.

Radiobras is the second major South
American broadcasting company to inau-
gurate a series of commercially spon-
sored radio programs from the United
States in less than a month. Radio Splen-
did at Buenos Aires, Argentina, began
broadcasting the Metropolitan Opera on
January 7. Thus, South America’s two
largest nations are receiving the first ser-
ies of commercial programs ever sent from
this country to a foreign nation other
than Canada.

The opera programs are transmitted
to Radiobras and Radio Splendid, by ar-
rangement of the Radio Corporation of
America, through the facilities of RCA
Communications, Inc. Announcements and
commercial credits, in Portuguese by
Radiobras and in Spanish by Radio
Splendid, are added to the broadcasts at
Rio de Janeiro and at Buenos Aires.

In addition to these RCA commercial
broadcasts to Brazil and Argentina, non-
commercial broadcasts of the Metropoli-
tan Opera ai;e relayed through W3XAL’s
new directional-beam antenna to other
Latin American countries.

* * *•

As we go to press the Program Depart-
ment announces the completion of nego-
tiations to add Uruguay’s El Expectador
to the South American companies now
receiving the commercial broadcasts of

NBC STUDIO TOURS

HIT A NEW HIGH

Radio City, headquarters of the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company, is New
York City’s most popular point of inter-
est among paying sightseers, it is re-
vealed in a comparison of figures for the
year 1936. Only one other sightseer’s
mecca in the entire country charging ad-
mission exceeds the broadcasting studios
in popularity and that is Mount Vernon,
Virginia, the home of George Washington.

In 1936 there was an increase of more
than eleven per cent over the number of
persons who took the studio tour in 1935.
The following figures show the tremen-
dous increases of paying guests from

year to year:

1933 (Nov. and Dec.) .... 30,000

1934 437,431

1935 470,068

1936 528,322

Total 1,466,794

The figures above do not include the
number of non-paying guests which totals
70,657 for the corresponding years and
which is about four per cent of the total
of 1,466,794 paying guests.

Commissions earned by the NBC Guest
Relations Division from the sales of sight-
seeing and tower tickets for Rockefeller
Center Tours were doubled in 1936 as
compared with 1935.

A systematic checking of the guided
tourists at Radio City indicate that eighty
per cent of them are from out of town.

the RCA Metropolitan Opera Company
series, heard each Saturday afternoon
during the current opera season. The
broadcast will be relayed from New York
to Montevideo through Buenos Aires.

ON THE SHELF

The books listed in this column are recommended as pertinent literature on
radio and allied subjects. They will be found in the General Library on the NBC
Transmitter Shelf.

OLD WIRES AND NEW WAVES by Alvin F. Harlow. Mr. Harlow tells the
story of communication from the first signal drums, and beacon fires of savage
tribes to the present-day miracles of television and scrambled radio telephony.
Written colorfully and with humor, replete with fascinating anecdotes. 525
pages. If you can’t read the whole book there are several chapters you should
not miss— but once you start you will probably want to go right through.
CAREERS IN ADVERTISING by Alden James. Nine chapters in this all-in-
clusive book are devoted to radio. They are written by such folk in the radio
know as Arthur Pryor, M. H. Aylesworth, H. K. Boice, John F. Royal, E. B.
Foote, W. S. Hedges and others.

BROADCASTING IN THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. In an address before
the National Conference on Educational Broadcasting, Mr. Sarnoff presents
broadcasting’s contribution to educational development in the United States and
upholds the American system as esssential to Democracy.

JANUARY, 1937

APPOINTED TO NEW YORK
LOCAL SALES DIVISION

GORDON H. MILLS
. . . "creative and organizing ability”

Gordon H. Mills, Manager of the Guest
Relations Division was appointed to the
Local Sales Division of the N. Y. Sales
Department, January 18. The appoint-
ment will become effective February 1,
1937.

Mr. Mills enters the Sales Department
with a background of diversified experi-
ence in the radio advertising and sales
promotion line. ^

Upon leaving Union College, where he
was a member of Alpha Delta Phi, Mr.
Mills started his own radio sales and
service business on Long Island. In 1926
Mr. Mills joined RCA as a salesman in
charge of the Pittsburgh area. Seven
months later he assumed charge of field
promotion for RCA. His association with
radio led to his being called by the New
York Times and later the Chicago Ex-
aminer to sell national advertising space
in their sales divisions.

In November 1933, Mr. Mills joined the
National Broadcasting Company newly-
formed Guest Tours Division. This new
unit gave Mr. Mills an opportunity to
employ his creative and organizing ability.
In April, 1936 the Guest Tours Division
was merged with the Reception Division
and the new group went into operation
as the Guest Relations Division, headed
by Mr. Mills.

The NBC TRANSMITTER urges
you to fill out and return as soon
as possible the survey blanks en-
closed in your copy of the TRANS-
MITTER. . . . Thank you.

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

by Louise Landis

Ruth Miller, pretty, dark-eyed hostess
who ushers folks in and out of second
floor offices in NBC’s San Francisco
headquarters, has an admirer so shy he
doesn’t even reveal his identity. But for
several weeks he has been sending roses
to her desk inscribed "To the most beauti-
ful lady.’’ He evidently is a frequent
visitor at her desk for as soon as the
roses lose their freshness another box
appears. So far he has managed to re-
main anonymous and with the whole staff
becoming curious, it’s going to be a feat
of skill on his part to remain so.

1 i i

Dave Elton, tall, dark-haired young man
who joined the NBC staff as an announcer
several years ago, has been placed in
charge of the destinies of the Woman’s
Magazine of the Air.

He replaces the producer Caryl Cole-
man, who resigned to join an advertising
agency recently. Dave was transferred
to the production division several months
ago as he wanted to gain some experience
in other branches of radio besides an-
nouncing". As producer of the "Maga-
zine,” he will have to please an audience
of women stretching up and down the
Pacific Coast, five afternoons a week, so
he can use all the good luck wishes that
are being showered upon him by his
associates.

ill

Song pluggers come out of Jack Meak-
in’s cubby-hole under the eaves of the
NBC headquarters of 111 Sutter Street
smiling these days, even if the handsome
young orchestra conductor hasn’t found
time or opportunity to play their songs as
many times as they think he should have.
A big red bucket stands besides his desk
with a towel knotted around the handle.
It bears the inscription, "Weep in here.”

r 1 1

James Lyman of the Auditing Division
is on his way to join the ranks of the
Benedicts ... he confesses that he
slipped a diamond ring on the finger of
Miss Virginia Bower of Berkeley, Cali-
fornia the other night, and that the wed-
ding will be some time this summer.
Jim has been a member of the NBC
office staff for several years: his bride-to-
be is a dental hygienist.

1 r i

Ken Carney, program manager, thinks
that "The Show Up” series, Police Chief
William J. Quinn’s weekly dramas over
NBC whose aim is to show the inside

PRESIDENTIAL
INAUGURATION
BROADCAST IN
FIVE LANGUAGES

Four years ago when Franklin D.
Roosevelt was swept into the White
House, NBC relayed by short wave the
inauguration ceremonies to twelve coun-
tries. This year the inauguration of
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second term as
the President of the United States was
broadcast in five languages to all the
corners of the earth.

Max Jordan, NBC European represen-
tative, who sailed back to Europe this
week, described the ceremonies and gave
a summary of the presidential address
in French, German and Italian. This
was short-waved to Geneva where it was
rebroadcast over RCA facilities to France,
Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

Jose Tercero of the Pan-American
Union in Washington, D. C., assisted by
Dan Russell, described the ceremonies
and summarized the President’s speech in
Spanish for South American audiences
over W3XAL’s new directional-beam an-
tenna.

Felix Greene, American representa-
tive of the British Broadcasting Corpora-
tion described the proceedings before and
after the inaugural speech for the British
Empire through the facilities of BBC in
London.

Kurt G. Sell, representative of the
Reichs Rundfunk Gesellschaft, German
broadcasting company, gave a German
summary of President Roosevelt’s speech
which was rebroadcast in Berlin.

pictures of the police department make
good entertainment. Ken now also knows
it’s true what they say about police de-
partment efficiency for when his car was
stolen the other night, he informed Chief
Quinn about it when the latter entered
the studio for his broadcast, and the vehi-
cle was recovered by morning.

1 r 1

Why June Shaw, who supervises pro-
gram information in the Press Depart-
ment sometimes wears a tired look :

She answered two telephone calls in
the space of five minutes. One caller
said, "Can you tell me when the date
palm bears fruit?— Yes, I know it has
nothing to do with radio but I thought
maybe you would find out for me.” The
next one wanted to know: "What was
the date of the first broadcast of sacred
music whistled on the radio by a profes-
sional whistler? You don’t know? Well,
why don’t you?”

NBC TRANSMITTER

THE NBC PRESIDENTIAL TEAM

CARLETON SMITH, NBC’s Presidential Announcer, and A. E. JOHNSON, Chief Engineer
of NBC’s Washington Division testing equipment.

CLEARING MUSIC A

TICKLISH BUSINESS

"Mr. Belviso? Miss Brainard calling.
The opera scheduled for next Saturday’s
broadcast from the Met is 'Tales of Hoff-
man’! In addition to the American, Ca-
nadian, Brazilian and Argentinian listen-
ing audience, we are sending the broad-
cast to Uruguay. Will you check through
and clear the music rights in each coun-
try?”

And so begins a careful investigation,
typical of the painstaking thoroughness
with which every bar of music heard over
our networks is checked and rechecked
for hidden obstacles. In the case of the
opera, however, there are foreign rights
involved which add further complications.
Using the above conditions as an example,
it is interesting to follow Mr. Belviso
through the procedure of checking, get-
ting meanwhile an intimate glimpse into
the business life of a Music Division head.

First, a quick check shows that the
"Tales of Hoffman” is a French opera,
copyrighted in France and protected for
fifty years after the death of the authors.
After determining the country of the
opera’s origin and the conditions of its
copyright, research is begun into the copy-
right situation of this particular opera in
the United States, Canada, Argentina,
Brazil and Uruguay to make sure that the
proper permission is secured to broadcast
the program. A slip-up here may mean
costly law suits.

With all the copyright facts straight in
his mind, Mr. Belviso then opens negotia-
tions with copyright agents in all coun-
tries concerned, for a fee must be paid by
NBC to the guardians of the copyright
privileges for the right to broadcast the
opera to the vast intercontinental listen-
ing audience. Only after every agent con-
tacted has confirmed the deal does Mr.
Belviso notify the Program Department
that the rights to send the program to the
desired audience have been cleared.

NBC clears the rights to approximately
90,000 pieces of music each month. How-
ever, a single mistake which results in the
infringement of music rights is regarded
by the company as a very serious error.

Engineers Alvin MacMahon and Frank
E. Whittam of WTAM, Cleveland, sup-
plied police broadcasting service with
NBC mobile unit number five when flood
waters crippled police radio equipment at
Portsmouth, Ohio. MacMahon and Whit-
tam maintained communication in the
flooded area with State police and Ports-
mouth Scout cars.

Ill

Don't forget to send in your entries for the
next Photo Contest before February 12.

fSpeciaJ lo the NBC TBANSMITTER)

When Carleton Smith jumped off the
President’s special train on the morning
of November 6th, he drew a deep sigh
of relief . . . He was home to stay, or so
he thought.

Carleton has been Presidential an-
nouncer since President Roosevelt en-
tered the White House four years ago.
During last summer he made all the trips
with the President, traveling over 26,000
miles "covering” him constantly through-
out the political campaign.

The Presidential Announcer shouldn’t
have spoken so loudly as he detrained
early in November— it was only the be-
ginning. A few days later President
Roosevelt announced his intention to go
to Buenos Aires to participate in the

GLENN MORRIS WINS

SULLIVAN TROPHY

A tribunal composed of six hundred
outstanding leaders of sport in all parts
of the United States recently awarded
the annual Sullivan Memorial Trophy
to Glenn Morris of our Special Events
Department. The trophy is a small bronze
statue awarded annually by the Amateur
Athletic Union to the outstanding amateur
athlete of the year. In granting the
trophy the tribunal took into considera-
tion acts of sportsmanship, excellence of
performance, strength of character, quali-
ties of leadership, force of personality and
high ideals of amateurism. Jesse Owens
was named in second place, with Joe
Medica, University of Washington swim-
mer, coming third.

Inter-American Peace Conference. Where
the President goes, there also goes NBC.
Carleton Smith and Albert Johnson, NBC
Chief Engineer in Washington, packed
their bags and were off to Miami. They
boarded a big 4 motored Pan American
Clipper ship and began their 7,400 mile
flight to South America.

This famous NBC Presidential team
was responsible for ten broadcasts in con-
nection with President Roosevelt’s visit
in South America. Outstanding were the
speeches by the President before the
joint session of the Brazilian Congress;
his famous address to the delegates at
the opening of the Conference in Buenos
Aires; and the address at the luncheon
given by the President of Uruguay at
Montevideo. Carleton enjoyed hearing
from the President himself the fact that
members of his family had all told him
how well his voice came over the great
distances from the South American Re-
publics to the United States.

"The biggest thrill and the most spec-
tacular sight was 'covering’ the President
at Rio de Janeiro.” Smith says, "At
ten o’clock November 27th, everything
seemed to happen at once. The rain
which had been falling for more than
twelve hours cleared away ... I "got
the air” just as the big cruiser Indianapo-
lis pulled into the docks at Praca Maua.
President Roosevelt stood at the rail on
the quarter-deck. The sun burst forth
and simultaneously 5,000 Brazilian school
children, waving Brazilian and American
flags, sang the 'Star Spangled Banner’ in
English.”

—Marian P. Gale

JANUARY, 1937

ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION
GRANTS SPECIAL

RADIO FELLOWSHIP

Allen Miller, head
of the University
Broadcasting Coun-
cil of Chicago, has
been named the re-
cipient of this year’s
fellowship for ob-
servation and train-
ing in network
procedure here at
NBC granted by the General Education
Board, a Rockefeller foundation, accord-
ing to a recent announcement.

Miller’s fellowship became effective
January 15 and was granted under an
arrangement by which university students
and representatives of broadcasting sta-
tions are assigned by the General Educa-
tion Board to NBC for study. This re-
search privilege includes a month’s work
at an NBC branch station and five
months work in NBC radio studios. Be-
fore taking his present position two years
as head of the University Broadcasting
Council of Chicago, Miller served six
years as director of University of Chicago
broadcasting activities.

The University Broadcasting Council
of Chicago represents three universities,
De Paul, Northwestern and the University
of Chicago. The Council sponsors the fa-
mous Round Table Discussion series and
"Science in the News,’’ a weekly feature
presenting Dr. Arthur H. Compton, Nobel
Prize winner. The Council’s studios are in
downtown Chicago with a direct line to
Mitchell Tower on the University of Chi-
cago’s campus from where the Sunday
morning Round Table program has orig-
inated every week for the past four years.

Recipients of the first two fellowships,
William Friel Heimlich of Ohio State
University and a member of the staff of
WOSU, Columbus, and Miss Leora Shaw
of the University of Wisconsin and a staff
member of WHA, Madison complete their
training on February 15. During the
last five months they have been carried
through all phases of broadcasting includ-
ing intensive studies in continuity writ-
ing, production and programming. How-
ever, Miller’s fellowship differs from the
first two granted in that the arrangement
is extended to an executive. His training
period will be shorter and more intense.
He comes direct to Radio City instead of
first spending a month in an NBC station.

Dr. Franklin Dunham, NBC’s Educa-
tional Director, is in complete charge of
the project and is responsible for making
the necessary arrangements to provide
each of the fellows ample facilities for
observation, study, research, and training.

ALLEN MILLER

NBC BOSTON AND SPRINGFIELD

by Edward B. Hall

On December 27, 1936, a daughter was
born to Jack and Virginia (Hamilton)
Wright at the Faulkner Memorial Hos-
pital. Jack Wright, WBZ’s capable young
production manager, says his daughter
will be christened Linda. Latest bulle-
tins give assurance that both Linda and
her mother continue to thrive. Jack, how-
ever, is still convalescing.

i i i

Robert E. (Bob) White, studio director
of WBZA and mentor of the popular
WBZA Players, has established a free
public school of the drama which meets
weekly at the Hotel Kimball studios in
Springfield. This venture serves the two-
fold purpose of making new friends for
WBZA and of developing fresh talent for
Bob’s radio players. Some 30 Spring-
fieldians regularly attend the Friday eve-
ning classes in the studio.

i i i

Bob Halloran of the WBZ Accounting
Department has what he believes may be
a unique cover from the Union of South
Africa. It bears a strip of three one-
penny stamps of the issue printed in com-
memoration of King George the Fifth’s
Jubilee in 1935. The center stamp shows
a decided plate scratch which runs di-
agonally through the King’s head. At
first glance it would appear as though a
mask had been placed over the Sover-
eign’s face. Bob would be delighted to
hear from any fellow philatelist who may
happen to know the history of this curious
Jubilee imprint.

1 1 i

The peace which passeth understanding
has descended upon WBZ since D. A.
Meyer banished his anvil chorus of car-
penters and painters. For weeks these
industrious artisans made days and nights
hideous with their bedlam. And for more
than a fortnight the place was a shambles,
as piles of lumber littered corridors and
buckets of whitewash tettered precariously
from jittery scaffoldings overhead. But
out of that chaos has emerged a new
order. No longer must harried execu-
tives— now hermetically sealed in their
offices— involuntarily eavesdrop on their
colleagues in adjoining cubicles. The
Press Department’s news room, formerly a
morgue for unused equipment, has been
purged and the outraged dignity of the
Fourth Estate redressed in oak panels
and fresh paint.

Ill

What do announcers and operators do
in their leisure moments? At WBZ they
go down to the Hotel Bradford alleys—
and bowl. This pastime has recently
taken root among the staff and promises
to flourish. Many and bitter are the con-
tests waged below-stairs between NBC
announcers Art Feldman and Charles
Nobles against Westinghouse operators
Bob Duffield and Elmer Lantz. Duffield
is consistently a high individual scorer.
But all concede to Nobles the distinction
of talking the best game. It is likely,
however, that NBC and Westinghouse may
temporarily bury the hatchet to join
forces against the cohorts of an upstart
radio station in this city, whose emissar-
ies have defiantly flung down the gauntlet
to WBZ.

ATTENTION MR. RIPLEY

(Continued from page one)

paring for his next tour when he talked
to the NBC field man via the Morse code.
Because his son, Kenton, couldn’t leave
his job with an oil company and business
prevented the elder Johnson from leaving
San Francisco, the two haven’t seen each
other face to face but they expect to meet
soon when the magician goes to Los
Angeles to embark for the Philippines to
fill contracts for appearances there and
in the Orient.

"I’ve pulled many a white rabbit out
of a silk hat,” Valdemar the Great told
"Mac,” but you performed a trick that I
was afraid was impossible.” He and his
son will continue their nightly talks by
short wave pending their reunion.

Louise Landis,

NBC, San Francisco

Gordon Ewing, NBC Sales Manager in
Boston, has ventured a dangerous experi-
ment. His two latest accessions to the
Sales Department, Jameson S. Slocum
and Frank R. Bowes, are products of
Princeton and Harvard respectively. Not
only that, Mr. Ewing has had the temer-
ity to place them at adjoining desks,
within convenient reach of each other’s
academic throats. So far, all has been
peaceful. In fact. Messrs. Slocum and
Bowes have been lunching together with
no apparent indications of imminent may-
hem. Associates fear the worst, however,
may come next October when the Tigers
meet the Crimson team on the gridiron.
Jay Slocum, Princeton ’22 has been New
England Representative for the Curtis
Publishing Company and for Conde-Nast.
Frank Bowes, Harvard ’30, comes to NBC
from a New England network. Both are
avid sports enthusiasts.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by Frances Scully

LET'S GET ACQUAINTED

You ought to know Frank C. Lepore,
our retiring editor.

because ... he has managed to keep all
his twenty-two years chock full of ac-
tivity. His diversified experience makes
him an interesting personality. His first
experience with big business came at the
age of fifteen with Doubleday, Doran,
book publishers, in Garden City. Then he
was a fuel oil salesman, general manager
in charge of advertising and publicity for
a theater, and a clerk with a Wall Street
broker before he joined NBC’s Guest Re-
lations Staff two and a half years ago.
because . . . his interests have found
other fields than business. He is a 2nd
Lieutenant in the ROTC and a member
of the U. S. Military Intelligence Society.
He received his first military training at
Staunton Military Academy where he was
schooled.

because ... he had the vision to see a
place for an NBC’s employes’ hews organ,
the strength to overcome the difficulties of
establishing it, and the ability to carry
it from its early venture as the Reception
Staff Review, to its present status as the
NBC Transmitter.

because ... at one time, in addition to
being editor, reporter and guide, he was
studying pre-law evenings at N.Y.U. He
intends still to continue that study.
because ... he has the happy faculty of
making and keeping friends, all of whom
would fight for him at the proverbial drop
of a hat.

because ... he is leaving the Transmit-
ter which is now firmly established to
take a well deserved advancement to the
NBC Publicity Department.
because ... we had to over-ride his veto
as advisory editor of the Transmitter
to run this story.

We give you Frank C. Lepore.

Bob Brooke of the Engineering Depart-
ment has just been elected vice chairman
.and program chairman of the Los An-
geles Chapter of the Institute of Radio
Engineers. i i -t

Syd Dixon and Tracy Moore have just
returned to Hollywood after attending
the meeting of the NBC Pacific Coast
Sales Division in San Francisco, which
was called by Don E. Gilman, vice presi-
dent in charge of NBC’s Western Divi-
sion, and Western Sales Manager Harry
Anderson. Incidentally, Syd Dixon has
recently been appointed Assistant Sales
Manager for the Western Division.

Dema Harshbarger, the NBC Artists
Service chief in Hollywood, has a coal-
black setter-airdale named Nig who eats
nothing but avocados. So healthy has
this diet proven to the animal that he
weighs 82 pounds. The real payoff, how-
ever, is that its upkeep doesn’t cost Miss
Harshbarger a dime. Whenever Nig
wants an avocado, he takes a jaunt to a
neighbor’s ranch and lifts one. Which
will probably explain the mystery of the
avocado crop shrinkage around the vi-
cinity of La Habra Heights, California.

ON THEIR WEEK-ENDS-Jean Dar-
rel, Sid Goodwin’s secretary, hies herself
off .for hikes up to Mt. Hollywood and
the Griffith Park Planetarium. Earl
Dixon, continuity department, devotes his
time to the wife and two kiddies.

Ill

Hollywood NBCites extend greetings to
Charlie Young in New York through the
pages of the Transmitter. Let us hear
from you, Charlie. We’re glad to hear
you’re back in the fold.

1 i i

The other evening Myrna Bay (Music
Division) received a call from the Veter-
an’s Bureau. A disabled soldier was
dying and as a parting gesture, the boys
wanted Ben Bernie to play his favorite

EXCHANGE CORNER

This classified ad section is available, free
of charge, to all NBC employees. Rules: forty-
five word limit; not more than one ad to each
employee every other issue; no regular busi-
ness or professional services may be adver-
tised. Address ads to NBC Transmitter,
Room 284, RCA Building, N. Y.

All items must be in writing; give name
and address.

TWO CHEAP SKATES-Excellent pair of
Dunne’s tubular men’s racing skates, size
8 (Blade, 14 inches). Slightly used. Original
cost $15.00. Sacrifice at $4.00. Call M. Bau-
man, Ext. 350.

WANTED— Anyone willing to sell a copy of
the second issue of Life magazine, please

piece, "When My Dream Boat Comes In.”
Well, Myrna went to bat and after scurry-
ing around the studio and burning up the
phone, she reached the old maestro, who
with all the lads granted the boy’s dying
wish, when they went on the air from the
Cocoanut Grove. Myrna felt very elated
about being able to do her bit until some-
one suggested that it might have been a

song plugger. ^ ^ ^

The fine art of radio writing and radio
production is imparted to students of the
University of California by Marvin Young,
Hollywood production manager, who con-
ducts his weekly classes at the Holly-
wood studios.

1 i r

Things are coming right along way out
West, with a flock of more newcomers
and promotions. Here we go ... Joe
Thompson, transferred from San Fran-
cisco to Hollywood’s production depart-
ment. Thompson is a nephew of Kath-
leen Norris, novelist. Harold Deiker,
transferred from NBC in Denver to
Hollywood’s mail department, rated a pro-
motion to the sound effects department in
no time. Bob Edwards has been made
assistant to Russel Hudson in the mail
room. Jane Fleming has been added to
the traffic department, replacing Joan
Chapman who has been made secretary
to Marvin Young and Ted Sherdeman.

Ill

Ruby Taylor is a Hollywood hostess
now. Not Amos 'n’ Andy’s Ruby, but a
charming young lady who has the same
name.

Engineers’ Hobbies Ahd Pastimes . . .
Paul Greene collects Currier & Ives prints
. . . Mort Smith’s still planning on that
home in Sherman Oaks . . . Ralph Dene-
chaud goes in for tennis . . . Bob Brooke
finds time for swimming . . . but Frank
Figgins says his hobby is trying to find
time to have a hobby.

write the NBC Transmitter, or call Ext. 220.

WANTED— Your ideas, stories, articles and
suggestions for the pages of the NBC
Transmitter. Address the NBC Transmit-
ter, Room 284, RCA Bldg., N. Y.

LOST— Black Packard electric razor. Any in-
formation regarding the above may be given
to Jack McCarthy, Ext. 400.

LOST — A black portable turntable. Please
call Ext. 625 with any information con-
cerning same.

ROOMMATE— I would like to contact one or
two other fellows with the idea of taking an
apartment together. Limit $5 per week. Write
Box 1, NBC Transmitter.

JANUARY, 1937

WINNERS IN JANUARY PHOTO CONTEST

tion by the judges.

FIRST PRIZE — This appealing picture entitled
"FRANCES MARY," won first prize this month. It was
taken by her brother, James Costello, of the New
York Script Division. The prize — a pair of tickets to
WHITE HORSE INN.

RULES FOR PHOTO CONTEST

(Read Carefully)

1. Prints must be no smaller than 2 V 2 " x 4" (the larger the
better). Negatives cannot be accepted.

2. Captions are desirable.

3. Name, station and department must appear on back of
photograph.

Pictures will be judged on composition and subject matter.
Judges are Ray Lee Jackson and William Haussler. Decisions
are final. All entries will be returned but the NBC Trans-
mitter will not be responsible for those which are lost.
Entries for February contest must be in by February 12.

Night Before Christmas" by Rod-
ney Chipp of the New York En-
gineering Department took sec-
ond prize, a pair of tickets to the
Radio City Music Hall.

"V2" taken by Lester F. Miles was
judged worthy of Special Mention.

NBC TRANSMITTER

Published for and by the employees
of the National Broadcasting Com-
pany from eoast to coast.

VOL. 3 JANUARY, 1937 NO. 1

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS Editor

ARY R. MOLL Assistant Editor

FRANK NOECKER Associate Editor

WALTER A. WIEBEL Circulation Manager

DIANA MILLER Promotion

CHARLES VAN BERGEN Photographs

CONTRIBUTORS

KEENE CROCKET Sound Effects

ALWIN FOSTER Statistical

DORIS RUUTH Engineering

EDWARD D. KELLER . , Guest Relations

HERBERT GROSS .. . Guest Relations

PAUL RITTENHOUSE . Guest Relations

FRANK C. LEPORE Advisory Editor

Address all correspondence to:

NBC TRANSMITTER

Room 284 Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

IT IS NOT TOO LATE

If you have not made any New Year resolutions
or did not include this one, it is not too late to
resolve to keep looking forward this year for
continued progress and peace. We, in this coun-
try, are a happy and fortunate people. Last No-
vember we made a momentous and practically
unanimous decision which might have called for
a revolution in another nation. And, now, with
smiling faces and great enthusiasm we start an-
other year with happy resolutions while abroad
they are having and planning revolutions.

Amidst a world of depression, calamity and
turmoil we have kept our heads up— these last
few years. Let us continue our peaceful and con-
structive progress at home, at work and in our
community. Let no one deceive us with tliat kind
of progress which calls for destruction and blood-
shed. We know better because we have proven
not only to ourselves but to the rest of the world
that more can be accomplished in peace than in
warfare.

We, of the National Broadcasting Company, as
the custodians of the world’s largest broadcasting
system, a powerful instrument for the propaga-
tion of peace, must fully realize our responsibility
to our people— nay, to all peoples. Let us think in
terms of peace and we shall find it.

i i i

It is gratifying to note that the Federal Com-
munications Commission has increased music
lovers’ enjoyment of the Metropolitan Opera
Company broadcasts by passing an amendment
which now permits NBC to dispense with the
heretofore compulsory half-hourly station iden-
tification breaks during the performances, and,
instead, make the identifications between acts of
the opera.

ruK

TRANSniTTER READERS

UATER is used to DRV AIR IN
NBC'cS RADIO CITV STUDIOS.

rvrr re iruc-nu ^BC RADIO CITYS PER.-

SO^^^)EL MAKE AND RECEIVE
Am ^ AJERAGE of ZO.OX)

AFFILIATED WITH NBC. CALLS DAILV.

LISTENER REACTIONS

by Ruth M. Crawford

Correspondent, New York Audience Mail Division

Question and Answer Bureau might well be a sub-title of the Audience Mail
Division. Among the questions in the lighter vein:

"I’m interested to go to the cowboy ranches but I have no right address.
Would ask you a favor and give me the name of some cowboy or the right address
of the ranches. It don’t matter what kind of ranch is to be but I want to go in State
of Te'xas.” i r i

"Please tell me how to get your personalities chart so I can learn to attract
the men. I have tried everything to make the men like me.”

Ill

"Dear Lady Next Door: I wish to go up in a zeppelin and crash.”

ill

"We are planning a surprise party for a girl friend. We would appreciate
it if you would tell us of some games or other form of entertainment. Most of the
fellows can’t dance, which makes it hard.”

1 i i

And BELIEVE IT OR NOT . . .

ill

"Please announce for me over the radio that I am for sale to any lady who
is seeking a trustworthy husband for keeps, for the sum of $1,500 payable on
date of marriage”! i i r

"Will you please broadcast this over the air — A middle aged man just past
52 years old would like to get a good home in a private family for a Xmas present.”

JANUARY, 1937

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Transfers:

Miss Evelyn Sniffin, of NBC Operated
Stations Dept., replaces Marguerite Mon-
roe who resigned as secretary to Direc-
tor of Publicity Wayne Randall.

i i i

Jack Leonhardt has been transferred
from the Duplicating Room to the Mail
and Messenger Section.

Ill

Miss Louise Finck, from Stenographic
Division to Electrical Transcription Ser-
vice, Dec. 21.

1 i 1

Miss Margaret Spencer has been named
secretary to Clay Morgan, of the presi-
dent’s office.

< < <

Miss Aida Mullen moves from the Legal
Department to Artists Service as secretary
to Dan Tuthill, business manager, effec-
tive February 1. Miss Cecilia McKenna
replaces Miss Mullen as secretary to
Counsel, Mr. Joseph A. McDonald.

1 i 1

Miss Louise Levitas is transferred from

the Stenographic Division to Program
Supervision.

ill

Miss Marion Ayer returns as secretary
to Glenn W. Payne after a time in the
Treasurer’s office.

i i 1

Miss Alfretta Gordon replaces Mrs.
Elisabeth Guild, resigned, as secretary to
Edward M. Lowell, Building Maintenance
Manager. Miss Muriel Parker replaces
Miss Gordon.

i i i

Miss Maralena Tromly becomes secre-
tary to William D. Bloxham, head of the
Purchasing Division, effective January 15,
in place of Miss Anna M. Reiss, resigned.

i i i

Misses Mary Keeler and Marjorie
McFeeters transferred from the Steno-
graphic Division to the Sales Department,
replacing Misses Constance Peters and
Ann Tolomeo, both resigned.

Ill

Miss Sonia Severt leaves Mr. Whittak-
er’s office in the Program Department to
take a post in the Sales Traffic Depart-
ment. Helen Sweeney replaces Miss
Severt.

Raymond Glendon, Duplicating, re-
places Clifford Welch, resigned, in
Stenographic. Michael Sleva replaces
Glendon.

1 i i

Sydney Desfor, replaced as assistant to
photographer Ray Lee Jackson by Robert
Fraser. Sid’s new assignment will be that
of news photographer handling studio
shots, rehearsals, and special events as-
signments while Bill Haussler covers
candid "takes” of artists, outdoor assign-
ments in general.

i 1 i

Promotions:

Walter Davison, who started as a page
two years ago, was promoted Jan. 15 from
his position as evening manager of the
Guest Relations Division to the post of
assistant to W. G. Martin, in charge of
tour promotion.

i 1 i

Don Mercer, guide, goes to the Promo-
tion Division as assistant to Willis B.
Parsons.

ill

Don Meissner, who got into Major
Bowes’ amateur hour last year and then
went on the road with one of the amateur
units, has been promoted from a page to
a position in Artists Service.

A large collection of charcoal por-
traits of NBC executives and radio
stars are on exhibit on the fourth floor
of the Radio City studios. The por-
traits were drawn by Bettina Steinke,
daughter of "Jolly” Bill Steinke, well-
known radio actor and cartoonist.

Keene Crockett, page, became a Sound
Effects technician Jan. 18.

i i i

Alexander Clark, page, has moved into
the Script Division to fill the position va-
cated by Richard De Raismes. The lat-
ter, in turn, is taking a post as assistant
to Dorothy McBride previously held by
Jack Tracy who resigned effective Janu-
ary 11 to join the firm of Star Radio
Production, headed by Burke Boyce,
former NBC continuity editor.

i i i

Alfred Scott joined tbe page staff in
September, 1936. He is now an assistant
at the news desk in the Press Division.
Before joining NBC "Scotty” was pro-
gram director of the Cornell University
Radio Guild for a year and a half.

i i i

Welbourne Kelley, formerly of NBC
Press Division, and author of two novels,
"So Fair A House” and "Marchin’ Along”
is now writing continuity for the Script
Division.

Sick List:

Juan de J. Almonte’s genial smile has
been missed for weeks. He is conval-
escing in Nyack, N. Y., and expects to
return soon.

1 i i

Wm. Callander, Statistics, has been con-
fined to bed by his doctor.

i i i

Birger Hagerth, guide, went to Ford-
ham Hospital, Jan. 7, with pneumonia.

i i i

Jack McGhie, after several months ill-
ness returned to guiding January 14.
Five days later First Aid sent him home
again with a fever.

i i i

Mrs. Aidellice Barry and James V.
McConnell, Sales, are both ill with the
"flu.”

i i i

Miscellaneous:

0. B. Hanson is in quite a dither these
days; he spends his time commuting be-
tween Hollywood and New York. He is
supervising the planning of the new addi-
tions to the NBC Hollywood studios.

i i i

The party given to the N. Y. announc-
ers by Ben Grauer on Jan. 15 at his
apartment will be long remembered.
Everyone was there.

i i i

Marriages:

John Bell, Guest Relations, flew up to
Buffalo, N. Y., on New Year’s Day to
marry his school sweetheart. Miss Sylvia
Miller of Dunkirk, N. Y. The wedding
took place at the Christ Lutheran Church
in Dunkirk. The bride is a graduate of
the Parsons School of Fine and Applied
Arts in New York City. The newlyweds
are residing at 33-51 73rd Street, Jackson
Heights. N. Y.

i i i

Newcomers:

Jack Housekeneckt, former free-lance
sound effects technician, has joined NBC
Sound Effects Staff.

i i i

Recent additions to the Stenographic
Division are Eleanor Moore, Edna Muster,
Helen Deutch. Doris Steen, Eugenia Car-
penter, Doris Seiler, Evelyne McKibbon,
Helen Dawson, and Nelson Beman.

i i i

Replacements in the Guest Relations
staff are Robert Coe, George Alexander
Emerson. Phillip Carleton Ford. Robert
S. Hanson. Roderick Mitchell, J. J. Nov-
enson, Don Harvey Sultner.

{ Continued on page II)

NBC TRANSMITTER

FAMED FRENCH FENCER FOUND IN NBC PRESS FOLD NEWS FROM DENVER

Pierre Netter lives in Paris, France but,
temporarily. New York is his home and
the Press Division is his business ad-
dress. After business hours he spends his
time fencing. His splendid record in this
field of sport is certification of his ability.
In August 1936 as the youngest member
of the French Olympic Fencing Team,
Netter, already holding the titles of
French champion of epee and Parisian
champion of foil added the distinction of
being runner-up for the world’s cham-
pionship.

Netter came to America early in No-
vember as a traveling correspondent for
the well known Paris newspaper, "Le
Jour,” for whose readers he is writing
articles on the American scene. During
his jaunt through the key cities he has

interviewed such celebrities as Henry
Ford, Wallace Beery, Herbert Mundy, Joe
Lewis, Lily Pons and others. But, since
the end of December, Netter has confined
his activities to New York City as an ob-
server of American radio methods.

His reputation as a fencer is widely
known and respected. On his arrival here
he was selected hy Santelli, America’s
most noted fencing trainer, to wear the
colors of the New York Athletic Club and
become a member of the team which will
compete in the National Senior Fencing
Championship in epee.

As a result of two rounds of hard
competition on the night of January 19
Netter came through as one of eight suc-
cessful candidates who survived a starting
field of thirty-one to qualify as repre-
sentative of the metropolitan area in the
National Junior Epee finals scheduled for
March 4 at New York University.

When asked to comment on fencing
qualifications, he remarked "Fencing

matches are tiring and only careful train-
ing can make a fencer supple enough to
stand the strain. But in fencing, unlike
other sports, training means lessons.” To
explain his point Netter related how, after
fencing eight hours continuously to win
the Epee Championship of Paris, he was
so excited and nervous that he felt a les-
son was necessary right away to calm his
nerves.

Commenting on essentials for good
fencing, Pierre named quickness as nine-
tenths of fencing ability, as anticipating
an opponent’s next move determines suc-
cess. "In a match,” states Netter, "you
seldom see your competitor for your gaze
is fixed on his blade from the start of the
strip to finish.”

nine, encouraged by his father, a cham-
pion in his own right. As the oldest of
three boys, Pierre received first attention
hut he claims, his younger brothers, aged
13 and 16, are running him a close race.
When he returns to his native land, he
hopes to enlist them in a three-man team
project he plans to organize for com-
petition.

Dear Transmitter:

According to directions given in your
Christmas edition we have done the fol-
lowing: 1. Read the Transmitter thor-
oughly and found it contained much of
interest to all here. 2. Dropped you a line
(in fact, several) and these are them
(Wow! what an accent) to suggest you
include the news of NBC Denver, "The
Voice of the Golden West.” 3. We feel
that we are a part of the NBC Trans-
mitter because we know most of those
whose names are mentioned in the paper,
through hearing them on the air or by
their pictures, or through personal ac-
quaintanceship.

Now to the news. First, we want to tell
you what a swell Xmas party our station
manager, Mr. A. E. Nelson, gave the
KOA staff. Amidst all the usual tinsel
and colored lights on the big tree in the
clients’ audition room we partook of food
and drink before the gift presentations.
Clarence Moore, as old Santy, distribu-
ted the presents. Everyone received a nice
present from the station and a lottery
was held for all the gifts sent in by the
sponsors. The holders of lucky numbers
got everything from radios to plum pudd-
ings. All in all, a very good time was had
by everyone and, strangely enough, not
a single station break was missed in all
the excitement.

New additions to our staff include Jane
Willard who takes Barbara Simon’s place
as secretary to Dale Newbold and Bob
Owen.

It might be raining in New York but
we are ice-skating out here in Denver.
The pages, announcers and engineers are
going in for bigger and better figure skat-
ing. Evergreen Lake, twenty miles from
Denver, is the locale of their activities
and you will always find one or two from
any of the above mentioned groups busy
cutting capers on the ice. — Well, any-
way, they fall gracefully.

That’s all for now. Thanks for a swell
paper. More later.

Yours,

Charlie Anderson
NBC Denver

STOOPNAGLE DEFINES RADIO, OR SOMETHING

PROGRAM : Music or talk designed to fill the space between station announcements
and time signals.

SPONSOR: A man without whom you aren’t on the air.

SCRIPT : Typewritten sheets which Fred Allen is funniest when he departs from.

ANNOUNCER: Fellow with a nice voice who talks about stuff he hopes you will buy
some of. >

STOOGE: Man or woman who is given funny things to say and then thinks he or she
is a comedian.

MICROPHONE: Thing you talk into and they hear you where you aren’t.

ORCHESTRA: Bunch of men who, on a comedy program, play after the applause by
the studio audience.

Netter started fencing at the age of

JOSEPH LEVIS, champion foils of the United States, and PIERRE NETTER, French Olympic
fencer, meet at Harvard University.

JANUARY, 1937

NAMES IN THE NEWS

(Continued from page nine)

Resignations:

George T. Ludlam resigned Jan. 15 to
become associated with Frank Chase in
the radio production field. The firm of
Chase & Ludlam will have offices in the
RCA Bldg., Radio City. Scope of firm’s
activity will be radio productions, slide
films, transcriptions, talent booking and
script writing.

Business address of Wade Arnold
changed from Script Division, NBC, Radio
City to Linden House, Spuyten Duyvil as
of Jan. 15. After 8 years’ experience as
an NBC continuity writer, Wade decided
to try his hand at free lance script
writing.

i i i

George B. Kuck has resigned his po-
sition in the Personnel office to accept the
position of assistant to the President of
the Jaeger Watch Company in New York
City, as of January 15.

1 i 1

Miss Grace Smith of the Guest Rela-
tions Division resigned effective January

29 to enter the Dominician Convent, at
Amityville, L. I. to begin a period of train-
ing which will prepare her for a teach-
ing career in parochial schools.

ill

Correction:

Contrary to the caption under the tele-
vision picture on the back cover of the
NBC Transmitter, December, 1936, the
lovely subject is not Gale Page. It is
Hollywood’s own beautiful DOROTHY
PAGE, photographed in New York when
the show in which she stars came to Radio
City for two broadcasts, "Irvin S. Cobb’s
Paducah Plantation.’’

* * *

Engagements:

Miss Rita Doyle, Statistics, received an
engagement ring for Christmas.

* * *

NBC STATIONS

Miss Jeannette Lawrence has been
added to the San Francisco staff as a
reader and will be assigned to various
commercials.

i i i

Andrew S. Love, San Francisco Con-
tinuity Editor on Jan. 13 started teach-
ing a ten-weeks’ course in radio continu-
ity writing at the University of Califor-
nia Extension Division in that city.

i 1 i

Peter Abenheim, California artist and
writer, has joined the San Francisco
production staff. He is well known for

his paintings and drawings and was for-
merly a staff artist and columnist for
Apertif, Santa Barbara, Cal., magazine.

i i i

The new electric clock on the desk of
Lloyd Yoder, Western Division press chief
in San Francisco, was a gift for umpiring
the New Year’s Day East- West football
game at the Kezar Stadium.

i i 1

Back from the hospital after an op-
eration which confined him for ten days,
Lewis S. Frost has reasumed his post as
assistant to Don E. Gilman, Western Di-
vision Vice President.

1 1 i

Rene Gekiere, former NBC actor who
recently joined the Chicago announcing
staff, and Miss Betty Mitchell, of the RCA
recording office in Chicago, were married
New Year’s Day.

i i i

Ken Robinson, new Central Division
assistant continuity editor brings seven
years of newspaper circulation experi-
ence. He will continue his authorship of
the popular radio script "Dan Harding’s
Wife.’’

i i i

Floyd Mac, formerly of WLW has
joined the announcing staff of WRC,
Washington.

N. Y. UNIFORMED STAFF
WHIPS SUPERVISORS

In a basketball game played January
19 at Governor’s Island, a team composed
of twelve members of the uniformed staff
defeated their supervisors in a one-sided
contest in which only two field goals were
scored by the losers. The final score of
the game was 27-7. Captain Von Frank
and Delaney were outstanding for the
winners, while the overseers were all on
a par— a low par. Previous to this en-
counter, the staff team had played two
other games. The first was won from a
C.C.C. group, 26-23, and the second
dropped, after a closely fought battle,
to the Church of the Intercession, 15-16.

The staff (pages, guides, set-up men
and mail-room messengers) is to be con-
gratulated on their team. Trouble in lo-
cating a gym and the task of raising three
dollars and a half apiece for uniforms
and a ball had the boys worried. Thanks
to Miss Clara White of Stenographic, a
gym was obtained and pay day solved the
monetary problem. A full season of games
is seen ahead.

Other NBC basketball teams are cor-
dially challenged to a game by the uni-
formed staff.

This picture was taken on January 18 at the entrance of our new Hollywood studios when
visiting French advertising and newspaper chiefs and executives of the Advertising Club of
Los Angeles were entertained at luncheon by the National Broadcasting Company.

Pictured, left to right, are: Sydney Dixon, NBC sales manager; John Swallow, NBC
studio manager; Frank McKellar, vice president of the Ad Qub; Andre Kaminker of La
Petite Parisienne ; Tracy Moore, NBC sales; Roy Kellogg, manager of the Ad Club; Charles
Maillard, president of the Continental Advertising Association; Charles Arnn, president of
the Ad Club; Bernard Musnik, American correspondent for Le Journal; Earle Pearson,
general manager of the Advertising Federation of America; Harold Bock, NBC press
representative.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC MUSIC HOBBIES

ARE BROADCAST

NBC WASHINGTON

Marian P. Gale

Graham McNamee

Reminisces After

Accomplished
Emil Corwin, editor
of the NBC News
Service, displayed
his versatility Janu-
ary 18 when he
made his debut as a
pianist over WEAF
by playing four se-
lected piano pieces
on the "Music is my Hobhy” program,
which is devoted to persons engaged in
various walks of life who cultivate music
as their favorite diversion.

EMIL CORWIN

Corwin studied piano in his boyhood
and youth but found that a journalistic
career left him little time for his avoca-
tion. Inspired by other non-professional
artists and at the invitation of Walter
Koons, Music Editor and producer of the
series, Emil bought a piano and started
to limber up his fingers. After several
months of limbering up Emil stepped in
and proved that an editor’s whole exist-
ence does not revolve around split in-
finitives and typographical errors.

Other NBCites who have appeared on
this program are all announcers. They
are Ford Bond, tenor; Howard Petrie,
bass-baritone; Milton J. Cross, tenor.
Robert Waldrop, composer-announcer, is
slated as the next NBC representative to
take part.

I’red Astaire’s dress rehearsal is one
of NBC’s biggest drawing cards for
Hollywood employees. Off-duty engineers,
secretaries, executives, porters, electri-
cians and actors flock into tbe studio to
watch the famous star go through his
paces— a sight which used to be reserved
for New York theater-goers at $4.40 per.

Suggestion for short wave listeners :
Brush-up on your Spanish 2 by tuning in
to Dan Russell and other Spanish 'locu-
tores’ on W3XAL. 17,780kc., from 8:00
to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays,
Fridays and Saturdays; from 8:30 to
9:00 p.m. on Thursdays; and from 12:30
to 1 :00 p.m. from Radio City Music Hall,
on Sundays. No hay transmisiones en los
martes.

Everett Mitchell, Chicago’s senior an-
nouncer, is kiddingly known as "Mother”
to his thirteen assistants. This affectionate
appelation comes from Everett’s diligent
watchfulness over his brood of stentors
like a mother hen’s concern over her
chicks.

Although the P. J. Hennessey’s baby,
born December 16, was named Philip J.
by his proud parents, the youngster will
probably answer to the name "Mike” the
rest of his life, if friends of the family
have anything to do with it.

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Herluf Provensen an-
nounced the arrival of a son on Monday,
January 11th.

Herluf Provensen, who was NBC Presi-
dential announcer during the Hoover Ad-
ministration, is now with a local advertis-
ing agency. Mrs. Provensen, was formerly
hostess at NBC’s Washington studios.

«• * *

Newspaper reporters and radio an-
nouncers have the reputation of taking
unusual assignments in stride but an-
nouncer Lee Everett of the NBC Wash-
ington staff is laying claim to some sort
of record.

You see, Everett has been assigned to
describe tbe inaugural parade from a
U. S. army artillary caisson. Of course,
that isn’t so unusual, but Everett didn’t
reckon with military discipline. The an-
nouncer breezed over to Fort Meyer, Va.,
and informed army officers there that he
was ready to practice.

Right then and there, Everett pulled
up short.

First of all, he was told that literally
he would have to join the army for a
day if he wanted to. describe the parade
from the caisson.

"There won’t be anybody in civilian
clothes riding with my unit,” said the
commanding officer. That wasn’t so bad,
figured Lee, since he had worn an army
uniform back in 1918. And besides, he
had a nice new pair of riding boots that
would set the uniform off.

But then came another setback. The
army said that Everett would not only
have to wear a regulation uniform but
would have to wear the official cavalry
boots. A worn pair, at that— with a high
polish, of course, to make him look like
the rest of the troop.

"And,” said the army, "you be here
every day at six o’clock— that’s in the
morning— to stand inspection. Then you’ll
drill with us. Oh yes, that goes for in-
auguration day, too.”

Which was all very well except that
Everett is on the air until two every
morning.

Ill

Don't forget to send in your entries for the
next Photo Contest before February 12.

Roosevelt's

Inauguration

Twelve years ago, when WEAF made
the first broadcast of the Presidential
Inauguration, Graham McNamee was the
only announcer on a staff of four assigned
to do the job. On January 20 McNamee
was one of ninety-seven NBC announcers,
commentators, technicians and engineers
who stood under the rain with forty-five
microphones to cover the inauguration of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second
term.

Having reported three previous inau-
gural ceremonies for Calvin Coolidge,
Herbert Hoover and President Roosevelt’s
first term, McNamee brought to the NBC
microphone a wealth of background.

"So far as I know,” McNamee recalled,
"I was tbe only announcer to report Presi-
dent Roosevelt’s second inaugural wbo
had covered all of the inauguration cere-
monies since they were first broadcast
in 1925. 1 was on the staff of WEAF when
Calvin Coolidge took the oath of office.
The only talker on the program, I stood
on the steps of the capitol and described
the events as they occurred. The technical
staff was made up of three men.”

Leave of Absence:

Lucille Myers, Electrical Transcription,
secretary to Chauncey D. Rawalt, is visit-
ing her family in Bay City, Texas, until
the end of this month at which time she
is due back.

On Tour:

Gus (Col.) Reiniger of New York Elec-
trical Transcription is en route to the
coast on an extended sales trip during
which he will call on station owners all
along the Atlantic seaboard via Florida
to the coast. Due back sometime in April.

Returns:

Victor van der Linde, New York Sales
Counsel, returns to bis desk after a honey-
moon trip to Europe.

New Post:

The newly created post of production
manager in the Hollywood studios is
being filled by Marvin Young.

JANUARY, 1937

CLEVELAND

by Bob Dailey

Staff interest in outside-the-station ac-
tivities reached a new high last month
when Vernon H. Pribble, station manager,
was honored at a dinner party. The affair
was strictly limited to staff members and
celebrated the completion of two years
at WTAM for Mr. Pribble.

The party, held at the Carter Hotel,
gave the station’s wits, "Diz” Disbrow,
Charlie Avelone, and "Stubby” Gordon
an excellent opportunity to display tbeir
comedy talents. Their burlesques of well-
known WTAM personalities by means of
blackouts kept the audience in hilarious
humor. Following the dinner, tributes by
staff members were paid to Mr. Pribble,
who delivered a short talk in reply.

* * *

WTAM Flashes— May Draxell replaces
Ann Radu as head of stenographic de-

partment . . . Miss Radu resigns to become
secretary to Congressman-elect Anthony
A. Fleger. . . . Ford Rush leaves the sta-
tion for WGY. . . . Program Director
Metzger spends New Year’s holidays in
Pennsylvania mountains, hiking and lis-
tening to the radio.

* * *

Looking over our records we are sur-
prised to find that ex-Clevelander, Gene
Hamilton has been at Radio City almost
two and a half years. We remember when
Gene had a terrific case of wanderlust,
and never lived in one city for more than
two years at a stretch. Guess we’ll have to
visit Old New York and find out for our-
selves what its attractions are. . . .

i i 1

Don't forget to send in your entries for the
next Photo Contest before February 12.

STAMP CLUB NOTES

The regular meeting of the NBC Stamp
Club was held in the President’s Board
Room at 7:30 p.m., January 18.

Plans for the first Annual Banquet of
the club were discussed, and it is antici-
pated that all the members will turn out
for it. A committee in charge of ar-
rangements has promised an array of
prominent speakers, as well as interest-
ing novelties.

Walter Koons, vice-president, an-
nounced to the club that a letter had
been received from the American Cover
Club awarding the NBC Stamp Club the
honor of having produced the outstand-
ing commemorative cachet for Novem-
ber, which makes the club eligible for
further honors, should the cachet win
the distinction of being the outstanding
one of the year.

Following the regular business meeting
an active discussion and trading session
took place.

WTAM STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT AT A PARTY GIVEN IN HONOR OF THEIR STATION MANAGER, VERNON H. PRIBBLE

Left to right, standing: John R. Kelley, Bob Dailey, George Hartrick, Chester Zohn, Bud Quinlan, Derek Caplane, Donald Stratton, Lila Burk-
hardt, Waldo Pooler, Bert Pruitt, Edith Wheeler, Ray Morton, May Draxell, Joy Wassem, Ted Rautenberg, John Disbrow, George Scholle,
Fred Wilson, Ross Plaisted, C. C. Russell, Charles Avelone, Sam Willis, Danny Caste, Bob Morris, Lee Gordon, Auturo Stefano, Harold Gal-
lagher, Howard Barton, Catherine O’Connell, Erwin Goetsch, Margaret Fitzgerald and A1 Goetz.

Sitting: Therese Szabo, Robert Oatley, Ann Radu, Earl Rohlf, Mildred Funnell, E. S. Leonard, chief engineer; Walter Logan, musical director;
Vernon H. Pribble, station manager; Tom Manning, sports announcer; Hal Metzger, program director; Dorothy Crandall, Hazel Finney,
Russell Carter, Helen Forsythe, Herbert De Brown and Rose Morthaller.

NBC CHICAGO

by Bob McCoy

A very surprised man was Chief An-
nouncer Everett Mitchell, two or three
weeks ago. What should happen but that
he find himself with a brace of geese,
sent him C.O.D. $8.50!

Geese, thought Mr. Mitchell, are very
nice, excellent eating, fine examples of
our feathered friends. But unrequested
C.O.D. geese are something else again,
and our Mr. Mitchell was hard pressed
to get them off his hands and his $8.50
back on his hands.

The story has its beginning in a fate-
ful trip to Lakemills, Wisconsin. Mr.
Mitchell had gone there to cover the
broadcast of the Lakemills Centennial,
and in his usual affable manner, he be-
came acquainted with some of the na-
tives. Said natives happened to be goose
eaters and goose hunters of great skill.
Right there Mr. Mitchell and his citizens
understood each other. Mr. Mitchell is
also a lover of goose— especially if it is
on a platter surrounded with all the ac-
coutrements of an ample goose dinner.
Accordingly he cast a wistful eye toward
the geese and voiced his love of their
fine food qualities. And that was that—
for a while.

As has been put down above, the geese
flew South right into the arms of Mr.
Mitchell— to the tune of $8.50. Last re-
ports are that the geese found their way
to a butcher who sold them for $4.00.
and then had to refund a dollar. The
customer complained that the geese had
no meat on them— just a lot of oil.

■*■ * *

"Tinker to Evers to Chance” a triple
play here last week resulted in Floyd
Van Etten moving in with Jimmy Neale
in Sales Traffic; Ray Neihengen to Van’s
former desk in the Credit Department,
and John Wehrheim, former page, to
Ray’s place in Accounting. Gordon Loff
has replaced Wehrheim on the Page
Staff.

Romantic attachments keep cropping
up. Announcer Les Griffith and Laura
Satterwhite of Production have an-
nounced their engagement; Announcer
Rene Kekiere and Mary Mitchell of RCA
were married on New Year’s Day; and
Audrey Lamoureux was married to Mor-
ris Weil on January 4. Audrey left her
job in Audience Mail a week later and
was succeeded by Bonnie May Larkin.
Ed Stockmar of Traffic is slowly letting
it get around that he is engaged to marry
Miss Eileen Grohe of Chicago.

1 i 1

Don't iorget to send in your entries tor the
next Photo Contest before February 12.

Well, ril bet some of you have for-
gotten those New Year resolutions, al-
ready . . . And by the way, there are
exactly 336 days till Christmas . . . John
Bell will long remember the stag party
the boys had for him at the German-
American A. C. ... Ed Prince is mourn-
ing the loss of his appendix . . . Did you
see Alois Havrilla’s picture in the bro-
chure of the National Horse Show? . . .
It’s funny, but the people who push and
shove to get into a studio for a broadcast
are just the ones who can’t wait for the
theme song to finish before they try to
get out . . . Word has reached us in New
York of Fibber McGee’s and Molly’s gen-
erous Christmas gift to all Chicago studio
pages . . . Fred Waring played Santa
Claus to all the pages and set-up men on
the eighth floor, here, when he presented
them with four-color Eversharp pencils
. . . Vincent Merciorri spends his spare
time reading, books written in Italian, in
order to improve his Italian grammar.

* * *

The reverse side of the screen in studio
8H bears mute evidence of the artistic
ability of some of radio’s great . . . While
waiting for entrance cues, many have
penned caricatures, autographs, bright
sayings and tick-tack-toes in pencil, ink,
lipstick or burned matches . . . Here, too,
one can find some very fine, slightly used
samples of the more popular brands of
chewing gum . . . Virginia Latimer is
Director of Special Event Schechter’s new
secretary, replacing Helen Slater, re-

signed . . . The big question of the mo-
ment is— how long will it be before Tele-
vision sets can be bought by you and
me and the people across the street? . . .
Nick Kersta likes skiing in Vermont,
weekends . . .

* * *

The record of lost and found items in
NBC shows gloves of varied styles and

colors as the most often "lost” and

"found” . . . Incidentally, there’ll be al-
most 1100 items in the lost and found
records by the time a final count for
1936 is made ... A well informed source
tells us Lewis Titterton did gymnastics
in the Legal Department the other morn-
ing to prove to the world in general that
he’s still as young as he used to be . . .
Frances Kelley has been wearing a very
nice diamond ring since Christmas— on

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC PHILADELPHIA

by J. A. Aull

Santa Claus blew into the KYW stu-
dios via the ventilators on Christmas
Eve and bestowed on each and every one
an appropriate gift. As Santa was being
wafted back through the ventilators the
draught blew off his whiskers and re-
vealed Leroy Miller of the announcing
staff. Although a few of the very young
were disappointed, all agreed as they
took the suit back to the costumers that
the party had been a big success. Jim
Begley, program manager, then cracked
the holiday wide open by inviting all
members of his department to his house
for what was modestly termed "a snack.”
Almost everybody in the whole outfit

arrived sooner or later to spread good

cheer and bread crumbs all over the

place.

* * *

The other day the sales force and the
engineering department got into an ar-
gument about the difference between a
salesman and an engineer. Ralph Sayres,
director of sales, insisted that an engineer
was one who knows a lot about a little
and as he progresses he learns more and
more about less and less until he arrives
at a point where he knows everything
about nothing. Mr. Gager, KYW’s plant
manager, countered that a salesman was
one who knows a little about a lot and
that as he progressed he learned less and
less about more and more until he finally
arrived at a point where he knew nothing
about everything. Les Joy, who probably
had prodded them into the argument in
the first place, was called upon to decide
and Solomon-like reserved decision.

Jim Harvey, our continuity writer, is
a crack amateur camera enthusiast but
too modest or something to enter the
Transmittf,r’s contest. So much for the
wealthy.

the important finger . . . Then there was
the elderly lady who look a studio tour,
and after having the workings of the
Air Conditioning Plant explained, took
one look at the pile of dirt accumulated
by one filter in a month and a half and
piped up with, "And was that dirt re-
moved from just one program?” ... A
WGY engineer has figured that the trans-
mitting power of the station could service
within a 100 mile area, 800 billion radio
sets before the energy was entirely ex-
hausted . . .

Walter Moore

JANUARY, 1937

NBC SCHENECTADY

by O. H. Junggren

AN ARTIST’S CONCEPTION of the new building proposed for NBC studios in Schenectady.

ACOUSTICS ENTANGLE
NBC MAN

One Wednesday evening, not long ago,
after the last carload of people had gone
up to studio 8H in Radio City to see the
Fred Allen show, a breathless woman
and her daughter came running up to
the main studio entrance a minute late
for the broadcast. After the page had
stopped her and explained that he could
not let her through because no one was
allowed in the studio after the program
had gone on the air, the woman turned
to NBC’s genial main hall host, George
Malcolm, for an appeal.

With his well-known diplomacy George
explained to the belated guests why it
was impossible to let them in, even if
they were "only a minute late and had
come an hour on the train to see the
show.” He even went so far as to explain
that the sponsors of commercial pro-
grams went through a great deal of trou-
ble and expense to produce radio shows
and, therefore, could not afford to run
any risk of interruptions which might
spoil their programs. Nevertheless, the
woman was insistent on seeing Fred Al-
len’s show. Whereupon, George tried a
new line of reasoning and went into the
subject of studio acoustics. At this point
our persistent visitor interrupted him and
said, nodding to her child, "Oh, yes-
acoustics, we always get them on our
radio at home, don’t we, dear?”

Don'l forget io send in your entries for the
next Photo Contest before February 12.

The big news at WGY these days is
our new building. It’s been talked of for
some time, and recently has been under
official consideration. But now it’s out
in the open and everybody’s plenty ex-
cited. Most everyone wants to get a
squint at the building plans to find out
where he’s going to be in the new lay-
out. But that seems to remain a mystery.

The new building, which is expected to
be ready for occupancy by July, 1937,
will be modern to the nth degree. It will
be erected on a plot of ground adjoining
the I.G.E. building, which now houses

our studios. It’s front, as shown in the
photo, will be of glass brick, providing a
light interior and a maximum of tem-
perature preservation. There will be five
studios, for use in audience broadcasts.
Another will be fitted out for kitchen
and household broadcasts.

The contract will be let soon and con-
struction is scheduled to begin after the
first of the year.

Representatives of all departments
gathered around the mike on December
30 to wish WGY listeners a Happy New
Year, During the regular "Scissors and
Paste” program conducted by W. T.
Meenam, press relations, Kolin Hager,
station manager, and A. O. Coggshall,
program manager, and representatives of
the sales, auditing and announcers’ staff
had their say.

* * *

The balky car that carries Phil Brook,
WGY announcer, to and from his sub-
urban Scotia home did a job on him
January 5. While seething with anger
one noontime at his recalcitrant car Phil
decided to crank her. The motor fired
and the crank started spinning. Phil,
in extracting his leg from between the
front of the car and the bumper, came
into contact with the whirling crank. It
caught him on the ankle. However pain-
ful, it was not a serious injury, but Phil
limped for a few days.

"Knowledge plus experience, divided
by intelligence, multiplied by character,
equals wisdom — without which neither
successful living nor true happiness can
be achieved.”

CALENDAR OF NEW YORK EMPLOYE ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY

DATE and TIME

PLACE

CONTACT

Bowling

Every Tuesday, Evening

Capitol Health Center
53rd St. & 7th Ave.

Peter House
Ext. 513

Dramatic Classes

Every Monday, 12 to 2:00 P.M.

Studio 2A

Dom. Davis
Ext. 220

Chamtnade Chorus

Every Monday, 6:15-7:15 P.M.

Studio 2A

Frances Barbour
Ext. 898

Women’s Gym Classes

Every Tuesday, 8:00-10:00 P.M.

251 East 80th St.

Albert Walker
Ext. 895

NBC Gym Group at

Any Day, Both A.M. and P.M.

West Side YMCA

Harvey Gannon

Discount Rates

Membership

5 W. 63rd St.

Ext. 654

Announcing Classes

Tues. & Thurs., 1:00-3:00 P.M.

See Rehearsal Sheet
for studio assignment

Dan Russell
Ext. 545

Badminton

Every Monday, Evening

69th Regiment Armory
26th St. QC Lex. Ave.

Bill Callander
Ext. 758

NBC Stamp Club

1st QC 3rd Monday of each month
5:15 to 7:00 P.M., according to
notice.

NBC Executive Board
Rm., 6th FI., Office
Section

Walter Koona
Ext. 573

NBC Row at Town Hall
Meeting of the Air

Every Thursday, 9:30-10:00 P.M.

Town Hall
113 W. 43rd St. •

NBC Transmitter
Ext. 220

Public Speaking Classes

Every Monday, 5:30-7:30 P.M.

Room 520
Office Section

A. Allen Walsh
Ext. 221

NBC Transmitter Photo
Contest

Every Issue, Any Time

Open to all NBCites
everywhere

TRANSMITTER
Office, Ext. 220

Advertising Club’s

Mondays or Thursdays,

Engineering Societies

Joyce Harris

Course in Advertising &
Selling (Special rates to
groups of six or more)

6:15 P.M.

Bldg., 29 W. 39th St.

Ext. 419

NBC TRANSMITTER

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

NO. 2— PBX SECTION

THESE ARE THE TELEPHONE GIRLS at NBC’s private switchboard in New York, who
received gold stars for excellent service during the entire year of 1936. They are from left
to right : Mildred O’Neill, Dorothy McDermott, Maude Archer, Esther Ramous, Chief
Operator Margaret Maloney, Irene Shaughnessy and Marion McGovern.

This is the second
of a series of articles
which we hope will
give you added knowl-
edge and understand-
ing of the many NBC
units. IF e suggest that
you tear off this sheet
and file it for future
information.

Every time you
pick up your tele-
phone in the New
York offices for eith-
er an outgoing or an
incoming call — or,
perhaps, a wrong
number, you set into
motion forces which
are centralized in
the PBX section.

Room 521. All the
calls you make must
go through the
switchboards of
PBX, which stands
for Private Branch Exchange, the official
term used by the telephone company to
designate private telephone exchanges.

NBC’s PBX is an intricate and complex
system in itself. Our PBX has two groups
of trunk lines, (a) fifty for outgoing and
incoming toll calls that go through the
switchboards operated by hand and (b)
thirty-two trunk lines for outgoing calls
that go through the automatic dial switch-
board which you get when you dial 9 on
your telephone. Two men from the tele-
phone company are constantly on duty in
the building to make repairs, changes, and
to take care of approximately nine hun-
dred NBC telephones.

For obvious reasons certain telephones,
especially those in the lobbies and hall-
ways, and others to which the public has
access, are not connected to these outside
lines which are available by dialing 9.
There are four different dialing systems
within the company. First, there is the gen-
eral office system which almost everyone
has in his office. Second, there is the one
used only by the engineering department
and which cannot be used for outside calls.
Third, is the system used exclusively by
the program department. Each studio con-
trol room usually has two telephones, one
is marked PROGRAM and the other
T. 0. E. (Technical, Operations, and En-
gineering). Fourth, there is the inter-
communicating phone system used hy ex-
ecutives.

The nature of our business is such that
the so-called Conference Plan is much
used by NBC.

This system makes it possible for more
than two parties to talk to one another at
one time, as if they were all in the same
room. For instance, if the program depart-
ment wants to make a simultaneous an-
nouncement about a last minute change to
various departments, the conference plan
is used. The necessary connections are ob-
tained by calling the NBC operator. These
conference plans also can be used be-
yond the walls of NBC. NBC executives
throughout the world can be brought to-
gether with this conference system.

The PBX switchboard is divided into
six positions (telephone operator’s par-
lance for divisions) for six operators. The
switchboard is in operation twenty-four
hours a day. During office hours six women
operators are on duty. The number of
operators on duty gradually dwindles to
one operator after broadcasting hours.
Mrs. Margaret Maloney, chief operator,
is very proud of her staff because they got
a gold star every month last year. We
were a bit at a loss when she mentioned
the gold stars. Noticing our perplexity,
Mrs. Maloney, who is a very affable and
courteous woman, offered to explain the
star merit system.

It seems that the New York Telephone
Company checks up on the service of
operators at private exchanges once a
month. The inspections are made secretly
without the knowledge of the operators,
so you see, they never know when it is a
bona fide call or just someone in the tele-
phone company testing their service. Sev-
eral service items are tested such as, (a)

plug-ins, (b) slow
answers, (c) prog-
ress reports, (d) re-
calls, (e) failure to
answer with an
identifying phrase
(This is the Na-
tional Broadcasting
Company) and (f)
general errors.

A "plug-in” is a
failure to answer im-
mediately after the
operator plugs in on
an incoming call to
stop the ringing. It
is just like lifting
your receiver when
the phone rings and
not saying "hello.”
Last month there
were no plug-ins
scored against
NBC operators, nei-
ther were they
caught making slow
answers and connections, nor failing to
say, when the occasion arose, "Sorry, Mr.
Brown’s wire is busy” or "Mr. Brown’s
wire is still busy, will you wait, please.”
In short our PBX girls had a record which
was far above the highest standard set by
the telephone company for excellent serv-
ice.

Next on the scale of telephone service is
very good service for which silver stars are
given out. Blue stars are given for fair
service and no stars means poor service.
At this point Mrs. Maloney interposed
that her staff has never in all their three
years of service received anything less
than a silver star. And, she continued,
that if she only had the authority, she
would grant every NBC department a gold
star for their promptness in answering tel-
ephones and getting the right person on
the wire. This helps NBC operators get
their gold stars every month because it
saves them the time and trouble of giving
progress calls, it lessens switchboard con-
gestion. and, perhaps, eliminates the loss
of incoming calls which might be from im-
portant clients and other valuable connec-
tions.

A telephone operator’s job is not tedi-
ous and unexciting, according to Maude
Archer, who claims she knows more
NBCites by their voices than anyone else
in the world. "You should be here when
something exciting happens, like the ab-
dication of King Edward. Calls came in
by the thousands,” said Miss Archer. "It
was a mad house that day!”

(/) NBC TRANSMITTER ^

VOL. 5 FEHIUIAIW, 105 7 INO. 2

DAMROSCH HONORED ON
SEVENTY-FIFTH BIRTHDAY

Walter Damrosch, NBC Music Counsel,
was hailed as America’s leading ambassa-
dor of music appreciation and music
understanding, in an address by David
Sarnoff at a luncheon given by him at the
Hotel Pierre, New York, on January 28,
in honor of Dr. Damrosch’s seventy-fifth
birthday.

In his tribute to the dean of American
conductors, Mr. Sarnoff lauded him for
his Music Appreciation Hour and the
service he has rendered the youth of
America. In conclusion Mr. Sarnoff de-
clared, “W'e honor you. Dr. Damrosch, for
your worth as a man, for your manners as
a gentleman, and for your kindness as a
friend.”

Acknowledging the tribute paid him.
Dr. Damrosch described his advent ten
years ago into the field of broadcasting,
and also the enormous strides made in the
decade of the National Broadcasting
Company’s history.

“Radio has been improved so much,”
Dr. Damrosch declared, “since those early
days that you can get a real thrill out
of music which is sent over the radio. The
weekly performance of the opera is for
the country at large a revelation, one
that can be easily understood because,
after all, opera is the most picturesque
and the most fascinating form to the aver-
age music lover to enjoy.”

Following the addresses, a “million dol-
lar” mixed quartet,
including Rosa Pon-
selle, Lily Pons,

Lauritz Melchior
and Susanne
Fisher, sang “Hap-
py Birthday” to the
distinguished musi-
cian, and Dr.

Damrosch was pre-
sented with an il-
luminated birthday
cake. As a finale a
group of eight little
girls from New
York Public School
No. 6, representing
the millions of chil-
dren who listen to
Dr. Damrosch’s
weekly broadcasts,
presented a large
basket of flowers.

Radio Tube Saves Lives in
Flooded City

Special to the NBC TRANSMITTER

“Family at 153 First Street needs
medical attention at once! Please rush
doctor ! ”

“Five persons reported marooned on
roof at Twelfth and Main Streets. Atten-
tion, police boat five!”

Such were the calls that rang out night
and day over the state highway patrol
radio system at Portsmouth, Ohio, during
the recent flood disaster. Police were
clearing most of the calls for help to Red
Cross, relief officials and volunteer rescue
workers.

It was an important service in the
marooned city, without which many more
lives might have been lost.

So when state patrol officers frantically
searched out NBC’s mobile unit crew
from WTAM one dark night they got
immediate attention. A tube had been
blown in the police shortwave equipment
and the sending apparatus was disabled.
Did NBC have a suitable tube?

Engineers Alvin McMahon and Frank
Whittam were sorry. They did not carry
that type of tube in their equipment. An-
nouncers Tom Manning and Bromley
House were there and suddenly Manning
burst out with:

“I know a movie operator here. Let’s
get him . . . quick. There’s just a
chance. . . .”

\es, the operator knew the location of
(Continued on Page 9)

EQUESTRIENNE

SELMA WICKERS smiles proudly upon
the prizes she icon for excellent horsemanship.

Altliough agile Selma Wickers finds
plenty to keep her on the jump as secre-
tary to busy commercial program man-
ager, Bertlia Brainard, Miss Wickers still
finds time to indulge in her favorite hobby,
liorseback riding. On the night of January
29 she was one of the many entrants in
the Metropolitan Equestrian Club’s win-
ter show at the Squadron A Armory in
New York City. ith twenty-seven other
riders, she competed for honors in the
luinter hack class. After an hour’s delib-
eration tlie judges announced the prize
winners among whom Miss Wickers was
named as the winner of the second place
award — the red ribbon.

In the utility saddle horse class, with
seventeen in the competition for honors,
Selma Wickers carried off the first prize
which consisted of the much coveted blue
ribbon and silver loving cup. Miss Wick-
er’s mount in both competitions was
Monkey, her favorite steed.

Miss Wickers accomplished all this with
merely three years’ riding experience be-
hind her; an enviable record for any
equestrienne with so little training. She
does most of her cantering on weekends
in a riding academy in Holis, Long Island.

Tune in on the NBC BRASS BUTTONS REVUE OF 1937,
Saturday, February 27, 4:00-4:30 P.M., NBC Red Network
— coast to coast.

PHOTO BY WM. HAUS8LER

WALTER DAMROSCH cuts his birthday cake while Mrs. Damrosch,
David Sarnoff and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., look on.

NBC TRANSMITTER

WHO'S WHO IN THE NBC NETWORKS

Introducing — DON E. GILMAN

A tall, dark figure with a quick, quiet
step and a countenance that sometimes
looks like Abraham Lincoln and some-
times like Rachmaninoff, Don E. Gilman,
Vice President in charge of the Western
Division of the National Broadcasting
Company has been engaged in the busi-
ness of communicating ideas to large
groups of people all his life.

Born in Indianapolis of a newspaper
family, he was printing his own paper
by hand before he was out of short
trousers, and when he was twenty-three
years old he was superintendent of plant
on the Indianapolis Sentinel. Then he
came West and was superintendent of a
group of papers on the coast when he
entered advertising.

One of the outstanding qualities of
NBC’s western head, in all the enter-
prises in which he has engaged, has been
his knowledge of the jobs of his sub-
ordinates and his ability to calculate the
exact needs and values of each. Par-
tially, this comes from the fact that he
has performed many of their jobs him-
self, at one time or another, and par-
tially from his uncanny faculty of col-
lecting information without appearing to
do so — this frequently baffles people who
find it hard to comprehend the source of
his swift perception and dynamic energy
which is masked by a manner almost
boyish in its simplicity and amiability.

Characteristically, while he was be-
coming a dominant personality in the
advertising field, serving as chairman on
the comrr'ttee which secured passage of
California’s Honest Advertising law, serv-
ing as president of the Pacific Advertis-
ing Clubs Association and vice president
of the Associated Advertising Clubs of
the World, he was continuing studies he
had started years before, in electrical en-
gineering and was experimenting for his
own pleasure, with radio. So when he
joined NBC in 1927 it was with an equip-
ment of technical information which, oc-
casionally, astonished engineers. In 1929
he was made vice president of the divi-
sion which now stretches from KGU in
Honolulu to KGIR and KGHL in Mon-
tana, a domain whose needs in entertain-
ment are necessarily its own since time-
difference shuts it off from much of the
East’s fare, and yet which has influenced
other portions of the country enormously
in program technique.

Like most successful men Mr. Gilman
has hobbies. He likes books and reads
much biography and history, economics

DON E. GILMAN

Vice President in Charge of NBC W estern
Division

and sociology. He plays the piano as well
as many of his artists although few, ex-
cept close friends, ever hear him. He likes
golf and football, especially in the com-
pany of a young man whom a whole con-
tinent loves and knows as Jack Barbour
of “One Man’s Family,’’ but who is Page
Gilman, only son of the NBC executive,
in private life.

Mr. Gilman is president of the San
Francisco Commercial Club, a director of
the San Francisco Musical Association,
and vice president of the Young Men’s
Christian Association.

THREE NEW NBC STATIONS

Recent additions to our networks which
make the total number of NBC stations,
117, are WGBF in Evansville, Indiana,
WBOW in Terre Haute, Indiana, and
KOB in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

WGBF is owned by Evansville on the
Air, Incorporated, and is managed by
Clarence Leich. The station operates on
a frequency of 630 kilocycles with a
power of 500 watts.

WBOW, the only station in Terre
Haute, is owned by Banks of Wabash,
Incorporated, and its manager is William
Behrman.

KOB, “The Voice of New Mexico,” is
owned by the Albuquerque Broadcasting
Company. T. M. Pepperday is president
of ABC. KOB operates on a frequency
of 1180 kilocycles with a power of 10,000
watts.

The total daytime power of all the 117
affiliated NBC stations equals 1,832,650
watts.

TOSCANINI TO DIRECT
NBC SYMPHONYCONCERTS

David Sarnoff, president of RCA and
chairman of the board of the National
Broadcasting Company, announced the
return of Arturo Toscanini to America
for a series of broadcasts over NBC in
this statement:

“On behalf of the National Broadcast-
ing Company and the other members of
the RCA family, I invited Maestro Arturo
Toscanini, the world’s greatest conductor,
to return to America and broadcast a se-
ries of symphonic concerts with the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company Symphony
Orchestra over its nationwide networks.

“In order to place before the Maestro
the possibilities of this proposal and to
discuss with him the matters involved in
such an undertaking, I sent Mr. Samuel
Chotzinoff, the celebrated music critic,
and intimate friend and great admirer of
the Maestro, to Milan, Italy, the home of
the conductor.

“With the aid of modern means of com-
munication, including the transoceanic
radio telegraph and radio telephone sys-
tems, the negotiations were expedited and
a contract has been signed covering the
exclusive services of the Maestro in Amer-
ica for these radio concerts.

“This series of non-commercial pro-
grams will be given the widest possible
distribution over the air, and will be pre-
sented to the listening public as sustain-
ing broadcasts of the National Broadcast-
ing Company.

“A good deal of preparation must pre-
cede this effort, but the concerts will begin
at the end of the present year.

“We are delighted to be able to secure
the return of Maestro Toscanini to Amer-
ica. His incomparable genius will fur-
ther stimulate and enrich musical appre-
ciation in our country. In NBC we are
pursuing the policy of giving to our mil-
lions of listeners the greatest artists the
world has to offer.

“The opportunity to bring his message
of music to the countless millions of
American listeners has made a great ap-
peal to the Maestro. This is evidenced in
the radiogram which I received from him
this morning:

“ ‘My dear Mr. Sarnoff:

I am very happy to accept your invi-
tation to broadcast a series of symphonic
concerts over the National Broadcasting
Company networks. It is a great pleas-
ure for me to think that I shall be able
to put myself once more in touch with
the radio public which gave me in my last
season with the Philharmonic the greatest
proof of its appreciation and sympathy.

Arturo Toscanini’ ”

FEBRUARY, 1937

APPOINTED NEW YORK
PERSONNEL MANAGER

DWIGHT G. WALLACE, until recently
an executive with the Housing Division of
the Public Works Administration in
Washington, D. C., has been appointed
personnel manager in New York. He suc-
ceeds C. W. Fitch, who is now business
manager of the Program Department.

Mr. Wallace already has assumed his
new duties in his office in room 308. He is
in charge of employment and welfare
work among employees.

Mr. Wallace comes to us through devi-
ous and interesting channels. He was born
in the corn buskers’ state of Nebraska
but he spent his childhood in the film
city of Los Angeles where he received his
early education. He was trained in archi-
tecture and, after six years of this work
at Los Angeles, he went to Chicago where
he opened an office of his own in 1916.

Mr. Wallace’s business in Chicago was
interrupted by the War in which he
served until the armistice was declared.
After the war he returned to his archi-
tectural work in Chicago. In August, 1932,
he closed his office to take a post as a
departmental executive of A Century of
Progress in Chicago.

When the World’s Fair closed, Mr.
Wallace left Chicago and began his work
with the PWA staff in Washington.

The NBC BRASS BUTTONS
REVUE OF 1937 goes on the air
Saturday, February 27, 4:00-4:30,
on the Red Network — coast to coast.

Be sure to tune in on this extra-
ordinary extravaganza of aerial en-
tertainment featuring the rising
stars of the guides, pages and other
members of the New York Guest
Relations Staff, supported by Jerry
Sears and his orchestra.

NBC CLEVELAND

By Bob Dailey

Pearl Hummell has been named auditor
and office manager of WTAM to fill the
vacancy caused by the sudden death of
John R. Kelley.

Miss Hummell served as bookkeeper
for Mr. Kelley several years ago, but pre-
vious to that time was accountant for the
Masonic Temple association in Cleveland.
Recently she conducted her own practice
as a public accountant.

Ill

If practice makes perfect, then WTAM
should have some of the best ping-pong
artists in the country. Some of the more
ardent fans even miss their evening din-
ners and brave the wrath of their help-
mates to get in a few games after office
hours.

Now, these warriors of the ping-pong
paddle have decided to boast their prow-
ess throughout Cleveland and have chal-
lenged WGAR, NBC’s Blue outlet here, to
a tournament.

The team included Derek Caplane, Red
Quinlan, Ben Silverberg, Ray Morton,
Harold Waddell, Harold Gallagher, I.
Goetsch, Paul Gershman and Russell
Carter.

i i 1

Bad luck has dogged the footsteps of
Derek Caplane, young-man-about-WTAM,
during the past month. But a few bad
breaks failed to stop Derek from buying
an engagement ring for a young Cleve-
land singer.

For several months Derek has been
attending Bank Night at his neighbor-
hood theater, but his name was never
called. So, one Monday night, when it
was time to leave for the theater from
the station, Derek decided to stay and
play ping-pong instead. There wasn’t
much chance of his winning the $100
bank night award, anyway. At least, that
was what he thought.

The next morning he learned that the
odds had turned, and his name had been
called, but not being there, another name
was selected.

Derek experienced many a moment of
regret for not having followed his Mon-
day night custom. Figuring that there
was only one chance in 200,000 that the
name of Derek Caplane would come up
a second time, Derek suppressed a strong
urge to go to the theater the following
Monday night. But it did happen! And
this time he lost $150.

There were several feature stories in

Miss MacRorie Addresses
Radio Aspirants

Miss Janet Mac-
Rorie, head of Con-
tinuity Acceptance,
spoke before Loire
Brophy’s Job Clinic
at the Herald-Trib-
une Building, on
February 10, on the
types of work open
in the field of radio.

Miss MacRorie discussed the functions
of each of the different branches of broad-
casting, and some of the qualifications for
positions in the various denartments.

It is well known how many people of
all ages are glamour-struck by radio, and
anxious to break into the field, yet a
large number of them seem to have rather
hazy notions of their own equipment for
the work and of the requisite talent for
each department.

Accordingly, Miss MacRorie described
the mechanism of such departments as
engineering, program-building and pro-
duction, selling and promotion, music,
sound effects, press, and the numerous
branches of a broadcasting organization
like NBC. In this way, the speaker gave
her large and interested audience a de-
tailed picture of the jobs-in-radio situa-
tion as a whole. And Miss MacRorie spoke
with the authority of her experience in
radio and allied fields of commercial
broadcasting.

the local newspapers about him, but no
one can convince “Hard-Luck Caplane”
that publicity is worth more than cash
— especially for a young fellow about to
be married.

i 1 i

Division Manager Vernon H. Fribble
and Program Director Hal Metzger at-
tended the annual convention of tlie Ohio
Broadcasters Association in Cincinnati
this month.

1 1 i

WTAM FLASHES. . . . The flu sick list
includes Chet Zohn, Fred Wilson, Bert
Pruitt and Jesse Francis. . . . Kathryn
Burke joins station’s forces as switch-
board operator. . . . E. S. Leonard, WTAM
head engineer, off to Florida for vacation.
. . . Dorothy Crandall, staff pianist, to
New York for ditto. . . . Vern Pribble tell-
ing all comers about antics of the young
cocker spaniel which follows his two
daughters about. . . . Agnes Anderson
joining artist staff as ballad singer.

JANET MacRORIE

NBC TRANSMITTER

EIGHT HOURS OVER THE FLOOD

An exclusive interview for the readers of the NBC Transmitter with NBC's flying
reporter, Gene Hamilton, who recently returned to Radio City from a special broad-
cast of the flooded regions.

Someone said he was in studio
3A standing by for the RCA Met-
ropolitan Opera broadcast, so we
hastened to that studio and cau-
tiously walked in through a door
marked “On the Air.” There he
was, comfortably slouched in one
of those stiff, folding metal chairs,
reading the funnies. He seemed so
peaceful we disliked to disturb
him but we just had to get our
story. And we’re glad we asked
him for it because Gene Hamilton
had an exciting story to tell. Here
it is in his words:

“As you will probably remem-
ber, I flew to Chicago last week
to be on hand for the NBC cov-
erage of the flood. I was raring
to go when I got there, but I
was told upon arrival that the
preparations were not complete so
I hied myself to a hotel and
checked in, looking forward to a
leisurely time. But it wasn’t for
long — the next day at the break
of dawn, five-thirty, I was routed
out of bed by a ’phone call frorn
the Merchandise Mart studios or-
dering me to be at the Municipal Airport
at eight o’clock.

“I was far from being excited. I was
grumpy! It was the earliest hour I had
been roused out of my slumber in years.

“At the airport I met C. L. Menser,
Chicago’s production manager, trying his
best to look wide awake. Along with sev-
eral bleary-eyed newspaper reporters and
photographers, we hopped into a giant
United Airline plane which took off at
eight o’clock on what was to be the first
complete coverage of the flood disaster
by airplane.

“After the ascent, and the plane had
settled on an even keel, the newspaper-
men with typical ennui went right back
to sleep in their seats. I was just really
beginning to awake and my blood began
to tingle with excitement as the plane
headed south for Evansville.

“At ten o’clock we reached Vincennes
and the newsmen reawoke to get our first
glimpse of the flood waters where the
Wabash and White Rivers converge into
the Ohio River. Beyond Vincennes the
Wabash was about ten miles wide.

“Further down the river the water was
so deep we had difficulty picking out sub-
merged cities, even with the aid of maps.

Announcer Gene Hamilton (Ze/t) and C. L. Menser, Chicago
Production Manager, take turns at the microphone while they fly
over the flooded regions in the first complete coverage of the flood
by airplane. Frank Schnepper, Chicago engineer, took charge of
the portable equipment.

The only visible landmarks were an oc-
casional church steeple or building roof.

We were flying at an altitude of about
ten thousand feet and occasionally we
would swoop down to get closer views of
the disasters. During these nose-dives we
got close enough to earth to catch such
tragic sights as struggling people cling-
ing on roof tops as the water rose rapidly
around them, women and children fran-
tically paddling improvised rafts, and live
stock swimming about helplessly. Even
the hardened news reporters gulped a bit
at these awful sights.

“When we reached Evansville we found
it three-quarters under water. It looked
like Venice, from above, with its canals
and lakes instead of streets and parks.

We could spot the tops of automobiles,
barely visible above the surface of the
water in parking lots. In one spot a bridge
trestle had been torn loose and now lay
across a highway. Snow, setting off sharp-
ly the coffee-colored swirling waters, was
visible on all high points.

“At the request of the photographers
we swept down close to Evansville to get
close-ups. In spite of the tragedy down be-
low I could not help but smile during those
descents when the photographers practi-

cally came to blows fighting over
the window which offered the best
views. There they were fighting
for ‘scoops’ while below people
were fighting for their lives. It’s
a funny world, isn’t it?

“The most pathetic sight, I
think, in Evansville was a large
crowd of people perched on top
of a grand stand — possibly a ball
park — while the water slowly en-
gulfed the stand. Another was a
little white dog fighting to keep
atop a floating bale of hay. What
got me was that they were help-
less, and we were safe but unable
to save them.

“From Evansville we headed for
Cairo where the water was deeper
in the surrounding country out-
side the levee. We got a bit ner-
vous for ourselves at this point be-
cause there were no places to land
if it would have been necessary.
It was almost like flying over an
ocean.”

At this point Milton J. Cross at
the Metropolitan Opera House
made one of those unexpected
pauses during the intermission of “Sieg-
fried” for station identifications and Ham-
ilton jumped up to the microphone to
make a “local.”

“Let me see,” continued Gene Hamil-
ton as he slouched back into his chair,
“where were we when Cross made that
break.”

“You were heading for Cairo,” we
urged, waiting for him to continue his
exciting account of the flood.

“Oh, yes. Well, when we got to Cairo
it was almost completely surrounded by
high water held in check by a levee. Peo-
ple were working like ants moving sand
bags from person to person to reinforce
the levee. Locomotives carrying gravel
and stone to strengthen the water walls
puffed and skidded on submerged rails.
The citizens of Cairo were a frantic peo-
ple fighting against nature to save their
city. Even a neighboring town, New Mad-
rid, had been sacrificed to save Cairo.
Part of the spillway which protected New
Madrid had been dynamited, flooding the
town, to “detour” the flood waters away
from Cairo.

“We continued flying southward until
we reached Irwin S. Cobb’s beloved city,
Paducah, Kentucky, the proverbial home
(Continued on Page 16)-

FEBRUARY, 1937

STAMP CLUB NOTES

The First Annual Dinner of the NBC
Stamp Club was held in the New York
Room of the Gateway Restaurant, RCA
Building Concourse, on Monday, Febru-
ary 15.

Among the invited guests, who joined
the members of the Club for what prom-
ises to be the first of many annual cele-
brations, were Harry Lindquist, head of
I the National Federation of Stamp Clubs,
; Daniel Kelleher, prominent philatelist of
I Boston, Captain Tim Healey, NBC stamp
commentator and Frank Reynolds of the
Statistical Department.

Following the dinner, drawings for
prizes were won by Frank Parkyn, Saul
Sharrow, Edmund Whittaker and Walter
Moore. The drawings brought forth such
amusement that Captain Tim Healey fur-
thered the proceedings by announcing a
personal donation of two one-year sub-
scriptions to Stamps Magazine, -which, were
won by George Milne and Frank Reid.

Each of the invited guests was called
on for remarks and responded briefly.

The committee for the affair consisted
■ of Walter Moore, George Milne and
Robert Morris.

Izaak Walton Department: Everett Mit-
chell, senior Chicago announcer, and Wil-
liam E. Drips, director of agriculture,
were among the first to enter the Clear-
water kingfish tournament when they were
in Florida for a National Farm and Home
Hour broadcast recently. Everett’s entry
was a 12 pound, 3 ounce king (which Don
McNeill, M.C. of the NBC Jamboree from
Chicago, who was on the scene insisted
couldn’t have weighed more than 10
pounds) while Drips’ name is entered on
the books with a 9 pound, 2 ounce entry.

Last month 1,454 applicants were in-
terviewed by the New York Personnel
Office. Twenty-nine were engaged for tem-
porary jobs and a few others along with
several NBC employees were engaged to
I fill fifty-six permanent positions.

On January 27, 1937, Personnel Man-
ager Dwight G. Wallace posted a bulle-
tin inviting NBCites in Radio City to
cooperate with the Red Cross in the col-
lection of funds for flood relief. To date,
slotted boxes placed on receptionists’
desks throughout the office and studio
sections have yielded $385.11.

THURMAN HEADS GUEST RELATIONS DIVISION

THE NEW GUEST RELATIONS triumvirate optimistically looking
forward to and planning for a record-breaking summer in NBC Studio
Tours. They are, in the usual order, W. G. Martin, F. G. Wolke, and
manager C. H. Thurman.

Charles H. Thur-
man, former assistant
manager of the New
York Guest Relations
Division, has been
named successor to
Gordon H. Mills, for-
mer manager, who
was appointed to the
New York Local Sales
Division, February 1.

Mr. Thurman came
to us from Chicago
last April as super-
visor of the Mail-Mes-
senger Section. His
assistants in his new
post are W. G. Martin
and F. Gerald Wolke,
former studio opera-
tions supervisor.

Walter Davison will be in charge of
tour promotion, replacing W. G. Martin.
Earl Harder takes the post vacated by

Mr. Wolke and James J. Goode will re-
main in charge of the control desk, with
Ary Moll and Charles Whalen as assist-
ants.

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by FRANCES SCULLY

February activities were highlighted
by a visit from Major Lenox Riley Lohr,
who spent a couple of days in Hollywood
discussing plans for studio expansion, and
meeting department heads. Although he
was snow-bound twice en route to sunny
Hollywood, the best we could do was
a miniature flood. However, the Major’s
motor trip to San Diego with Walter
Baker at the wheel, proved a scenic treat,
even though they made several detours,
caused by flood washouts.

i i i

With sixteen TC programs and seven
coast shows emanating from Hollywood
and keeping all forces up to their necks
in work, Hollywood is going full steam
ahead. This month, personnel additions
include Jack Votion, formerly of Para-
mount studios, added to Artists Bureau
as associate of Dema Harshbarger; My-
ron Dutton to the program department as
a producer; Karel Pearson transferred
from San Francisco to Traffic Depart-
ment, and Ralph ‘Amatto assigned to
Claude Ferrell’s corps of combined “jani-
tor and property men.”

i i i

Producer W'alter Bunker is receiving
congrats from the gang. He recently col-
laborated on a story that netted him a
tidy sum when RKO bought it. Now he’s
working on another, which has mighty
bright prospects.

Publicity Director Harold J. Bock re-
cently paid a visit to W. C. Fields, who
has been confined to a Pasadena sana-
torium for a year. When Fields was forced
to give up his screen career, little hope
was held for his life. He told Bock that
there was only one thing that saved his
life, and that was radio. “It has kept up
my morale all these months,” he said, a
little weary, but his health very much on
the mend. “I have my dial tuned to KFI
and KECA (NBC) all day and haven’t
missed a program. And when I come back
to pictures I can honestly say that it was
radio that brought me back.” Incidentally
he was delighted when he learned that
Lum and Abner were in Hollywood, so
the Pine Ridge boys are planning to pay
comedian Fields a visit.

1 i i

Now for some quick flashes . . . Marvin
Young, production manager, keeps the
lads and lassies around the studio well
supplied with eggs. He owns a chicken
ranch. . . . Walter Baker is now night
manager . . . the Melrose Grotto, the NBC
noontime eatery, has a new sandwich
“The Swallow Special” which the boys
order when they want a roast beef sand-
wich on whole wheat bread. Manager
John Swallow, who never eats anything
but this particular combination, feels now
that he has done something towards pro-
moting his favorite dish.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC DENVER

By Charles Anderson

The news of the hour is the departure
of Bill Stulla, announcer, for a hospital
bed to undergo an operation that will
keep him out of active service for a
month. We all wish him the best of every-
thing and hope for his speedy recovery.

i 1 i

Engineers and announcers have begun
getting in training for some more early
rising. The station now goes on the air
at 6:30 and that means early to bed if the
work is to be done. Joe Gillespie is the
“up and attem” for announcing while Bill
Williams draws the engineering assign-
ment.

i i 1

Things are quieting down after the
National Western Stock Show and Rodeo
held in Denver recently. KOA handled
daily shows from the ringside and in
doing so provided staff members with
plenty of excitement. Imagine, if you can,
the joy of being in a box right next to
the pen in which the wild horses and
Brahma steers were made ready for their
entrance into the arena. During one broad-
cast this correspondent perched himself
atop the pen to catch the roaring of the
steers, hoping it might add to the “color”
of the broadcast. Now, the fitting climax
to this item would be the statement that
he fell into the “Bull” pen, mike and
all. No, my friends, he lived to tell the
tale because he saw to it that with every
wild lunge of the bull the aforementioned
announcer (and would-be author) made
an equally wild lunge in the opposite
direction.

i i i

During the “cold snap” Derby Sproul,
Continuity Department, began to doubt
the wisdom of establishing his domicile
among the famed Colorado Rockies. He
and the family have been living at his
mountain home in Turkey Creek about
twenty miles from Denver. A rising ther-
mometer has, however, renewed his en-
thusiasm for the wide open spaces.

Ill

A partial list of camera addicts includes
Engineers Perry Peregrine and Carl
Schuknecht and Announcers Bill Stulla
and Joe Gillespie.

i i i

Joe Rohrer, Engineering, calling all
“hams” from W9EYN on 14,212 Kc.
Give a listen.

Who said “nothing ever happens”? . . .•
They’ve been happening plenty to John
Bell, page supervisor, in the last few
weeks. . . . First, of course, was his New
Year’s Day wedding, as reported in the
last issue of The Transmitter. Shortly af-
ter the newlyweds moved into their new
home it was robbed and a considerable
amount of valuables were stolen. . . . On
a Tuesday morning, recently, John spied
something shiny on the floor of a studio
corridor. ... It was nothing less than a
72 diamond, $8,000 brooch. . . . John
turned it into Lost and Found Depart-
ment where it was claimed by Mrs. Jack
(Baron Munchausen) Pearl. . . . It’s no
“whopper” when we say he was hand-
somely rewarded. . . . The payoff being
$50 John took friend wife to a movie as
part of the celebration of their good luck,
and came away with a five-spot — it being
Bank Night at that particular theater.
Nice going, John.

* * *

Walter Clark should receive a prize of
some sort for finding an honest man. . . .
An unknown tourist recently approached
him and said, “Lookit, Buddy, I’d like
to take your Studio Tour, but I only have
38c. Will you lend me two cents?” So
Wally loaned him the two cents, and by
golly, next day the chap came in and
paid him back. . . . Someone phoned the
telephone operator last night and said
she had a ticket for “The Sealtest Satur-
day Night Party.” Then she wanted to
know if she had to wear evening clothes
and could she come without an escort. . . .
Arthur Hungerford has given up com-
muting from Harmon, N. Y., for the
winter, and can be found (if it all) on
West 71st Street. . . . Dorothy McBride
and Mabelle Howarth of the Script Divi-
sion now own two tiny turtles, a gift from
Frank Wilson, author of “The Bishop and
the Gargoyle.” . . . They have been chris-
tened Dorothy and Mabel. ... If it wasn’t
for Mrs. Weiss, the matron in the Studio
Section, some of the pages would have
to do their own sewing on of buttons.

* * *

Enid Beaupre of Sales Promotion likes
to take indoor pictures. . . . Did you hear
about the guide who inadvertently re-
quested his group on a tour not to “talk”
when what he meant was “smoke.” . . .
Result: the tour was well under way be-
fore be found out why the folks didn’t

NBC CHICAGO

by Bob McCoy

Off to the Florida sun and sand has
gone genial Evelyn Partridge of the Exec-
utive Office. Having a winter vacation and
returning with a golden tan are probably
the cruelest things Miss Partridge could
do the rest of the office.

i 1 i

Once again mail room’s Frank Blatter
makes the Transmitter. No, that hockey
team hasn’t emerged from the stage of
being a horrible dream yet, but Frank
has gone and won himself a first prize
medal for figure skating in the Forest
Park District competitions, gave an ex-
hibition in Elmhurst, and has built an
ice sail which he expects to slide up to
Fox Lake, 111. That rather constitutes a
full program of winter activities — enough
even for the hardiest devotee of Saint
Moritz, Sun Valley — or Fox Lake.
i i i

Replacing Bill Hay in Network Sales
is Joe Hartenbower, formerly of Local
Sales Division. At Mr. Hartenbower’s old
desk is Charles Hotchkiss, who came to
Chicago to avoid the rigors of the ex-
treme California winters.

i i 1

A. M. Elrod, who is the entire execu-
tive board of the Golf Tournament Com-
mittee, has already begun collecting
“dues.” The money goes to buy prizes for
the tournament which will probably be
held early in the spring. Players to date
in this all-amateur competition are: Rudi
Neubauer, K. Christiansen, George Vlach,
Ed Cerny, Frank Blatter — with others en-
tering later.

ask the usual questions. . . . John Cusa-
mano of Sales received a gift of a pair
of bright red diamond socks. . . . All he
is waiting for is sufficient courage to wear
them. . . . First Aid Section received a
very nice letter of appreciation from The
Biow Company for its prompt and effi-
cient service when one of the members
of tbe company was seized with an ap-
pendicitis attack while in the studios. . . .
Fourth floor corridors have taken on a
bedlamistic attitude, of late, with Sound
Eflects Division being quartered there.
. . . Sounds of screams, bird calls, fire
sirens and bells tolling, roll up and down
the hall all day long. . . , The clock in
Special Events is 0.01 seconds fast, ac-
cording to the Maintenance Division. . . .
No, children, a split network does not
have anything to do with early morning
calisthenics. — Walter Moore

FEBRUARY, 1937 ^

WINNERS IN FEBRUARY PHOTO CONTEST

First Prize — “Smoky Local,” entered by Don
Gardiner of New York Guest Relations, was un-
hesitatingly given first prize. It is packed with
drama and speed and is taken from an unusual
angle. Two on the aisle for White Horse Inn await
you, Don, at the Transmitter office.

The judges thought “Mirror Lake,”
submitted by Theresa Pentecost, so good
it deserved Honorable Mention. Sorry
we haven’t more prizes to offer.

Second Prize — This splendid shot of “Hall of the RCA
Building” was taken by Harold McConaghy of the New York
Engineering Department with his Leica and won him two
tickets to the Radio City Music Hall.

“Queen Anne’s Cottage” was taken by E. P. H. James on
a recent trip to the Mother Country and receives Special
Mention.

RULES FOR PHOTO CONTEST

1. Prints must be no smaller than 2 V 2 ” x 4" (the larger the
better). Negatives cannot be accepted.

2. Captions are desirable.

3. Name, station and department must appear on the back
of photograph.

Pictures will be judged on composition and subject matter.
Judges are Ray Lee Jackson and William Haussler. Decisions
are final. All entries will be returned but the NBC TRANS-
MITTER will not be responsible for those which are lost.
Entries for March contest must be in by March 8.

NBC TRANSMITTER

Published for and by the employees
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 FEBRUARY, 1937 No. 2

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS

ARY R. MOLL

FRANK NOECKER ..
WALTER A. WIEBEL
DIANA MILLER
CHARLES VAN BERGEN

Editor

Associate Editor

Associate Editor
Circulation Manager

Promotion

Photographs

CONTRIBUTORS

JOSEPH MILROY

THOMAS BERRY

GENE RLBE.SSA

CARL CANNON

ALWIN FOSTER

DORIS RUUTH
EDWARD D. KELLER

HERBERT GROSS

MURRY HARRIS

JOHN McGHIE

Office Reception

Guest Relations

Statistical

Engineering

Guest Relation

Guest Relations

Continuity Acceptance
Guest Relations

FRANK C. LEPORE

Advisory Editor

Address all correspondence to:

NBC TRANSMITTER

Room 284 Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

FOR YOU

From the not too distant past we hear the revival
of an old cry for an all-NBC athletic association,
uniting and promoting all company group activi-
ties under one smoothly functioning body. The
NBC TRANSMITTER feels that this new attempt
is in capable hands; therefore, we urge all NBC-
ites to give it their whole-hearted support.

Splendid efforts are now being exerted by an
earnest group of employees who, we hear, are soon
to call a general meeting for the election of a per-
manent organization whose primary purpose will
be to promote an NBC athletic association.

The plan is self-laudatory. No editorial praises
need be raised in exaltation. But obviously enough
any plan, however worthy, will be of no avail un-
less whole-hearted active support is given it.
Therefore, we urge all NBCites to take part in
this movement and, when the time comes, to cast
their votes for employee representatives who will
form a committee to take charge of and to execute
a plan for our collective benefits.

Since this proposed athletic association is for
and by NBC employees we cannot, at this point,
reiterate too much that your full support and in-
terest ar^ essential to materialize the plan.

In the meantime the NBC TRANSMITTER
will keep you informed of the latest developments
and progress made in this direction.

TRANSMITTER. RTAOER.'S

mURS TO CWECK 325- NBC
ELECTRIC CLOCKS IN RADIO

ciTV. Toe clocks are

CWECKED DAILV.

WICE-PREvSIDEMT IN CHARGE
or PROGRAMS, RAISES
ANTS AS A HOBBV. *

Studio m in Radio Citv is

THE LARGEST BROADCASTING'
STUDIO IN THE yjOKLD -LARGE
ENOOGD TO ACCOCOnODOTE A
THREE -RING CIRCUS.'

LISTENER REACTIONS

by Ruth M. Crawford, Audience Mail Division

Even a flood couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of this music lover:

“ ‘The Valkyrie’ was received by me and my family with great pleasure.
We listened to the third act under conditions which may interest you.

“My home is surrounded by water. I had gotten a good supply of coal from
our basement but the waters are staying up so long that we are running out.
This morning I fished out a long piece of wood which was floating by our house.
It was 20 feet long. I have been gradually pushing it into the fire as it burned,
and thus saving in coal.

“While we sit in front of our fire, we are enjoying the richness of your
broadcast. It has made us forget all about the flood. It has carried us back to
the great story of Richard Wagner and his wonderful compositions. We listen
every Saturday to the broadcast of Grand Opera. What a treat to have Grand
Opera brought to our home in the manner in which you bring it.

“Wheeling Island, Wheeling, W. Va.’’

1 1 i

AFRICA SPEAKS

“Woodstock, South Africa.

“I often ‘listen in’ to Radio City from 6 to 6:30 A.M. (whilst getting ready
for work) and check my electric clock by your studio clock. They both agree.
After that you ‘fade out’ as our Johannesburg station comes on the air for
Physical Exercises.’’

i i 1

“Iambi Mission Hospital, Tanganyika Territory, East Africa.
“Your broadcast of the Messiah from Chicago on the 21st of December was
greatly appreciated out here in the jungles of Africa. . . .

“I have just listened to ‘The Magic Key’ program tonight (afternoon over
in New York and it was very good.”

FEBRUARY, 1937

NBC BOSTON AND SPRINGFIELD

by Edward B. Hall

Radio Tube Saves Lives

(Continued from Page 1)

During January and February WBZ
twice played host to the Advertising Club
of Boston in connection with a series of
round-table meetings on radio advertis-
ing, over which Mr. John A. Holman,
General Manager of WBZ and WBZA,had
been invited to preside. The first of these
forum meetings at the studio featured
Dwight A. Myer, WBZ Plant Manager,
and John F. McNamara, Program Direc-
tor, as principal speakers. Mr. • Myer,
whose difficult assignment it was to ex-
plain the technical aspects of radio broad-
casting to a group of laymen, succeeded
in presenting an admirably clear and in-
teresting picture of what happens to
sound impulses on their journey from the
microphone to the home radio receiver.
Mr. McNamara then proceeded (with
characteristic eclat) to discuss the man-
ner of building and presenting programs.
This subject he enlivened with practical
demonstrations, calling on members of
the audience to participate. Production
manager Jack Wright demonstrated
sound effects.

Sales manager Gordon B. Ewing was
the “lion” of our second Ad Club forum,
speaking ably on network alliances and
sales methods in radio. WBZ was grati-
fied to have the Advertising Club of Bos-
ton elect NBC and Mr. Holman to super-
vise its meetings on radio.

1 1 i

The banns have been published for
Norman E. Whittaker (Sales) and Miss
Alfreda Carlson, secretary to Charles S.
(Cy) Young, WBZ Office Manager. The
announcement of their engagement came
as a delightful surprise to the entire staff.
Even Gordon Swan (Traffic) got lyrical
on the occasion and tossed off an epitha-
lamium — which is the Latin (we hope)
for “swan song.” No date has been an-
nounced for the nuptials, but Whit’s col-
leagues predict May or June.

Ill

Miss Evelyn Billet is the latest addi-
tion to the WBZ Sales Department. A
native of Ohio and graduate of Boston
University, Miss Billet lays claim to no
special hobbies or other extra-curriculum
activities. Questioned as to her participa-
tion in sports, she countered, “Do I look
like an athlete?”

i i 1

WBZ and WBZA have applied to the
FCC for permission to step up transmit-
ting power from 50,000 to 500,000 watts.

A new transmitter is contemplated at
Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod,
supplanting the present one at Millis,
Mass.

i i i

Celebrities who have recently ap-
peared at the NBC Boston studios: Hilde-
garde . . . graciously posed for Amateur
Photographer Cole (Sales Promotion) in
Studio B after her broadcast .... Jerry
Belcher . . . never at a loss for the ap-
propriate thing to say on any occasion . . .
made friends with everybody in the place.
. . . Dr. A. Lawrence Lowell, president-
emeritus of Harvard . . . showed keen in-
terest in Salvy Cavicchio’s vibraphone . . .
chatted affably with announcers and oper-
ators, but gave newshawks a wide berth
. . . insisted on being taken down the
back way via freight elevator to avoid
cameramen stalking him in foyer . . . mani-
festly enjoyed the ruse.

i 1 i

There were those at ’BZ who sniffed
and curled the lip at Miss Bernie John-
son’s flare for collecting paper match cov-
ers. But she has been vindicated by two
gallant gentlemen within the organization,
Walter Moore (New York) and Rex
Maupin (Chicago), who have stepped
forward with offers to delve into their
own rich muniments and exchange dupli-
cates with Miss Johnson.

■f i i

such a tube ... in the sound equipment of
a tlicater at the other end of the town. But
it was night, the city was flooded. How
could they get there?

“We’ll make it all right,” came from red-
headed Manning. “Let’s get going!”

I'hrough three miles of swirling current
the two men rowed down the city’s flooded
streets, dodging debris and overhanging
wires with the aid of a dim flashlight.

Up to a balcony exit the men rowed. By
prying the door open, they were able to
I)ush the boat into the interior. Climbing
over rafters and curtains, they finally got
their hands on the precious tubes — in-
tricate instruments with which the police
might save many lives and prevent
suffering.

Over the marquee and back through the
pitch-dark streets the men rowed, finally
arriving at the temporary police radio
headquarters.

It was a happy and thankful group of
police operators who carefully took the
tubes and soon had the emergency service
back in operation once again.

Not until calls started to flood the air
again with, “Get marooned family at
Genessee dock” and, “Red Cross wants a
doctor at headquarters right away” that
Manning was satisfied and could row
away to his companions.

It was a smiling red-head who wrapped
himself in a blanket for a few hours sleep
that night — a tired, but smiling red-head.

— Bob Dailey

WTAM’s sturdy crew who came to the rescue with a much needed radio tube for the Portsmouth
police radio system. They are, from left to right, announcer Bromley House, engineer Alvin
McMahon, announcer Tom Manning and engineer Frank Whittam.

NBC TRANSMITTER

■

e apologize to our readers. We bow our heads in
shame. The other day we wanted to "scoop" the
year's first meeting of the NBC station managers up
in the president's board room but, for the first time,
we arrived late — alas, so late, everyone was gone.
The board room was completely deserted. However,
we found these "doodles" bearing mute evidence of
what went on during business interludes or, perhaps,
periods of deep concentration. Please forgive us an-
other failing, — we were unable to ascertain the
artists of these objets d'ait

FEBRUARY, 1937

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Promotions:

Wm. R. Nugent, Archibald E. Blainey
and John j. Rooney are being congratu-
lated on their recent promotions from
the studio set-up staff, where they were
able to observe closely tlie operations of
the Production Division, to the Sound Ef-
fects Section.

i i i

Miss Barbara Bierman is now secretary
to Guest Relations Manager C. H. Thur-
man.

1 i i

Val Kallegeros, page, was promoted
to the Traffic Department, February 10.

Ill

Returns;

Leonard Braddock returns to NBC as
executive assistant to publicity director
Wayne Randall, after a brief experience
in the department store business.

i i i

Laudon Haaker, former guide, returns
after a long absence to reclaim his uni-
form and citation cord.

i i i

Resignations:

Griffith E. Thompson resigned from the
Sales Department, February 1, to head
the radio department of Birmingham,
Castleman and Pierce.

i i i

Miss Mary Keeler, Sales, resigned to
go back to sunny California.

i 1 i

Miss Lenna Simpson resigned from the
Audience Mail Division, February 20, to
sail for Honolulu where she will be mar-
ried to First Sergeant J. W. Crean.

i i 1

Transfers;

Howard Whiting, formerly of the Mail
and Messenger Section, has replaced
Alexander Clark, resigned, in the Script
Division.

Ill

Misses Eugenia Carpenter and Doris
Steen, formerly of Stenographic, have
been transferred to the Guest Relations
Division.

i 1 i

Miss Florence Schwarzer, formerly of
General Files, is now with the photo desk
in Press.

Miss Florence Maher, formerly in the
Evening Executive Office, goes to the
Guest Relations Division.

iff

Miss Loy Seaton is now attached to the
Cost Accounting office.

f f f

M iss Janet Patton has moved from
Stenographic to the Station Relations De-
partment.

f f f

Misses Helen Dawson and Doris Seiler,
Stenographic, have been transferred to
the Production Division and Publicity De-
partment, respectively.

f f f

Marriages:

Phil Sullivan, taciturn page, quietly
took a four-day leave of absence last
month and said, “I do” to the former
Miss Mabel Frederickson of Mt. Vernon,
N. Y. The wedding took place at St.
Catherine’s Church in North Pelham.

The Sullivans went to Washington, D.
C., on their honeymoon. They are now at
home at 89 Thayer St., New York City.

f f f

Andrew Ferri, Mail-Messenger Sec-
tion, was married to Miss Caroline
Schulke of Brooklyn, N. Y., at the Little
Church Around the Corner, February 9.
The newlyweds have just returned from
a honeymoon trip to Washington, D. C.,
and are now residing at Dykes Heights,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

f f f

Sick List:

Miss Anna Sills, Sales, is home re-
cuperating from a throat operation.

f f f

Juan de J. Almonte is still out with
illness while his assistant, Robert A. El-
liot, is holding the fort in the Evening
Executive Office.

f f f

Newcomers:

Replacements in the Mail-Messenger
Section are Francis Barmore, Richard
Eastman and Zolton Haklik.

f f f

M iss Elaine Ellsworth is Stenographic’s
latest newcomer.

f f f

Murdock Pemberton is the newest
member in the pages and guides locker
room.

f f f

Vacations:

Guides Frank Burns and James Ralston
have just returned from Florida with suf-
ficient sun tan to prove their trip South.
No sooner had they returned when Ed
Keller, Burton Adams and Bud Faillace,

also of the guide staff, left for the same
resort — Miami.

There ought to be another boom in
Florida soon, if this keeps up.

f f f

Miss Helen Lefebre, secretary to Regi-
nald Thomas, Electrical Transcription,
left for California on a two months’ leave
of absence.

. f f f

Miss Helen Farrell, secretary to Elec-
trical Transcription Service manager C.
Lloyd Egner, sailed for Nassau on her
vacation.

f f f

Miscellaneous:

Paul Rittenhouse, guide supervisor, has
our sincere condolences in the loss of his
father. Rev. George Rittenhouse, who
died on January 25 in the St. Francis
Hospital, Trenton, N. J. Rev. Rittenhouse
was pastor of Calvary Baptist Church,
Fourth Avenue and Fourteenth Street,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

f f f

Joseph K. Mason’s father was killed
in an automobile accident, February 4.
Mr. Mason is with the Promotion Divi-
sion.

f f f

Don Gardiner of the Guest Relations
staff joined NBC on February 8, 1935,
hoping, some day, to become a radio an-
nouncer. Two years later, to the day, his
dream boat came in with an appointment
to the announcing staff of Station WAIR
in Winston-Salem, N. C. Don, who is a
graduate of Dan Russell’s incubator of
embryo announcers is leaving us for his
new job next month.

f f f

At long last the stork has brought an
heir to Dan Russell’s clan. It is still too
early to determine whether he has inher-
ited his father’s linguistic ability but Mrs.
Russell assures us that the little one is a
chip off the old block in that he is a ver-
itable stentor.

f f f

Our PBX girls gave chief operator
Margaret Maloney a surprise birthday
party on St. Valentine’s Day.

f f f

There is an oil painting of the Luxem-
bourg Gardens in Paris, now on exhibi-
tion in one of the shop windows in Rocke-
feller Center at present, painted by An-
nouncer Howard Claney.

f f f

Wm. Haussler, Press, has several of
his photographs in the Leica exhibit
which left New York City, February 12
to go on a continental tour.

(Continued on page 14)

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

by Louise Landis

Don E. Gilman, vice president in charge
of NBC Western Division and a former
newspaper and advertising man, was the
principal speaker at the annual confer-
ence of the Pacific Advertising Clubs As-
sociation held in Salt Lake City recently.

1 1 i

When our field group was cut down by
the influenza epidemic to a single man,
“Miv” Adams, who was the lucky one,
decided to take action against colds, and
the fur-rims he added to his ear-phones
when he had to be out on a long open-air
remote control job, have been pronounced
the dernier cri and all that sort of thing
in radio circles.

Field supervisor George Greaves,
George MacElwain and George Dewing
were all seriously ill with the “flu” at
once and “Miv” had his hands full.

Ill

Wallace Buggies, of the office staff,
took a step in a direction he had wanted
to go ever since he joined the staff . . .
he became assistant to James Lyons,
sound effects technician on February 1.
Keith Wordsworth replaced Wally.

i -t i

Nomination for the most expressive pair
of eyebrows at NBC: Guy Cassidy of the
technical staff. Watching Guy’s red eye-
brows weave an arabesque across his fore-
head has its hazards for artists who are
easily broken-up; Guy’s eyebrows move
up and down, independent of each other,
wiggle in different directions and do
everything but tap-dance when he’s in the
monitoring booth.

Wanda Woodward, head of the Audi-
ence Mail Division, had some embarras-
sing moments the other day when she was
haunted by a white bunny ... As she
stepped out of a street car a big white
rabbit strolled out of some shrubbery and
followed at her heels with all the con-
fidence of a pet dog. Despite the lack
of a rousing welcome he received from
Wanda’s Burmese cat, he stayed on the
premises until Wanda found a small boy
in the neighborhood who was delighted to
annex a pet bunny that astonished his
playmates by following him everywhere
he went.

i i 1

One of the reddest top-knots and one
of the most engaging smiles Hollywood
has seen, are on their way to the film
capital in the person of Karel Pearson
of the San Francisco Traffic Department,
who will have taken over the Hollywood
Traffic Department by the time this sees
print.

Replacing Karel at the teletype keys
in San Francisco will be George Fuerst,
formerly of the mail room staff, who has
a notable smile of his own, and lots of
that old-fashioned quality known as
gumption. In his new work George will
continue the schedule he has been follow-
ing for several years . . . studying elec-
trical engineering at the University of
California from eight a.m. to noon, daily,
and working at NBC from one to nine
at night.

i i i

Helen Stewart, assistant to Arthur Gar-
bett. Director of Educational broadcasts,
was selected to make an appeal for funds

ON THE SHELF

The books listed in this column are recommended as pertinent literature on
radio and allied subjects. They will be found in the General Library on the
NBC Transmitter Shelf.

AIR STORMING written by the ever witty and often wise Hendrik van Loon
is a collection of 40 Radio Talks, covering a variety of subjects, given by Mr.
van Loon over NBC stations. Recommended to van Loon enthusiasts — and who
isn’t?

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RADIO by Hadley Cantril and Gordon Allport is not,
as the title would indicate, a purely academic treatise but a very practical ex-
position of what makes radio effective. The scope of the book is wide, dealing
with listener’s, broadcaster’s and advertiser’s angles. An important book.

A DECADE OF RADIO ADVERTISING by Herman S. Hettinger. Dr. Hettinger,
long an authority on the selling and advertising end of radio, has written an in-
dispensable book on radio advertising. It is not very easy reading but it is packed
with valuable information and gives a complete picture of commercial radio.

"Ear Rims"
New Radio Mode

“Miv” Adams of the NBC Field Group isn’t
letting San Francisco’s unusual cold spell get
him dotvn. . . . Figuring that a radio engineer’s
best friends are his ears, he snipped a pair of
tails off his best girl’s new fox scarf and made
fur rims for his ear phones. P. S. Girl friend
was not amused.

for flood relief by the American Red Cross
committee at Rachmaninoff’s concerts in
San Francisco . . . Notified of the request
just as she was about to leave for home
after a busy day at the office, Helen met
the situation with the poise of a veteran,
although she had never before performed
such a duty. Looking very young, pretty,
and earnest she made such an eloquent
speech that she was immediately drafted
for the same service at the second San
Francisco appearance of the great pianist.
And she performed a feat that many a
radio artist might envy — she made herself
heard in every corner of San Francisco’s
War Memorial Opera House without the
aid of a P.A. system!

i i i

David Elton, producer of the Woman’s
Magazine of the Air, is the son of David
Elton, Mayor of Calgary, Canada. The
two Eltons keep scrap-books about each
other; Dave has a sizeable book of clip-
pings all about his dad, and the Mayor
proudly shows visitors a volume of news-
paper stories about his son, who started
his career as a singer and announcer in
Utah.

i i i

Some people collect stamps, some go in
for shortwave, but Don Thompson, Spe-
cial Events producer, and Paul Gale,
Traffic manager, are going in strenuously
for toy electric trains and spend hours
on the floor of the Gale home with an
elaborate set. The set, incidentally be-
longs to John and Roger Gale, Paul’s
sturdy young sons. The other night Paul
came home to find the youngsters staging
a sit-down strike on the tracks. Mrs. Gale
acted as mediator and the strikers won
their point — full control of the transpor-
tation svstem for the night.

FEBRUARY, 1937

LET’S GET ACQUAINTED

ADOLF SCHMID

His office door is marked 280. Aside
from these three figures no other gold
lettering designates the name or title of
the occupant. Yet to the music world his
name on an arrangement gives it the
same prestige that Sterling does silver.
In the realm of arranging, Adolf Schmid
has no peers. He is “tops”, according to
the collective opinion of his many close
associates.

When we entered his office, we saw him
deeply engrossed in a work which seemed
to make him oblivious to everything save
the multitudinous music sheets before him
on the desk and on the arranging stand.
However, as we were closing the door
softly behind us to avoid disturbing his
concentration, we heard a polite voice
bid us welcome in a kindly Viennese-
accented greeting. We quickly explained
that our mission was to secure an inter-
view with him on his work. He smiled
and replied that there was little to tell.
But to no avail. In the best journalistic
tradition we unmercilessly opened fire
with the first of a barrage of questions
which, as they were answered, revealed a
personality rich in experience, accom-
plished in ability and lovable in character.

Born outside of Vienna late in the
1870’s, Adolf Schmid grew to know and
love music early in life. After graduating
from the Royal Conservatory of Music in
Vienna at the turn of the century, he went
to London where from 1901 to 1903 he
served as assistant conductor in both
Covent Gardens and Drury Lane theaters.
Then late in 1903 he was selected for the
coveted post of music director of His Maj-
esty’s Theater, London, under Sir Herbert
Beerbohm-Tree. For twelve years he
wielded the baton as conductor of this
famous orchestra. In 1915 he left England
to come to America. From the time he ar-
rived on our shores until 1932 he was,
successively, conductor of the Boston
Grand Opera; special conductor in Amer-
ica for perhaps the world’s greatest bal-
larina, the late Anna Pavlova; conductor
of the Chicago Grand Opera’s Pavley
Oukrainsky Ballet; conductor of the
Cincinnati Summer Opera for two sea-
sons; and later guest conductor of several
other large orchestras. Finally, in 1932
Mr. Schmid joined the arranging staff
of the National Broadcasting Company
and has been with us uninterruptedly for
the past five years. At present, he not
only has regular duties at NBC but is
instructor in orchestration and conducting
at the Julliard School of Music as well.

ADOLF SCHMID

. . . Conductor and arranger

“How did you ever decide to become an
arranger?” we asked.

“It was purely an accident,” said this
man whose name is known wherever
music is played.” It was during the time
I was music director at His Majesty’s
Theater that Tschiakovsky’s Nut Cracker
Suite had made its appearance and was
very much the vogue of the day. One day
Sir Beerbohm-Tree approached me and
said ‘Mr. Schmid, will you transcribe the
Nut Cracker Suite so that we can play
it here?’. This was quite an assignment
for me since the original composition was
scored for a grand orchestra of seventy-
two instruments. His Majesty’s Theater
ensemble had but thirty-eight musicians.
But it had to be done and so it was,, much
to my surprise as well as Sir Beerbohm-
Tree’s. It was this transcription that won
me my first recognition as an arranger.
Encouraged by the splendid comments
given my work, I devoted more time and
study to the technique.”

“How long does it take you to tran-
scribe a composition like Elsa’s Dream
from the opera, “Lohengrin” by Wag-
ner?” we asked, noticing the aforemen-
tioned composition on his desk.

“It takes me from ten to eleven hours
to condense the original score into a
composition playable by an orchestra such
as our concert ensemble at NBC,” he
replied.

Adolf Schmid’s art may be compared to
a prism which breaks down sunlight into
converging and diverging colors of much
beauty. A master arranger of Mr.
Schmid’s calibre takes a composition and
divides it into the appropriate instru-
ments to give it increased intensity, fuller
richness and greater tone warmth. Just
as an artist blends paints to portray what

NBC ANNOUNCERS TO GIVE
COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF
BRITISH CORONATION

NBC is planning an intimate coverage
of all the pomp and circumstance of the
coronation of King George VI in London
next May 12. Plans are being made to send
our famous announcers and commentators
to London to paint a perfect “American
radio picture” of this great European
event. Our microphones will follow the
King and Queen from the time they leave
Buckingham Palace for the coronation
ceremonies in Westminster Abbey until
they return down Pall Mall to the palace
where, according to custom, George VI
and Queen Elizabeth will appear on a bal-
cony to receive the cheers of London’s
loyal subjects.

Special sideline features of the corona-
tion festivities which will be of interest to
American listeners, are also being ar-
ranged.

This colossal broadcast which is ex-
pected to include a pickup of the actual
words of the coronation ceremony itself is
being handled with the cooperation of the
British Broadcasting Corporation. The
programs will be short-waved to South
American listeners through station
W3XAL, at Bound Brook, New Jersey.

he perceives in its purest and truest form,
so must a tone artist blend the proper in-
struments in their proper proportions to
produce the proper tone color. The more
adroit the artist, the truer the interpreta-
tion. Mr. Schmid’s work, for the mdst
part, requires an excellent memory, im-
agination, knowledge of every instru-
ment’s limitation, capacity, that is, range,
quality and color, an inborn trait to com-
bine melodies and express oneself on
paper, and a broad and thorough knowl-
edge of music.

Adolf Schmid’s most important activity
at present is making orchestrations for
songs of a modern, classical or operatic
type. Next, arrangements for concert or-
chestra of original compositions occupy
a good deal of his time.

Although his time is limited, he gives
unstintingly of his advice, encouragement
and aid to his many friends and admirers
in and out of NBC who are interested in
music, for he believes firmly in sharing
his own appreciation of a medium of ex-
pression which he holds closest to his
heart.

Please fill out your copy of the NBC
TRANSMITTER survey.

Send in your entries to the Photo Con-
test before March 8.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN THE NEWS

{Continued from page 11)

Miss Ellen Davis, who handles trade
news publicity in the Promotion Division,
is resigning March 1 to join the staff of
Variety.

1 i i

Roy C. Witmer, vice-president in charge
of sales, has returned to his New York
office after spending several weeks on the
West coast, looking over both the San
Francisco and Hollywood sales depart-
ments and conferring with clients.

i i 1

Robert Egan, Sales, has returned from
Florida where he spent several weeks,
recuperating from long illness.

i i i

NBC STATIONS

Hollywood Notes:

Engineer Ralph Denechaud is announc-
ing his engagement to Barbara Millard,
secretary to Harrison Holliway of KFI.
They plan a wedding the first part of
March. Fred Dick, who is in charge of the
mimeograph department, may announce
his betrothal plans to Freda Von Hartz
any day now Nataline Halliday, secretary
to Donald de Wolf, has a secret romance
up in San Francisco, whom she met on her
vacation last year , . . Virgil Reimer’s
lieart interest is blonde and pretty Ginger
Bidwell, who trips the light fantastic
professionally.

Ill

Washington:

Vincent Callahan, Washington com-
mercial manager, left for a much needed
vacation — to the Pocono Mountains.

i i 1

San Francisco:

Lewis Withers has joined the announc-
ing staff; Janet Baird joins the “Woman’s
Magazine of the Air” staff as writer and
interviewer. Fred Hegelund, who has been
writing continuity on the “Magazine”
moves to the Production Department.
Cliff Engle, announcer, goes on a long
leave of absence from the staff to become
the “Voice of the Exposition” on the
“Treasure Island” program, and Ned
Tollinger, who gave up m.c.ing to be-
come a producer, returns to the mike at
the client’s request, to pilot the “Care-
free Carnival.”

N. Y. photographer Sydney Desfor no
longer has trouble disposing of used flash-
light bulbs. The sound effects technicians
are only too willing to get them. By drop-
ping the bulbs on the floor they can pro-
duce the sound of bomb explosions, gun
shots, and breaking glass over the air.

NBC SCHENECTADY

by O. H. Dunggren

WGY can well be proud of the part
it played in aiding flood sufferers in the
Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Every mem-
ber of the staff, in some way or other,
worked overtime in collecting contribu-
tions to the WGY flood relief fund.

The appeal for funds received its first
impetus through the “Scissors and Paste”
program, conducted by W. T. Meenam,
press relations. His regular fifteen-minute
weekly “edition” was given over to a
strong appeal for funds. Listeners were
told that if they would but ’phone in their
pledge, their name, address, and contri-
bution would be read on the air. The tele-
phone dingled ever so merrily that after-
noon.

That night. Mr. Meenam conducted
another appeal in an hour program, dur-
ing which was heard some WGY talent,
and many long lists of contributors’
names. The money is still coming in.

The latest figure, according to Virgil
Hasche, auditor de luxe, is $6,000. The
“Scissors and Paste” special program
contained news bulletins about the flood,
comments on the flood situation by Frank
Hoppman, chairman of the Schenectady
county chapter of the Red Cross, and
mention of local shows for the benefit of
the flood fund.

1 i 1

Leo Bolley, sportcaster, inaugurated an
auction for flood relief. He obtained from
Johnny Evers a baseball autographed by
almost every baseball “name” worth
mentioning. Then he offered the ball to
the person bidding the highest amount.
The money is still pouring in for that
ball, but, regardless of who gets the ball,
every contribution goes to the Red Cross.

i i i

During the height of the WGY Red
Cross drive, special telephone clerks were
installed at each extension. They were
kept very busy as the money and names
came in.

The appeals were carried by General
Electric’s two short wave stations,
W2XAF, and W2XAD, which are heard
in every land in the world. Our tabulators
were not surprised, then, when contribu-
tions rolled in from foreign lands. Em-
ployees of an oil company in Ciudad, Boli-
var, Venezuela, sent a check for $115. A
letter accompanied the check, saying that
the workers were glad to help relieve the
suffering among the American refugees.

Claude 0. Markoe sent a U. S. money
order for $2 from St. Croix, Virgin

EXCHANGE CORNER

All items must be in writing; give name
and address.

FREE — To NBC employees. Tickets to
America’s Town Meeting of the Air, every
Thursday, 9:30-10:30 P.M., at Town Hall, 123
West 43rd Street, N. Y. C. Apply to the NBC
Transmitter, Ext. 220.

BARGAIN — RCA is offering to its employees
at a special price of $1.00 the new 500-page
“Victor Book of the Opera”, the regular
price of which is $2.00.

Employees of NBC wishing to buy this book
will be given the same special price. The books
may be secured from the Purchasing OEBce,
Room 312, RCA Bldg.

TWO CHEAP SKATES— Excellent pair of
Dunne’s tubular men’s racing skates, size
8 (Blade, 14 inches). Slightly used. Original
cost $15.00. Sacrifice at $4.00. Call M. Bau-
man, Ext. 350.

FOR SALE — New Jersey, commuting dis-
tance. 15 room house, 3 baths, 5 bedrooms
on second floor, oil burner, 2 car garage,
screened porch. Great sacrifice. Write or call
the NBC Transmitter, Ext. 220.

IT PAYS ... to advertise in the EXCHANGE
CORNER. Within a week after publication
over fifteen replies were received in answer
to a call for the second issue of Life magazine
which appeared in the January issue of the
NBC TRANSMITTER.

Please till and return your copy oi the NBC
Transmitter survey.

Islands, having also heard the appeal on
W2XAF. He said in his letter: “Your
graphic descriptions of the flood have been
so vivid that for nights we have gone to
bed with sad hearts and prayers for the
distressed. May our mite do its share.”

1 1 i

Howard L. Tupper, a graduate of St.
Lawrence University, Canton, N. Y., has
joined the announcing staff of WGY. He
comes to us with considerable experience
in broadcasting, having for several years
been an announcer and vocalist for St.
Lawrence’s station, WCAD.

FEBRUARY, 1937

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

No. 3 — THE AIR CONDITIONING PLANT

PHOTO BY SYDNEY DESFOR

NBC’s ‘weather men’ at the control panel of the air conditioning plant. They are, from left
to right, Herman Gurin, technical assistant, Robert Close, chief engineer, and Alexander Fee,
control room engineer.

This is the third of a
series of articles which
we hope will give you
added knowledge and
understanding of the
many NBC units. We
suggest that you tear
off this sheet and file
it for future informa-
tion.

Those of us who
work in the studio
section are seldom
aware of the air con-
ditioning plant way
up on the tenth floor.

Yet, if something
were to go wrong
with it, we’d soon
know it!

When the RCA
building was being
planned, it was de-
cided to make NBC’s studio section
windowless, in order to eliminate street
sounds interfering with programs. This
decision resulted in the construction of
our air conditioning system.

Personnel

Headed by Robert Close, a staff of
twenty-five engineers keep the plant oper-
ating the better part of twenty hours a
day. Actually the men are on duty twenty-
four hours, for when the system shuts
down at one-thirty in the morning, it is
gone over with a fine-toothed comb. Neces-
sary repairs are made then. At half past
five, the equipment begins “to manufac-
ture weather” again.

The staff is divided into three eight
hour shifts. Mr. Close is on duty during
the day. At night, evening assistant
George Wessell assumes control. George
Gurin serves as technical assistant.

The Spray Chambers

Up on the tenth floor one of the first
things that strikes the eye is the dehumidi-
fying chamber (of which there are four)
with a stream of water falling behind two
glass windows.

“What’s that, Mr. Close?” we asked.

“That’s where we wash the air,” was his
reply.

“What!” we said, with an oh-quit-your-
kidding look at him.

“Yes,” he said. “We not only wash the
air there, but we dry it as well!”

Then he went on to explain that in the
summer when the air is warm and humid
it is “dried” by blowing it through the

comparatively cold (forty-six degrees
Fahrenheit) water spray. This causes the
condensation of the excess humidity in
the air. The reaction is similar to the
formation of moisture on the outside of a
glass of iced water in the summer. Some
of the moisture in the air condenses as it
strikes the cool surface of the glass.

The spray chambers also serve as a
cleansing agent and each week half a
bucket of mud accumulates in them. It is
said that New York City air is one-third
dust by weight!

Complaints on Temperature

Whenever you call the plant to com-
plain about the “weather” you are getting,
your grievance is recorded in a book with
a view to preventing its recurrence in the
future.

Mr. Close has found that most causes
for complaint result from ignorance of
the way the plant operates. For example,
there is the case of the engineer who
phoned one day and accused them of try-
ing to freeze him out.

“Why, my office is so cold you’d think
I were in training for one of Admiral
Byrd’s polar trips,” he said.

Mr. Close hurried down to the en-
gineer’s office and sure enough, it was
chilly. A hasty inspection revealed that
the engineer, in rearranging the furniture
in his office, had placed a loud speaker
next to the thermostat which controls the
temperature of the incoming air. The heat
from the hot tubes of the speaker had
caused the thermostat to indicate a tem-
perature much higher than the actual

room temperature.
Whereupon the air
conditioning plant
automatically re-
sponded to the rise
in temperature in-
dicated by the ther-
mostat and flooded
the room with cold
air.

The instruments
that record the tem-
perature of the vari-
ous parts of the
building are incred-
ibly sensitive. The
engineer in the con-
trol room told us
that he can tell
whenever an audi-
ence begins to file
into a studio, by the
rise in temperature
in that studio as in-
dicated on its corresponding indicator on
the control panel.

Temperamental Customers

NBC’s weather man usually complies
with requests for changes in temperature
in different parts of the building. Well-
insulated walls and tightly shut doors
make it possible to have different tempera-
tures in adjoining rooms.

Ethel Barrymore usually finds her
studio too warm when she enters it. A
hurried call to the white-clad engineer in
the control room results in a cooler tem-
perature within a minute or two.

John Charles Thomas is another artist
who likes his studio good and cool. “The
musicians who accompany him must be a
hardy lot,” Mr. Close said. “I can just pic-
ture them, with coat collars turned up,
attempting to keep warm as they play.”

We can cooperate with Mr. Close and
his engineers and in turn provide for
more ideal atmospheric conditions if we
observe several simple things. One, is to
keep all doors closed, especially the ones
that connect the studio and office sec-
tions. In the summer, workers in the
office section open the doors, hoping to get
some of the studio’s spring-like weather —
but just the opposite occurs. The warm
air of the offices rushes into the studios,
upsetting the plant’s balance.

Some of us, without thinking, obstruct
the grilled openings that return the air
to the plant. This makes a complete cir-
culation of air difficult and results in
stuffiness.

{Continued on page 16)

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC PITTSBURGH

by Jack Hollister

Fifty per cent of KDKA’s reputation for
having the most beautiful girls and the
homeliest announcers was upheld by the
discovery that six of the staff girls are
engaged. Perhaps the other fifty per cent
is upheld, too, by the fact that not one of
the single announcers has found the girl
who will say “yes.”

A newspaper photograph of the six
girls brought yards of grief to Dave Dick-
son, KDKA office manager. For 10 days
after the picture’s publication he was
swamped with calls from unmarried, un-
engaged gals . . . who wanted jobs.

i i i

Bernie Armstrong, for years an out-
standing theater organist, is now in charge
of all KDKA’s sustaining programs, while
Charley Urquhart of Scranton supervises
all commercials.

Robert Saudek, versatile KDKA con-
tinuity editor, is studying law. His attend-
ance at Duquesne University’s night
classes has improved since the Duke’s sen-
sational football season is a thing of the
past.

i i i

Promotion Director Morrow, incident-
ally, has found that the recently inau-
gurated billboard advertising of KDKA is
paying listener dividends.

i i i

Kay Barr, KDKA press relations head,
boasts that his semi-sombrero was bought
in Houston, Texas, nine years ago. And he
swears it was clean then although nobody
at the station will believe him.

i i i

Those two KDKA announcers who were
so highly flattered when about twenty
boys — part of a lower grade school group

N. Y. UNIFORMED STAFF
TURNS ON HEAT

Shifting into high gear, the basketball
team of the Guest Relations Division man-
aged to run down two more opponents
since the January issue. On January 28
it avenged a previous defeat by soundly
trouncing the Church of the Intercession
team. The score was 28-22. This score was
no indication of the merits of the two
teams. The boys played as they chose and
put the pressure on when necessary. De-
laney, Gross, and Captain Von Frank
were outstanding.

After some delay and numerous phone
calls the team journeyed once again to
Governors Island and there defeated a
team from Granbury & Co., on Tuesday,
February 2. This game was only semi-
official, as the boys went to the Island to
practice, but found the Granbury team in

viewing the station layout — rushed up
and asked for their autographs — were
promptly deflated when the first youngster
to pass over his pencil and paper inquired,
“Who are you, anyway?”

i i 1

Jimmy McConnell, Artists Service
Bureau, has been booking a flock of per-
sonal appearances for station acts and
entertainers. The Artist Bureau’s contest
for a name for “The Mystery Act,”
brought thousands of suggestions. “The
Kadians” was the top prize winner and
that’s how Denver Darling and his three
companions — an entirely different moun-
tain music outfit — now are known.

1 i i

Glenn Riggs’ wife might be interested
to know that the $5 he offered a “Show-
boat” attendant to cut the floating night
club adrift while he and Mayor Cornelius
D. Scully were giving KDKA listeners a
riverside account of the flood last month
was made AFTER the “Boat’s” chorus
had come aboard for rehearsal.

1 i 1

Adelaide Lasner, secretary to produc-
tion manager Urquhart, played the role
of a telephone operator so well on a
Philadelphia company program recently
that next day the company’s advertising
manager, Bob McCarty, received a tele-
phone call from a New Castle, Pa., busi-
ness man, offering “the operator” a job
at his company’s switchboard.

1 i i

Dorothy Louise Allen, recently asso-
ciated with the Pittsburgh Academy, has
joined the KDKA staff as assistant to
Evelyn Gardiner, Home Forum Director.

possession of the court and a game re-
sulted. The score, as reckoned by numer-
out innocent bystanders including the ref-
eree, was NBC, 36, — Granbury & Co., 30.
* * #

Little do the members of the Guest Re-
lations staff realize that they have a racke-
teer in their midst. His name is Joe
Merkle and he wields a vicious (tennis)
racket.

Joe eats, drinks and sleeps tennis, and
expects to keep playing long after he has
graduated from St. John’s University. Joe
won two matches and reached the quarter
finals to be seeded fourth in the singles of
the recent Eastern Indoor Collegiate
Tournament in New York City.

Joe faired better in the doubles than
he did in the singles. He and his partner
reached the finals after much fast play-
ing; they were seeded first.

Eight Hours Over the Flood

(Continued from Page 4)

of many aunts and uncles. Well, there
aren’t any more aunts and uncles there.
It was a sad sight. Only the roofs of
houses were visible. An arresting sight
was a cemetery on a snow-covered hill
high above the water. Here again the
photographers scrambled for that strate-
gically placed window. Paducah seemed
to be the hardest hit of all the other big
towns we saw.

“After flying over Kentucky we turned
towards Evansville, Indiana, where at
twelve-fifteen I got my cue to go on the
air. It was a difficult job talking about
the flood disasters; it was too tragic to
tragedize and too great to treat lightly.
I gave two of the newspapermen a chance
to say a few words during my fifteen min-
ute broadcast, and Mr. Menser, whose
hobby is flying, added some interesting
side-lights.

“The broadcast concluded, we flew for
three more hours over the flooded region
which, from above looked like an old-
fashioned patchwork quilt of oddly
shaped bodies of water, dry land, and
snow patches.

“We were certainly glad when we land-
ed safely in Chicago, though wet, tired,
and hungry, I, for one, had had enough
flying for a long time. I swore I wouldn’t
go up again. On my way back to the
studios I stretched my legs in the cab,
took a deep breath, and gloated with the
thought of a quiet restful evening ahead
in my cozy hotel room. But, alas, when
I reached the studios my “how-do-you-
do” was a telegram from Radio City or-
dering me to catch the first plane back
to New York for a commercial show!”

Ed. The airliner which plunged into
San Francisco Bay, killing its pilot and
eight passengers, on the night of Febru-
ary 9, was the very same plane mentioned
in this story.

Air Conditioning Pkint

(continued from page 15)

Manufactured Weather

The average mortal thinks of the
weather man as some one who makes a
guess about the next day’s weather. We,
at NBC, are fortunate to have a weather
man who is not only always correct, but
nice enough to give us our weather made
to order. All we have to do is lift a tele-
phone, dial 711 and put in our order. . . .
Which reminds us of the old nursery
rhyme that begins, “Some like it hot, some
like it cold . .

NBC TRANSMITTEB

VOL. 5 MARCH, 195 7 NO. 3

NBC EMPLOYES FORM AN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

On March 2, at 5:35 P. M. the lusty
yells of a new baby might have been
heard emanating from studio 3A in Radio
City. An NBC Athletic Association had
been born. About fifty people represent-
ing nearly every department of NBC as-
sisted at the birth and were called to
order by Dwight G. Wallace, manager
of the Personnel Office.

Nominations were then opened for a
temporary chairman and Frank Jones,
Artists Service; Jack Wahlstrom, Guest
Relations, and Walter Moore, Press, were
nominated. A closed ballot resulted in
the election of Mr. Jones. Taking over
the meeting, he praised the spirit of the
Guest Relations staff in bringing about
the formation of an athletic association.
He then proceeded to the forming of a
nominating committee of five members to
select candidates for officers of the Asso-
ciation. The advisability of selecting the
five from as many departments as pos-
sible was pointed out and nominations
were opened. A group of ten was nom-
inated. Of these Walter Moore, Press;
Beverly F. Frendendall, Engineering;
Frank Crowley, Mail Room; Jane Miles,
Personnel, and Charles H. Thurman,
Guest Relations, were elected. Mr. Thur-
man was elected chairman. A motion was
carried that the committee act in an or-
ganizing capacity.

The second meeting was held on Wed-
nesday night, March 17. After the read-
ing of the minutes of the first meeting,
Mr. Thurman reported that his committee
had nominated George McElrath, Engi-
neering, president; Rudolph J. Teichner,
Treasurer’s Office, vice-president; Miss
Frances Barbour, Sales, vice-president;
Alexander D. Nicoll, Auditing, treasurer,
and Miss Jane Miles, Personnel, secre-
tary. All these nominations were prompt-
ly seconded and the candidates were
unanimously elected.

Mr. McElrath then took over the meet-
ing. A future meeting of all those inter-
ested in sports was decided on for Mon-
day evening, March 22.

It also was decided to canvass the com-
pany to determine what sports each em-
ploye is interested in. Chairmen in each
sport are to be elected at that meeting.

Miss Barbour explained that more em-
phasis should be given to the women’s
place in the A. A. and it was decided to
make a concerted effort to get as many
women as possible interested. Messrs. Mc-
Elrath, Teichner, and Jones all dwelt on
the need for real interest and active sup-
port among all employes to make the NBC
Athletic Association the successful body
it should be. The meeting was adjourned
at 6:10 P. M.

Now that the ground has been broken
and the frame-work erected, the NBC
Athletic Association needs only the en-
thusiastic cooperation of all NBCites to
make it a truly company-wide organiza-
tion for the promotion and coordination
of all NBC athletic activities. Through the
columns of the NBC TRANSMITTER the
A. A. Committee urges every member of
NBC to share in this long wanted oppor-
tunity to organize NBC athletic groups
under one body.

Abbott Tessman, 28-year-old NBC an-
nouncer, recently was selected as the best
announcer in San Francisco and the Bay
Area by a board of nine judges, includ-
ing radio editors of the district. Tessman
was presented with gold trophies.

NBC WILL GO 7000 MILES
FOR ECLIPSE BROADCAST

NBC will write another page in radio
history next month when announcers, en-
gineers and approximately four tons of
the most modern broadcasting equipment
begin a seven thousand mile journey to a
South Sea island in mid-Pacific to broad-
cast a fifteen minute description of a total
eclipse of the sun.

The eclipse will take place on Tuesday,
June 8, at 2:15 P. M., E. S. T. The ob-
servation will be made from one of only
two tiny bits of land in the entire path
of the eclipse, extending for 5,000 miles
across the Pacific, from which satisfac-
tory observations of the spectacle can be
made.

Participating in the expedition with the
National Broadcasting Company, the Na-
tional Geographic Society and the United
States Navy will be the United States Bu-
reau of Standards and directors of the
observatories of Georgetown University,
Cornell University and the University of
Michigan and the Naval Observatory.

The equipment and members of the ex-
pedition will be transported to the South
Seas aboard U. S. Navy vessels. These
elaborate preparations are being made
by NBC with full knowledge that should
June 8 in the South Pacific be cloudy
the broadcast will have to be cancelled.

Members of NBC to take the trip will
be announced later.

These are the officers of the newly tormed NBC Athletic Association elected by the employes of
the National Broadcasting Company in New York on March 17. They are, from left to right,
Rudolph J. Teichner, vice-president; Alexander D. Nicol, treasurer; Frances Barbour, vice-
president, and George McElrath, president. Jane Miles, secretary, was unable to pose.

NBC TRANSMITTER

WHO'S WHO IN THE NBC NETWORKS

Introducing — NILES TRAMMELL

Take a generous portion of true South-
ern courtesy, add a dash of far-Western
optimism, another of Eastern suavity, and
a big one of Mid-Western drive, and you
begin to get a picture of Niles Trammell,
Vice-President and Manager of NBC’s
Central Division.

This transplanted Southern gentleman
whose dark-panelled offices high in the
tower of the world’s largest building, the
Merchandise Mart, overlook the Chicago
river and the famous Loop, is the keen
mind who directs the destinies of one of
the most important radio centers in the
world.

A product of Marietta, Georgia — that
historic point not far from Atlanta — he
was educated at those two famous institu-
tions, the Sewanee Military Academy and
the University of the South at Sewanee,
Tennessee. That he hasn’t forgotten his
old school and that it hasn’t forgotten him
is attested by the fact that he presently
serves as a member of the Board of Re-
gents of the University of the South.

When the United States entered the
World War, he enlisted in the land forces
and completed his service as a commis-
sioned officer. He might have continued as
an officer, since he had no definite idea of
just what he wanted to do, had it not been
for a dinner he attended while serving on
the Pacific Coast during the post-war
years.

The dinner was in honor of General
James G. Harbord, then president of the
newly born Radio Corporation of Amer-
ica, and David Sarnoff, now president.
The idea of taking a hand in the formation
of a new industry was appealing, so the
young army officer convinced the RCA
officials that he should become associated
with the new company. He became a traf-
fic solicitor for them at a time when prac-
tically the only source of income was from
radiograms.

In 1923 he was appointed District Man-
ager for RCA in Seattle. During the fol-
lowing five years he was promoted to the
same position in Los Angeles and then
named Assistant Sales Manager for the
Pacific Division in San Francisco.

The long, mutually advantageous as.so-
ciation with the National Broadcasting
Company began in March, 1928. At that
time Mr. Trammell took a long hop to
NBC’s New York office. Impressed by his
seemingly boundless energy, the company
sent him to Chicago to manage NBC’s
Central Division. A year later he was ap-

NILES TRAMMELL
Vice-President in Charge of NBC Central
Division

pointed Vice-President in charge of the
Central Division.

Only a few local programs were broad-
cast from the Chicago studios when Niles
Trammell began his work in a small office
in the Lake Michigan building. Network
programs were non-existent. Under his
management the productions took on new
life and color, assumed a large part of the
air time. Business concerns were convinced
of the advantages of broadcast adver-
tising and Chicago became a leading radio
center of the nation. Now, under Niles
Trammell’s guidance, more than eighteen
hundred programs a month, including over
nine hundred network programs, originate
in the Chicago studios in the specially
built penthouse atop the Merchandise
Mart.

To Mr. Trammell the future of the radio
industry is clear and unmarked by any
great changes, except, of course, the ad-
vent of television. Like others in a highly
technical industry, he looks on absolute
perfection as being always one step ahead.

“We are striving always for a more
evenly balanced entertainment schedule;
transmission of programs is constantly im-
proving; and I look forward to the time
when contracts will all be on a yearly
basis instead of the present thirteen week
basis.”

Carlton KaDell, announcer on the Amos
’n’ Andy program, will walk a mile — and
more— for a rare phonograph record. His
hobby is collecting discs, of which he has
a library of some 800. Among them are
the wax-preserved voices of such vanished
titans as Caruso and Schumann-Heink in
their complete recording repertoires.

E. P. H. JAMES TALKS ON
RADIO MERCHANDISING

E. P. H. JAMES

In an address be-
fore the Advertising
and Marketing
Forum of the Adver-
tising Club of New
York on March 19,

E. P. H. James, pro-
motion manager,
discussed the mean-
ing of broadcast
merchandising to NBC.

Mr. James explained at the outset that
to NBC the term “merchandising” means
the planning and carrying out of certain
coordinated activities which will ensure
getting the utmost effectiveness out of a
broadcast campaign. This is a very broad
task and it embraces practically every
form of advertising and sales promotion.
It is such an important subject that NBC
has for the past four years published a
monthly magazine. Broadcasting Mer-
chandising, which consists of factual ac-
counts of what its clients have success-
fully done in the way of broadcast mer-
chandising campaigns.

Mr. James explained that to NBC the
most important of all the phases of broad-
cast merchandising is merchandising at
the point of sale where various forms of
advertising in the way of store displays
can be tied up most effectively with radio.
General radio advertising brings the
prospect to the store in a buying mood
but the advertising job is not completed
until the consumer asks the dealer for
the specific product. It is here that the
tie-in between the name of the product
and the pleasure of the entertainment, in
the mind of the prospect is recalled and
intensified by displays at the place where
they will have most effect in making the
sale.

“We believe it is the function of the
broadcasting systems or the radio stations
to pass along ideas to the advertiser and
to show him effective ways of carrying
out these ideas, but we do not believe it
is their function to do this actual mer-
chandising work.

“We believe that each form of adver-
tising and sales promotion can be best
carried out by those who specialize in it.
Our specialty is radio advertising, and
while we have experts in merchandising
to guide us and our clients in ways and
means of cashing in on this radio adver-
tising, we believe that the actual prepa-
ration of booklets, pamphlets, window
displays, salesmen’s bulletins, portfolios
and direct mail should be handled by the
{Continued on Page 6)

MARCH, 1937

"Ounttitinn Marlm"

MAX JORDAN'S JOB

“ . . . a buyer who goes into tlie open market and eacli year s[)ends a
small fortune for commodities that must he given away by his employers. He
argues with kings, chases stratosphere balloons through the Swiss Alps,
teaches dictators to speak English, crawls around the top of Vesuvius, attends
royal christenings and never misses a war ... he combs Europe for things our
listening audience wants to hear. . . .

— It's Your Air, by Borden Chase in Liberty.

Dr. Max Jordan is Continental European Representative for NBC.

* * *

HOW OTHERS SEE US

“ . . . nine out of ten visiting firemen want to rush to Radio City and see
how their notes and cereals come over the air. Such has been the influx that
the National Broadcasting Company had to establish a department of guides.
These young men have made the original Roxy usher joke look like a military
school for midgets under six years. The guides not only know all there is to
know, are handsomer than Gary Cooper, dressed better than a rear admiral,
but usually marry someone in the sight-seeing party. The guides take care
of half a million neck-stretchers a year at forty cents a neck; on Labor Day
they broke all records with 8,210 curious. If you don’t believe all of this see
Gordon H. Mills,* the Major General in charge of the stalwarts. But don’t ask
for tickets to broadcasts; only Senators can supply them. . . .”

— Painting the Town with Esquire, Esquire, March, 1937.

* Charles H. Thurman has replaced Gordon H. Mills as ‘‘Major General in
charge” ; the latter is now a member of the N. Y. Local Sales staff.

* * *

RADIO AND EDUCATION

“Radio is a paradox, the most important of the new mediums of enter-
tainment possesses at the same time, the greatest potentiality ever existing
in the world for mass education.

“The printing press required the ability to read, the school the ability
to attend it in working hours, even the correspondence course lacking the
advantage of the human voice with its inflections, its emotional emphasis, its
easy familiar conversational style. The only medium yet discovered by man
to cut through illiteracy is the radio.

“This is so well known to power seeking ambitious men that they would
twist this medium to their own purposes and unfortunately have done it in
other parts of the world. The L’nited States radio is still free.’’

— From ‘‘The Obligation of Radio,” an address by Educational Director
Dr. Franklin Dunham before a convention of the Department of Superin-
tendence of the National Education Association in New Orleans, Louisiana.

STAMP CLUB NOTES

by Frank J. Reed, Secretary

YEAR'S ACTIVITIES SUMMARIZED

With the approach of April we are rap-
idly nearing the end of the first year of
a growing institution — the NBC Stamp
Club. The club was started when it was
found that pages and executives alike
were stopping each other in the corridors
to discuss new issues and to trade dupli-
cates. Through the cooperation and kind-
ness of Mr. Lenox R. Lohr, himself an
ardent philatelist, the President’s Confer-
ence Room was turned over to us for our
meetings. Through the cooperation of Mr.
Wayne Randall we acquired a bulletin
board and official club stationery.

As the news spread through the com-
pany new members came to swell the orig-
inal nucleus until at the present time we
have thirty-two paid up members and sev-
eral we haven’t been able to catch as yet.
An election of officers was held, and the
elected ones duly installed in office.

An invitation from the Associated Busi-
ness Stamp Clubs, an organization com-
posed of fourteen clubs of fourteen busi-
ness organizations in New York City, with
a total representative membership of thir-
teen hundred, resulted in our joining this
organization and sharing in all their bene-
fits, including the new issue service, ex-
pertization bureau, and libraries. The next
step was our membership in the National
Federation of Stamp Clubs, and we felt
that we had “arrived.”

Our first annual banquet was held on
February 15th and was well attended. The
only regret felt was for those unfortunates
who could not be present. All of which
brings us up to the present time. To Cap-
tain Tim Healy — we thank you for your
kindness and willingness to help us in our
problems and for your advice. To Harry
Lindquist — to you and to Alfred Lichten-
stein and to Theodore Steinway — you all
were present at our organization meeting;
you gave us the advantage of your long
experience in philately; the NBC Club col-
lection is due in no small way to your ef-
forts and kindness; for this we thank you,
and hope that you are as proud of our
club as we are. To the members — the
Executive Committee has done its best to
further the interests of the club in this, its
first year; the committee would have pro-

gressed nowhere without the support and
cooperation that they received from the
members; the committee sincerely hopes
you have been satisfied with your choice
of officers and that you will give next
year’s officers the same cooperation.

The next meeting of the Club will be
held on April 5 in the President’s Board
Room on the sixth floor, at which time

the annual election of officers will be held.

Following the election, and reports of
the year’s activities, from various commit-
tees, the meeting will be adjourned in
favor of a buffet supper.

1 i i

Enter the Photo Contest and win a pair o<
theatre tickets. Send in your entries beiore
April 8.

NBC TRANSMITTER

HANSON BROADCASTS ON RADIO DEVELOPMENTS

NBC Chief Engineer O. B. Hanson explains the new RCA uni directional microphone to com-
mentator John B. Kennedy during a recent broadcast on the development of radio equipment
by RCA and NBC.

On February 23, 0. B. Hanson, NBC
chief engineer, inaugurated a new series
of programs dealing witli NBC’s recent
contributions to the radio engineering
world.

Interviewed by John B. Kennedy, fa-
mous commentator, Mr. Hanson discussed
WJZ’s new vertical radiator antenna, the
new uni-directional velocity microphone
developed by RCA, and the present state
of television.

The program was the first of a quar-
terly series to be presented over NBC net-
works.

WJZ’s new radiator antenna at Bound
Brook, N. J., towers into the sky to a
height of 640 feet. Its purpose is to in-
crease the signal strength and to decrease
fading. Field tests have demonstrated the
new single tower antenna to be more effi-
cient than the old, more familiar twin
tower set-up.

Mr. Hanson also explained the advan-
tages of the new uni-directional micro-
phone. It is bullet-shaped in appearance
and is proving of value in picking up
large orchestras and choruses, where the
area to be covered is large and where noise
and echoes from the hack of an auditorium
are not wanted. The uni-directional micro-
phone, which receives sound from one side
only, can be placed so as to pick up an
orchestra from one side and nothing from
the opposite side. This season it is being
used to i>ick u[) the RCA Metroj)olitan

Opera broadcasts on Saturday afternoons.

“Television is still in the experimental
stage.” Mr. Hanson said. “There remain
several technical obstacles to overcome be-
fore television becomes a public service.”

* * * *

0. B. Hanson is one of the most prom-
inent figures in the field of radio devel-
opment. He became interested in radio
when the industry was in its infancy. He
was an amateur operator at first, building
his own equipment. He attended the Mar-
coni School in New York and then, dur-
ing the World War he went to sea as a
licensed operator. His wartime experi-
ences were thrilling, reaching a climax in
the torpedoing of his ship.

In 1917 he entered the engineering de-
partment of the Marconi Company of
America. In a short time he rose to the
position of chief test engineer. He was a
‘pioneer in the designing and managing of
one of the first broadcasting stations.

Eventually he joined the staff of W’E.AF
and was chief engineer at the time the
National Broadcasting Company was
formed. By that time Mr. Hanson was an
expert in his field, and was aj)pointed to
his present position, lender his guidance,
the NBC engineering staff has made many
noteworthy contributions to radio engi-
neering. The Radio City and other NBC
studio plants are a tribute to his engineer-
ing skill.

NBC CLEVELAND

by Bob Dailey

WTAM’s popular “Northern Lights”
program has been added to the NBC-Red
Network schedule. Produced by Waldo
Pooler, the variety broadcast features
comedian Pooler as Joe Peno, a French-
Canadian trapper; Earl Rohlf’s quartet;
a dramatic skit and Stubby Gordon’s or-
chestra.

The broadcast is dedicated to residents
of the Far North who are snowbound dur-
ing the winter months and depend solely
on radio for entertainment. Idea for the
program came to Vernon H. Pribble. sta-
tion manager, from correspondence with
a friend in northern Ontario.

i i i

Application for permission to erect a
new vertical radiator antenna has been
filed with the Federal Communications
Commission by NBC on behalf of WT.AM.
The proposed antenna would provide the
equivalent of a two-fold increase in power.

i i i

It will he a long time before one hun-
dred and twenty orphans from Cleveland’s
Parmadale school forget \^TAM, Tom
Manning and the circus.

With NBC’s red-haired sports an-
nouncer as host, the school’s honor stu-
dents were brought in two buses one after-
noon recently to WT.\M, where a variety
show was broadcast in their honor.

Crunching peanuts and candy, the boys
who ranged in age from nine to fourteen,
enthusiastically applauded ballad singer
Marian Nadea, tenor Ray Morton, pianist
Doc Whipple and the Dude Ranch Boys.
Manning, as master of ceremonies, even
interviewed a few of the boys on the air
about their school work and hobbies.

After seeing the studios, they were taken
by Manning to the Grotto indoor circus
where they occupied the best grandstand
seats and became the center of clown-
land. It was a happy day for WTAM’s
personnel and the orphans.

i i i

FLASHES — Program Secretary Edith

heeler returns from a short vacation in
New York City. . . . Waldo Pooler spends
a week at Radio City studying develop-
ments in production work. . . . Program
Director Hal Metzger sick for two weeks
with flu. . . . Librarian Bob Oatley plan-
ning another Florida vacation. . . . Musi-
cal Director Walter Logan absent from
studios on business trips in the East.

MARCH, 1937

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

by Louise Landis

Enid Beaupre's Welsh

Program Well Received

Cliff Anderson, who is in charge of
I’rograni Traffic, is holding uj) pretty well
hut may break out into hahy talk any day
now. . . . Miss Donna Lou Anderson ar-
rived at the St. Francis Hosj)ital Febru-
ary 16. causing Cliff to l)ring out a big
box of candy and lots of cigars — as well
as the widest, hajjpiest grin seen around
San Francisco for some time.

i i i

James Lyman of the Accounting De-
jrartment is receiving congratulations. . . .
Miss Virginia Bower, pretty young dental
hygienist, became .Mrs. James Lyman Feb-
ruary 20. The young couple, both ski en-
thusiasts, spent their honeymoon in the
snow country near Cisco.

i i 1

R. ^ . Clark, assistant station engineer
at KPO until he left for Radio City re-
cently, is the first westerner to be called to
Radio City to help the cause of television
along.

i i i

If you want to make Van Fleming, Care-
free Carnival producer, and Peter Aben-
heim, his assistant, jump six feet, walk up
behind them and whisper, “Stick ’em up,
boys!”

Abenheim’s hobby is target practice
and he and Fleming were strolling down
San Francisco’s Third Street the other
day on their way to a gun-shop to buy
cartridges when Abenheim decided to take
his overcoat off. “Hold this,” he told Van
and passed him an empty revolver. Van,
already lulled by the sunshine, was car-
rying his coat, and slipped the gun be-
neath it. Almost immediately somebody
growled, “Stick ’em up!” and the two
NBCites looked around to find themselves
surrounded by a cordon of cops armed
with shotguns, machine guns and just
plain guns.

Van and Abenheim blinked, decided it
wasn't a gag, and reached for the clouds
while a rude man in uniform searched
them and wasn’t a bit gentle about it.
W hen all he could find was the empty re-
volver he was a bit disappointed and so

was the crowd, but the NBC lads were
distinctly relieved to recall they didn’t pos-
sess so much as a pen-knife in the way of
illegal weapons. Finally, the repre.senta-
tives of the law were persuaded that their
prisoners were harmless gag-men in
search of a little relaxation and let them

go-

P.S. They never did get the cartridges.
Abenheim says he hasn’t any real need of
them now as he has decided to go in for
stamp-collecting.

i i i

NBC staff members went on record, and
strongly, for a new program which will
go on the air shortly.

In order to have a complete picture of
the voice and personality of a news com-
mentator in whom a client is interested,
Ruth Miller, hostess; Gene Grant, sales-
man; Henry Maas, sales traffic manager;
David McKay, sales promotion, and other
folks who usually stay behind the scenes,
were interviewed by the commentator, and
a transcription made for the client.

The books listed in this column are re-
commended as pertinent literature on
radio and allied subjects. They will be
found in the General Library on the NBC
Transmitter Shelf.

BROADCASTING YEAR
BOOK, 1937

Contains about anything and every-
thing you want to know about radio.
Might almost be called a radio en-
cyclopedia. Published by Broadcast-
ing Magazine.

EDUCATION ON THE AIR

A symposium on education by
radio with leading educators and
radio men taking part. Among the
contributors are Ernest La Prade,
Franklin Dunham, H. V. Kaltenborn.
C. L. Menser. Contains much valu-
able material. Edited by Josephine H.
MacLatchy.

March 1. St. Dav-
id’s Day, is to the
Welsh what .St. I^at-
rick’s Day is to the
Irish but it wasn’t
until I.nid Beaupre
of the Promotion Di-
vision got to work on
the idea that a net-
work program was
planned around and
dedicated to the Pat

ENID BEAUPRE

Saint of Wales.

Mrs. Beaupre was born and received her
early education in North Wales and she
knows how important a holiday St. David’s
Day is to the many Welsh people in this
country. Last year she got permission to
plan and organize a program. The Welsh
have a gift for singing in parts, harmonize
naturally, and excel in choral and congre-
gational singing. With the cooperation of
the St. David’s Society of the State of New
York and the two Welsh churches in New
York City a program was broadcast from
the Radio City Music Hall studio. There
were one hundred and twenty-five voices.

This year Mrs. Beaupre not only
planned and organized the program but
also announced it. The program originated
in the New Amsterdam Theatre and went
coast-to-coast and abroad by short wave.
There were two hundred voices, and Au-
brey Niel Morgan, son-in-law of the late
Dwight M. Morrow and a director of the
National Welsh Museum in Cardiff, Wales,
was the speaker. The program was a great
success and Phillips Carlin plans to make
it an annual feature with a probable re-
broadcast through the British Broadcast-
ing Company.

A letter from Mr. Morgan to Mrs.
Beaupre says, “I have already received a
large batch of letters, all of which seem
most appreciative of the program which
you put over. Welsh people in this coun-
try owe you a great deal for your efforts.
I only hope they will be sufficiently grate-
ful for what you’ve done.”

Walter Moore, Press, better known as
the Roving Reporter, wants it known that
he is not the same Walter Moore, gunman,
who broke into the front page of the New
York Daily News on March 3rd for muf-
fing a carefully planned holdup.

When approached for comment, Mr.
Moore (that is, our Walter Moore) curtly
remarked, “You see — crime doesn’t pay!”

NBC WASHINGTON

by Marian P. Gale

NBC TRANSMITTER

Mr. Merryman
joined NBC in 1927
and has been sta-
tioned in Washing-
ton during that time.

In 1917 he attend-
ed night school at
the Oregon Institute
of Technology,
studying radio com-
munication. With ro-
mantic adventures of
the sea on his mind
he got a job as radio
operator on com-
mercial vessels from
1918 to 1921 on Eu-
ropean and South American cruises. Back
on terra firma in 1922, Mr. Merryman
built and operated KFBM for the Morn-
ing Astorian, Astoria, Oregon. He became
manager, announcer, and engineer for this
station until it was destroyed by a fire
which wiped out the city’s entire business
section. Following the station fire Mr.
Merryman returned to high school at
Paisley, Oregon, where his parents began
a second experiment in cattle ranching.
After school and during vacations Phil
trapped coyotes and turned “buckaroo”
for large cattle ranches in the vicinity. At
that time he became a member of the
Oregon National Guard.

In 1925, when he finished high school,
Mr. Merryman went to Chicago in search
of a musical career, but soon found he was
temperamentally unfitted to study music.
So in 1926 he took a job as purser and
radio operator on a Great Lakes passen-
ger ship. Later in the year he joined the
staff of Air Mail service at WWO in
Cleveland, Ohio.

He says it wasn’t until he joined NBC
that he found work that really interested
him. He is married and has two sons,
Philip, Jr., and Michael.

Mr. Merryman is a member of the
Lambda chapter of the Phi Sigma Kappa
social fraternity and Delta Sigma Rho, na-
tional honorary forensic fraternity.

1 i i

Donald H. Cooper, control supervisor,
succeeds Phil Merryman as operations

i 1 i

March 13 — Ted
Kimball, handsome
young NBC an-
nouncer in Wash-
ington, is thanking
his lucky stars today
he has a speaking
knowledge of Ger-
man.

Last night Kim-
ball was scheduled
to announce the Na-
tional Symphony
orchestra from the
Willard Hotel.
Glancing at a copy of the numbers the
orchestra was to play half a minute before
be was to go on the air, Kimball discov-
ered that they were written in German.

Ted gulped, went white, looked plead-
ingly at his watch, then got the signal he
was on the air. Kimball fell back on his
command of German, one of six languages
he speaks, and went through the German
continuity without a hitch.

It seems that Director Hans Kindler was
under the impression that he was to an-
nounce the numbers and for bis own con-
venience had written his script in German.
When Kimball arrived Kindler very gra-
ciously offered his script to the announcer,
who profusely thanked the orchestra lead-
er, thinking it was in English.

Ill

HERE AND THERE: We’re glad to see
Don Cooper, new operations supervisor,
back to the office once more. . . . Don’s
been sick with the chicken-pox. . . . Many
thanks to the ATE members for having
their subscription dance at the Broad-
moore last month . . . that may have had
something to do with the idea of having
a big company party for all of us. Frank
M. Russell, Vice-President of the NBC
Washington Division, has issued invita-
tions to everyone for dinner Saturday
night, March 20th, at the Wardman Park
Hotel. . . . Gordon Hittenmark, WRC time-
keeper, is celebrating his second anniver-
sary this month as a radio commentator in
Washington. . . . Bill Coyle, ace sports an-
nouncer locally, succeeds Shannon Allen,

PHILIP I. MERRYMAN

Philip I. Merryman, operations super-
visor in Washington, has been transferred
to the Stations Relations Department in
Radio City.

supervisor. Robert L. Terrell is promoted
to senior control supervisor and Dawson
A. Ullman bas been announced junior
control supervisor.

WISE GUY

The other night one of the New York
press radio teletype machines went out
of order just as it was typing off a bulle-
tin.

A repair man was hurriedly summoned.
He got out his tools and went to work.
After a few minutes tinkering he stopped,
a puzzled frown spreading over his face.
He scratched his head in bewilderment.

“Put a nickel in it — ,’’ a bystander
jeered.

After a moment’s thought the electri-
cian’s face brightened. He reached into
his pocket, drew out a nickel and put it
on a contact point. Instantly the machine
began its steady typing again!

This time the repair man turned to the
astounded kibitzer and said, shrugging his
shoulders, “No jack-pot for me. Why don’t
you try it?’’

(It seems that one of the electrical con-
tact points was short circuited. Placing a
nickel on it reestablished the connection
and permitted the machine to operate
again.)

MERCHANDISING RADIO

{Continued from Page 2)

advertising agency and by the client him-
self rather than by us.

“We will gladly make suggestions and
recommendations, and work in the crea-
tion of the merchandising campaign, of
course. Most of the men working in broad-
cast advertising are men experienced in
other forms of advertising and sales pro-
motion — many of them have come from
the newspaper and magazine fields.

“Broadcast merchandising, to most ad-
vertisers, is the keynote to successful sell-
ing by radio.”

local production manager and night su-
pervisor. Allen has been appointed Assist-
ant Director of the Works Project Admin-
istration’s educational radio project, ef-
fective immediately. . . . Bill, who inci-
dentally is celebrating his seventh con-
secutive year in broadcasting, was the first
winner of the Henry Kaufman Trophy as
the outstanding commercial announcer of
all Washington radio stations. He has
tried his hand in practically every depart-
ment of a radio station. . . . Bud Barry,
who has had a lot of newspaper, legitimate
stage and radio experience) has recently
joined the ranks of WRC announcers.

MARCH, 1937

New York Television

Staff Increased

With the prospects of a spurt in ex-
perimental television this summer, five
engineers from different NBC engineer-
ing divisions have been added to the pres-
ent staff of experimenters in Radio City.
They began their work on March first.

Those selected for special training in
this work were R. W. Clark, assistant sta-
tion engineer at KPO. San Francisco; Le-
roy Moffett, transmitter engineer at
WENR. Chicago; H. C. Gronbcrg. WRC.
Washington's, studio and field engineer;
R. J. Plaisted. operating engineer.
WTAM, Cleveland, and Stanley Peck of
the New York staff. All these men have
been with the company at least six years
and have a thorough knowledge of sound
broadcasting, and possess special aptitude
for experimental work.

After a period of training in construc-
tion and the use of RCA television equip-
ment, they will commence work in field
tests, which are being conducted to de-
termine the effectiveness of the new trans-
mission system with 441-line definition.
\^'ith the addition of these men. the field
test schedule will be increased consider-
ably.

Lowell Heads New

Service Division

In a bulletin dated February 27, W. G.
Preston, Jr., head of General Service, an-
nounced a number of immediate adminis-
trative and personnel changes in his de-
partment.

Important among the changes is the for-
mation of the Office Services Division with
Edward M. Lowell as manager. Mr. Low-
ell’s division will include sections hereto-
fore reporting directly to the department
head. They are Mail-Messenger. Audience
Mail, Central Stenographic, Central Du-
plicating, Central Files, Central Supply
and Receiving, and Bindery.

In addition to his new position, Mr.
Lowell, who has been with NBC for six
years, will act as Assistant Manager of
General Service. His former position as
Manager of Building Maintenance will be
filled by William F. Neubeck. Mr. Neu-
beck has acted as Assistant Manager in
that division for several years.

Mr. Preston also announced that hence-
forth the Supervision Division will be
known as the Administrative Division. D.
B. Van Houten will continue as manager
of that division.

NBC DENVER

by Charles Anderson

CHARLEY PARKER, veteran professional
skier, is shown with portable NBC equipment
used in a stunt broadcast during a ski meet on
top of Berlhoud Pass near Denver. Engineer
Bob Owens of KOA designed the ingenious
arrangement composed of a baseball mask
with a micropbone attached through which
the skier told his listeners how it felt sliding
down a hill on skiis at breakneck speed.

Roscoe K. Stockton, dramatic director
for KOA, is starting his fifth year as in-
structor in radio broadcasting at the Uni-
versity of Denver, School of Commerce.
He also maintains recording studios there
for professional and amateur artists wish-
ing to have air-checks of their work.

i i i

Billy Stulla is back at work after a
month in the hospital, recovering from an
operation. Everyone is glad to see him
back and hopes for his rapid and com-
plete recovery.

i i i

Gene Ater, mail clerk, left KOA for the
spring training camp of the Tulsa Club,
farm for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He will
go directly to the camp at Seguine, Texas.
Ater was well known here for his work
with several semi-pro clubs and it was
due to his playing in the Annual Denver
Post Tourney that he received the pro
offer.

i 1 i

Ellsworth Stepp moves into the Mail
Division taking Ater’s place and Eddie
Sproul joins the page staff as a full-time
member.

i i i

Golf is in the air for sure. Carl Schuck-
necht. Engineering, takes scoring honors,
but the rest of the gang are determined
to give him a close run this summer. The

NBC QUINTET LOSES

IN CLOSE BALL GAME

In a rough and tumble game, played
March 1.5 on the Textile High School
court, the NBC basketball team lost to
the Rockefeller Center Elevator Staff
team. The half time score was 11-10 in
favor of the winners, and the final score
was 23-18. The Center team showed its
superiority throughout, being the more
aggressive and the better ball handlers.
NBC did manage to pull even in the third
quarter but never took the lead. Krenshaw
and Gross starred for NBC, while the
smooth floor work of Chief Elevator
Starter Davis, and the excellent shooting
of K. Nenonen were outstanding in bring-
ing victory to Rockefeller Center. A re-
turn match is hoped for.

The next official game is scheduled for
March 30 in Erasmus High School, Brook-
lyn, at 8 P. M., when NBC will encounter
RCA Communications. All NBCites are
invited to turn out and support the team.
There is no admission charge.

Studio Tours Going Up

The Guest Relations Division reports a
tremendous rise in the number of people
taking the NBC Studio Tour. During the
first two months of this year over 72,000
guests made the one hour trip, an in-
crease of 67% over the same period in
1936.

Contributing to this is the fact that
more than twelve thousand went through
the plant over the week-end of IX'ashing-
ton’s birthday. The busiest day was Feb-
ruary 22, when over 5,000 people were
shown behind the scenes of NBC in Radio
City.

With this year’s figures already 18,000
ahead of last year’s month to month fig-
ures it is estimated, on this basis, that the
1936 total of 560,000 will be exceeded
this year by at least 45,000.

i f i

Please call or write the NBC TRANSMITTER it
you are not receiving this publication regularly.

“gang” includes announcers Joe Gilles-
pie, Bill Stulla, Charlie Anderson; engi-
neers Carl Schucknecht. Roy Carrier,
Walter Morrisey, Bill X^’illiams; pages
Ellsworth Stepp, Wes Durand, and Derby
Sproul of Continuity.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC Entertains Lawyers

At Television Banquet

On March 5 A. L.
Ashby, Vice - Presi-
dent and General
Counsel of NBC and
recognized interna-
tional authority on
radio, played host to
over t^venty mem-
bers of the Com-
munications Com-
mittee of the New York County Lawyers’
Association at a dinner and television
demonstration given by NBC.

Following dinner in the Rainbow Room,
the committee members adjourned to the
NBC board room where Colonel Manton
Davis, Vice-President and General Coun-
sel of RCA, was seen in a televised speech
on “Frequency Assignments for Televi-
sion.” The Colonel’s informal talk was
supplemented by a technical discussion
offered by Chief Engineer 0. B. Hanson
and Charles W. Horn, Director of Re-
search and Development. Among those
present as guests of the committee were
Robert C. Morris, former president of the
association, and Terence J. McManus,
secretary.

The demonstration arranged by Judge
Ashby proved of interest to the group in
giving them a practical understanding of
this field of radio, in which the members
are making an extensive study.

Our “Chief of the nine old men of the
Legal Department,” as Judge Ashby is
sometimes referred to, is a Director of the
Association and Chairman of the Com-
munications Committee.

An interesting incident during the eve-
ning took place when Professor L. J.
Tompkins, who taught Judge Ashby all
about corporations during his law school
days, had to assume the role of a student
in the discussion of radio.

“I’m On a Sit-Down Strike for Love”
is the title of a song composed by two
NBCites in Radio City, Reginald Thomas
and Oscar Turner of Electrical Transcrip-
tion Service. The theme, obtained from
the current front-page headlines, took
them seven hours to set to music. Thomas
has composed other popular tunes, but
this is the first time for Turner to try
his hand at composition.

The Main Hall Information Desk in
Radio City is one of the most interesting
points in the New York studios from the
standpoint of unusual happenings. From
Wally Clark, Fred Fields and Pat O’Con-
nor we learned of a few the other night
(and the boys insist unusual things hap-
pen so frequently that they have become
commonplace) .

Imagine, if you can, a very excited man
and lady, who arrived too late to gain
entrance to a studio for a broadcast. They
used every excuse to try and get in, but
to no avail. Finally, the man pleaded,
“But I’ve come all the way from France
just to see this broadcast.” Not to be out-
done, the lady spoke up, “And I’ve come
all the way from the Bronx.”

Then there were two ladies who were
curious as to what was meant by “The
Lucky Strike Hit Parade Broadcast.” Af-
ter a long explanation they were no bet-
ter off. They couldn’t seem to understand
what any of the words meant, including
“broadcast.” It seems they were visiting
the United States for the first time — from
South Africa.

Another lady (and we’re not just pick-
ing on them) . whose mental facilities were
to be questioned, stepped to the desk and
asked, “Where do I collect the rent?” She
had the idea that NBC was her tenant,
and it was getting near the first of the
month.

“Where do I go? What stairs? Do I
have to use the elevators?” Those are a
few of the questions that have to be an-
swered by the boys on the Information
Desk.

Joe Allen, new member of the page
staff, reveals what state he’s from when he
cautions visitors thus: “Yo’ all hold yo’
own ticket!” . . . Sound Effects were re-
cently asked if they could produce the
sound of sinking into an easy chair, slip-
ping into an overcoat, and footsteps going
up a carpeted stair. . . . An expense ac-
count. dropped by a visitor during a studio
tour, showed the following items: Show,
$4.95; Meal, 90c; Shot, 52; Subway, 10c;
Snake Medicine, $1.65. Just what kind of
medicine do they give snakes? ... A visitor
asked \^'alt \^'iehel if he could see the
Red and Blue Network if he took a studio
tour. . . .

Walter Moore.

LEWIS LANE GIVES A
BENEFIT PIANO RECITAL

“Music Research,

Lewis Lane speak-
ing.” greets the call-
er who dials him at
his desk during bus-
iness hours to se-
cure any amount or
type of information
concerning music or
musicians. But a
peek into the after-business hours of this
encyclopedic-minded individual reveals a
person well versed and talented in the
audible arts.

On Wednesday, March 17, Mr. Lane
was billed as “lecturer-composer-pianist”
on a benefit program featuring him in a
piano recital assisted by J. Alden Edkins,
distinguished NBC bass baritone, at
Steinway Hall for the Musical Drawing
Room Maintenance Fund.

The repertoire of the evening included
two main groups of songs. The first half
of the program was devoted to diversified
selections from the works of Mendelssohn,
Grieg and Huss. The second group of
numbers were Lewis Lane’s own compo-
sitions which included Prelude (Opus 2),
Fragments (after Lucretius, Opus 6),
Two Character Sketches (.\llegretto and
Scherzo), In Silent Countryside (Opus 7,
No. 2), John Peel (traditional English
hunting song set for J. .A.ldcn Edkins) and
excerpts from Green Mountain Sketches
(Opus 5) .

NBC COVERS THE WORLD

According to a recent survey by Max
Jordan, our European representative,
NBC has presented 2.140 international
broadcasts in the past thirteen years.

The first of these broadcasts, which re-
quired weeks of preparation, was made
in 1924. The pickup point was Havana,
and instead of using the modern means
of relaying international programs across
the seas by short wave the program was
carried to the mainland by submarine
cable and then relayed to seven stations.

Today, by means of powerful short
wave relays NBC can take its audiences
from one corner of the world to another
with facility, efficiency and speed.

i i i

Win two tickets to the "White Horse Inn", Radio
City Music Hall, or your local theatre — enter the
NBC TRANSMITTER photo contest.

A. L. ASHBY

LEWIS LANE

MARCH, 1937

WINNERS

IN MARCH PHOTO CONTEST

“WHARFED IN”

This picture of a schooner when its work is done was taken
by Miriam Hofimeir of the New York Statistical Department
and was awarded FIRST PRIZE — a pair of tickets to “White
Horse Inn” at the Center Theatre.

“DAY IS DONE”

This pair of pups didn’t know Idella Grindlay was taking a
candid shot of them — and also taking SECOND PRIZE, a pair
of tickets to Radio City Music Hall.

Ill

HONORABLE MENTION : “Gateway to the West,”
submitted by Oscar H. Junggren of Station W'GY.

RULES FOR PHOTO CONTEST

1. Prints must be no smaller than 2Va” x 4” (the larger
the better). Negatives cannot be accepted.

2. Captions are desirable.

3. Name, station and department must appear on the
back of photograph.

Pictures will be judged on composition and subject
matter. Judges are Ray Lee Jackson and William Haussler.
Decisions are final. All entries will be returned but the
NBC TRANSMITTER will not be responsible for those
which are lost.

Entries for April contest must be in by April 8.

SPECIAL MENTION: “The Falls,” taken by L. A.
Zangaro.

NBC TRANSMITTER

idke -Qu/clu

Letters to the Editor

Little bits of scribbling.

Little drawings, too,

Are made by boys and grown-ups
And maybe even you?

We do them in the restaurants.

At meetings just as well.

And pride ourselves in hearing
What the speaker has to sell.

INIIC TRANSMITTER

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 MARCH,

1937

No. 3

EDITORIAL

BOARD

DOM DAVIS

Editor

ARY R. MOLL

WALTER WIEBEL

DIANA MILLER

Circulation Manager

rHARLE.S VAN BERGEN

CONTRIBUTORS

FRANK NOECKER

CARL CANNON

GENE RUBESSA

Guest Relations
. Guest Relations

EMIL CORWIN

FRANK W. NESBITT

EDWIN LAUDON HAAKER

Guest Relations
Guest Relations

EDWARD D. KELLER

HERBERT CROSS

ROBERT DEVINE

Guest Relations

FRANK C. LEPORE

Adtjisory Editor

Address all correspondence to;

NBC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA Bldg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

YOUR VERDICT

“Dreary — Stilted — Not Cleverly Conceived”...
were the reasons given by the person who
rated the NBC Transmitter bad in a recent
reader survey. On the other hand one hundred
and eighty-eight NBCites rated this publica-
tion good, and fourteen went so far as to say
excellent. Fifty-two judged it fair and two —
hm!— poor.

Those who rated the NBC Transmitter good
or excellent because it maintains a closer rela-
tionship within NBC have encouragingly as-
sured us that we are slowly gaining our ob-
jective.

We are also pleased to know that many of
our readers feel that the NBC Transmitter
“gives a good resume of what is happening in
NBC.”

The most popular features are, in their re-
sj)ective order, as follows: Names in the News,
Know Your Company, Static, Let's Get Ac-
quainted, NBC Division News and ff'ith Your
Roving Reporter in New York.

The survey returns, though still incomplete
from the outlying NBC divisions, were excel-
lent, and the staff of the NBC Transmitter
wishes to thank you all for your splendid co-
operation. Now we have a fairly good idea of
what you want in your news magazine and that
is just what we will try to give you in the
future.

\_Ed. This cryptic tidbit came in the mail
and, we must confess, it had us guessing —
but not for long. Having the memory of an
elephant, we quickly reached for the Feb-
ruary number of the NBC TRANSMIT-
TER and turned to the doodles page. Sure
enough, there was the answer.]

i i i

I look forward every month to receiv-
ing the NBC TRANSMITTER. I think
it is one of the best things that has
come into NBC — but you have become
a grave disappointment to me.

When the last two issues appeared
I hunted, feverishly, through the pages
for my favorite column, “Static,” writ-
ten by Alen Kent. I couldn’t find it.
What has happened? Where is
“Static”? The NBC TRANSMITTER
is not the same without Alan Kent’s
breezy column. Please bring it back,
won’t you? Static-Titian.

ill

If hat NBCites had to say about the
NBC TRANSMITTER in a recent
reader survey:

i i 1

“The publication is newsy, easily
read and contains a great many facts
about the NBC organization and per-
sonnel which we would not otherwise
learn.” — Press Division,

Cleveland, WTAM.

“It acquaints you with the various 1
activities of the company in all its
branches.” — Artists Service, N. Y.

i i 1

“I rate the NBC TRANSMITTER
good because, being a woman I’m just i
curious and love gossip.” [

— Artists Service, San Francisco.

i i i

“There is room for improvement.”

— N. Y. Television Engineer.

i i 1

“The magazine is compiled in a very
interesting fashion, is brief and to the
point.” — Engineering Department,

Chicago.

1 i i

“It brings employes closer together.”

— Stenographer, N. Y.

i i i ^

“Shows improvement but there is
room for more.”

— Treasurer’s Office, N. Y.

i i i

“It scrapes the frost off the exterior
of a large organization.”

— Continuity, Pittsburgh.

i i i

“It provides the personal touch that
brings our national organization to our
attention as a unit. It makes those of
us who are far removed from the home ^

office feel as though we really belong.”

— Executive Department,

San Francisco.

{Continued on next Page)

MARCH, 1937

FOR

MBC iRANSniTTER
READERS

New Vork L \) m ^

AMD WBC :s "A mbassador.- AT-

LAUGt',' COLLECTS MIMIATUR.E
FIGUf^E6 OF AMIMALS IM
WOOD, COINA, IVAIRV, GLASS
AMD METAL -GIFTS FROn
MIS FR1EMD6 TMROUGMOOT
TOE WORLD.

T(-)e Bras3 Bottom Octet

WAICA WAS MEARD DURJMG
TOE GUIDES AMD RAGES
BROADCAST OM vSaTURDAV,
FEB. 27, MAD TEM 001CE5.

I I

Toe modern Tower of Babel.

■miRTV GUIDES IM 17AD10
ClTV SPEAK 11 LAWGOAGES/

“It keeps all NBC employes in close
contact with what is going on. It makes
each individual feel like we are really very
personal friends and fellow members of a

club. — Philadelphia Announcer

i i i

“It is practically the only medium of
information for NBCites.”

— Auditing Department, N. Y.

i i i

“It gives us men up here in the air-
conditioning plant a chance to read
“who’s who” in NBC — because we have
no time to get around.”

— New York Engineer.

i i i

“It is conducted too much like a small
town paper where every subscriber's
name must be mentioned or they stop
taking the paper.

“The TRANSMITTER should cover a
complete story of the engineering side of
broadcasting and the facilities required to
make this possible. Many of the employes
merely work at NBC and know nothing
about the technical angle whatever.”

— Anonymous.

i i 1

“Lively — chatty — readable — con-
tents well varied.”

- — N. Y. Promotion Executive.

“Our business is said to shrink the
world and to make misunderstandings be-
tween nations more and more remote. Yet
our own organization within itself, grow-
ing by leaps and bounds, adding new
departments and new faces, is likely to be
a stranger to itself, but for an intelligent
and interesting publication within the in-
stitution.”

— N. Y. Program Executive.

/ y /

“Consider this a swell magazine, un
usually successful at creating employe
interest without the ‘\^'hat-was-Miss
Blodgett - doing • on - a - certain - lunch
hour? . . . Yoo-hoo — Sales-Promotion!
school of house organs.”

— Continuity, Pittsburgh.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

If you’ve been with NBC three months
you siiould he able to answer correctly
seven of the folhtwing questions; if you've
been with us a year or so you should know
the answers to at least fourteen of these
<|uestions. hut if you’re an old-timer — say.
three or more years, you shouldn’t have
to turn to page fifteen more than twice
for the correct answers.

— .\nd if you've been with NBC less
than six months and you know all the an-
swers come to the NBC TRAN.S.MITTER
office or send us a picture. We want to
look at you.

1. What do the following stand for:

FCC, IBU, NAB, BBC, B B D & 0?

2. How many NBC affiliated stations
are there?

3. hat are the titles of Bertha Brain-
ard, Margaret Cutlibert, Janet Mac-
Rorie?

4. What NBC announcer works in five
languages?

5. Name five cigarette brands adver-
tised on NBC.

6. W liat is contained in the NBC THE-
SAURUS library?

7. How many NBC studios are tliere
in Radio City?

8. In radio production, wliat i> the
meaning of nemo; on tlie nose?

y. W here are the transmitters for
W EAF. WJZ. W 3XAL located?

10. Define carrier wave. Clear cliannel.

11. Vi ho is chairman of the hoard of
NBC?

12. Iconoscope and coaxial cable are
terms relating to what?

13. Who sponsors the .Magic Key pro-
gram on Sunday afternoons?

14. At what time do the NBC networks
in New York open and close?

15. Identify the Gospel .Singer, the
Honeymooners. the Perfect Fool. Baron
Muiicliausen, the Dream Singer.

16. Dish-pan, ribbon, and tomato can
are terms to describe what?

17. W hat is the middle name of the NBC
president?

18. Who is the biggest advertiser on
NBC?

19. Explain the following terms which
have been used in the radio section of
Variety: loop, juve, P.A., spieler, wax.

Here’s an example of a Variety headline
— Stix .\ix Mix Pix.

20. W liat slogan won first prize in the
NBC Employe Slogan Contest last Novem-
ber?

NBC TRANSMITTER

FAST WORK

On February 9. we made the fastest
booking of a special events program in
the history of NBC. according to John F.
Royal. vice-j)resident in charge of pro-

grams.

A. A. Schechter. director of News and
.Special Events, received word that the
Maine. Texas and Connecticut legisla-
tures had gone on record as opposing
President Roosevelt’s judiciary reform
I)lans. ithin two hours, working via long
distance telephone, he had a special events
broadcast on the air for radio listeners
from Maine. Texas. Connecticut and
Washington. D. C.

This is how it was done. First, he or-
dered lines to the Maine. Connecticut and
Texas legislative chambers. Added to this
hook-up was ashington, D. C. Then he
ordered a mobile transmitter to load up
and speed etpiipment from WOAI. .San
Antonio. Texas, to Austin, eighty miles
away, while anotlier crew started from
WC.SH. Portland with portable apparatus
for tlie Maine Capital in Augusta. A third
crew was sent from WTIC, Hartford to the
state capital. Meanwhile Representative
Maury Maverick of Texas who was chosen
by President Roosevelt to introduce the
Supreme Court reform bill in the House
was contacted in Washington by NBC to
listen to the first half of the broadcast and
then answer the President’s critics.

Two hours from the time Mr. Schecter
contacted the various points for the pro-
gram from the legislative chambers, the
network was broadcasting the pros and
cons of this momentous j)iece of legislation
— the fastest s[)ecial events booking in
NBC’s history. Roy Holmes of Traffic De-
])artmcnt in New York arranged the line
hook-u[) at tile same time as the jirogram
arrangements were being made.

HI GH SAVAGE

... a u eek off uith pay.

-Members of the -New York Guest Relations staff who took part in the Brass Buttons Revue-
annual broadc ast presented by the pages and guides in Radio City.

In the front row from left to right are: Gene Rubessa. Richard Barron, David Adams, Jack
W yatt, John Mannion, Hugh .Savage and Richard Diament.

Back row: Don Meissner. Walter Wiebel. Pat O'Connor. William Brinkmeyer, Philip Crosbie,
George Andrews, Archibald Blainey and Frank Nesbitt.

The New' York Guest Relations staff is
puffed up with [iride over the tremendous
success of the Brass Buttons Revue of
ly.'f?. which was aired with the support of
Jerry Sears and his orchestra on the Red
Network, coast to coast. Saturday after-
noon. February 27.

The broadcast was held in Studio 3A be-
fore a capacity audience of nearly four
hundred. Although the pages and guides
who took part in the show had spent sev-
eral weeks rehearsing, last minute diffi-
culties prevented them from having a dress
rehearsal before going on the air. How-
ever. the whole pc-rformance went through
w ithout a hitch and it ended “on the nose’’
as far as time was concerned.

In answer to a recpiest for votes on the
best performance on the show over nine
hunclred letters were received. Page Hugh
Savage of Hibbing. Minnesota who has
been with us less than four months, re-
ceived the greatest number of votes. For
that he will receive Guest Relations Mana-
ger C. H. Thurman’s generous prize of a
week off with pay.

That “tall, dark and handsome guide
from Medford. Orc'gon” — George An-
drews — was a close second in the contest.

He sang Bill Paisley’s popular song, “La
Carumba’’.

Guide Randolph W . Bean, who recently
resigned from the glamor and glitter of
radio to go into the banking business,
merits much credit for having organized
and directed the Brass Buttons Octet
which was one of the high spots of the
show. Fred Allen’s assistant. Uncle Jim
Harkins, was so impressed with the octet’s
performance he invited them to sing on
the Town Hall Tonight program.

Jack yatt. a member of Dan Russell’s
announcing class, who acted as master of
ceremonies, did a splendid job. His facil-
ity of speech and clarity of voice mark him
as a promising announcer.

Guide Gene Rubessa, buffoon of the
guides’ and pages' locker room, came forth
in true Fred Allen fashion with a bit of
ad-libbing and brought the house down
during the comedy skit with his favorite
and now well-established remark, “Do
you wanna split a malted?”

The Brass Buttons Revue of 1937 script
was written by Dom Davis with the assist-
ance of James Costello, erstwhile guide,
now in the Script Division, who contri-
buted the short comedy skit.

MARCH, 1937

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Promotions:

M iss Caroline Gay, Stenographic, is
replacing Maybelle Howartli, resigned, as
secretary to Lewis H. Titterton, head of
the Script Division. Miss Gay came to
NBC last month from Teachers College,
Columbia University, where she was sec-
retary to Professor of Education, H. B.
Bruner. Her home is in Quincy, Illinois.
She went to Vassar College ’33.

i i i

George A. Emerson came from Boston
less than three months ago to join our
page staff. He is now in the Script Division
replacing Howard Whiting, resigned.

ill

Returns:

Guide Robert White has just returned
from a month’s leave of absence during
which he worked for an NBC client in the
merchandising of its program.

i i i

Resignations:

Arthur C. Holman, a.ssistant to Herman
G. Rolff of the Music Division, resigned
March 1, to join Western Electric Com-
pany in Kearney, N. J.

i i i

Rubey Cowan. Artists Service, is resign-
ing to join Paramount Pictures, Inc. in
Hollywood. He has been with NBC about
five years.

i i i

Transfers:

Miss Gladys Cardon of Stenographic
will be working in the offices of RCA for
the next few weeks on the Metropolitan
Opera Audience Mail.

i i i

Miss Elizabeth Quinn formerly of the
Program Department, Production Divi-
sion, is now working for Gordon Mills in
Sales.

i i i

Miss Gertrude Bicking of Stenographic
replaces Miss Emma Weisbecker, re-
signed, in the Program Department.

1 i i

Miss Louise Levitas has been trans-
ferred from Program to William E.
Webb’s office in Sales Promotion. Mrs.
Helen Mescal who joined Stenographic on
September 1936 is replacing Miss Levitas
in Program.

Mrs. Hannah Hodgson has been trans-
ferred from Stenographic to ,\rtists Ser-
vice. i i i

Misses Alice Cook and Doris Seiler are
now in the new office of music editor
Vi alter Koons, Room 620.

i i i

Mrs. Margaret Raynolds, Stenographic,
has been made secretary to F. M. Thrower,
Jr., in Sales. ^ ,

Engagements:

M rs. C. F. Irvine
recently announced
the engagement of
her daughter, Miss
Mary Lou Irvine, of
the Treasurer’s Of-
fice, to Richard P.

Fenton at a party in
her h6me in New
Canaan, Connecti-

cut. Mr. Fenton of Scarsdale, N. Y., is
associated with Auerbach. Pollack and
Richardson, members of the New York
Stock Exchange.

M iss Irvine, whom we all know as the
charming little brunette who hands us our
checks every fortnight, came to NBC in
January, 1931, as a hostess.

i i i

The engagement of Miss Elaine Ells-
worth, Stenographic, to Charles F. Rogers,
Jr., of New York City, was announced on
March 13.

The wedding will take place late next
month.

i i i

Correction:

Photographer illiam Haussler, Zeiss
camera enthusiast, wants it emphatically
known that his photographs are not in a
Leica exhibit as stated in the last issue of
the NBC TRANSMITTER. His photo-
graphs are in the Zeiss exhibit which is
touring the country.

i i i

Newcomers:

Richard McDonagh is not exactly a
newcomer although he is a new member
of NBC in the Script Division, for he is
known to many NBCites as the friendly
elevator starter of the RCA building wbo
attracted the attention of our Script Divi-
sion with his numerous submissions of ra-
dio scripts some of which were accepted
and produced. He was born in Ireland and
because of his roaming about the world
his education, which includes one year at
the University of Rochester, has been
somewhat haphazard. He has always en-
joyed writing though he never made much
money at it, he says.

i i i

Francis R. McCall, formerly of the Chic-
ago Tribune New York bureau and the

United Press has joined the .News and
Special Events Division as a writer.

i i i

M iss Marjorie Thomson has joined the
Auditing Division.

i i i

Leonard Kraft formerly a salesman with
the Crowell Publishing Company has
joined the Sales Department.

Mr. Kraft is an alumnus of the Univers-
ity of Illinois where he majored in mining
engineering. He’s Beta Beta Pi and is an
active member of the Committee of Boy
Scouts in Queens, L. I.

During the ar, Mr. Kraft served as a
naval aviator.

His hobby is football, having played
eight years of school, college and profes-
sional football.

i i i

The following are the most recent re-
placements in the Guest Relations uni-
formed staff:

Frank Howard of Yonkers, N. Y., for-
merly a page in the Guarantee Trust Com-
j)any. He is a graduate of Groton High
School in Yonkers. He has had some ex-
perience as a singer over small N. Y.
stations.

James H. Hill, of Los Angeles, recently
graduated from the University of \^ash-
ington. This is his first job.

David C. Garroway, Jr., a Bostonian
and graduate of Washington University.
He is quite a golfer, having been cham-
pion of Missouri State, and of the St. Louis
District. He also has won several tourna-
ments in Florida. Members of the NBC
Golf Association better start worrying be-
cause Garroway is already planning to
compete in all NBC golf tournaments and
walk off with the trophies.

Robert Cutler Fergusson, another New
Yorker, gave up the sea for a blue uni-
form in Radio City. Vi'orking on ships for
four years, he has been to Europe, several
points in Central and South America, the
West Indies, and Mexico. Reason for giv-
ing up life on the high seas: recent mar-
riage. home-life and all that sort of thing.

Robert W. West, another ex-sailor, hav-
ing sailed the high seas to South .\merica
and the ^est Indies on Standard Oil
tankers.

Edwin H. U'eber, of Leonia, N. J., comes
to us with some experience in sales pro-
motion and advertising work with Bakon
Yeast, Inc. Educated at Regis Prep, St.
Cecilia Prep and Columbia Extension Col-
lege. He is an .Alpha Gamma Phi.

Frank Naeseth, from Hibbing, Minne-
sota, comes to New York for the first time
with a sheepskin from the University of
(Continued on Page 20)

NBC TRANSMITTER

LET'S GET ACQUAINTED

Life beginning at forty
will probably add much to
the career of Patrick J.

Kelly which is already
jammed with as much of the
world and its work as would
ordinarily seem possible
within one life-span.

Charters - Towers, North
Queensland, Australia, a
small town in the gold fields
of that island continent, was
his birthplace, the city of
Sydney offered her private
schools for his education,
and the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean
furnished the playground for adventure.
Ocean-going vessels permitted Pat Kelly
to put into practice some of the theoreti-
cal knowledge of marine engineering he
had gained while at school. More than
this, they served as an outlet for adoles-
cent dreams of adventure. This desire for
travel, not chilled even by the frigid
waters of an Alaskan Sound after ship-
wreck, took him to the South Seas. Ha-
waii, Samoa. Japan. China, and finally to
Vancouver, B. C.. where he land-lubbered
for a while. Here he continued his study
of marine engineering, and at the same
time pursued his scholarly interest in
singing.

From Vancouver to Seattle, while in
Seattle to a party, and while at the party
he sang a song for his own amusement

ABC of NBC

The NBC TRANSMITTER recom-
mends to its readers, particularly those
who are not in the New York division, the
new weekly series of programs titled, “The
ABC of NBC" which is heard each Satur-
day at 7:45 P.M. EST, over the NBC Red
Network.

This new program is designed to take
listeners behind the scenes of our broad-
casting system. To date imi)romi)tu inter-
views and explanations have covered such
varied subjects as the master control
board in Radio City, sound effects, net-
work operations, fan mail and program
building. The program is presented in the
form of interviews between NBC announ-
cers and Radio City visitors taking the
NBC Studio Tour.

and the pleasure of others.
His song brought him four
contract offers from friends
who were present and his
acceptance of three of these
kept him busy for the next
few months. Later he ac-
cepted the fourth offer
which was proffered by the
well known impresario of
the San Carlo Opera Com-
pany. Fortune Gallo. This
resulted in a five-year con-
tract, appearances on the
New York stage and later
an engagement with the Shuberts. The
run of “Blossom Time” brought about a
meeting with Mile, ^olan Poszanye who
hailed from Budapest and was appear-
ing with him in the production. Bells of
a wedding — and Mr. Kelly gave up a
brilliant stage career for the glamour of
radio and the National Broadcasting
Company.

Several years of long-laboured hours
have probably taken some of the gilt from
the glory and glamour of the industry
and have added much gray to his heavy
shock of hair. Still Pat Kelly goes on
throwing glory and commercials at other
announcers while he may be found work-
ing behind his desk in Radio City, plan-
ning schedules, outlining the work of
others, reading flash news bulletins from
his specially built control board, audi-
tioning aspiring young announcers, an-
nouncing programs himself when neces-
sary, or singing on Cheerio’s morning
program — all in all — mostly working.

After all this, or perhaps before, or
maybe between times, he finds diversion
in his flower garden at his \^’est Hemp-
stead, Long Island, home. Here he’s at
home with Mrs. Kelly and seven foreign
languages. Accustomed to a long-houred
day, this announcer, operatic tenor, lin-
guist and business man gets up in the
morning before the milkman arrives and
often meets the carrier coming round
again when he gets back home. ith it all
he successfully manages to keep the Red
and the Blue from getting on the wrong
networks, the announcers furnished with
their cues, and a nation satisfied with the
split-second button punching of NBC’s
Pat Kelly supervised announcers.

by Edwin Loudon Hooker

A consensus of opinion in the page’s
locker room indicates that radio has a
brilliant future. Radio moguls need no
longer worry.

* * *

We’ve enjoyed a pleasant summer in
New York this winter.

* # *

And that reminds us that the California

branches will be pleased to know that
Florida is the mecca of most of the East-
ern group of vacationing NBCites.

* * *

Since it was announced that Arturo
Toscanini will conduct for NBC, the local
barbers report a noticeable falling off of
trade among staff musicians.

* * *

That Hollywood slur about the studios
out there not sinking any more since Don
W ilson came East, is resented by this de-
partment. In fact, we resent anything of
a light nature based on Don’s simply
terrific weight.

* * *

“Dear Sirs: W'e liked the NBC page’s
program immensely, and would like to
cast one vote for jerry Sears, who we hope
will win as his work was very good, and
get a week off with pay we hope. Mrs. J.

0. . Pittsburg, Pa. It’s not a long wave

that blows no good, Jerry!

* * *

Since Howard Petrie’s recent acquisi-
tion of a boat, we hear he has become such
an ardent yachtsman that he spends much
of his time rowing on one of the Central
Park lakes. Mrs. Petrie is learning to
swim. # #

Paul, better-known-as-Acropolus, form-
erly NBC bootblack, and graduate of the
RCA Institute, is now putting his knowl-
edge to practical use in an Astoria, L. I.
radio repair shop. Astoria NBCites please
note. » * *

Guide Burt Adams is reasonably
annoyed. After spending two weeks and
much mazuma acquiring a darker com-
plexion down in Florida, people keep ask-
ing him where he got the sun lamp for
that tan. *

Latest departures for Florida are guides
Paul Rittenhouse and Jack McGhie.
Richard Diament preferred to be different
from his fellow guides going on vacation
— he went to the hills of Pennsylvania.

PAT KELLY

Supervisor of Neiv York
Announcers

MARCH, 1937

WGY SCHENECTADY

by O. H. Junggren

ANSWERS

To questions on page eleven

1. Federal Communications Commis-
sion.

International Broadcasting Union.
National Association of Broadcasters.
British Broadcasting Corporation.
Batten, Barton. Durstine & Osborn.

2. One hundred and eighteen.

3. Commercial Program Manager.
Director of Women's Activities.
Editor of Continuity Acceptance.

4. Dan Russell.

5. Raleigh. Spuds, Kool, Lucky Strike,
and Philip Morris.

6. Recordings or electrical transcrip-
tions. for broadcasting purposes.

7. Twenty-seven.

8. Outside the studio broadcast.

Perfect timing — program on schedule.

9. WEAF — Bellmore. Long Island.

WJZ — Boundhrook. N. J.

W 3XAL — Boundhrook, N. J.

10. The carrier wave is a continuous
number of constant vibrations (or a
wave) between whose limits the
broadcast travels. In short, the car-
rier wave “carries” the program from
the transmitter to the receiver.

A clear channel is one which is used
by only one station within a certain
area. (i.e. WJZ is always at 760 kc.)

11. David Sarnoff.

12. Television.

13. Radio Corporation of America.

14. Normally 7:30 AM to 1:00 AM.

15. Edward McHugh.

Eddie Albert and Grace Brandt.

Ed Wynn.

Jack Pearl.

Ralph Kirberry.

16. Microphones.

17. Riley.

18. Procter & Gamble.

19. Loop — network.

Juve — juvenile.

PA — press agent.

Spieler — news commentator or an-
nouncer.

Wax — record or electrical transcrip-
tion.

Outlying districts say thumbs dovMi
on rural motion pictures.

20. “By Choice The Nation’s Voice.”

i i i

Win two tickets to the ’’White Horse Inn,"
Radio City Music Hall, or your local theatre —
enter the NBC TRANSMITTER Photo Contest.
i i i

NBC newcomers are cordially invited to
take the NBC Studio Tour as the best and
quickest way of seeing and learning about
the broadcasting plant in Radio City. Pre-
sent your employe’s pass at the Guest Re-
lations Division, Room 254, for compli-
mentary passes for the NBC Studio Tour.

WGY is bemoaning the loss of one of
its control men. and welcoming a new
announcer and a new control man all at
once.

Alfred Korb, for six years of the con-
trol room staff of WGY, left late in Feb-
ruary for Hollywood, where he was trans-
ferred to engineer duty in the new NBC
studios. Mr. Korh started work in Holly-
wood on March 3.

Members of the staff of WGY gathered
at the Green Lantern, popular night spot,
to give Korb (WGY’s Jack Benny) the
sendoff he deserved. Members of the va-
rious departments spoke briefly, ’tis said.

Replacing Mr. Korb at the controls is
Peter F. Narkon, a native of Amsterdam,
and for several years in the control room
of the Buffalo Broadcasting Company.
Once he started a radio sales store, which
he gave up to become assistant engineer
for WOCL in Jamestown, N. Y.

i i i

Silvio Carachini, a native Vermonter,
has joined WGY as ari announcer. He
comes to us with a lot of experience in
other phases of radio, too. He really is a
control man. because he served several
years at the dials of WDEV, W'aterbury,
Vt., before switching to announcing.

A. O. Coggeshall, program manager,
has returned from Radio City ready to
do bigger and better things for dear old
VGY. Coggie spent several days in New
York studying production methods and
theories. But those who are in the know
say that Coggie enjoyed the sidelights of
the trip just as much as seeing “how it’s
done in New York.” He is still telling
about his seat (thanks to NBC) in the
Golden Horseshoe of the “Met,” among
other things. . . . Horton Mosher, red-
haired control operator, had a red letter
day recently. Don’t know exactly what
day it was, but anyway he replaced the
first tube that has burned out on him
while he has been on duty at WGY. And
he’s been “a’watchin’ them there tubes
fer nigh on t’six years.” . . . Betty King
is already speaking like a veteran in
broadcasting work. She only recently
joined the sales and sales promotion de-
partment as secretary, but she can find
almost any order contract for you. . . .
Virgil Hasche, WGY’s accountant, sighs
loudly as he completes work on artists’
salaries for income tax purposes. . . .
More about Betty King — this time in the
role of organizer. V ord has it that she,
being very proud of her Alma Mater, the
University of Illinois, has played a prom-
inent part in organizing a group of “Hli-
noisters” in these parts.

Pictured above are lovely models parading before tbe “Iconoscope” during an experimental
broadcast from tbe NBC studios in Radio City showing how television may be used in the future
to broadcast fashion shows to televiewers at home.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC BOSTON A N D S P R I N G F t E L D

by Edward B. Hall

ARTHUR S. FELDMAN, manager of special
events programs and announcer at WBZ and
WBZA.

In an address before the First Radio
Conference of the Massachusetts State
Federation of Women’s Clubs, John A.
Holman, General Manager of WBZ &
WBZA, spoke on the subject of “Radio —
a Force for Peace.” Among other telling
points, Mr. Holman stressed the fact that
“in radio the life of rumor, falsehood and
errant half-truth is brief. Radio ascertains
the facts before its microphones are
opened. ... In a crucial period when the
neutrality of a nation may be compromised
through unleavened information, this is a
great public service. I think it is now well-
established that the great mass of Amer-
ican public opinion was at the mercy of
foreign propagandists operating freely in
this country before the World War. We
were ill-informed or wantonly misled. . . .
I believe that radio makes a repetition
of this experience unlikely.”

i i i

Arthur S. Feldman of the WBZ an-
nouncing staff has been appointed Man-
ager of Special Events programs originat-
ing at this station. A lively imagination,
a keen sense of news values and unremit-
ting industry qualify him for his new posi-
tion. As announcer, he has already
handled a variety of special network pres-
entations in a signally competent manner.
Four years ago Arthur created a flurry in
the local press when he was discovered to
be the country’s youngest professional
announcer. And his present appointment
at the age of 24 probably constitutes an-
other record — at least in NBC ranks.
Everything about Arthur indicates that he
will break many a record ere senility drags
him down by the beard.

Boston's participation in the recent
coast-to-coast newshawking contest pro-
duced one of the most vociferous events
heard at W'BZ since Leo the Lion went
berserk in the studios. The leather-lunged
emissaries of six Boston dailies, each
backed by rabidly partisan delegates from
their respective papers, simulated the
effect of an angry mob denouncing its
oppressor. Operator Elmer Lantz in the
control booth gesticulated wildly as their
lusty shouts threatened to shatter the
equipment. During a brief rehearsal be-
fore the broadcast, rival newsies comment-
ed uncharitably (in the Bronx manner)
on their competitors’ efforts, while their
sponsors exclianged minatory glances. An
atmosphere charged with bellicose possi-
bilities prevailed just before the show
went on the air. But when 13-year-old
Philip Minsky of the Boston Traveler was
pronounced winner of the national cham-
pionship, civic pride triumphed and there
was general rejoicing. Tlie handsome
silver trophy awarded by NBC now re-
poses on exhibition at the studios pending
formal presentation by Governor Hurley.

i i -t

Vox Populi. vox Dei. Gordon Swan,
WBZ Traffic Manager, has been elected a
representative of the Town of Milton. In-
cidentally, Representative Swan has ac-
quired a new secretary. . . . Miss Ruth
Moran, secretary to Sales Manager Ewing,
has just returned from a West Indies

Boston Newsboy Wins

Newshawkers Contest

On March 3 the first of an annual coast-
to-coast newshawkers contest conducted
by the National Broadcasting Company
was heard on the air.

Philip Minsky, thirteen-year-old news-
boy, who peddles the Boston Traveler won
the large loving cup donated by NBC in
the contest which brought the nation’s
leading news vendors to the microphone.

The judges who picked the winner
were; Adela Rogers St. John, noted news-
paper woman and radio commentator;
Arthur Robb, editor of Editor and Pub-
lisher; Patrick J. Kelly, chief announcer
of the National Broadcasting Company,
who announced their decision in New
York ; and Charles Gridley of the Denver
Post and the Portland Oregonian and
President of the National Press Club, and
George R. Holmes, chief of the Washing-
ton Bureau of International News Service,
who announced their decision from NBC’s
W'ashington studios. The vote was three
for Minsky against two for newsboys in
Chicago.

cruise with a harrowing story of the antics
of “that old devil Sea” — and with a gor-
geous tan that is the envy and despair of
all beholders. Miss Moran w'eathered the
stormiest cruise in six years without miss-
ing a meal. ... A wave of aesthetic zeal
is sweeping WBZ. New furnishings, new
decorations, new artistic miracles appear
like mushrooms overnight. Kubla Khan’s
Pleasure Dome was a shambles to the new
display cases in the foyer.

Gov. Charles F. Hurley of Massachusetts presents silver trophy awarded by NBC lo Philip
Minsky, winner of the National Newsboys’ Hawking Contest. Left to right: Karl F. Hall, Circu-
lation Manager, Boston Herald-Traveler; John A. Hulnian, General Manager, WBZ and WBZA,
Philip Minsky and Governor Hurley.

MARCH, 1937

EXCHANGE CORNER

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by Frances Scully

This classified ad section is available, free
of charge, to all NBC employees. Rules: forty-
five word limit; not more than one ad to each
employee every other issue; no regular busi-
ness or professional services may be advertised.
Address ads to NBC Transmitter, Room 284,
RCA Building, N. Y .

All items must be in writing; give name
and address.

FOR RENT — One room apartment; five min-
utes from Radio City; completely furnished,
also grand piano and radio. Male only. Rea-
sonable rent. For details call Frank Murtha,
Ext. 834, Rm. 505, N. Y. Artists Service.

WILL TRADE — One new Ronson Pencilitier
(value $3.50) and one new traveling brush
containing razor, toothbrush and stuff (value
$7.50) for a rod and reel. Call John Powers,
Ext. 828. NBC New York.

FOR SALE — New Jersey, commuting distance.

15 room house (3 baths, 5 bedrooms on
second floor, oil burner, 2 car garage, screened
porch. Great sacrifice. Write or call the NBC
Transmitter, Ext. 220.

B.^RGAIN — Brand new console type RCA
radio, model 10-K. Apply to the NBC
Transmitter.

FOR SALE — Eastman Kodak model 60 8 mm
movie camera; F 1.9 lens, camping case,
\V> inch, F 4.5 telephoto lens, and 118 Koda-
chrome filter. Complete outfit only, as listed,
$70.00. Used only few months. Call Lester
F. Miles. Ext. 450, Rm. 589. N. Y. Engineering.

WANTED — Lighthouse for V oightlander
AVUS camera to use camera for enlarging.
Size of picture, 214” x 3(4". V oightlander,
Leica or any make will do so long as it fits
V oightlander AVUS, 214" x 314" camera.
Have carbon plate. 50 watter 211 and type 860
tubes for swap. Write Ray Strong, studio
engineer, WGY, Schenectady, N. Y.

TICKETS — for NBC employees to America’s
Town Meeting of the Air, every Thursday,
9:30-10:30 P.M., at Town Hall, 123 West
43rd Street, N. Y. C. Apply to the NBC
TRANSMITTER, Ext. 220.

PUBLIC SPEAKING COURSE— Mr. Charles
F. O’Neil who has just concluded a course
in public speaking for NBCites in Radio
City has announced the beginning of another
course which will last about 14 weeks. The
cost is $20.00 for the entire course and it
may be paid in instalments. The class meets
in the Clients’ Room on the second floor every
Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 P.M. If interested
call the Personnel Office, Ext. 263.

WANTED — To sublease for the spring and
summer two room furnished apartment with
kitchenette. Preferably within short walking
distance of Radio City. Apply to the NBC
TRANSMITTER, Box 11.

Activity has hit a new high on the west-
ern front witii departments being aug-
mented and preparations in the air to
move several units to the building annex
to make way for further additions to the
Hollywood studios. Manager John Swal-
low, in an effort to facilitate working con-
ditions and accommodate the rapidly in-
creasing personnel, arranged for several
departments to occupy the building in the
rear of the studio, which had formerly
been rented to the J. Walter Thompson
Agency. This, however, is only a tempo-
rary arrangement, as studio expansion
plans will probably be definitely decided
before long.

i i 1

March additions to the NBC Hollywood

studios: Donald de Wolf, engineer in
charge, adding to his department Craig
E. Pickett, transferred from San Fran-
cisco; A1 Korb. transferred from WGY,
Schenectady. Walter Baker, night man-
ager, has transferred the switchboard to a
private office and the hostesses now take
turns at the desk in the lobby.

i i i

Ruth Schooler, pretty brown-eyed secre-
tary of John Swallow, has gone nautical

This is Hollywood’s latest “find” — Elizabeth
Palmer, well-known on Broadway’s stage, who
left New York last week for the 20th (Century-
Fox studios in the California film capital. Why
is her picture in the NBC Transmitter? — Be-
cause to us she is Mrs. Francis Healey.
“Frank” is assistant to publicity director
Vi'ayne Randall.

minded. Reason is that boy friend Larry
W right bought himself a 35-foot sail boat,
so Sundays find Ruthie learning the fine
art of handling a sloop.

i i r

On March 1, Dema Harshbarger, head
of Hollywood’s Artists Bureau celebrated
her 25lh anniversary in the business of
handling professionals. When asked how
she celebrated, the keen-minded executive
smiling and with a tyjtical Harshbarger
twinkle said she closed two swell business
deals that day.

i i i

And while we’re in the Artists Bureau,
Mae Regan discovered that she is a soror-
ity sister of Honor Holden’s daughter,
Charlo. Mae is a Phi Delt from Nebraska
University, while Charlo Holden belongs
at De Pauw University, Indiana.

i i -r

The atmospheric Hofbrau Gardens in
Hollywood provided the scene for a gay
party, consisting of Ruth Schooler, Jean
Darrell and Virginia Elliott. After par-
taking of the victuals, the gals gayly
brought out their anagram game and for
a couple of hours played this fascinating
game with the help of the checkered table
cloth and kibitzing waiters. “Anagram”
time was had by all.

i 1 i

BRIEFIES . . . Ralph Denechaud had
most of his wedding trousseau stolen . . .
Elma Cronin, Hollywood’s blonde and
blue-eyed ladies’ maid, is an accomplished
pianist, having, in the past, given piano
recitals and taught this fine art . . . Bob
Lamb of Claude Ferrell’s division collects
autographed pictures . . . Mort Smith is
back at the controls after a struggle with
Old Man Pneumonia . . . Murdo Mac-
kenzie says he also lives in the NBC colony
in San Fernando . . . Bill Brandt, Jr. is
the latest addition to the mail department.
His dad is one of the famous Guardsmen
(Quartet heard on the networks. . . .

i i i

Myrna Bay of the Music Rights De-
partment is very proud of her 11-year old
brother Sheldon. For the past two months
he has made rapid strides on the net-
works. appearing in commercials for First
Nighter, Packard Hour and Thrills. He
also has a steady job every Saturday in
the Childrens’ Radio Theatre, over a local
station.

NBC TRANSMITTER

BOOK REVIEW

A MANUAL OF RADIO

^ hen Maurice Lowell, a production di-
rector at NBC’s Chicago studios, wrote
“Listen In” he filled a gap in radio litera-
ture. The radio library, compared to the
place radio has in the life of every indi-
vidual. is very small. Most of the books
are either technical or “fan” publications.
There has been a great need for a book
which will give an authentic picture of
radio — a behind-the-scenes view, that the
general public and the eager novice can
understand. “Listen In” is such a book.

It might be called a text book, so factual
and pertinent are its contents; so well or-
ganized and presented. But a text book
connotes something dry and dusty and
“Listen In” is anything but that. It is un-
usually well written; the style is easy,
fluent and colorful.

It is a little book, pocket size and 114
pages, but it is a complete one. Naturally,
there is not much detail; that was not the
purpose of the book. The author wanted to
give a clear, concise picture of what radio
is, its components and its requirements,
and in the mind of your reviewer, he suc-
ceeded admirably. The titles of some of
the sections give an idea of the topics cov-
ered: “The Script Writer,” “The Produc-
tion Director,” “The Radio Talk.” “Sta-
tion Organization,” “Audience Reaction,”
‘Evolution of the Program,” “Chain vs.
‘Spot’ Broadcasting,” “Radiathermy.”

The greater part of the book is devoted
to the program and its preparation; this
is natural because Mr. Lowell, as a pro-
duction director, knows this part of the
business from the ground up.

“Listen In” is a frank and honest book.
It does not paint glamorous, rosy pictures;
it does not “debunk.” It presents radio as
we who are a part of it know it to be.

Mr. Lowell makes an interesting obser-
vation — that the trend is toward educa-
tional programs. He says: “Commercial
sponsors are fast approaching the enter-
tainment saturation point. Almost every
conceivable peg upon which to hang a
musical or dramatic program is either
being used at the present time or has al-
ready been discarded. A new approach, a
fresh twist, a new angle must be found;
and believe it or not, clients are moving
in the direction of ‘educational’ programs,
as a solution to this problem.”

“Listen In” is published by the Dodge
Publishing Company, New York.

— Diana Miller

NBC CHICAGO

by Bob McCoy

Announcing school, coached by announ-
cer Lynn Brandt under the supervision
of chief announcer Everett Mitchell, has
begun again. Classes are attended by sev-
eral of the pages and members of the
junior production staff. Announcer Brandt
assumes the role of teacher seriously,
gives homework assignments, encourages
criticism by the pupils themselves and is a
successful and popular instructor.

i i i

Seen and Heard: Virginia Thompson
and Charles Robb in the elevator compar-
ing notes on coiffures — Virginia, with a
new wave, hoping it would stay in over the
week end — Chuck, with a fresh trim, hop-
ing his wave would stay out. . . . Bill
Rosee, recent graduate of RCA Institute’s
Chicago school, and actor Bob Guilbert
pondering mightily over a chess game,
with Bill seemingly in a tight spot. . . .
Marge Stockdale of Program off to Wash-
ington. D. C.. on a winter vacation — Flor-
ence Reiland being congratulated on her
promotion from Central Stenograhic to a
desk in Sales — Jane Stahl replacing Miss
Reiland. . . . Marge Neiss and Dorothy
Little being proud of weekly swimming
accomplishments in the Medinah Club
pool. . . . Page Bill Lawrence replacing
Francis Moore who resigned to go with

IDAHO STATION JOINS
NORTH MOUNTAIN GROUP

\\ ith the announcement that station
KIDO, Boise. Idaho, will become affiliated
with the National Broadcasting Com-
pany’s North Mountain Group about
July 1 the total number of NBC stations
is now 118.

KIDO, the most powerful broadcasting
station in Idaho, is the only broadcast-
ing station in Boise and will be the only
station in Idaho with a national network
affiliation. The nearest network outlet is
240 miles away. As a member of the
North Mountain Group, it will be supple-
mentary to both the NBC-Red and the
NBC-Blue Networks.

The station is owned by C. G. Phillips
and Frank L. Hill. The studios are in the
Hotel Boise, with the transmitter located
northwest of the city. The broadcasting
frequency is 1350 kilocycles, with a day-
time power of 2500 watts and a night-
time power of 1000 watts.

an agency. . . . Ruth O'Connor, expert
horsewoman, studiously working on the
Old Gold contest puzzles . . . and who
isn’t?

When JOHN GIHON, left, KDK.\’s program manager, wanted authentic color for the station’s
Chinese New Year broadcast, he didn't have far to go. The windows of his office in the Grant
Building, the highest in Pittsburgh, looked down on the squat two-and-three-story stores and
homes of Chinatown. Mr. Gihon is shown above as East meets West on the South side of Third
Avenue.

MARCH, 1937

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

No. 4 — THE SCRIPT DIVISION

by Lewis H. Titterton

This is the fourth of a series of articles which
tve hope will give you a better understanding
of the many NBC units.

The Script Division of the Program De-
partment was formed in March, 1936 by
the merger of the Literary Rights Division
and the New York Continuity Division. It
is organized to fulfill a variety of func-
tions, some of them “national” in the sense
that they have reference to the work of all
owned, operated and managed stations of
our company, others of them “New York”
in that they deal specifically with New
York. As in all such examples of merged
functions, there are border-line cases
which do not fall regularly into either
classification.

The work of the Division may conven-
iently be subdivided as follows:

1. Literary Rights:

(a) This somewhat cumbersome term
is generally interpreted by the members
of the company to mean an acquaintance
on the part of the staff of the Script Divi-
sion with who owns the rights in anything
written, all the way from Mickey Mouse
to Marcel Proust, and how much they
would cost. If we do not know by pre-
vious investigation, we are equipped to
find out. The Division is held responsible
for reading all New York scripts, whether
commercial or sustaining, with a view to
detecting possible copyright violations,
and is expected to obtain from agencies,
when the program is agency built, ade-
quate evidence of authorization when
agencies submit material adapted from
existing literary properties or, in the case
of original work, assure itself that no in-
fringement is taking place. In addition,
the Division obtains for commercial pro-
grams built by NBC, for sustaining NBC
programs and for such agencies as desire
the service, quotations and authorization
to perform material that is protected. The
Legal Department has approved certain
forms for use in this connection, and these
forms are used not only in New York, but
in all the managed and operated stations,
who work closely with New York in regard
to matters of clearance. The peculiar
status of poetry causes the Division to de-
vote detailed attention to the requests from
all our stations regarding this type of
material.

(b) The Division purchases a great
deal of dramatic material, as do certain of

Lewis H. Titterton came from Eng-
land and the publishing business
when he joined the staff of NBC.

In his ’teens, he thought of becom-
ing a doctor, but turned away from
the natural sciences to a study of the
classics and, somewhat for fun,
Hebrew. This last proved so enter-
taining that he spent three happy
years at St. John’s College in the Uni-
versity of Cambridge, England, read-
ing Oriental languages. The greatest
living Orientalist being at Harvard,
Mr. Titterton came over for one year
and stayed two, partly because he
liked it and partly because the emolu-
ments of the Joseph Hodges Choate
Memorial Fellowship made it
possible.

Instead of returning to England, he
spent eighteen months as assistant
editor of the Atlantic Monthly in Bos-
ton before coming to New York as
assistant to the general sales manager
of the Macmillan Company. Then fol-
lowed six months as southern sales
manager, after which he was recalled
to the New York office to become
associate editor of the publishing
firm.

Mr. Titterton has a wide acquaint-
ance among authors and literary
people generally who admire and
love him for his keen sense of humor,
friendliness, and ready, though sar-
donic. wit. When we asked him about

LEWIS H. TITTERTON
Manager of the Script Division

his hobbies, be replied he liked all
sorts of outdoor activities — confided
he probably should have been a farm-
er — he likes the soil and trees, and
even weeds. Best of all he enjoys
working with a cross-cut saw and ax
or building stone walls. He says he
likes people — all kinds of people — -
even the so-called dull ones, who, he
has discovered, are not as dull as
some might think.

In addition to acting as an adviser
to the Book-of-the-Month Club, Mr.
Titterton writes book reviews for met-
ropolitan newspapers because be en-
joys it. His name as a reviewer often
appears in the book review sections
of the New York Times.

our stations under approved forms. Where
opportunity arises, subsidiary rights in
such material are sold, whether book, mo-
tion picture or stage. From time to time
the Division is able to handle the licensing
of the name of some prominent radio artist
for commercial use, or arrange for a game
based upon a program to be manufactured.

(c) In addition to reading all scripts,
commercial or sustaining, for copyright,
sustaining scripts in New York are also
read for policy.

2. Scripts:

(a) Writers. There are on the staff of
the New York Script Division, at the
present moment, nine writers, eight of
whom devote their full time to writing and
one of whom is partly concerned with
reading for copyright and policy. In addi-
tion, there are two men whose whole time

is occupied with research for musical con-
tinuity of classical and semi-classical pro-
grams. The Division keeps in touch as
closely as possible with free lance writers
and acts as agent in selling their services
as well as those of staff writers for the
writing of commercial programs. The
writers work closely with the Music and
the Press Divisions on many programs.

(b) A play-reading section of the Divi-
sion is responsible for tbe first reading of
all scripts submitted to tbe company in
New York, as well as the interviewing of
the great bulk of individuals who wish to
present program proposals.

The manager of the Script Division is
a member of both the Commercial and
Sustaining Program Planning Boards,
personally considers scripts which have
{Continued on Page 20)

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN THE NEWS

(Continued from Page 13)

Minnesota, class of ’35. He has had some
newspaper experience back home. He is
rooming with his home-town friend Hugh
Savage, of Brass Buttons Revue fame.

DeVerre Englebock got tired of singing
with the Villagairs Quartet over WTAM,
Cleveland, so he packed up and came to
New York to join our page force. He
studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

John F. Parsons, a graduate of Roose-
velt High School in New York, was with
the Department of Agriculture for four
years as a tree surgeon before coming to
NBC.

Melvin Blake Johnson, of Cleveland,
Ohio, Dartmouth ’35 has faced the micro-
phone before at WNBX, Vermont, as a
member of the Dartmouth Players.

Charles L. Jones, educated at N.Y.U.,
comes to us from the department store
business.

Joseph M. Allen, hails from Belhaven,
N. C., where he worked in a Ford plant for
some time before coming to Radio City.

Richard P. Hogue, a radio ham from
Yonkers, N. Y. He went to Georgetown U.
for two years.

William Samuel, graduate of C. C. N. Y.,
has just finished a post graduate course in
speech and dramatics at Columbia U.

Henry Arian comes to us with some ex-
perience in newspaper work. He has been
all over the world and was educated in
European schools where he learned to
speak French, Dutch and German fluently.
He also speaks Spanish. He wants to be-
come a script writer.

i i i

Donald Tenzi and Michael Randolph
are the most recent additions to the night
staff in Stenographic.

i i i

Stenographic replacements are Mary
Nealon, Winifred Wylie, Elinor O’Shaugh-
nessy, Bertha Kurtzman, Norma Olsen,
Dorothy Allfred, Winifred Castle, Elsie
Bergler, Mary Deery and Elizabeth Scott.

i 1 i

William D. Hanna has joined the Dupli-
cating Section of General Service.

1 i 1

Miss Sally Austin started her secretarial
duties in the Script Division of the Pro-
gram Department March 8th.

i i i

Joseph Pepper and Ernest Jahncke are
new Assistant Program Transmission Su-
pervisors in the Traffic Department.

i i i

Enter the Photo Contest and win a pair oi theatre

tickets. Send in your entries before April 8.

Miscellaneous:

Mrs. W. R. P. Neel of Mattawan, N. J.,
presented her husband Bill (Press) with
a seven pound girl.

i i i

Joseph Bolton, better known as “Scotty”
to his associates in the General Service
Department recently passed an NBC dra-
matic audition. “Scotty” has had a smat-
tering of radio experience before, having
been heard on the Cheerio and Rise and
Shine programs where his Scotch brogue
has been used to great advantage.

■f i i

Thomas Riley, Press, now has a succes-
sor — an eight pound baby, Thomas Riley
Jr., who was born in New Bedford, Mas-
sachusetts, on February 27, 1937.

y / <

Boston production manager Jack
Wright visited us in Radio City during the
last week-end in February. We regret to
hear from him that our friend and witty
Boston correspondent Edward B. Hall was
laid up with sinus trouble.

i i i

Members of NBC present at a surprise
party given by Bill Brown, manager of
the St. Regis Hotel, in honor of Doc
Hoeppner, Major Bowes’ right-hand man,
were Frank Burns, Paul Rittenhouse,
Keene Crockett, Jerry Wolke, Jack Wahl-
strom, Joseph Dickey and Gene Rubessa.

Reports say that it was a very gay party.
One of the highlights of the evening was
Bill Brown’s brave invitation to his friends
at NBC to come and cash their checks at
his little rustic inn on Fifth Avenue and
Fifty-fifth Street — anytime.

ill

A. H. Morton is planning a trip of in-
spection to all the NBC operated stations
next month. It will be Mr. Morton’s first
visit to our stations since he became man-
ager of the Operated Stations Department
on January 1.

i i i

Joseph A. Macdonald, Legal Depart-
ment, became the father of a seven pound
baby in the early morning hours of pay
day, March 15.

i i i

Word has been received that Miss Eliz-
abeth Chambers is English secretary to
Chang Kia-ngau, Minister of Railway for
the Chinese government at Nanking. Miss
Chambers was formerly an assistant in the
General Library and also in the Statistical
Department. She resigned last September
to leave for China.

i i 1

Miss Edith Ward, secretary to budget
director John H. Macdonald, was married
to J. E. Strachan at the Grace Episcopal

Church in Brooklyn on March 5. Mr.
Strachan is with the National City Bank
in New York.

The newlyweds went on a trip through
New England on their honeymoon.

i i i

John Collins, Artists Service, underwent
a minor operation and is now convalescing
at home.

i i i

We are happy to announce that our
genial evening manager, Juan de J. Al-
monte, has returned to his office after a
long absence due to illness.

NBC STATIONS

Tom Bashaw of the Chicago sound
effects staff has announced his engage-
ment to Miss Lois Robertson of that city.
The wedding is set for April.

i i i

James A Thornbury, of Chicago’s field
engineering division, has constructed an
apparatus for demagnetizing wrist watches
which have become magnetized by close
contact with ribbon velocity microphones
in the studios. It consists of a coil which
is plugged into an AC outlet, a push but-
ton, and a tiny compass.

i i i

J. F. Whalley, Chicago office manager,
and auditor, has been appointed vice-
chairman of the Advertising Media Group
of the Seventh Credit Congress of Indus-
try to be held in Chicago, June 21-24.

The Script Division

(Continued from Page 19)

passed the scrutiny of the play-reading
section, and other scripts which come from
sources that indicate that they are likely
to be usable by the company. Besides the
general supervision of the Division and
the assigning of work, he exercises an edi-
torial function over as many of the more
important programs as time affords,
handles the bulk of correspondence from
persons who wish to submit program
ideas, maintains contacts with authors,
agents, playwrights and play brokers and,
when he is fortunate enough to have them,
suggests his own program proposals. He
is also called upon to join the vice presi-
dent in charge of programs and the busi-
ness, commercial and sustaining program
managers for conferences on matters of
general program interest, as well as re-
garding specific programs. While he is a
member of the Program Department, he
is expected to, and does, avail himself of
the advice and guidance of the Legal De-
partment in a wide variety of matters.

NBC TRANSIMITTEB

VOL. 5 APBIL, 1957 NO. 4

ESCORT TO A KING

NBC Britisher tells how he rode with the sovereign's
escort in the coronation of the late King George V,

N Englishman wlio rode in the coro-
nation procession of the late King
George V in 1910 has been discovered
among the employes of the National
Broadcasting Company in New York. He
is George Malcolm, NBC’s genial host on
the second floor of the studio section in
Radio City.

This tall Britisher was a trooper in the
Second Life Guards stationed at Cumber-
mere Barracks in Windsor when King Ed-
ward died in 1910. With the news of the
King’s death also came an order for the
Second Life Guards to move to London,
there to start preparations for the corona-
tion of the new King, George V.

When the period of mourning over the
death of Edward VII had passed and Lon-
don had begun to hum and buzz with
preparations for the coronation, George
found it quite exciting to be taking part
in that great event. His company, being
chosen to act as the escort to the new
King, was stationed at Whitehall. They
spent weeks of strenuous rehearsing.

Footguards, composed of the crack
regiments of the Empire and other
branches of the army and navy, also
took part in the preparations.

“On Coronation Day, after in-
spection,” said George, “we left Re-
gent’s Park Barracks and proceed-
ed to Buckingham Palace, carrying
the royal standard. Thousands of
people lining the streets gaped at us
as we proudly rode by on our shiny
black horses. We must have been an
imposing sight, if I may say so my-
self.

“There were about four hundred
of us in the Second Life Guards, and
we were all mounted on black horses
except the trumpeters, who rode
gray horses. We troopers wore
bright red jackets with gold facings,—
steel cuirasses, white breeches and
high black boots. On top of all this
we wore heavy helmets topped with
long flowing white plumes, glisten-
ing like silver in the sun. Heaviest
of all our equipment were fourteen-
pound swords which we carried at
attention. And believe me, those
swords felt like tons of steel on your
arm after awhile.

“The trumpeters wore lighter uniforms
with crowns embroidered in gold in front
and back. They wore gold peak caps
like jockey caps and carried silver trum-
pets with long banners.

“At Buckingham we formed up at the
quadrangle inside the palace grounds, in
two lines, one on each side of the royal
carriage. We had a long wait there. It
seemed as if we were waiting for hours
and the uniform and all its accessories —
about forty pounds — got heavier and heav-
ier.

“We did nothing but stare at the gilded
carriage before us. It was hitched to eight
restless black horses flanked by an equal
number of grooms in ancient dress of gold.
Two footmen were perched on the rear.
The driver, up front, wore a three-cornered
black hat and a long gold coat, short
breeches, black stockings and low,
buckled shoes.

“Finally, King George V and Queen
Mary emerged from the palace escorted
by foot guards. Following the salute by

the trumpeters, massed bands of all the
guards played ‘God Save the King’ as
the procession started. The King and
Queen seemed a bit nervous and excited.
I don’t suppose anyone could remain calm
in such an exciting atmosphere.

“As we emerged from the palace
grounds a terrific din of cheers from the
oceans of people awaiting the procession
blasted our ears. Crowds lining the route
were held back by two lines of men —
bobbies standing abreast of each other
and, in front of them, foot guards within
arms’ length of each other. In spite of all
this one man managed to break through
as we were going down the Mall in front
of St. James’s Palace. He tried to shake
the King’s hand, but he was stopped by
one of the foot guards flanking the royal
carriage. However, his patriotic efforts
were rewarded by a nod from the King
and a smile from Queen Mary.

“The royal procession was headed by
two outriders. Then followed an officer
leading the procession. Behind, rode the
Advance Guard of the Second Life
Guards in which I was riding. Next
came the soverign’s escort carrying
the royal standard in front of the
royal carriage. A party of Life
Guards followed the carriage. Then
came a connecting file of non-com-
missioned officers representing all
parts of the empire. The tail end of
the procession was mostly composed
of carriages hearing other members
of the British royal family, and
sovereigns, leaders, and representa-
tives of other countries.

“It took us almost an hour to
reach Westminster .\bbey, about a
mile from Buckingham, where we
started. At Westminster we were
greeted by another fanfare of trum-
pets followed by another playing of
‘God Save the King’ as the King
and Queen entered the Abbey.

“During the coronation we waited
in formation in the court of \^’est-
minster. From the Abbey stirring
strains of music came forth. As I sat
there on my horse, I could picture
the King walking up the nave
toward the coronation chair and
{Continued on Page 15)

NBC TRANSMITTER

TELEVISION FIELD

TESTS RESUMED BY NBC

Inaugurating the broadest program of
experimental television ever undertaken
in the United States, the National Broad-
casting Company resumed their field tests
on April 5, using the new RCA 441-line
system.

Programs are being televised daily
from the highest point in Manhattan, the
tower of the Empire State Building, where
NBC has operated the only television sta-
tion in New York City for the last four
years. NBC has been on the air with tele-
vision since 1931.

Chief Engineer 0. B. Hanson said that
the object of the new tests, representing
the latest development in NBC’s years of
television experiment, is to determine the
home program potentialities of high defini-
tion television. More than seventy-five re-
ceivers, placed at selected points through
the Metropolitan area, are being used by
NBC’s expert observers to check quality
of reception.

The new RCA 441-line system has been
in operation in the laboratory since last
December, but the present tests are the
first under practical field conditions. In
similar tests of 343-line pictures as long
ago as last summer, NBC engineers re-
ported satisfactory reception as far as for-
ty-five miles from the Empire State trans-
(Continued on Page 15)

/ *

Pictured above is the NBC television antenna,
over twelve hundred feet above the sidewalks
of New York, atop the Empire State Building.
This antenna, the highest in the world, is de-
signed to transmit simultaneously television
pictures and the accompanying sound. The
energy radiated is concentrated within an
area having a radius of fifty miles and in
which television receivers are installed at the
homes of NBC observers. This unusual an-
tenna arrangement is known as a three tier
array of horizontal half wave outlets.

NBC MEN SAIL FOR SOUTH SEAS BROADCAST

NBC Photo by Desfor

Announcer George Hicks and Engineer Walter B. Brown
look for that tiny dot in the South Seas from which they will
broadcast a description of the eclipse of the sun next June 8.

George Hicks, spe-
cial events announ-
cer, and Walter R.

Brown and Marvin
S. Adams, field en-
gineers, will repre-
sent the National
Broadcasting Com-
pany on the Nation-
al Geographic So-
ciety — U. S. Navy
Eclipse Expedition
to tiny, uninhabited
Enderbury Island in
the middle of the
Pacific Ocean. From
this coral-reefed dot
of sand five thou-
sand miles south-
west of San Fran-
cisco, the voice of
Hicks will travel
around the world next June 8 describing
the gorgeous spectacle of a total eclipse
of the sun over NBC networks.

George Hicks left New York on April
20 for Los Angeles. From there he sailed
for Honolulu to join Engineers Adams and
Brown, who left earlier to prepare the
equipment.

The Navy minesweeper Avocet will
carry the entire equipment and personnel
of the expedition from Hawaii to the
South Sea Island.

The NBC representatives will take more
than four tons of broadcasting equipment
and will set up a temporary radio station
on the island for the eclipse broadcast —
the only broadcast in radio history to orig-
inate from a desert isle. The island sta-
tion, WIOXAP, operating on an ultra high
frequency, will have a power of twenty-
five watts. From the island the broadcasts
will be relayed through the sjhip’s trans-
mitter either to San Francisco or Hono-
lulu, depending on reception.

In addition to high poles for the an-
tenna, Brown and Adams are taking sev-
eral gigantic kites with which they will
experiment as vertical antenna supporters.

The expedition is also taking along fish-
ing tackle, as they will have three weeks
on the island before the eclipse takes place
and all hands are anticipating great sport.

The eclipse broadcast will be heard on
June 8 at 3:15 P. M., EDST from Ender-
bury Island, the only vantage point for
satisfactory observations of this important
phenomenon- — the longest total eclipse of
the sun in twelve hundred years. Several
brief broadcasts from the ship and island
will be made before June 8.

Announcer Hicks is one of NBC’s most
versatile special events announcers. After
school days in Tacoma, Washington,
Hicks tried a wide variety of occupations
before he stumbled into broadcasting by
sheer luck. While at school in Washing-
ton, D. C., he answered an ad for a radio
announcer. That was in 1928. Since then
Hicks has broadcast from a submarine at
the bottom of the sea ; described the flight
of a squadron of army bombers from a
cockpit of one of them ; traveled to Europe
and back to cover the maiden voyage of
the Normandie; broadcast the Easter Pa-
rade through NBC’s “top hat” transmit-
ter; covered the largest peace time maneu-
vers of the U. S. Army; reported fights,
wrestling bouts, track meets and conduct-
ed numerous interviews with famous per-
sonalities.

Brown and Adams are two of NBC’s
crack field engineers. Brown, attached to
New York headquarters, has handled the
engineering end of countless special
events, including the last NBC Eclipse
Expedition of 1932 to Mt. Washington,
the first broadcast from a submarine and
the first from a streamlined train. He also
has been engineer for NBC’s coverage of
Poughkeepsie regattas and international
yacht races. Adams has handled many spe-
cial events for NBC on the Pacific Coast,
including one from the newly constructed
Golden Gate Bridge (see NBC SAN
FRANCISCO, page 16).

# * ■!(■

Have you bought your ticket for the NBC Spring
Dance at the Roosevelt HoteL May 7?

* * *

Now is the time to join the NBC Athletic Asso-
ciation. Sports for everyone.

APRIL, 1937

NBG ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION ACTIVITIES

Election of Chairmen

The newly organized NBC Athletic As-
sociation is rapidly progressing toward its
goal of organized activity in every sport
in which employes are interested. At the
meeting of the Association on March 22,
chairmen were elected in all sports which
will be organized this season.

An Executive Committee also was or-
ganized. It consists of the five officers of
the organization, and the chairmen of the
various sport groups. If at any time the
number of chairmen becomes too large,
they will elect five of their number to meet
with the five officers as the Executive Com-
mittee.

Below is a list of the chairmen who were
elected in the various sport groups. Em-
ployes interested in any of these sports are
advised to contact the chairman.

Baseball — John Wahlstrom, Guest Rela-
tions.

Tennis — Joseph Merkle, Guest Rela-
tions.

Gym Classes (Women) — Suzanne Cret-
inon. Operated Stations.

Gym Classes (Men) — Harvey Gannon,
Program.

Membership Committee; Charles Thur-
man, Guest Relations; Selma Wickers,
Program; Walter Moore, Press.

Social Committee — Grace Sniffin, Treas-
urer’s Office.

Horseback Riding — David Van Houten,
General Service.

Bowling — George Milne, Engineering.

Basketball — Archibald Blainey, Pro-
gram.

Ping-Pong — John Mills, Guest Rela-
tions.

Swimming (Women) — Mary Kennedy,
Program.

Swimming (Men) — Adam Yung, Sta-
tistical.

Handball — Joseph Arnone, Engineer-
ing.

Rifle and Pistol Shooting — R. M. Mor-
ris, Engineering.

Skating — Helen Winter, Treasury.

Badminton (Women) — Katherine Hoff-
meir. Sales.

Badminton (Men)— Lee B. Wailes,
Operated Stations.

Golf — Frank Jones, Artists Service.

The Constitution

At a meeting on April 5, several sub-
jects of interest to all employes were con-
sidered. President McElrath discussed the
use of the dues. These are to be collected
from each member at the rate of one dol-
lar a year. President McElrath stated;

“The money thus collected will be used
to support all the sports, with the greater
part of it going to those sports most in
need of financial assistance.”

Miss Grace Sniffin (Treasurer’s), chair-
man of the Social Committee, announced
plans for a dance to be held May 7, 1937,
at the Hotel Roosevelt. Basketball and
bowling were deferred until next fall, as
they are primarily winter sports. George
Milne (Engineering), announced an open
bowling night for men and women tenta-
tively set for April 20. Last, but not least,
the constitution and by laws of the or-
ganization were read. The most important
of these, dealing with organization and
membership, are;

“The object of the organization shall be
as follows;

A. The formation of groups and teams
in each branch of sports and games in
which members of the National Broad-
casting Company are interested.

B. Regular meetings shall be held at
5; 15 o’clock on the evening of the first
Monday of each month. The regular meet-
ing in the month of March shall be the
annual meeting. Special meetings may be
called by the President to consider such
matters as are listed in the call. Copies of
the call shall be distributed to all offices
in the company.

C. Active members shall comprise reg-
ular employes of the National Broadcast-
ing Company, who shall apply for mem-
bership and shall be certified by the Mem-
bership Committee.

Membership to Date

The membership committee reports
that one hundred and seventy-nine NBC-
ites have joined the NBC Athletic Asso-
ciation as of April 14. Those wishing to
join the Association will please contact
C. H. Thurman, Guest Relations; Selma
Wickers, Program, or Walter Moore,
Press.

Join now and take advantage of the op-
portunity to participate in the Athletic As-
sociation’s summer activities.

Horseback Riding

Chairman David Van Houten reports
that there was a large turnout at the first
ride of the riding group. To be exact
there were twenty-three equestrians on the
Central Park bridle path on the evening
of April 7. Although the group included
a number of beginners, there were no falls
or other casualties except a few sore spots
the next day.

The NBC Athletic Association has ob-
tained a special rate of $1.50 for an hour’s
ride from Aylward’s Riding Academy, 32
West 67th Street. Instruction is given to
beginners without extra charge, and it is
hoped that more beginners will turn out
in the future.

Mr. Van Houten is planning to form
riding groups in Long Island, New Jer-
sey, Brooklyn, Westchester and Manhat-
tan with the advent of daylight saving
time. He doesn’t anticipate any difficulty
in securing a special rate of one dollar
per hour at the out-of-town riding acade-
mies.

— Photo by Jack McGhie

Frank Lepore, Press, yells for help as Adam Yung. Jr., chairman in charge of swimming, pushes
him off the diving board of the Parc Vendome pool during the natators’ first gathering at which
over seventy NBCites and their friends were present.

NBC TRANSMITTER

'"Quotation Marks"

FASHIONS BY TELEVISION

. And it won’t be long before the Paris Editor of Harper s Bazaar will
sit in a studio in Paris and broadcast via NBC the semi-annual Paris fashions
with illustrations. Over three thousand miles of sea, and thousands more of
land, the living mannequins will come — to you in Hollywood, to you in
Cheyenne and Cape Cod and Key West — twirling their heads and swirling
their skirts on the little screen over your radio.”

— Harper's Bazaar, April, 1937.

ON NBC GUIDES * * *

. . The guides themselves are exceptionally well versed in all phases of
broadcasting. Before they don a uniform and attempt to explain radio to visi-
tors they are required to go through a course of instruction enabling them to
answer any questions put to them. Studios, power rooms, air conditioning
plants, recording laboratories and technical exhibits are an open book to
them and they are ever ready and willing to impart their large fund of in-
formation about broadcasting to the people who tour the studios daily.

“They are personable, intelligent young men with a large acquaintance
among the great of radio, in addition to their technical knowledge. Their dis-
cussions of broadcasting during each tour have a flavor of excitement and
showmanship. They know the latest news of the studios. They are well ac-
quainted with the stars they meet in studios and corridors. Information such
as this lends a touch of human interest to each tour.”

— Music in the Air in The Highway Traveler, February, 1937.

* * *

COAST-TO-COAST ORCHESTRA

“Radio itself is making attempts to encourage amateur music-making, not
only through actual music lessons broadcast by teachers, but also by urging
participation on the part of listeners at home. How many people have joined
"the “community sings” I do not know, but I am familiar with the preliminary
results of the NBC Home Symphony, a program devised by Ernest La Prade
for amateurs who may enjoy playing their own instruments at home with the
radio orchestra.

“The method is extremely simple. The programs are announced in ad-
vance so that each listener may buy the music for the instrument he wants to
play. At the beginning of each program “A” is sounded, to allow opportunity
for tuning string and wind instruments. For a few seconds before each piece
the player at home hears a metronome beat indicating the tempo, and after
that it’s every man for himself. Certainly this is an example of music (or
discord) for its own sake, without any motive of exhibitionism.

“Almost all the letters Mr. La Prade has received refer to the broadcast as
‘our’ program.”

— Better Days for Music, by John Tasker Howard. Harper’s, April, 1937.

The NBC Home Symphony is heard every Saturday at 6:35 P. M., EST, on the
NBC Blue Network.

NBC HOLLYWOOD.

by Frances Scully

I guess it’s spring that’s really respon-
sible but two members of the Hollywood
studios turned song writers and supplied
the lyrics for some tunes you’ll probably
be bearing. Joe Alvin of the Hollywood
Press Department turned out One Perfect
Night with music by Josef Koestner for
Marion Talley, which she sang on her pro-
gram Easter Sunday. Joe Thompson, who
was recently transferred from San Fran-
cisco, collaborated with Jack Meakin of
San Francisco on The Little Man With the
Big Stuff and with Edna Fisher, radio
artist of San Francisco, on The Dream in
My Heart.

i i i

With his first story Tomorrow’s Head-
lines bought and under way at RKO as a
motion picture, Walter Bunker of the Pro-
duction Department just sold his second
writing effort Behind the Mike to Univer-
sal. Bunker worked with two seasoned
scenarists on preparing the script and al-
though he won’t receive screen credit he’s
very happy about it all.

1 i i

Now for our new Hollywood additions.
Noel Corbett, transferred from San Fran-
cisco to Hal Bock’s Press Staff in Holly-
wood. Helen Aldrich, who was previously
with Remington-Rand in Honolulu, is
popular Tracy Moore’s secretary now, and
with Nataline Halliday resigning from the
Engineering Corps Kathryn Phelan, a
newcomer to radio, got the spot as Donald
de Wolf’s secretary. Nataline hasn’t de-
serted the engineers, however.

i i 1

Hal Dieker of the Sound Effects De-
partment is the proud father of a baby
girl born March 13 at the Hollywood Hos-
pital. Judith Rae, as the Dieker heiress
will be called, is the first arrival in the
Dieker family and papa Hal is still beam-
ing about it.

ill

Cleaning up one of the studios, Claude
Ferrell found a cigarette case inscribed
“Just Another Case of Father to Son,”
which didn’t mean a thing to Claude. But
when Doug Fairbanks, Jr., hopped around
to claim it, Claude discovered that it was
solid gold, a product of Cartier’s. London,
and young Doug’s most prized possession.

i 1 i

Walter Baker is pretty blue these days.
Robbers broke into bis apartment and
made away with the traveling case which
was presented to him as a parting gift
from the boys and girls in San Francisco.

It’ll all depend on his screen test
whether a practical joke will be the cause
of Russell Hudson deserting the Mail Di-
vision to seek laurels on the screen. It
happened one night when auditions were
being held for the Haven MacQuarrie
show. ‘ Do you Want to Be an Actor?” The
boys in the control room thought it would
be a joke to call Russ’s name, which they
did . . . and Russ took them up on it. Given
lines to read, he won a spot on the follow-
ing Sunday’s show and now a screen test
at Warner’s has been promised him by
MacQuarrie.

i i i

The big match is on and by the time
the Transmitter is off the press the bad-
minton champion of the Hollywood studios
will be named. Tbe date for the finals is
set for April 19. with Myron Dutton of the
Production Department in charge. So next
month we’ll be able to give you full details
and the names of the winners. A badmin-
ton court has been erected atop the studio
and early morning finds earnest players
hard at work swinging away the same as
after hours in the evening. NBC Holly-
wood is definitely going badminton!

APRIL, 1937

APPOINTED EASTERN

SALES MANAGER

KEN R. DYKE

Ken R. Dyke, former general advertis-
ing manager of the Colgate-Palmolive-
Peet Company and prominent in national
advertising organizations, was appointed
Eastern Division Sales Manager on
April 1.

Mr. Dyke, who recently returned from
a six months’ trip to the Far East, re-
signed his post with the Colgate-Palm-
olive-Peet Company last July. Previous to
that he was vice-president in charge of
sales promotion for the Johns-Manville
Corporation.

Mr. Dyke is widely known in advertis-
ing and selling circles, having been chair-
man of the board of the Association of
National Advertisers, a director of the Ad-
vertising Research Foundation and a di-
rector of the Advertising Federation of
America.

Easter Crowds Boost

NBC Studio Tours

C. H. Thurman, manager of Guest Re-
lations, reports that tourist traffic through
the NBC studios in Radio City reached
an unprecedented peak for Easter week-
end with 7,087 persons making the trip
through our headquarters. The total is an
increase of approximately 33 per cent
over the same Saturday-Sunday period for
1936.

There was a notable increase in traffic
through the studios during the Easter holi-
days caused by an influx of vacationing
students.

A wide doorway between the New York
Museum of Science and Industry and the
mezzanine floor, where the tours begin,
was opened on April 3. It will facilitate the
flow of tourists from one point of interest
in Radio City to another.

by Alan Kent

We are not generally much given to
belligerence in any form, but even the
mildest mannered of us cannot resist at
times the urge to purple slightly at the
jowl and make indignant noises. Such an
impulse has found us much too weak to
resist.

Hence, we should like to say that we are
pretty sick and tired of having energetic
and destructive young citizens going about
knocking holes in NBC’s walls and mov-
ing people and furniture in and out, ad
libitum; putting in doorways where cor-
ridors would be much better left alone to
brood in unbroken solidity; scattering
plaster about willy-nilly to be tracked
around in semi-attractive patterns by
NBC’s heels (leather) (rubber) (round)
(just plain) .

What with all the architectural breaches
in our revered hallway’s breastworks, and
the resultant movings hither and yon it
has reached the point where one never
knows, when one comes to work, whether
one will be able to find one’s desk or be
forced to play eenie-meenie-minie-mo with
every doorway in the joint. As for trying
to put the finger on someone, one knows,
it has become close to impossible unless,
of course, one has the patience of a Sus-
taining Tenor and the nose of a Studio
Patrolman. One goes barging into what
should be Dr. Frank Black’s office, and
what does one find? Not Dr. Frank Black
at his harpsichord, but one of those afore-
mentioned energetic young iconoclasts
making passes at a lot of nude steel lath.
The harpsichord is cowering in a corner.
Dr. Black is under the harpsichord.

What’s a man to think? Have we so lost
ourselves in the wheels of flux and
“Change-For-The-Better” that we must
countenance upheaval on every hand with
no thought to the sanctity and sentimental
affection one has for one’s altar home?
Why, one hardly has time to wear a heel
rest in one’s desk! And it’s all so swift —
like and unexpected to boot.

As witness: A stand-by studio usually
gives an excellent imitation of a sepul-
chre, so excellent an imitation that one
expects to enter a standby with no thought
of being disturbed. Not so now. The other
evening we had just blissfully parked our
ample hips and our Anthony Adverse of
mimeographed sheets for a quiet game of
“Button, Button, Who’s Got The Net-
work?” when our pencil pushings were

NUMBER 26,000.000 ON
SOCIAL SECURITY LIST

MARTHA CARLSON

Although she has been with NBC only
a month Martha Carlson has already
made headlines and the N. Y. Sales De-
partment. where she is secretary to Wal-
ter E. Myers.

On the evening of April 5 Miss Carlson
was notified that she had the distinction
of being the twenty-six millionth person
to get a social security card. The follow-
ing morning she was rushed to Baltimore
where she was greeted by Frances Per-
kins and other W'ashington notables who
were heard with her on a special broad-
cast commemorating the occasion.

Miss Carlson is a graduate of Hunter
College. Before coming to NBC she was
secretary to Dale Carnegie, radio speaker
and author of the best-seller, “How to Win
Friends and Influence People.”

abruptly interrupted by an apparition in
white, tastefully festooned with assorted
tools, buckets and a grim expression.

He looked vaguely like something out
of a hang-over that hadn’t quite had sense
enough to be frightened away by tomato
juice. To prove to ourselves that he wasn’t
a ghost we tried to poke a finger through
him. We don’t think he was a ghost. As a
matter of fact, our ghost became quite
bitter over the finger-poking and, after we
had picked ourselves up off the floor, we
got to thinking that something ought to he
done about this knocking down of walls
and movings about. However, on second
and more reflective thought, we decided
that maybe it would be best to leave things
as they are.

But, as you can see, things don’t stay
as they are. And there you are. Or are
you?

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Promotions;

Augustus Sisko was promoted from the
Mail-Messenger Section to the Production
Division on April 1, 1937. Sisko joined
NBC a year ago. He is a graduate of
Stuyvesant High School and is now at-
tending C. C. N. Y. in the evening.

1 i i

Burton M. Adams, guide, who came to
NBC on June 15, 1936, with a sheepskin
from Pennsylvania University, has been
promoted to the Station Relations Depart-
ment to fill the post of receptionist va-
cated by Otto Brandt’s promotion to a
higher position in that department.

Mr. Brandt started as a page three years
ago. He became an office clerk and as-
sistant supervisor in the uniformed staff
before joining Station Relations.

ill

Miss Florence Cunningham is now sec-
retary to F. Richard Anderson of Station
Relations.

lit

Emanuel Horowitz, page, has been pro-
moted to News and Special Events as a
typist, April 1. He has been with NBC
about six months.

Frank Giblin, who proudly claims the
Bronx as his home and birthplace, joined
the Mail-Messenger Section March first
last. Just graduated from Roosevelt High
School, it was his first job. A month later
he was promoted to Clay Morgan’s office.

Frank’s hobby is song-writing. Recently
he sang one of his own compositions. To-
morrow, on the Magic of Speech program.
He also has done a bit of acting on Miss
Vida Sutton’s programs.

1 i 1

Leon Leak, Guest Relations, is the most
recent graduate from Dan Russell’s an-
nouncing class to the New York Staff of
announcers. During the past few months
he has been heard on the air occasionally
as an apprentice announcer during his
spare moments.

Leak came from Bay Minette, Alabama,
to Radio City in 1934. Since then he has
been a page, a guide, a set-up man and,
more recently, an assistant guide super-
visor, and also a student at Columbia.
i i 1

Marriages:

With hollow footsteps for sound effects
Agnew T. Horine of the sound technicians’
staff walked down the aisle of the Little
Church Around the Corner on April 8 to
slip a little white gold band studded with
diamonds on the finger of Miss Mildred
Upchurch of Rome, Georgia.

Mrs. Anne Upchurch McNally, sister
of the bride, was bridesmaid, and Clement
J. Walter, Sound Effects, was best man.
Among those present at the informal wed-
ding were Mr. and Mrs. Harold Saz, Mr.

and Mrs. H. Weston Conant, Fred
Knopfke, Walter McDonough, Manny
Segal and Mrs. Ray Kelly. Several other
friends and relatives of the bride and
groom were present.

So that his colleagues at NBC could at-
tend the reception, Mr. Horine deferred
it until Saturday, April 10. It was a gay
affair.

1 i i

Jack Fraser marched under an arch of
microphones held by announcers Ben
Grauer, Robert Waldrop, Stuart Metz and
Jack McCarthy to say, “I do” to Miss Bet-
tie Glenn, publicity woman, in the Little
Church Around the Corner on April 8.
Dozens of NBCites, and other friends and
relatives of the couple were present at the
wedding and the gay reception that fol-
lowed at the Ritz Bar.

Mr. and Mrs. Fraser are living at Forest
Hills, Long Island.

1 1 i

Miss Natalie Tait, secretary to F. E.
Spencer, Jr., Sales, was married to Robert
D. Bogert of Englewood, New Jersey, on
April 3. The wedding took place in St.
Andrew’s Church in Yonkers.

Mr. and Mrs. Bogert have just returned
from a honeymoon trip to the South and
are living in Englewood.

1 1 i

Stork News;

Harold E. Bisson, Promotion Division,
became the father of a baby girl on April
5. That makes two for Mr. Bisson — a boy
and a girl.

ill

Vacations:

Jack Wyatt, guide and announcer-in-
the-making, writes us that he is on a “tour
of the Middle West” during his vacation.
When he wrote us he was in Chicago visit-
ing relatives and the NBC studios in the
Merchandise Mart.

i i i

Guides Stockley Plummer and Robert
Armstrong are the latest vacationists to
succumb to Florida’s attractions.

ill

Resignations:

Robert W'hite, Guest Relations, has re-
signed to become a junior salesman for
Bowey’s, Inc., N. Y. The Goddesses of
Fate were kind to him when they sent C.
W. Hutchinson, an NBC client and sales
executive of Bowey’s, Inc., on his NBC
Studio Tour. Mr. Hutchinson was so im-
pressed with Bob’s enthusiasm, personal-
ity and ability to express himself clearly
that he asked NBC to “lend” him Robert
White for some radio merchandising work.

(Continued on Next Page)

Japanese Royally take the NBC Studio Tour. Shown above are, from left to right: Her Imperial
Highness, Princes Chichibu, Walter Koons, Press, in charge of the NBC welcoming arrangements
and His Imperial Highness, Prince Chichibu, watching guide Edward Keller demonstrate the
oscillograph tubes which show the inside workings of a receiving set. The imperial Japanese
party stopped in New York on their way to London for the Coronation.

APRIL, 1937

Upshot: Bowey’s liked him and his work,
and asked him to join their sales staff.

Bob is only twenty-two. He joined NBC
in May, 1935, as a mail room clerk.

i i 1

Richard Eastman resigned from the
Mail Room on March 31 to join the script
department of Blackett-Sample, Hum-
mert, Inc.

Ill

Robert Cutler, Statistics, has resigned to
join the office of Skidmore & Owings, ar-
chitects. During his four years with NBC
he continued his work as an architect. He
gained recognition last December when he
won a prize for a design of a building for
the New York World’s Fair of 1939.

ill

Gar Young, who joined NBC in 1932,
resigned from the Promotion Division,
April 15, to join the Hearst International
Advertising Service.

William R. P. Neel, Press, has been ap-
pointed to replace Mr. Young as editor of
the NBC Trade News Service. He will
have charge, of the distribution of all news
concerning the company’s activities to the
radio, advertising and industrial trade
press. Mr. Neel has been with NBC two
years.

ill

Edward D. Keller, who joined the Guest
Relations staff about a year ago, resigned
on April 15 to join the publicity depart-
ment of Rockefeller Center, Inc. While at
Princeton Keller wrote a thesis on radio
and education which landed him a job at
NBC. During his short stay with us he
rose from a page to a guide, and finally
to guide instructor.

Before leaving he let us in on a secret
— his engagement to Miss Ruth Dosch. It
is to be announced on April 24 at the
home of Miss Dosch’s parents in Cald-
well, New Jersey.

i i i

Glenn Morris, 1936 Olympic Decathlon
champion, who joined the News and Spe-
cial Events Division last fall, resigned on
April 8 to go to Hollywood. He is under
contract to play the role of Tarzan in a
new series of jungle melodramas based on
the Edgar Rice Burroughs stories.

1 i i

Newcomers:

Miss Amelia Umnitz, formerly women’s
fashion editor of Pathe News, New York,
has joined the Press Division as assistant
to Fashion Editor Betty Goodwin.

Miss Umnitz comes from Erie, Pa.,
where she started her journalistic career
on the Erie Dispatch-Herald. From there
she went to Macfadden Publications;
thence to Pathe News. She was educated

in Chicago schools and the National Con-
servatory of Music in Paris.

Miss Umnitz is the author of a book
for children called Music Begins at Two
and several stories and articles for maga-
zines. She is also a composer, having ar-
ranged the music for two of Cornelia Otis
Skinner’s productions. Empress Eugenie
and The Loves of Charles //.

i i 1

John R. Carnell, formerly with the Gen-
eral Ice Cream Corporation, has joined
the Statistical Department. He comes from
Albany, N. Y., is a Phi Kappa Psi and a
former classmate of script-writer Richard
Leach, Dartmouth ’32.

i i i

Jesse Butcher, former CBS publicity
director and more recently a partner in
the radio production and talent manage-
ment firm of Bruce Chapman-Jesse Butch-
er, Inc., has joined the Station Relations
Department. He will do contact work with
NBC network stations and fulfill other spe-
cial assignments.

Mr. Butcher came to radio from the
newspaper field, having been on the edi-
torial staff of the New York Times for
seven years and later heading that paper’s
news syndicate.

i i i

Robert Friedheim, formerly assistant
manager of WMBH, Joplin, Missouri, has
joined the Electrical Transcription Serv-
ice Division as assistant to Frank Chizzini.
Mr. Freidheim’s job will be selling and
sales promotion. He was in the newspaper
field before joining WMBH, where he was
on the staff four years.

Reginald Stanborough has joined .Sten-
ographic as a member of the night staff.

i i i

Robert Massell and John Morrison are
recent additions to the Mail Room force.

i i i

Miss Florence Mecca has joined the
Auditing Division.

i 1 i

Miss Victoria Geiger is secretary to C.
W. Farrier of the Television Division.

i i i

New members of the Guest Relations
staff are:

George Olenslager, a native New York-
er, who comes to us from the department
store business. He attended Stuyvesant
High School and C. C. N. Y.

Gilbert Ralston, from sunny California,
comes to Radio City after working in glass
manufacturing in Mexico. He has been an
actor in radio.

Joseph Wilkinson, another New Yorker,
comes to NBC from Columbia U.

George De Pue, Jr., of Phillipsburg,
N. J., was educated at Muhlenburg Col-
lege and N. Y. U. He has had experience
as a radio actor over station WEST in
eastern Pennsylvania, where he worked
with Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Wm. Meier of Flushing, N. Y., from
the publishing business. He went to school
in Flushing.

J. Buss Ward is a native of St. Louis.
He went to the Stony Brook Prep School,
Long Island, and worked on ships that
took him down the western coast of South
America.

(Continued on Page 17)

— NBC Photo by Deifor

Pictured above are promising members of the New York announcing school and their mentor,
Dan Russell, during -a recent broadcast of the ABC of NBC series. From left to right: Arthur
Garbarini, page; Dan Russell, George Hayes, former page now in the night program managers
office, and Jack Wyatt, guide.

NBC PHILADELPHIA

by J. A. Aull

Although we always are loath to chalk
up a failure and in spite of the fact that
Philadelphia has musical talent second to
none in the country, KYW is forced to
admit that it is unahle to unhole a single
singing mouse. After conducting one of
the most intensive mouse hunts ever seen
hereabouts, the best we could produce was
a waltzing rat. However, we are keeping
an eye on the rat so that when television
comes along we will again be able to look
the world in the face.

1 i i

Speaking of singers, lovely Carlotta
Dale, the featured songstress with the
KYW Top Hatters, is in Oncologic Hos-
pital undergoing treatment as the result
of an automobile aceident last summer.
Trying to keep her amused, in addition to
all the artists who drop in to see her, are
a pair of ducklings that waddled in one
day last week with Peggy Madison.

1 1 i

Station Manager Leslie Joy has added
two more committees to his already long
list of civic duties. Mayor Wilson has
asked him to serve on his Executive Com-
mittee for the 150th Anniversary Celebra-
tion of the Constitution of the United
States, which will be held in Philadelphia
this summer; and the Red Cross has in-
cluded him on the sub-committee on com-
munications for the South Eastern Penn-
sylvania Chapter.

i i 1

Unable longer to withstand the call of
Spring and baseball, Kerby Cushing,
KYW’s sports reporter, hiked off to Flor-
ida late last month for a ten days’ stay in
the Phillies’ training camp at Winter
Haven. Chick Kelly, his erstwhile silent
partner, did the pinch hitting for him on
his regular evening program.

1 i i

Peggy McHale, secretary to Jack Ham-
mann, national sales representative of
NBC in Philadelphia, and Betty Dickert,
secretary to Leslie Joy, are co-authors of
a thriller radio program, “Massy Harbi-
son,” which was aired successfully last
month by the Philadelphia Club of Adver-
tising Women. Of special interest to lis-
teners was the Indian sign language skill-
fully written into the script.

ill

Peggy Farnsworth, who was relief sec-
retary last September for Ralph Sayres,
sales director, has returned to the fold as
official secretary to Jim Begley, program
manager.

The plot of ground on which the RCA
Building stands is entirely surrounded by
a copper strip set into the sidewalk. This
copper strip extends from the building
line on Sixth Avenue to the building line
on Fifth Avenue. At intervals are small
copper plates which read as follows:
“Property line of the trustees of Colum-
bia University. Crossing is by permission
only, which permission is revocable at
will.” Ever notice?

i i i

Jack Wahlstrom came back from that
Miami vacation sporting a nobby tan. . . .
The NBC Stamp Club exhibit on the Mez-
zanine attracts a great deal of attention
from the guestourists. . . . Station WFBC
in Greenville, South Carolina, writes its
business letters on pressed cotton station-
ery. . . . Don Lowe had a letter from Tshi-
kapa, Africa, recently, stating that despite
the fact the natives could not read, write
or speak English or French — they had
voted him their most popular announcer.
. . . The Guest Relations staff includes a
FLOOD in the Main Hall; a LEAK on the
Mezzanine, and a PLUMMER in the lock-
er room Robert Mitchelltree, who helps

hold down the Main Hall Information
Desk, constructed his own television re-
ceiver back in 1931. It produced a one and
a half inch square, red and black picture,
with about 60 lines to the inch. . . . Henry
Weston, former guide, had his picture in
the New York Times not long ago, model-
ing a uniform of the type which will be
worn by World’s Fair Guides in 1939.

i i i

George Hicks writes left handed. . . .
Reservations are pouring in for the Ath-
letic Association dance at the Roosevelt
on May 7. ... A visitor, evidently pos-
sessed of great foresight, stopped by
Guest Relations to ask for tickets to Rudy
Vallee’s program of May 6, which will
come from London. Seems he was going
over for the Coronation, too. . . . Every-
body’s busy making vacation plans. Me,
too! Goom bye!

— Walter Moore.

Roy Shield, Chicago musical director
and conductor of the Chicago NBC Sym-
phonic Hour, organized and directed nine
different orchestras before he was out of
his teens. His father was a railroad man
who was being transferred constantly
from one town to another, and Roy got
the young musicians together in each of
the places the family lived.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC DENVER

by Charles Anderson

Snow and more snow. Glenn Glasscock,
and engineers Bob Owen and Perry Pere-
grine were late getting back from a spe-
cial ski broadcast atop Berthoud Pass. So
late, in fact, that their wives and friends
decided something should be done about
it. Whereupon a rescue party set out from
Denver determined to find the lost men.
Imagine their surprise when they returned
home safely, amused to hear of the con-
sternation they had caused. History
doesn’t relate what happened to the res-
cue party.

i i , i

A. E. Nelson, KOA’S manager, is back
hard at it after a short trip to the South-
west on business.

i 1 i

Derby Sproul of Continuity had a blow-
out and found himself in the ditch with
the car up-side-down. Derby crawled out
a little shaken but none the worse for
wear. Luck?

i i i

A dinner was held Saturday, April 10th,
celebrating the third year of Mr. Nelson’s
management of KOA. The party was a
great success. The scene: Denver’s Cos-
mopolitan Hotel.

i i i

What shall it be “HO,” “0” or “00”
gauge? That is the question. Someone
started all this by buying a magazine de-
scribing model railroads. I think Bill
Stulla, announcer, did the dirty work.
Billy and this writer are ready for that
padded place after looking over the cata-
logues. Derby Sproul is about as bad, too.
If we had our way we’d build a model
railroad right in Studio A and let it run
out in the hall and down to the Main Con-
trol Room. However, it ain’t bein’ done
these days, so we’ll have to build them at
home. All aboard! !

i i i

Thelma Erickson, Sales, drew the as-
signment to present our home town star,
Jean Dickenson, with roses, when she ar-
rived the other day. She spoke her piece
and did it very nobly, indeed. “Page, hand
me those other roses, we’ll make this an
endless chain.”

E. P. H. James, Promotion Manager, is
co-author of a book now on sale, “The
Technique of Marketing Research,” pub-
lished by McGraw-Hill Book Company,
Inc. It is the first comprehensive text-book
on the methods and principles of market
research, which play such an important
part today in selling and distribution.

APRIL, 1937

PUBLIC SPEAKING GROUP
ENTERTAINED AT BANQUET

SARNOFF TO OPEN

NATIONAL MUSIC WEEK

The C. F. O’Neill Monday Public
Speaking Group convened on March 29
at the Hotel Wellington’s Moderne Room
where, with the aid of “a musical special-
ist to help you digest your food,” interest-
ing short talks, and an easy air of infor-
mality, they held a “graduation” dinner.

After the dinner members of the group
met in speech competition. The speeches
ranged in subject matter from the random
thoughts of a preoccupied engineer, ca-
nary-colored waistcoats for men, and pro-
hibition hair tonic, to a lesson on house
buying. The two best talks were selected
by the seventy-two guests present. First
prize, a comic cartoon of the speaker
drawn by “Jolly” Bill Steinke went to en-
gineer Allen A. Walsh; second prize to
engineer George M. Nixon.

Guest speakers of the evening were
Dwight G. Wallace, 0. B. Hanson, Frank
Jones, Walter G. Preston, Jr., and Harry
Sadenwater of RCA. Toastmaster was
Raymond Guy, Radio Facilities Engineer,
whose recollections of a twenty-four years’
acquaintance with Mr. Hanson told of the
days when they were both preparing to be
Marconi wireless operators, of the time his
ship was torpedoed, and of their friendly
rivalry fifteen years back in this new ex-
periment called “broadcasting.”

The “musical aid to digestion” was
given by Pat Casey as the roving trouba-
dor who, with his accordion, furnished
songs and stories. There was a unanimous
demand for a song from Gustave Rosier,
Engineering, who sang Auf du Lieber Au-
gustine.

Among those present were Mr. and Mrs.
Vincent G. Gilcher, Mr. and Mrs. B. Fre-
dendall, Mr. and Mrs. George McElrath,
Mr. and Mrs. George Milne, Mr. and Mrs.
Raymond Guy, J. Gavron, Mr. and Mrs.
George Nixon, Mr. and Mrs. Alan Walsh,
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Peck, Harry Tunick,
Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Fitch, Mr. and Mrs.
L. D’Agostino, Mr. and Mrs. M. Jacobson,
C. H. Campbell, Don Whitemore, and Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Morris, all gentlemen of
whom were members of the class.

Other guests present were Mr. and Mrs.
W. C. Duttera, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Clarke,
W. A. R. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Roy
Holmes, Edward M. Lowell, Mr. and Mrs.
John Seibert, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Close
and Mr. and Mrs. David Van Houten. •

111

You can ge» complimentary tickets to the NBC
Studio Tour by presenting your NBC employe's
card at the Guest Relations Division.

National Music Week, celebrated an-
nually throughout the United States to
honor American composers, will be ofifi-
cially opened by David Sarnoff as chair-
man of the National Music Week Com-
mittee in an address during the Magic
Key of RCA program Sunday, May 2.
In opening the fourteenth annual obser-
vance of Music Week, Mr, Sarnoff will
explain its purposes and invite all local
communities in the nation to participate.

“Foster Local Music Talent” will be the
slogan of the National Music Week, from
May 2 to 8, during which more than fifty
regular NBC programs will observe the
national celebration. During the ensuing
week special programs originating from
the outstanding local music festivals in the
country will also be heard on the air.
Among the local music festivals to be
broadcast will be the seventieth anni-
versary program of the New England Con-
servatory of Music; the spring season of
the Metropolitan Opera; the Peabody
Conservatory of Music Chorus; the In-
dianapolis Grand Piano Festival, and the
Boston Pop Concerts.

* # #

Have you bought your ticket tor the NBC Spring
Dance at the Roosevelt Hotel, May 7?

* # *

Now is the time to join the NBC Athletic Asso-
ciation. Sports ior everyone.

v%.

ti\
{

aUlEn*

N/Vai_SH

• V*'

. \

0/'

a..

“Jolly” Bill Steinke drew this of Allen Walsh
for making the best speech at the Public
Speaking Group’s banquet.

by Edwin Loudon Hooker

TEN YEARS AGO — Graham Mc-
Namee’s book “You’re on the Air,” had
just been published with an introduction
by Heywood Broun — Milton Cross’s fa-
vorite dessert was toasted cocoanut pie —
“Cheerio” was just becoming known —
and for the first time the seven stations of
NBC’s new Pacific Coast network was
linked with the East for Calvin Coolidge’s
address to a joint session of Congress.

Ill

Again this Spring Alan Kent is receiv-
ing goodly supplies of Swamp Maple Buds
from a Bridgeport, Connecticut ad-mire-
er. She continues to remain anonymous.

1 i 1

And if you don’t think our “No Eating
in Studios” signs are taken literally, how
about the local drug store clerk who re-
fused to deliver an order for razor blades
and glass tumblers to the “Believe-It-Or-
Not” Ripley show, after he discovered
they were to be eaten by a glass and razor
blade eater on Ripley’s program several
weeks ago?

ill

HOME TOWN BOY MAKES GOOD:
Ross Martindale, popular young guide,
continues to go places. He is the only mem-
ber of his group to be listed in the new
company telephone directory.

ill

“It would be the crowning glory of my
life,” said one announcer, “if they would
only send me to London for the Corona-
tion.”

i i i

Bill Paisley of the New York Music De-
partment tells us he is about to have an-
other song published. “It’s about love,”
says Bill, “because this is Spring, and in
the Spring a young man’s. . . .” Oh, well!
i i i

As the engagement of Jack Costello,
popular young announcer, and Miss Mary
Sullivan of Minneapolis has been known
for some time, we can only emphasize the
fact, offer our felicitations, and point out
that the happy event will occur sometime
in June — “That is,” says Jack, “if the
wherewithal is forthcoming.”
i i i

The wedding of Theodore Thompson of
General Service and Sybil Hutlin on May
first will climax a courtship that began
when Ted. a Dartmouth undergraduate,
met Miss Hutlin at a Vassar prom.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC TRANSMITTEB

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 APRIL, 1937 No. 4

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS

ARY R. MOLL

WALTER WIEBEL

HERBERT GROSS

DIANA MILLER
CHARLES VAN BERGEN.

CARL CANNON

CONTRIBUTORS

EDWARD D. KELLER Guest Relations

ORVILLE HOWLAND Guest Relations

FRANK W. NESBITT Guest Relations

MILDRED L, JOY General Library

JAMES COSTELLO Script Division

LEON LEAK Announcer

RODERICK MITCHELL Guest Relations

FRANK C. LEPORE Advisory Editor

Address all correspondence to :

NBC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA Bldg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

Editor

Associate Editor

Circulation

Promotion

Photographs

Features

FOR YOU AND BY YOU

The other day a fellow employe thundered
into the NBC Transmitter office and accused
us mercilessly of inefficiency and journalistic
laziness. He wanted to know why we had not
reported a surprise party that he and the other
members of his department had given their
boss on his birthday.

Rising to heights of oratory he rode rough-
shod over us, and climaxed his address by
charging us with editorial favoritism.

So firm and strong were his accusations that
for a time he almost had us admitting that it
really was our fault. But, after recovering from
the explosion, we launched a vigorous counter-
attack.

“You," we said, “are guilty of indifference
to your company, negligence to your depart-
ment. and disloyalty to your fellow constitu-
ents. It is your fault that this occasion was not
mentioned!”

“My fault?”

“Yes, your fault! Because it is your duty as
well as ours to report the activities of your
department. . . . Pick up any copy of The Trans-
mitter, turn to the editorial page, read the sub-
heading in the mast-head and then ‘go and sin
no more.’ ”

A copy of The Transmitter was handy. He
turned to the editorial page and read The
NBC Transmitter published for and by the
employes of the National Broadcasting Com-
pany. . . .” He looked up — a guilty smile on
his face — then departed without a word.

— And that is our message to you all this
month.

THE

WA5 TWE FEATURED
5IN)GEE ON A RECENT
NBC BROADCAST.

ON APRIL 20
A SPECIAL NBC PROGRAM
WAS S HORT WAUED TO HORACE
A HIPPOPOTAMI'S IN
jmJA, AFRICA.

The mevaJS

DESK EDITS

foa. BROADCASTS m
AVERAGE OF 5P8,5“00
WORDS A AAONTH

krejsmer

J /\

LISTENER REACTIONS

by Ruth M. Crawford

Correspondent, Netv York Audience Mail Division

These are just a few samples of the hundreds of questions we get in this
department.

i i 1

“Do you know how or where pearls are bought? I have found one in an oyster.
I want to make contact with someone planning an expedition to tropical jungles
or some South Sea Islands. Can produce good cooking. I’m of pleasant disposition
and not afraid of perils.”

1 i i

“We are making a complete study of Italy and would like to live like Italians
for a few months. Would appreciate material on every phase of Italian life.”

i i 1

“Could you tell me of a good tannery for muskrat hides? I heard there were
some in New York.”

1 i 1

“Will you be good enough to advise me where to apply for two passes to see
the Dionne quintuplets, and if there is any charge.”

i i 1

“Is there a good mind reader or fortune teller in your city?”

■r i i

To Milton J. Cross: “I discovered your radio talk on a “Bus Tour” too late to

tune in. Would be glad to have you send me data concerning the tour, date and
expense.”

APRIL, 1937

IN APRIL PHOTO CONTEST

WINNERS

RULES FOR PHOTO CONTEST

1. Prints must be no smaller than 2V/'
X 4" (the larger the better). Nega-
tives cannot be accepted.

2. Captions are desirable.

3. Name, stations and department must
appear on the back of photograph.

Pictures will be judged on composi-
tion and subject matter. Judges are Ray
Lee Jackson and William Haussler. De-
cisions are final. All entries will be
returned but the NBC TRANSMITTER
will not be responsible for those which
are lost.

Entries for May contest must be in.
by May 8.

“SEASIDE SIESTA”

HONORABLE MENTION: “White Water,” submitted
by announcer Joe Gillespie of KOA Denver.

Roy V. Berthold of the New York Statistical Department took this picture
at Riverhead, Long Island. It was awarded this month’s FIRST PRIZE —
a pair of tickets to the musical hit at the Imperial Theatre, “Frederika,”
featuring Dennis King, Helen Gleason and Ernest Truex.

“PILLARS OF JUSTICE”

This dramatic treatment of a simple subject took the
SECOND PRIZE, a pair of tickets to Radio City Music
Hall. Submitted by Herman M. Gurin of the air con-
ditioning plant in New York.

NBC TRANSMITTER

News Flashes

Never one to break with age-old tradi-
tion, Traffic’s John O’Neill came to work
April 7, well stocked with cigars and a
• broad smile. Earlier in the day Mrs.
O’Neill had presented him with a daugh-
ter, and John lived up to the unwritten
law by distributing the cigars and receiv-
ing a lot of congratulations.

Ill

This month saw Floyd Van Etten ill in
St. Luke’s Hospital; Georgia Fuller of,
Production getting around on crutches,
the result of an automobile accident; Sales
Promotion’s Alice Weidenheim to the hos-
pital for an operation.

Ill

Dorothy Little resigned her position as
Audience Mail Supervisor to go with the
American Mineral Spirits Corp. One of the
first receptionists at NBC, Miss Little had
been with the company for eight years.

Ill

New page replacing Landee Hanson,
who has gone to St. Paul to work for an
airlines company as radio operator, is Bob
Wilson. Bob is a brother of Glenn Wilson,
former page and correspondent for the
Transmitter.

i 1 i

From the Announ 9 er’s Room to Junior
Production goes Mike Eisenmenger. Don
Hallman, former page and promising stu-
dent of the announcing school, succeeds
Mike as assistant to Everett Mitchell.
Rueben Carlson replaces Hallman on the
page staff.

i 1 i

Dude-ranching in Arizona this month
were Carl Wester of Sales, with his wife.

KEN ROBINSON
Chicago Continuity Editor

NBC CHICAGO

by Bob McCoy

and Emmons Carlson, Sales Promotion
manager. The party stopped off in San
Francisco before becoming “old cow
hands from the Rio Chicago” for a couple
of weeks.

r r 1

Another recruit to the page staff is Wil-
liam Venn, who can boast of the colorful
background of the circus. Venn was once
the man on the trapeze with the Ringling
Brothers Circus. Recently, he came to
Chicago as master of ceremonies with the
University of Iowa’s student night club
entertainers.

i 1 i

On Easter Saturday Tony Koelker of
Press was married to Ann Courtney in St.
Louis. Mrs. Koelker was formerly head
hostess in the Chicago Studios.

i i i

Fancy page George Hooper’s surprised
reaction on seeing a fellow townsman and
schoolmate pictured in the Transmitter.
The schoolmate happened to be Hugh
Savage, first prize winner in the Brass But-
tons Revue. Hibbing, Minnesota, is the
home town of both pages Hooper and
Savage; so perhaps, besides being infor-
mative, the Transmitter serves also as a
handy index to “what-your-former-class-
mate-is-doing-nowadays.”

i 1 i

Robinson made Continuity Editor

Moving into the Continuity Editor’s un-
easy chair vacated this month by Law-
rence Holcomb, is Ken Robinson, radio
writer and former newspaper man.

Ken Robinson is a product of the famed
little red school house. His particular
Alma Mater was a one room affair in Paw
Paw, Michigan, where, at the graduation
exercises Ken towered over the only other
graduate, a half-breed Indian girl who
measured only about four feet to his five
feet, nine inches. His family moved to Chi-
cago and Mr. Robinson attended the South
Side’s Parker High School, went from
there to business school at night. He got
a job selling office equipment and eased
into tbe advertising department of the
business.

In January of 1929 Ken Robinson
joined the staff of the Chicago Evening
American, where he did advertising and
classified promotion work. At that time it
was decided to tie in a serial running in
the paper with radio advertising. Chosen
to dramatize the story was Mr. Robinson,
who did not then look favorably on the job
of radio writing, but nevertheless turned

GERARD McDermott
National Spot Sales

in a good script. Fortunately for radio, his
ideas about radio work underwent a
change.

First television melodrama broadcast
was written by Robinson in 1930. It was
“The Mystery of Geraldine Foster” and
was broadcast over W9XAO and WIBO.

For the five years from 1931 until De-
cember, 1936, when he was appointed
NBC’s Assistant Continuity Editor, Mr.
Robinson edited and was commentator on
the Evening American’s What’s the News?
broadcast over WENR. In January, 1936,
was produced the first program of Mr.
Robinson’s popular serial, “Dan Hard-
ing’s Wife,” which he continues to write.

i i i

McDermott to National Spot
Sales

Into an office in National Spot Sales this
month went cheerful, ruddy-faced Gerard
McDermott. As a student of the Univer-
sity of Notre Dame, Mr. McDermott stud-
ied Engineering, became interested in mo-
tion picture work. His education was com-
pleted at the University of Chicago, where
he was graduated with the degree of Bach-
elor of Arts.

Following graduation, Mr. McDermott
was a cameraman in the midwest territory
for Fox Movietone News. Was later Sales
Manager for the Jamhandy Picture Serv-
ice; and worked on the sales staff of the
World Broadcasting System. He came to
NBC in 1932 as a National Network Sales-
man, was soon appointed Local Sales
Manager. Held that office up to March of
(Continued on Next Page)

APRIL, 1937

STAMP CLUB NOTES

Yale Man to Explain

Coronation for NBC

WMAQ CELEBRATES ITS
FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY

The NBC Stamp Club held its annual
election of officers at the regular annual
meeting of the club held in the president’s
board room, on Monday, April 5, at 7:15
P. M.

Officers for the new year are George
Milne, president; Walter Koons, vice-
president; Frank Reed, secretary; George
Nelson, treasurer, and Frank Johnson,
exchange manager.

Following the conclusion of the busi-
ness meeting a buffet supper was served
to the fifteen members present.

Anyone who is not now a member of
the NBC Stamp Club is cordially invited
to phone Frank Reed on extension 681 and
learn how one may join. Don’t be bash-
ful ! If you collect or save stamps for your
son, daughter, grandmother or Aunt Tillie
— -you are a stamp COLLECTOR, and
members of the club will be glad to wel-
come you into the organization.

* * *

On May 3, Monday evening, at 7:15
P. M., a stamp auction will be held in
the president’s conference room, on the
sixth floor of the office section. This auc-
tion is open to anyone interested in col-
lecting. All lots will be on display at
Frank Johnson’s desk four days before
the auction. Don’t forget to bring your
bankroll on May third.

NBC CHICAGO

(Continued from Page 12)
this year, when he was appointed to Na-
tional Spot Sales where his experience in
motion picture work and knowledge of the
country’s stations will be invaluable.

Smith Succeeds McDermott

From Spot Sales to the office of Local
Sales Manager comes W. W. Smith, suc-
cessor to G. B. McDermott.

The mustached and nonchalant Bud
Smith comes to his new position with an
enviable record of radio and advertising
work behind him. He worked in the Ad-
vertising Department of Firestone Tire
and Rubber Company at Akron, Ohio. On
leaving Firestone, Mr. Smith was with
WTAM, Cleveland for five years, where he
was station manager. Forced by illness to
resign his position, he left Cleveland and
came to Chicago.

His health regained, Mr. Smith joined
NBC’s Sales Control Department in 1935.
From there he advanced to Spot Sales
where he worked until this month when
he was appointed Manager of Local Sales.

By the time this
comes off the press
Blevins Davis, Yale
University authority
on British corona-
tions, will have
sailed for England
to be among the
many outstanding
personalities who
will bring a word
picture of the coronation of King George
VI to the American radio audiences over
NBC networks, on May 12.

Mr. Davis, who is recognized as the
greatest authority in the United States on
the ascension of English kings, has spent
more than twelve years in research on
coronations. His collection on coronations
dates from the time of the Anglo-Saxon
monarchs and includes explanations of
the symbolism of the regalia, the history
of coronations and a comparison of the
changes in procedure from the earliest
days down to the present.

An American by birth, Mr. Davis is a
native of Independence, Mo. He attended
the University of Missouri and Princeton
University, and is now engaged in grad-
uate research in the drama department at
Yale.

Mr. Davis’s coronation material was
used by Francis Wilson of the New York
Script Division in writing the successful
NBC drama, “Appointment at West-
minster.’’

BLEVINS DAVIS

WMAQ, Chicago’s oldest radio station,
was fifteen years old on April 13. The
station — first called WGU — was estab-
lished under the joint ownership of the
Chicago Daily News and the Fair Store
early in 1922 and went on the air for the
first time on April 13 of that year.

Equipment consisted of one studio in
the Fair Store and a hundred-watt trans-
mitter on the roof. The first program,
planned by Miss Judith C. Waller, man-
ager of the station for its first ten years
and now Central Division education direc-
tor of the National Broadcasting Com-
pany, was an ambitious one, with Sophie
Braslau, Metropolitan Opera contralto, as
star.

She was first of a multitude of singers,
entertainers, musical organizations and
public personages to be introduced to the
radio public by WMAQ during succeed-
ing years.

Waring’s Pennsylvanians, the North-
western University A Cappella Choir and
the Civic Opera all were heard during the
first and second seasons of broadcasting.
President Harding’s voice was brought
over telephone wires from San Francisco
for WMAQ listeners in July, 1923, and
President Coolidge spoke from Washing-
ton a few months later.

WMAQ — the call letters WGU were
changed after the first six months because
they were confused with WBU, belonging
to the city— pioneered in other ways. It
introduced radio educational projects of
many sorts, including lectures by Univer-
sity' of Chicago professors and a series of
programs presented by the faculty of
Northwestern University.

The station, too, kept step with improve-
ment in broadcasting equipment. From
100 watts, its power was gradually stepped
up to its present 50,000 watts. Studios
were moved from the Fair Store to the
Hotel LaSalle, then to the new Chicago
Daily News Building, and in 1932 to the
Merchandise Mart NBC headquarters
when the station was acquired by the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company.

Chicago’s first baseball and football
broadcasts were heard over WMAQ. Gos-
den and Correll first created Amos ’n’
Andy for WMAQ listeners. Station offi-
cials induced the governors of thirty-nine
states to journey to Chicago and speak
over WMAQ.

Since the first broadcast, WMAQ has
seen all its early contemporaries cease
operation or, as in the case of Chicago’s
first station, KYW, move away from the
city.

LET'S GET ACQUAINTED

Adelaide Piano

The thousands of incoming letters
every day get prompt attention from the
many letter-sorters, readers and writers
working under the direction of Adelaide
Piana, perhaps the most letter-read per-
son in New York, and supervisor of NBC’s
New York Audience Mail Division.

At the end of a day’s shuffle many letters
land on the top of Miss Piana’s desk for
final official attention. This opportunity
for letter-reading is the one factor which
adds much interest to her work. The let-
ters seem to come from friends, or they
soon become friends after her replies, and
then, perhaps, a counter-answer. No cor-
respondence is ever encouraged because
there is always enough in the mail bag
to keep tbe department busy and the spon-
sor satisfied with the general reaction to
programs.

The mail comes in huge bundles to this
third floor office, where it is coded accord-
ing to the state, county and town. Vitally
important is this post office tabulation of
program popularity to NBC salesmen’s
network clients. The final count and tabu-
lations are sent to the Statistical Depart-
ment, where the figures are used to de-
termine the popularity, and the size and
location of the audiences of different pro-
grams.

It was quite different in the days when
broadcasts were novel and listeners’ let-
ters few. Then it was that an early seller
of air time asked Miss Piana if she
couldn’t increase the response to his prune
program by writing some letters herself.
That was in 1923 down at WEAF’s 195
Broadway address, when the total mail for
the year reached a count of only 86.000.
Compare that with the figure of 100,000
which was the number of letters received
in one day last year, or one million, which
was the count for March of this year.

It was in the early days of broadcast-
ing that Miss Piana started as a hostess
at WEAF studios. There followed a month
as hostess-stenographer and then as as-
sistant to the head of the mail depart-
ment. A short time in this capacity and
WEAF merged with WJZ to become the
National Broadcasting Company, with
Miss Piana handling 300,000 letters a year
and a staff of six.

Today it is Miss Piana at the head desk,
over five million letters a year, and a staff
of sixteen. This group is often supple-
mented by a corps of fifty or sixty work-
ing in three shifts when Ma Perkins gives
away flower seeds or the O’Neills supply

ADELAIDE PIANA
Director of Audience Mail

the country with Pontiacs. Having proved
her adeptness at handling letters in vol-
ume, Miss Piana was sent to the Chicago
studios in 1930 to organize the mail divi-
sion there.

Born in New York’s Greenwich Village,
reared in Brooklyn, and now working in
Mid-Manhattan, Miss Piana likes to get
about in tbe provinces as much as pos-
sible. Her travel plans include a trip to
Italy soon and, before sailing, a bit of
study in the Italian language.

Opera-books and knitting hold much at-
traction for this NBC Lady of Letters but
she still gets thrills just from the day’s
routine work. Thrills that recently in-
cluded a fifteen minute airing on the Red
Network as the ABC of NBC’s key turned
the lock on the door of Audience Mail.
The thrilling sensation didn’t come, how-
ever, until after the program was over —
then she realized that she had been actu-
ally talking to the people whose letters she
reads every day.

— you don’t like to dance
— you don’t want to have a good time
— you don’t like good entertainment
—you don’t like PETER VAN STEEDEN
AND HIS ORCHESTRA, don’t come to the

NBC SPRING DANCE

at the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Roose-
velt in New York City on May 7. Subscrip-
tion: $2.50 a couple. Dress is optional.
Dancing from nine P.M. on.

NBC TRANSMITTER

WGY SCHENECTADY

by O. H. Junggren

For several weeks now, announcers at
WGY have been hearing their own voice,
as radio listeners hear it. B. W. Cruger,
maintenance supervisor, has been making
recordings of their work, while on the air,
unbeknown to the announcers. These rec-
ords are carefully filed and later played
back for the announcers at special meet-
ings of the program board. A. 0. Cogges-
hall, program manager, conducts these
seances, and reports that the comment
given on each announcer’s work, made by
fellow mikemen, after each recording,
have already resulted in improvement of
air performance.

1 i i

The staff of WGY regrets to report that
Robert Rissling, announcer and keeper of
the transcriptions, has been forced by a
lingering illness to leave for a rest. It is
believed that Bob will be absent for some
time.

i i i

John Howe of the sales staff has con-
fidentially told two or three at the station
that IF he wins the Old Gold contest, he’ll
remember all those who contributed pack-
age labels. Big hearted, what?

i 1 i

The new two-way police radio system
which Schenectady now boasts, was in-
augurated over WGY in a special broad-
cast recently. Chief Funston, in WGY’s
studios spoke by special wire through
the new police transmitter at local
headquarters. His words were carried
to a patrol car equipped with a re-
ceiver. The car, in turn, answered the
chief, by means of its two-way apparatus.
The short-wave signals were received for
WGY by an antenna atop Building 40 of
the G. E. WGY’s short-wave stations,
W2XAF and W2XAD, both carried the
program to all parts of the earth, and
WGY gave listeners their first listen-in to
local police radio. Special permission for
the re-broadcast was obtained from the
FCC.

1 i i

Radcliffe Hall, formerly associated with
the Buffalo Broadcasting Corporation, has
joined the staff of WGY as announcer-
producer. Hall has been associated with
stock companies and radio productions for
several years. He also has had professional
experience in music with the Rochester
Symphony Orchestra.

■til

Don't miss the NBC Photographic Exhibit in the
salon on the meixanine floor ol the RCA Building.
Open daily irom 10 A.M. to 9 P.M. There i* no
admission charge.

APRIL, 1937

NBC AUTHOR TO BE FIRST ROUND

TRIP PASSENGER ON CHINA CLIPPER

ESCORT TO A KING

(Continued from Page 1)

being formally presented to the brilliant
gathering by the Archbishop of Canter-
bury. And later, when I heard shouts of
‘God Save the King’ coming from within, I
knew that the Archbishop had placed the
crown of St. Edward on the head of
George V.

“When King George and Queen Mary
left Westminster Abbey, wearing their
crowns and bearing their sceptres, the
whole world seemed to be cheering them
as bands played, trumpets blew, and guns
roared throughout the empire. I shall
never forget it.

“From Westminster the royal procession
returned to Buckingham by a long route
which took us all through London. On
the way we stopped, according to custom,
at Guild Hall, where the royal pair were
greeted by the Lord Mayor of London.
There, of course, we heard another fan-
fare of trumpets and ‘God Save the King.’
“At Buckingham Palace both their
majesties appeared on a balcony to re-
ceive the cheers of their subjects and a
final playing of ‘God Save the King.’

“By this time I was all in. I was dying
for a cool drink and a cigarette and I
was happy when we finally got back to
Buckingham, six hours after we had
started.”

TELEVISION FIELD TESTS

(Continued from Page 2)

mitter. These tests were discontinued in
December to permit necessary alterations
to change the television equipment over
to the higher definition 441-line system.

While testing the quality of 441-line
transmission, NBC will also conduct ex-
tensive experiments in television program-
ming and production. A complete techni-
cal staff will be on duty in the studios to
assist production men, and leading stage,
fashion and textile designers will be in-
vited to cooperate with NBC in solving
the many problems of staging television
programs. NBC television men admit that
there are still many major problems to be
solved in reproducing colors, scenes and
types of performance.

Elisabeth Rethberg and Mario Cham-
lee, of the Metropolitan Opera Associa-
tion, Dr. Walter Damrosch, Helen Hayes
and Lanny Ross will be among the many
radio, stage and motion picture artists to
appear before the Iconoscope camera to
help NBC engineers and production men
in their enlarged studies of the technique
of television.

A lifetime of adventure will reach a new
climax for Carlton E. Morse, NBC author,
when he steps aboard the China Clipper
April 28, as the first person in history to
make a round-trip on a commercial trans-
pacific flight.

Hong Kong will be the destination as the
twenty-five ton clipper roars over the
Golden Gate; the other passengers will
leave the ship there or at points en route,
and even the crew will be changed at
Honolulu on the return.

Already holder of the first ticket issued
for the Pan American Airways flight, the
author of the One Mans Family serial,
also will receive the distinction of being
the first person ever to travel to China and
back in twelve days.

He will board the plane at Alameda,
hop to Honolulu, make stops at the tiny
Pacific Islands of Midway, Wake and
Guam before reaching Manila, in the
Philippine Islands.

The last stop before the Clipper arrives
at Hong Kong will be the Portuguese
Island of Macao, off the China coast.

As a former newspaper man, Morse
has a high appreciation for “firsts” of any
kind, and in this pioneering trip to the
Orient he finds satisfaction of the re-
porter’s yen for the dramatic. The quiet
author of one of radio’s most popular

CARLTON E. MORSE
. . reporter’s yen for the dramatic

serials believes it will top all thrills of a
lifetime packed with action.

In the twelve days Morse will use in
spanning the Pacific twice, he will miss
only two of his coast-to-coast broadcasts
of One Man’s Family, now in it’s sixth
year. His scripts are written well in ad-
vance, and the job of producing the show,
done by the author since its first days,
probably will be handled by Michael
Raffetto from suggestions Morse will leave
behind.

The books listed in this column are recommended as pertinent literature on radio and allied
subjects. They will be found ifi the General Library on the NBC Transmitter Shelf.

MONEY AT THE CROSSROADS by Charles Morrow Wilson. One of
the recent NBC publications which has had an enthusiastic reception by the
trade is this “study of radio’s influence upon a great market of 60,000,000
people” in farm and rural communities.

ARTURO TOSCANINI by Tobia Nicotra translated from the Italian by
Irma Brandeis and H. D. Kahn. In anticipation of Toscanini’s engagement
for a series of NBC concerts this biography of the great conductor is worth
reading. Written by an Italian compatriot, the book is rather an appreciation
and interpretation of Toscanini as a musician than a record of the events of his
life.

MARCONI; THE MAN AND HIS WIRELESS by Orrin E. Dunlap.
Orrin Dunlap, radio editor of the New York Times has given radio another
book. It is interesting to note in connection with this book that Mr. Dunlap
has had practical experience as a radio operator. With this excellent back-
ground, he has woven a fascinating story of personality, history, and science.
Its authoritativeness is assured by the fact that Senator E. Marconi himself
read the final proofs of the book.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

by Louise Landis

Gilman vs. Editors

Being quizzed by an interviewer while
thousands of radio listeners lend an ear
is an experience which would make many
an old hand at show business quaver into
the microphone.

But Don E. Gilman, Vice President in
charge of NBC’s Western Division, per-
mitted not one, but several, radio editors
to put him on the spot and on the air at
the same time, April 5, and emerged with
colors flying.

Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the
founding of NBC’s western domain, Mr.
Gilman entertained San Francisco and
Bay region radio editors at luncheon in
the Palace Hotel. Remote control equip-
ment, and a row of microphones running
along the center of the table, permitted the
entire Pacific Coast to listen to the pro-
ceedings.

The radio editors were armed to the
teeth with questions which included a
sheaf of telegraphed queries from their
colleagues in other western cities, who
were unable to attend the luncheon. Mr.
Gilman, stood up to every question as it
came, and answered it with amiable
informality.

Ill

yan, organist, heard three nights a week
over NBC’s Pacific Coast Blue Network.
They planned to keep the event a secret
but marriage license records tipped off
NBC associates, who met the pair with
cheers and felicitations.

i i i

In the spring the public’s fancy light-
ly turns to writing letters to radio fa-
vorites . . . every year at this season NBC
audience mail rises another notch, and this
March just ended was no exception.

Wanda Woodward, head of the Audi-
ence Mail Department, reports a total of
151,124 letters, handled by herself and
her staff during the month just past. This
is a mail high for all time on the Pacific
Coast, according to Miss Woodward’s rec-
ords; nearest to it is the record for last
March, 1936, in which 108,311 letters
were received.

i i i

Keith Wadsworth, handsome young
member of the NBC office staff has been
wearing a proud look as he scoots around
distributing mail. He became an uncle on
Saturday, March 13, and likes the feeling
of dignity it gives him to refer casually to
“My young niece.”

1 i i

Marvyn S. Adams of the San Francisco engi-
neers talks over his assignment to the eclipse
broadcast in the South Seas with Miss Aloha
Wold of the Field Group, who is doubly inter-
ested because she was born in Hawaii.

psychology and higher mathematics . . .
helped to manufacture the first radio sets
ever made, and save for a period when,
by doctor’s orders he changed his occupa-
tion to an outdoors one, he’s been in radio
ever since ... he was attached to NBC’s
Hollywood studios before being trans-
ferred to San Francisco . . . has handled
the technical end of such special events
as broadcasts from Boulder Dam, Yose-
mite Park, Farallone Islands and San
Francisco’s new bridges.

i i i

Flashes

Strolling through the program depart-
ment: That Gallic accent coming out of
the program traffic office doesn’t belong
to an excited Parisian artist . . . it’s Flor-
ence Allen, trying out one of the best
French accents on or off the air, as she
telephones dramatic players about rehear-
sals and broadcast schedules. . . . Don
Thompson, producer of special events, be-
wailing the sleep he has lost flitting
around by plane making preparations for
NBC’s microphone tour of National Parks
... he traveled 2,000 miles between one
Friday and Tuesday morning and snatched
eight hours sleep, two and three hours at
a time, between plane connections and
conferences with National Park superin-
tendants. . . . Dee Wallers, blonde, charm-
ing and a newcomer to Program Traffic,
was named after the River Dee in
Scotland. . . .

(Continued on Next Page )

Romance and Spring

Old Eagle-Eye Eros again has proved
himself the world’s champion shot by dis-
charging a shaft that sailed directly over
the NBC hostess desk across the studio
lobby and into the heart of the man at the
organ console.

Result: a flying trip to Reno and matri-
mony March 8, for Lillian Sharp, chic,
dark-eyed little hostess, and Charles Run-

Adams' Eclipse

Most envied man in the engineering de-
partment these days is Marvyn S. Adams
of the NBC Field Group who takes off
shortly for a jaunt across the Pacific to
Enderbury Island where NBC will broad-
cast the eclipse. . . . He will join, at Hono-
lulu, George Hicks and Walter Brown
from Radio City and the three NBC-and-
tell-about-its will accompany the National
Geographic U. S.
Navy Eclipse Expedi-
tion to Enderbury.

Marvyn is only 38
years old but he has
spent 29 of those
years getting a wide
and varied experience
in radio . . . when he
was only nine years
old and a schoolboy in
Denver, he owned and
operated one of the
hundred transmitters
then in existence. At
the University of Col-
orado he studied elec-
trical engineering,
and at Denver Uni-
versity majored in

Here’s NBC’c latest pair of newly-weds, just as the cameraman found
them in the studio after their recent elopement . . . meet Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Runyan, San Francisco staff organist and his bride, the former
Lillian Sharp, hostess.

APRIL, 1937

NAMES IN THE NEWS

(Continued from Page 1)

John J. McHugh, like Rudy Vallee,
\ ent from soda jerking to radio. He ran
an ice cream parlor in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.,
before coming to Radio City. He attended
the business school of Wyoming Seminary
Preparatory School in Kingston, Pa.

Frank Egan was recently graduated
from a high school in Detroit, his home
town. He came to New York with a, schol-
arship to study music. Right now he is
studying voice under Ricardo Dellera of
the Metropolitan Opera Company. He
finds time also to take extension courses
at Columbia University.

Robert Hartman has joined the staff for
ten weeks under a special arrangement

SAN FRANCISCO

(Continued from Page 16)

Ward Byron, smiling and happy as the
very pretty daughter of a famous artist
peeps in at the program department door
. . . she and Ward both declare they have
nothing to announce, but his NBC col-
leagues are doubtful.

i i i

Press News

Alden Sloan Byers who recently joined
the Press Department brings a wide ex-
perience to his new job ... a former col-
league of Deems Taylor on Musical
America, he represented that magazine in
Paris and Vienna . . . has worked on the
Paris Herald and with the Mellen Asso-
ciates in Honolulu.

ill

Now that Noel Corbett of the Press De-
partment in San Francisco has been trans-
ferred to Hollywood, it can be told:

Just before Noel left for the South, press
manager Lloyd E. Yoder assigned him to
the pleasant task of guiding a beautiful
and titled English visitor, named Lady
Barnham . . . pronounced like the name
of the famed showman . . . around the
studios. In his most courtly manner Noel
ushered the charming lady from broad-
cast to broadcast, until they reached the
studio where Police Chief William J.
Quinn and a dramatic cast were rehears-
ing that night’s episode of a series of pro-
grams built about famous bunco cases.

“And what is this program?” asked
Lady Barnham.

Transfixed with admiration, Noel gazed
right into her eyes and murmured the pro-
gram’s title . . . “Barnum was right!”

between the employment bureau of Anti-
och College and our Personnel Office. At
the end of his “term” at NBC, Hartman
will return to Antioch College to resume
his business course and another Antioch
man will replace him in Radio City. By
this new arrangement Antioch College is
combining work with study for its stu-
dents. y y y

David Casern, former radio publicity
director, has joined the Press Division.
He has had many years of experience in
the newspaper field, having served as staff
writer and science editor of the New York
Telegram for eight years, and as writer,
correspondent and cable editor of the As-
sociated Press for ten years. Before com-
ing to NBC he lectured on economics for
a year over several radio stations through-
out the United States in behalf of the gov-'
ernment.

Mr. Casern served in the War as first
lieutenant in the signal and air corps. He
was a member of the Institute of Radio
Engineers of 1925. His main obsession is
golf. Before golf his favorite sport was
swimming. He was long-distance swim-
ming champion of New Jersey for several
years. He is a family man and lives in
Bloomfield, N. J.

i 1 i

Transfers:

Miss Mary Nealon has been transferred
from Stenographic to the Sales Depart-
ment. y y y

George Harding of the Duplicating
Room is replacing James Bishop, re-
signed. y y y

• Tom Di Matteo has been transferred
from Duplicating to the page staff. Tom
came to NBC in February, 1936. He is a
graduate of St. Cecilia Prep in New Jer-
sey and is an Alpha Gamma Phi.

Miss Helene Carlin, formerly in vice-
president Roy C. Witmer’s office, is now
secretary to Ken R. Dyke, newly appointed
Eastern Sales Manager.

i 1 i

Miss Ethel Gilchrist has been trans-
ferred from Stenographic to Mr. Witmer’s

office. y y y

Robert Cottingham of the News and
Special Events Division was transferred to
the News Service Division in NBC, Wash-
ington. He started as a page about three
years ago and was in the Press Division
before he was promoted to News and Spe-
cial Events. y y y

Miscellaneous:

On St. Patrick’s Day six members of
the Maintenance Division, led by chief an-
nouncer and tenor Pat Kelly, sang those
beloved Irish ballads, “The River Shan-

non Flows” and “The Wearin’ of the
Green” on the Cheerio program. Our
Gaelic singers were night watchmen Joe
Braitling and Joe Carpenter, office patrol-
man Joe Gallagher, and porters Jim Kier-
nan, Frank McBride and Pat O’Neill.

Reports are that fan mail demands a
return appearance of the Irish sextet to the
air. A close investigation by NBC Trans-
mitter sleuths revealed that Pat O’Neill,
named above, was really “Scotty” Bolton,
notorious for his thick Scotch brogue
which he successfully concealed for the
occasion. i i i

Mr. and Mrs. Ford Bond celebrated
their tenth wedding anniversary at their
home in Bayside, Long Island, on March
25. A children’s party commemorated the
occasion. The Bonds have two children,
Alice Marylin, four and a half, and Reyn-
olds, six months.

■i i i

E. P. H. James, promotion manager, ad-
dressed the Advertising Men’s Guild of
Baltimore on March 31 during a business
trip to that city.

i 1 i

Francis C. Healey, Press, left for Holly-
wood on a leave of absence April 1. He
went to join his cinema actress wife, Eliza-
beth Palmer.

i i i

Alfred Patkocy, supervisor of the Du-
plicating Section, is now also in charge
of Bindery, which has been merged with
his section.

i i i

Miss Margaret Cuthbert, director of
women’s activities, left New York on a
speaking tour on April 16. She makes her
first stop at Cornell University, of which
she is a graduate, to take part in a con-
ference on fields of work for women.

From Cornell, Miss Cuthbert travels to
the Oklahoma College for Women to give
an address, “Radio’s Responsibility.”
Thence, to an annual meeting of the Gen-
eral Federation of Women’s Clubs in
Tulsa, Oklahoma. There she will appear
on the program discussing “Effective Pro-
gram Building and What Not to Do.”

Miss Cuthbert will return to Radio City
by way of Columbus, Ohio, where she will
make a stop-over to participate in the
Eighth Annual Institute for Education by
Radio, convening at Ohio State University
from May 3 to 5.

1 i i

Edith Jackson, secretary to Bertram J.
Hauser of the Promotion Division, was
surprised by her friends with a shower in
honor of her engagement to Raymond
Price. The wedding will take place in Sep-
tember.

NBC TRANSMITTER

WTAM CLEVELAND

by Bob Dailey

WTAM has at least one listener who
doesn’t need a radio set. In a local “Be-
lieve It Or Not feature carried by a Cleve-
land newspaper there appeared this note
from a reader:

“My grandmother, who lives in Boston
Mills, two miles away from the WTAM
transmitting station on Snowville road,
does not need a radio set to hear the music.
When she puts a kettle of water on the
stove, the music seems to come out of the
kettle, rather faint but still recognizable.”

Ill

Bring on your bowlers! Tom Manning
and Harold Gallagher, of WTAM, are
ready to take on any comers. In fact, so
sure are these alley veterans of their
prowess that they will pay their own ex-
penses to the scene of conflict.

Their only stipulation is that the bow-
lers have been members of the NBC family
for at least a year. That, they say, is to
rule out any possible ringers, although we
can’t imagine anyone trying to cross up
the boys.

1 i i

No matter what day you might wander
into WTAM you would see . . . Chet Zohn
worrying about program reports between
dashes to the elevator . . . Alvin McMahon
either coming or going with portable en-
gineering equipment . . . Several people
searching the studios to see Hal Metzger
. . . Hazel Finney in a new dress . . . Pearl
Hummell working at all hours . . . Tom
Manning opening fan mail and dictating
letters . . . Howard Barton at his portable
. . . Russell Wise being mistaken for a
minister of the gospel by visitors . . . Earl
Rohlf showing pictures of the baby . . .
Frank Whittam looking for a ping-pong
opponent . . . Russell Carter receiving
congratulations for his woodcarvings . . .
Polly Deal talking with Bob Arthur . . .
and Vernon H. Pribble busy dispelling
rumors that WTAM is ready to move its
studios.

i i 1

WTAM’S VOX POP — Engineer James
Hackett off to New York. When he re-

Six New Stations Bring

Network Total to 124

With the addition of six stations to the
NBC networks, bringing the total to one
hundred and twenty-four, NBC will carry
its programs to a larger audience than
ever. Two months ago when the number of
NBC affiliated stations was one hundred
and seventeen it was estimated that NBC
carried its programs to approximately 98
per cent of the more than 24,000,000
homes in the nation now equipped with
radio, and to some 4,000,000 automobiles
similarly equipped.

The new NBC stations are:

(1) WRTD as the Blue outlet in Rich-
mond, Virginia. It operates on a
frequency of 1500 kilocycles with
a power of 100 watts. WRTD is
owned by the Richmond Times
Dispatch.

(2) WLEU in Erie, Pennsylvania, op-
erates on a frequency of 1420 kilo-
cycles on a day-power of 250 watts
and a night-power of 100 watts. It
is owned by Leo J. Omelian.

(3) KANS, Wichita, Kansas, owned by
Charles C. Theis operates with a
power of 100 watts on a frequency
of 1210 kilocycles. It will serve as
an optional outlet available to both
NBC networks, the Red and the
Blue.

(4) WDEL, Wilmington, Delaware, on
the Red Network, has a night power
of 250 watts and a frequency of
1120 kilocycles.

(5) WORK, the only station in York,
Pennsylvania, is an optional outlet
to either NBC network. It operates
on 1320 kilocycles with a power of
1000 watts. WDEL and WORK are
members of the Mason Dixon
Group, Inc., of which Col. J. Hale
Steinman, newspaper publisher, is
president.

(6) KSOO, the only station in Sioux
Falls, S. D., operates on a fre-
quency of 1110 kilocycles with a
power of 2500 watts. It is an op-
tional outlet for either the Red or
Blue Network.

turns, he’ll be introducing his bride . . .
Walter Logan playing the fiddle at the
concert featuring Orpheus Choir and
Lanny Ross . . . Pearl Hummell, office
manager, giving a party at local night
spot for feminine staff members . . . Olga
Nicholas, former greeter at Great Lakes
Expo’s Radioland, taking over the job of
day information clerk.

i i 1

Tommy Cox, WTAM engineer, is wor-

EXCHANGE CORNER

This classified ad section is available, free
of charge, to all NBC employes. Rules: forty-
five word limit; not more than one ad to each
employe every other issue; no regular busi-
ness or professional services may be adver-
tised. Address ads to NBC TRANSMITTER,
Room 284, RCA Building, New York
All items must be in writing; give name
and address.

FOR SALE — “WOODSEDGE CABIN,”
Northern New Jersey, less than an hour from
Radio City; large living room with fireplace,
bedroom, kitchen and bath; acre and half
land, woods, flower garden, off main road,
secluded but not lonely. Bathing, golf and
riding nearby. Ruth Crawford, Audience Mail,
Ext. 405, room 302, NBC, New York.

FOUND — A one way bus ticket from New
York to Teaneck, N. J. Anyone who can use
it may have it by calling Ext. 261.

CAMERA BARGAIN— Ihagee “Venus” cam-
era, picture size 214 x 314. f 4.5 Triplex
anastigmat lense. Compur shutter, speeds 1
second to l/250th second. Cost $32, sell for
$20. Call Berthold, Ext. 330, Statistical, N. Y.

WILL TRADE — One new Ronson Penciliter
(value $3.50) and one new traveling brush
containing razor, toothbrush and stuff (value
$7.50) for a rod and reel. Call John Powers,
Ext. 828, NBC, New York.

TICKETS — For NBC employes to America’s
Town Meeting of the Air, every Thursday,
9:30 to 10:30 P. M., at Town Hall, 123 West
43rd Street, N. Y. C. Apply to the NBC
TRANSMITTER, Ext. 220.

SUBLET — Till October 1. Newly decorated
apartment. Living room, bedroom, real
kitchen, and bath — also private terrace. Con-
venient location: 245 E. 17th St., N. Y. C.
Apply to Box 3, NBC TRANSMITTER.

SUBLET — Beautiful modern unfurnished
apartment at One University Place, oppo-
site Washington Square. You’ll love it ! There’s
a large studio living room, complete kitchen,
bath, foyer and three large closets. 12 min-
utes from Radio City. A real bargain! John
Baxter, Artists Service, Ext. 426, N. Y.

ried. He can’t teach his young great dane
to associate with the right kind of play-
matesi Cox lives near a large wood, and
when “Pup” goes out to play he romps
through the fields with small, black and
white animals. In fact, “Pup” goes out of
his way to seek these strange playfellows,
and sometimes brings them home to his
back yard. Cox is tired of paying out
money for deodorants and is thinking of
moving to civilization.

APRIL, 1937

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

No. 5— ELECTRICAL TRANSCRIPTION SERVICE

This is the fifth of a series of articles which
we hope will give you a better understanding
of the many NBC units.

This month’s Know Your Company is
the story of a department that has de-
veloped into a dominant factor in its field
in the short span of three years.

In February, 1934, C. Lloyd Egner was
called in from RCA-Victor to organize and
manage the newly-created Electrical
Transcription Service Department. This
unit of NBC was started with a group of
three persons dedicated to the building of
a department for the production and sale
of electrical transcriptions. They were
thrown immediately into competition with
other well-established firms, but an aggres-
sive campaign brought acceptance and
success. Today, NBC Electrical Transcrip-
tion Service stands at the forefront of its
field in many respects.

Originally planned to furnish high cal-
ibre transcription service to radio stations,
advertising agencies and sponsors, the
present enrollment of more than two hun-
dred stations as subscribers to NBC
Thesaurus, a “treasure-house of recorded
programs,” as well as a long list of custom-
built program clients, stands as “proof of
the pudding.” The department has record-
ed remarkable growth — as well as a large
library of music and programs. It is widely
commended for the technical excellence
of its transcriptions.

The department now maintains two
main offices, in New York and Chicago.
Mr. Egner is manager of the service in
New York, with Frank C. Chizzini as
assistant in charge of the sales division.
Reginald E. Thomas in the New York
office is production manager for the serv-
ice. The Chicago office is managed by

FRANK C. CHIZZINI
In Charge of Sales

C. LLOYD EGNER
Manager

Maurice Wetzel, assisted by E. M. Young,
formerly of RCA-Victor. Mr. Chizzini’s
sales assistant is Robert W. Friedheim,
latest addition to the department’s
personnel.

NBC Electrical Transcription Service
offers four primary services to clients. The
first is the custom-built program to fit the
client’s need. For this service, the depart-
ment assumes responsibility for all details
of casting, production, continuity, record-
ing and delivery.

A second service is that of syndicated
programs. In this division fall various
types of ready-made recorded dramatic
and musical productions adaptable to the
program needs of a large number of ad-
vertisers. These may be presented at sta-
tions in all parts of the country, and enable
advertisers to reach regional, local or
widely separated markets at low cost. The
programs vary in length from five-minute
mysteries to full fifteen- or thirty-minute
dramatic or musical shows.

Reference recordings represent the
third classification of transcription service,
providing an inexpensive recording used
by agencies, clients and individual artists.
Reference recordings are not for broad-
cast purposes. They are used primarily
for filing, for study, and reference, as the
name implies. Certain programs, Phillip
Morris for example, record their dress
rehearsals and play the recording back for
the entire company before the show goes
on the air.

Probably the most outstanding division

of the Electrical Transcription Service,
judging by the progress to date, is that of
the NBC Thesaurus. This is the unique
name which defined means treasure-house
applied to NBC’s library of recorded pro-
grams, prepared as individual selections
and built into program form. Thesaurus
service is distributed to more than two
hundred radio stations. Its subscribers
know no boundries of states or countries
The programs are heard throughout the
United States, in Canada and in foreign
countries as far away as Australia, South
Africa and South America

Although the NBC Thesaurus is only
eighteen months old, it is the fastest grow-
ing member of the transcription service.
Today the library represents more than
1,800 selections by leading NBC artists
and ensembles and additions are made at
the rate of more than fifty a month.

Electrical Transcription Service is more
than its name implies. It not only prepares
the above mentioned services but is a com-
plete unit in itself in that it assumes many
of the details incidental to their produc-
tion. One finds a counterpart of many NBC
departments here.

The department prepares the continuity
of its presentations, selects the cast and
produces the program. It also maintains
audition facilities.

The continuity section prepares twenty
hours of complete continuity weekly for
its subscribers. These scripts not only
reach English speaking audiences but are
translated, in some instances, for the
benefit of foreign subscribers.

Proposed office expansion spells further
evidence of growth for Electrical
Transcription. It is a department worth
watching.

REGINALD E. THOMAS
In Charge of Production

NBC TRANSMITTER

• This is Gertrude
it is not Stein it is
Gertrude Stein. Orig-
inality, artistry and
quality characterize
Ray Lee Jackson’s
portraits.

j • Television’s ear
1 and eye: a micro-
I phone and an Icono-
scope. This interest-
ing photographic
composition is in-
cluded in William
Haussler’s contribu-
tion to the NBC Pho-
tographic Exhibit in
Radio City.

^NE of the high lights in
^ Radio City at present is
the NBC Photographic Exhibit
in the salon on the mezzanine
floor of the RCA Building. The
exhibit was opened on April
19th and will run through May
1. It is on view daily from 10
A. M. until 9 P. M. There is no
admission charge.

The exhibit includes por-
traits by Ray Lee Jackson,
candid shots by William Haus-
sler, and news photographs by
Sydney Desfor, all of the New
York Press Division Photog-
raphy Section.

Don’t miss it!

• Sydney Desfor snapped this excellent photograph shovnng Mayor LaGuardia
in a characteristic pose before NBC microphones. In the background are Presi-
dent Roosevelt’s mother, Mrs. James Roosevelt, and C. C. Burlingham.

NBC

VOL. o

MARCONI'S SON JOINS

NBC AND RCA

GIULIO MARCONI
I'm glad I'm here . , ,

In 1901 Guglielmo Marconi sent us the
first wireless message across the Atlantic.
Today, he sends us his handsome twenty-
six-year old son, Giulio, to study the
American systems of radio broadcasting.

Giulio Marconi arrived in New York
from Naples last month to join the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company and the
Radio Corporation of America to complete
an already extensive apprenticeship in the
science with which his family name is so
intimately associated. He is here to add
to his three years of scientific study in
England and his native Italy.

It was while Mr. Marconi was pursuing
his radio studies with the Italian Marconi
Company in Rome that the plan to come to
America was formulated. The friendship
between his father and David Sarnoff,
president of RCA, made it possible, Mr.
Marconi explained, during a brief pause
in his initial exploratory tour of the NBC
studios in Radio City.

“I’d always wanted to come to Amer-
ica,” he said. “I’d felt that the opportuni-
ties for study and wireless experience in
America were extremely great; indeed, the
best to be had anywhere. And my father
has always had tremendous enthusiasm for
everything American. As a matter of fact,
it was father who suggested my coming
here, and made the arrangements with
Mr. Sarnoff. Naturally, I fell in eagerly
with the idea.”

Mr. Marconi will spend several weeks in
(Continued on Page 5)

TRANSMITTER

M A Y , 1 9 5 7 N 0 . T)

NBC Stations Get New

Studios and Equipment

An extensive building program involv-
ing expansion and improvement of six Na-
tional Broadcasting Company plants in
key cities of the Red and Blue Networks,
is now well under way.

The project includes immediate con-
struction of plants at Philadelphia and
Schenectady, the completion of the new
NBC studios in Washington, and the sub-
sequent provision of new facilities at
Hollywood, San Francisco and Cleveland.

Changes and new developments in the
six cities will place all NBC broadcasting
plants on the same technical basis as the
Radio City and Chicago studios, regarded
as the finest in the world.

Ground was broken at Philadelphia late
in April for the construction of a six-story
building at 1619 Walnut Street which will
house NBC studios and offices and Station
KYW, the Red Network outlet. The new
building, of modern architecture through-
out, will be ready for occupancy Novem-
ber 1.

An innovation in studio construction
will be an auditorium studio in the base-
ment of the building, with a capacity of
over two hundred persons, which will be
equipped with a stage and a “test kitchen”
for domestic science broadcasts. All stud-
ios will incorporate the Holmes system of
sound isolation, involving the suspension
of studio shells by means of steel springs.
KYW, now licensed for 10,000 watts, has
an application pending before the Federal
Communications Commission to increase
its power to 50,000 watts.

NBC’s new Washington studios will be
in operation July 1, and will double the
capacity of the present plant. The NBC
quarters occupy the greater portion of the
newly constructed building of the Trans-
Lux Washington Corporation, which is
ideally adapted to the special needs of
NBC in the nation’s capital. Facing Four-
teenth Street, New York Avenue and H
Street, the new plant is advantageously
situated in the heart of city activities.

Because of the great number of talks
on national affairs originating in Washing-
ton, the five new studios include two of the
speaker type. The NBC quarters, housing
stations WRC and WMAL, will have an
almost continuous frontage of windows on
three sides.

Negotiations have been completed for
(Continued on Page 7)

WLS MEN RECEIVE

RADIO GUIDE AWARD

Announcer Herbert Morrison, left, and Engi-
neer Charles Nehlson. For their unusual serv-
ice to broadcasting — the plaudits of the radio
world.

For their heroic and unusual service in
recording the Hindenburg tragedy, an-
nouncer Herbert Morrison and engineer
Charles Nehlson, both members of the
staff of the NBC associated station WLS,
Chicago, have been awarded the Special
Medal of Merit by Radio Guide.

Morrison and Nehlson had been sent
to the Lakehurst, N. J., hangar to make a
routine transcription of the landing of the
giant airliner for a future broadcast when
the tragedy occurred. For forty-five min-
utes Morrison described the terrible disas-
ter, while Nehlson, the engineer, protected
his equipment from the intense heat and
supplied fresh disks.

The NBC TRANSMITTER joins Radio
Guide in commending Herbert Morrison
and Charles Nehlson for what Radio
Guide calls “the most wonderful of all re-
porting jobs under the most terrific strain
ever endured by a broadcaster.”

NBC was so impressed with this remark-
able recording that the Company made an
exception to its ten-year rule against
transcriptions on the networks and broad-
cast Announcer Morrison’s recorded ac-
count over both the Red and Blue chains.

ill

Win a pair of tickets to your local theatre— send
your vacation pictures, with complete captions, to
the NBC TRANSMITTER or the NBC TRANSMIT-
TER'S correspondent in your city.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBCites Win In Graphology Contest

Late last month during the Business Show in Rockefeller Center many
NBCites flocked to the exhibit to look at the 1937 models of typewriters, adding
machines, addressographs and other mechanical office equipment. Most popular
booth was that of handwriting expert, Helen King, who not only offered to tell
everyone the “truth about himself,” gratis, but also offered free passes to the
Radio City Music Hall and the Rockefeller Center Tour to those who had the
most revealing handwriting.

The following members of NBC were among those who won prizes for being
good script-teasers: William R. Thompson, Building Maintenance; Frances Heim,
Accounting; E. B. Lyford, Traffic; May Day, Operated Stations; Elizabeth Hard-
ing, Central Files; Loy Seaton, Treasurer’s; Kathryn Barry, Script Division;
Norman Ward, Electrical Transcription; Martha Carlson, Stenographic; and
Edward Evans, Statistical.

And here are a few samples of the winning scribbles and their analyses:

Edward F. Evans: Personality. Courage. Liking for keeping busy. High ideals.
Diplomatic. Inspires confidence.

May Day: Creative mind. Instinctive good judgment. Poise. Thoughtful. Can
understand others. Personally reserved, although the pleasing personality may
seem to belie this. ^

^ ^ ^ ^Ury,t ~fo /nfi /Vt ) dtryntcOo^

ttULU . tc^

Martha Carlson: Considerate. Sincere. Ought to make a fine wife and hostess.
Sense of humor. Courage. Desire for complete independence. Versatile. Eliminates
the unnecessary things in life.

J — ^SJ -<4.

Norman Ward: Versatile. Can do many things well. Clean mentally and morally.
Honest. Sincere. Can feel for others. Good judgment, good instincts, and a decided
asset to any organization.

Frances Heim: Goodnatured. Thinks and acts rapidly. A little curious — likes to
know the why and wherefore of things. Sense of proportion. Pride. Desire for
independence. Sociable. Puts off doing unpleasant tasks (such as hurting others,
or carrying bad news ) .

J. H. DODGE APPOINTED
WASHINGTON SALES CHIEF

JOHN H. DODGE

John H. Dodge of the Washington sales
staff has been appointed to succeed Vin-
cent Callahan as sales manager of WRC
and WMAL, NBC owned stations in
Washington, D. C. Mr. Callahan, who had
been with NBC six years resigned to take
a new post as manager of WWL, New
Orleans.

The new sales manager is a native of
Washington, D. C., where he was born on
June 30, 1899. His father, Arthur J. Dodge,
was at that time Washington correspond-
ent for several midwestern newspapers
and his mother, Annie J. Dodge, came
from Wisconsin in the early nineties.

John H. Dodge spent his childhood in
Washington and attended local public
schools until the United States entered
the War. He was a junior in high school
when he left to join the Navy. In 1919, he
was honorably discharged. Then followed
several years of work in various govern-
ment bureaus in Washington.

In 1922 Mr. Dodge entered the news-
paper field as a reporter of the Washing-
ton Times. Four years of journalism and
still he looked for other fields to explore.
He became affiliated with the sales depart-
ment of an automobile distributor in
Washington.

During those years of search and prac-
tical training he built a solid foundation
for his background studying Journalism,
English and Business Law in night school.
His studies included two years at George
Washington University.

In 1928 he went to New York City to
accept a position as salesman with the
Home Economics Service Corporation. Six
years with this firm took him on trips to
various cities throughout the country mak-
ing contacts with Advertising Departments
of newspapers in those cities. His duties

included the selling and preparing of ad-
vertising copy for newspapers in all parts
of the United States.

Well-equipped with his wealth of ex-
perience in fields closely allied to radio
broadcasting Mr. Dodge joined the Com-
mercial Department of NBC in Washing-
ton in 1934. Subsequently he became a
salesman. His recent appointment was
logical and natural for a man with his
training and ability.

Dr. Franklin Dunham, Educational Di-
rector, Ernest LaPrade, Director of Music
Research, Miss Judith Waller, Central Di-
vision Educational Director, and Miss
Margaret Cuthbert, Director of Women’s
Activities, all spoke on the technique of
presenting educational programs on the
air at the Eighth Institute of Education by
Radio held at Ohio University, Columbus,
Ohio, May 3-5.

MAY, 1937

WHO'S WHO IN THE NBC NETWORKS

Introducing — Harry A. Woodman

The smooth and efficient system and
progress of KDKA seems to call for a
“behind-the-scene” story of the “man be-
hind the gun.”

The man in this case is Harry A. Wood-
man, the station’s general manager. Calm,
seldom without a smile, but with efficiency
above all, he has kept KDKA at and above
the high level it always has enjoyed as
“The Pioneer Broadcasting Station of the
World.”

Mr. Woodman was born in Portland,
Maine, on January 13, 1892. He went to
public schools there and finally, although
he admits there must have been a trick in
it, he was graduated from Bates College in
Lewiston, Maine, in 1913. According to
his own confession Mr. Woodman majored
in sports but from its recent athletic rec-
ord that must have been the last year any-
one majored in sports for dear, old Bates.

Equipped with an A.B. degree he went
to work for a firm of mill agents in 1913.

Came the war and Mr. Woodman was
graduated with the first class from the
Plattsburg army camp. He saw service
until February, 1919. The war over, he
returned to his former job, was promoted
from clerk to city salesman, and then to
southern territory sales.

It was in 1925 when Mr. Woodman
heard what he terms “the call of the wild”
and was hired by George McClelland to
work for WEAF, then owned by the
American Telephone and Telegraph Com-
pany, 195 Broadway, New York.

When he joined WEAF in December of
1925 he was supposed to have been hired
for the sales department but station and
traffic problems were just beginning to
crop up as serious questions and Mr.
Woodman found himself in the traffic and
station management departments plan-
ning the first network in the country..

When RCA took over the WEAF net-
work, he became traffic manager with
NBC, and remained in that capacity until
he was named manager of KDKA in Sep-
tember of 1934.

Mr. Woodman is married and has a boy,
Harry, Jr., nine, whom the boss wants to
send to Bates . . . but who insists, father
to the contrary or not, that he is going to
be a halfback for Jock Sutherland at Pitt.

HARRY A. WOODMAN
General Manager of KDKA, Pittsburgh

THREE NEW NBC STATIONS

With the addition of three stations to
the several networks during the past
month, NBC increases its total number of
stations to 126.

The first of the three to become an
associated station is WSAN, only outlet in
Allentown. Penn., operating on a frequen-
cy of 1440 kilocycles, with a power of
500 watts. J. C. Shumberger is president
of WSAN. Inc., and J. C. Musselman is
station Manager.

The second, which replaces WGAR, is
WHK, oldest station in Cleveland. Ohio,
operating on a regional channel frequency
of 1390 kilocycles with a day-time power
of 2500 watts, and a night-time power of
1000 watts. H. K. Carpenter is vice presi-
dent and general manager of the station.

The last is Station WJTN, Jamestown,
N. Y., operating on a frequency of 1210
kilocycles, with a day-time power of 250
watts, and a night-time power of 100 watts.
It is owned by tbe James Broadcasting
Company, Inc. Charles Denny is the man-
ager.

BOSTON AND SPRINGFIELD

by Edward B. Hall

\^’hen Operator William J. Lawlor is
not twirling dials in the WBZ Contrr>l
Hoorn, the odds are favorable he can be
found at the controls of his own “ham”
station, WITP in Brighton. In the course
of his meanderings on the megacycles.
Bill often contacts such remote places
as China and Africa. But it is seldom
enough that he is privileged to render a
human service of the kind that recently
fell his lot.

Talking one evening with VOll in St.
John’s, Newfoundland, Bill was told of a
dying mother whose two daughters had
emigrated to Boston 23 years ago. Both
had married and settled down in the vicin-
ity of the Hub. Neither had subsequently
returned to Newfoundland, nor seen the
aging mother during that long interval.
The stricken woman yearned to talk once
again with her children. Could Bill locate
the daughters and bring them to his sta-
tion? It would then be possible to patch
through their voices to the mother’s bed-
side for a three-way conversation.

Working swiftly and ingeniously, Law-
lor found and summoned the two Boston
women to WITP. The experiment was suc-
cessful. For upwards of an hour, the
mother and her daughters carried on what
was destined to be their final conversation
togetlier.

Bill can report that there was not a dry
eye at either end of the line. But it was a
genuinely humane and worthwhile service.
i i i

In token of long association and friend-
ship, Dwight A. Myer (Plant Manager)
has presented George A. Harder (Promo-
tion and News), with his latest original
creation, a handsome model of the “H.M.S.
Bounty.” ^ ^ ^

Robert S. Halloran (Auditing), newly-
elected president of the Granite City
Stamp Club, exhibited a frame of rare
New Zealand stamps from his own collec-
tion at the Fifth Annual Exhibition of the
Club. Bob makes a specialty of United
States and New Zealand stamps.

Walter Koons, music editor, was made
an honorary member of the Gamma Chap-
ter of the music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha
at Syracuse. He was guest of honor at a
banquet for newly-initiated members of
the fraternity.

1 i i

Robert M. Morris and George M. Nixon,
Engineering, jointly delivered a paper on
an experiment in testing materials con-
ducted by Johns-Manville and NBC before
the Acoustical Society of America, May 4.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC DENVER

by Charles Anderson

KOAgrams: Joe Gillespie, announcer,
left May 15th for a vacation tour of the
East. He plans to visit Chicago, New York
studios and see how the wheels rotate in
those parts of our big Network.

1 i ■*

Jose Iturbi and the Philadelphia Or-
chestra have come and gone, but are not
forgotten. One point of pick-up for the
short-wave reception was situated atop the
Denver Union Station. There being no
elevator service Walt Morrissey, Engineer,
had to hoof it up the six stories to the roof
in a series of continuous trips the most of
two days getting lines to function proper-
ly. It’s a good thing he plays some golf to
keep his knee action in good shape. At
that he seemed to buckle a bit about the
ankles along about train time. Carry on,
the show must go on . . . and it did in fine
style thanks to lots of hard work. Joe
Rohrer, another of the Engineering staff,
had the job of setting up equipment on
top of a grain elevator outside of town.
He had to ride a belt lift ordinarily used to
raise grain to the top floors. Joe Gillespie,
announcer, took the ride along with him
On the train, riding in style, was Glenn
Glasscock handling the short-wave trans-
mitter from the special car in which Iturbi
played a grand piano.

i i i

Bill Williams. Engineer, passed the
cigars as per demand because he is now
the proud father of a second girl. The
name is Patricia if you please. Of course,
the big broad smile went with the “cee-
gars.”

1 1 i

A baptism under fire greeted our new-
est Engineer, Stan Neal. He handled one
of the short-wave receivers atop the depot
on the Iturbi reception. Stan is a graduate
of the University of Denver and comes to
us from Inter-State Radio and Service Co.
He’s not married yet, but I’ll bet that first
pay-check will do well to make a payment
on the engagement ring to accompany that
romantic glint in the eye that makes it
appear the lady said “yes.”

i i i

Spring is here and the love-bug will
bite. Ellsworth Stepp, Mail Clerk, stole a
march on the boys and went to Berthoud,
Colo., for the legal matters pertaining to
marriage. News will leak out and now it’s
Stepp who passes the stogies. The lucky
girl’s name was Kay Hanson, now it’s Kay
Stepp.

Apprentices Named to
Engineering Department

Included in the
list of personnel
changesand appoint-
ments in the Engi-
neering Department
this past month are
the names of several
who were recruited
iik. from the ranks of

F. G. CONNOLLY other departments to
assume positions as
apprentice engineers. In each case the man
involved has been with NBC more than four
years, and has been studying Engineering
at one of the local technical schools.

Francis G. Connolly, who since 1931 has
been with the organization in the Program
and Artists Service Departments, becomes
an apprentice in the
Field Division. Mr.

Connolly studied at
Fordham University
for several years,
and after coming to
NBC enrolled at the
RCA Institute where
he took courses in
Radio Telegraphy
and in Radio Tele- JAS. V. COLEMAN
phony. He has a

radio telephone operator’s first class li-
cense. a radio telegraph operator’s second
class license, and operates amateur Sta-
tion W2GSY.

Edward Bertero becomes an apprentice
studio control room engineer. Since join-
ing the organization in 1932, Mr. Bertero
has worked in the Mail Room and as a re-
ceptionist in the Engineering Department.
He has been studying Engineering at
N.Y.U. since 1932, and expects to continue
as a student there.

James V. Coleman, with NBC as an
electrician since the
fall of 1933. becomes
an apprentice in the
Maintenance Shop.
Mr. Coleman has
been taking courses
in Engineering at
the Pratt Institute of
Technology since
1932. He has a first
class radio tele-
phone operator’s li-
cense, and operates amateur station
W2FED.

Howard E. Cooley, who has been with
NBC for over a year, and who is now a stu-
dent at the RCA Institute, replaces Mr.
Bertero as receptionist in the Engineering
Department.

NBC WASHINGTON

by Marian P. Gale

Group hospitalization has come in
handy for two this last month . . . Cath-
erine O’Neal and Marge Brown of the Pro-
gram Department. Gordon Hittenmark is
running a collegiate gossip column be-
tween records on the Timekeeper pro-
gram. Bill McAndrew in the News Depart-
ment finds it easy to get gossip items at
Trinity College for him, the reason being
Bill will marry Irene Byrne, Trinity alum-
na, on June 30th.

i i i

Work on the new $75,000 transmitter
for WRC will start shortly. The Commis-
sion approved the station’s application for
increase in power to 1,000 watts daytime
and 5,000 watts at night.

1 i i

Bill Chew of Engineering is suffering
with a broken collar-bone. . . . It’s being
said Carleton Smith as a ping-pong player
is a good Presidential Announcer. . . .
Hugh Mcllreavy doesn’t believe there’s
safety in numbers since three feminine
fans who have more than a listener’s in-
terest arrived for a visit in the nation’s
capitol all at the same time. Hugh, being
on station duty at the hour of the second
visitor’s arrival, visitor number one wel-
comed visitor number two at the station.
Well, Hugh, that’s one way if you can get
away with it. Bob Cottingham of the news
department did a great job on the Hinden-
burg disaster. Bob got the bulletin des-
cribing the fire of the big dirigible on the
Arrow newscast over WMAL just about
eight minutes after it happened in Lake-
hurst.

ill

Bob Terrell, control room supervisor, is
fast getting the title of “Junior Voice of
Experience”. . . . Bob offers advice on
everything, from the choice of a career to
how you should smile at your best girl, or
wife. ... Ed Rogers, staff announcer,
bought a new car some months ago . . .
and to this day insists that some of the
parts were left out. . . . Bill Coyle, night
supervisor, threatens to start a local reduc-
ing club. . . . Bill points out that a number
of the program department employes need
the exercise . . . most of the announcers
deny this, claiming that their clothes
merely fit snugly. . . . Rose Ewell cele-
brated a birthday recently and received,
among other things, a big cake from fel-
low employes.

i i i

Send your vacation pictures, with captions, to
the NBC TRANSMITTEH.

EDW. BERTERO

MAY, 1937

MARCONI'S SON JOINS NBC

(Continued from Page 1)

each of the many departments of NBC in
order to decide upon the aspect of radio
which most interests him Then he will
devote most of the rest of his apprentice-
ship to the chosen department. At present
he is in the Program Department study-
ing our methods of production.

Despite his youth, Mr. Marconi is al-
ready a seasoned veteran in point of con-
tact with wireless telegraphy and tele-
phony. Born in Bologna, he studied as a
child in Switzerland, and then attended
the Military College of Rome. After five
years in the Naval Academy at Leghorn,
there were three years of active service in
the Royal Italian Navy as a junior officer.

On resigning from the Navy, Mr. Mar-
coni spent two and a half years in Eng-
land, two of them with the Marconi Inter-
national Marine Company, and six months
with the aircraft department of the Mar-
coni Wireless Telegraph Company in
Croydon. Although he has travelled ex-
tensively in Western and Central Europe
and the Near East, this is his first trip to
America.

There is no one aspect of radio which
commands Mr. Marconi’s undivided at-
tention. Programs interest him as much as
technical problems. The role of broadcast-
ing as a stimulant of musical appreciation
seems particularly important to him be-
cause he is a musical enthusiast. Although
he plays no musical instrument, he has a
wide knowledge of music in its many
forms. True to the traditions of his native
land, however, he favors the opera, and
the Verdi tradition in the opera.

“In Rome and in London,” he said, “I
learned something about the work of the
various foreign radio organizations. I
learned enough to know that I needed to
learn more. I’m glad I’m here, because I
think America has advanced as far as any
other country in the world — if not far-
ther.”

ANNOUNCEMENT

The PHOTO CONTEST will be resumed
in the July issue of the NBC TRANS-
MITTER with emphasis on pictures of
NBCites on vacation.

The winners will be awarded free tickets
to theatres in NBC cities. Judges are Ray
Lee Jackson and Wm. Haussler, NBC pho-
tographers. All entries will be returned but
the NBC TRANSMITTER will not be re-
sponsible for those which are lost.

Send in your entries for the July issue
before June 18 with complete captions, and
your name, department and division.

^-(g>

HOLDERS OF RADIO
ROCKEFELLER FELLOWSHIPS

by Alan Kent

Handbook for Radio City Neophytes

RECEPTIONIST: Wears blue citation
cord on left shoulder, chip on right shoul-
der. Can dial Ext. 780 blindfolded with
both hands tied behind him. Is the only
human extant capable of decoding a re-
hearsal sheet.

MUSIC LIBRARY : The only library in
the world where they don’t cram Rhett
Butler down your throat.

SECRETARY : Is always immaculately
and sensibly dressed. Uses little or no
make-up. Never becomes perturbed. Is
never late nor ever leaves early. Always
knows just where everything is. Is con-
stantly and efficiently polite. And besides
that the sun always rises in the West.

BOARD MEETING: Censored.

EXECUTIVE: Has either been to Yale
and acquired more clubs than a stacked
deck, or has risen from the street corner
and the selling of Five Star Finals, or is
an Army Man. Is never a Navy Man. We
wonder why.

AIR CONDITIONING: Once upon a time
someone dropped one million dollars ($1,-
000,000.00) on the tenth (10) floor; the
result was an air conditioning plant for
delivering seventy-two (72) degrees of
controlled air. It seems to us that one mil-
lion ($1,000,000) is a lot of money to
spend for a draft. If all that was wanted
was a draft why didn’t someone wave fifty
dollars ($50.00), disguised as a fee,
around in the Announcers’ Room. The re-
sultant bare-fanged rush for the scratch
would have created a draft that should
have undoubtedly circulated for years.
And when that had died out the Artists’
Service would still be creating a mild ty-
phoon trying to put the bite on the half a
yard for their customary ten (10) per-
cent.

THIRD STUDIO FOYER: Contains a
round half dozen studios, a half dozen
round actresses, a rounding half dozen
actors, a half dozen Studio Patrolmen
doing the rounds, also around a half dozen
song pluggers half dozin’.

OFFICE: Can usually be identified as be-
longing to any one individual by the con-
stant absence from its confines of that one
individual. Has, as equipment, one large
filing cabinet and one small filing cabinet
(which are interchangeable) ; one large
wastebasket and one small secretary (not
interchangeable) . The large cabinet is for
filing memos — the small cabinet is for fil-

HARLEY SMITH, left, and
GEORGE JENNINGS
. . . studying radio in Radio City

University fellowships for advanced
study in radio broadcasting with the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company have been
granted by the Rockefeller Foundation to
Harley A. Smith, of Louisiana State Uni-
versity, and George E. Jennings, of Sta-
tion WILL of the University of Illinois.
Two similar fellowships were awarded last
fall.

Mr. Smith, with a three months’ ap-
pointment, and Mr. Jennings, with a six
months’ appointment, started their studies
in the NBC studios in Radio City on May
10. Under the supervision of Dr. Franklin
Dunham, NBC Educational Director, they
will study all phases of broadcasting tech-
nique, including methods of planning and
producing programs, script writing and
network management as developed by
NBC.

Mr. Jennings was production director at
Station WILL and instructor of broadcast-
ing at the University of Illinois. Mr. Smith
has been a radio instructor at Louisiana
State University for the last four years
and has directed numerous programs pre-
sented by the University at cooperating
stations.

The recipients of last fall’s fellowships,
William Friel Heimlich, of Ohio State
University, and Leora Shaw, of the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin, completed their NBC
training February 15. Mr. Heimlich has
since been appointed program manager of
station WOSU, of Ohio State University,
and Miss Shaw has been named chief of
the script writing department of station
WHA, of the University of Wisconsin.
Associated with these stations before their
NBC training, they received advancements
upon their return.

ing memos — the wastebasket is for filing
memos. What about the secretary? . . ,
Well, what about the secretary ?

NBC TRANSMITTER

CHILDREN'S STUDIO ADDED TO STUDIO TOUR

NBC TEAM LOSES TO RKO

On April 30, at George Washington
Stadium, the NBC baseball team inaugu-
rated its 1937 season. For their opening
tilt the broadcasters drew as their oppo-
nents the team representing RKO. The
final score was 8-2 with the NBC ball
players winding up on the short end. RKO
chalked up five runs in the opening frame
by virtue of three hits, three bases on
balls and two errors. It was in this inning
that Jack Wahlstrom relieved Von Frank
of the twirling assignment and proceeded
to set the other team down in order except
for a scratch hit in the fifth inning.

hospital wards, classrooms, homes and
conservatories.

Facing Dr. Damrosch on the other side
of the studio is a painted reproduction of
Mystery Island, the mythical spot on
which so many children’s programs take
place. Among other things it shows SpZas/i-
ing Lemonade Falls, Haunted House,
Table Rock and Pie Plateau. So far, of
this last, explorers have been unable to
determine whether the geological forma-
tion is basically mince or raisin.

Photo by Jack McGhie

Guide Raymond Wall is showing his guests a new highlight on the NBC Studio Tour in Radio
City — the beautiful mural portrait of Dr. Walter Damrosch in the Children’s Studio.

A new highlight on the NBC Studio
Tour in Radio City is the Children’s Studio
with its gayly colored murals depicting
the development of NBC’s children’s pro-
grams during the last ten years.

Visitors, young and old, from the North,
South, East and West, look at the paint-
ings and recognize with delight such old
NBC friends as the Lady Next Door, Cap-
tain Better, the Singing Lady, Skippy,
Little Orphan Annie and Billy and Betty.

The murals are the result of a father-
daughter collaboration by “Jolly Bill’’
Steinke, widely known to NBC child lis-
teners, and twenty-three-year-old Bettina
Steinke.

“Jolly Bill” is responsible for the black
outlines and such highly imaginative
touches as the Pied Piper who plays his
flute of a nose; Captain Tim Healy scat-
tering stamps, most of them real stamps
pasted on the wall, to the members of his
stamp club; and the Pussy Willow Sym-
phony, conducted by a caricature of Dr.
Frank Black. Bettina claims the color
work and the basic sketches, also the con-
ception and execution of the crowning
achievement — the portrait of Dr. Walter
Damrosch that covers an entire wall in the
studio proper.

The portrait is actually a dramatic pre-
sentation of Dr. Damrosch’s genius as it
affects radio and its nationwide listeners.
In true-to-Iife oils, it depicts Damrosch
seated at the piano during a broadcast of
the NBC Music Appeciation Hour. Eu-
terpe, hovering over his shoulder, is ready
to hurry to the NBC transmitters through-
out the country, and thence to children’s

On May 7 at eleven o’clock in the eve-
ning Pathe cameramen moved their equip-
ment into Studio 8H in Radio City to shoot
some broadcasting scenes. The studio
soon took on the appearance of a movie
set in action, with grinding cameras, tech-
nicians, and bright lights. Nine pages and
guides were recruited for the all-night
shift to act as ushers for the studio audi-
ence composed of extras from the Pathe
studio. The show, a typical presentation
of the Magic Key of RCA, featured Frank
Black and the NBC Symphony Orchestra,
Jean Dickenson, Milton J. Cross, Ben
Grauer, a dramatic sketch demonstrating
sound effects and others.

The film was shown in Chicago in con-
nection with an RCA sales campaign and
also will be used with other films of RCA
activities as an educational feature.

Photo by Jack McGhie

Pictured above is a section of the colorful murals painted by “Jolly” Bill Steinke and his
daughter, Bettina, in the Children’s Studio in Radio City. Children taking the NBC Studio Tour
are delighted by these fantastic figures from their world of make-believe.

MAY, 1937

WGY SCHENECTADY

by O. H. Junggren

The big news from Schenectady these
days concerns our new equipment. Until
the new building is completed sometime
this fall, WGY folks will have to content
themselves with the thought that they have
a new antenna to brag about. Granted that
a vertical radiator is a rather unromantic
thing for spring, still, this new addition to
the South Schenectady plant is quite a
piece of work.

According to word from Bill Purcell,
station engineer, WGY’s circulation will
be increased threefold by the 625-foot
staff, to be erected by the General Electric
Company. Ground has been broken for the
antenna, which is expected to be one of the
tallest in the country. Along with this, the
new building promises to give Schenecta-
dians a new reason for civic pride. For the
impatient folks, let it be stated that the
surveyors were out recently squinting
through their lenses.

■f i i

The manager’s office covered itself with
glory not so long ago. Within a week of
each other, stories appeared in local
papers to the effect that Kolin ffager had
been elected vice-president of the Better
Business Bureau of the Schenectady
Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Hager had
been a director for two years. Mrs. Caro-
line Osan, Mr. Hager’s secretary, was
elected president of the Schenectady Busi-
ness and Professional Women’s Club. She
had served for two years as recording sec-
retary.

i i i

A recent visitor to WGY’s control room
was Robert Moss, studio engineer, at
Radio City. He was on his way to Maine
for a vacation.

i 1 i

After a little snooping, we present some
early dope on vacations of some of the
WGY staff: A. 0. Coggeshell, program
manager, says he hopes to make a trip to
Yellowstone Park by car.

Howard Tupper, announcer, will spend
his abbreviated vacation in Canton, N. Y.,
his home town. Howard has been with us
only a few months.

Howard Wheeler, control room super-
visor, will spend his vacation at Lake Cos-
sayuma, near Schuylerville, N. Y., inces-
santly photographing his wife and chil-
dren with his new camera.

Ralph Nordberg, sales manager, anti-
cipates deep-sea fishing in the Gulf of
Mexico.

Virgil Hasche, auditor, will go to his
home in Inwood, Iowa.

Thursday, May 6, was just an ordinary
Thursday around NBC in Radio City. The
day staff had almost all gone home, Rudy
Vallee was in London, “Charlie McCar-
thy’’ was on his way to Hollywood, and
the crowd was just beginning to collect
for the Showboat performance.

Your reporter had found his way to the
PBX room to renew an old acquaintance
and had been there just a few minutes
when things began to happen. First, Wil-
liam Burke Miller, Night Program Man-
ager._ demanded to be connected with half
a dozen different points all at the same
time. Lights flashed and telephone cords
became a knotted confusion.

We tore out of the PBX room to the
Master Control desk to find a little group
gathered around the main panel. Traffic
Department members were hurriedly
thumbing through past records. Still we
couldn’t figure out what was going on.
Finally, we asked one of the men in Traffic
what all the excitement was about.

“The Hindenburg is burning down at
Lakehurst,” he said.

It didn’t seem possible. Why, just a
little while ago the great ship had sailed
majestically over the city. We knew the
source of the greatest information would
be the News Division and sure enough, it
was! Teletype machines were flashing out
their messages about the disaster. Tommy
McFadden was bustling about trying to
reach members of the Special Events De-
partment. Curious employes began stream-
ing in for first hand news. Even David
Sarnoff dropped in with John Royal for
latest developments.

Press Division, in the next room, was
alive with activity. In a small room a sten-
ographer took down the contents of a
broadcast, when Burke Miller interviewed
Clinton E. Herring of RCA Radiomarine,
who had witnessed the accident. Warren
Gerz of Press grabbed finished notes, re-
wrote them into a story, and passed them
on to a teletype operator to get the news
to all metropolitan papers with a minimum
of delay.

The corridors became filled with ex-
cited, hurrying members of the Announc-
ers’ staff. Engineering Department, Press
and Special Events Departments.

Cars were dispatched to Lakehurst, and
airplanes were chartered for a quicker
trip. Syd Desfor, Burke Crotty and John
McTigue of Press left in Syd’s car armed
with cameras, flashlight bulbs, police

NEW NBC STUDIOS

{Continued from Page 1)

construction of a new NBC building at
Schenectady to hou.se station W'GY, one
of the oldest 50,000-watt stations in the
United States and a veteran NBC asso-
ciate. Work has begun on the studios,
which occupy a space of 20,000 square
feet, and it is expected that the plant will
be ready for use September 1.

The Schenectady building occupies one
of the most strategic locations in the city.
It is situated on the grounds of the Gen-
eral Electric Company at the head of Erie
Boulevard, one of the city's main thorough-
fares.

The new building has an entire front of
glass brick, fitted into a honeycomb of
steel. This provides a maximum of day-
light and at the same time reduces heat
radiation. The five studios of the plant
take up the ground floor of the structure;
offices fill the second floor.

Station WTAM, Cleveland outlet of the
Red Network, is expected to occupy new
quarters in the Guarantee Title & Trust
Building, Cleveland, shortly before Janu-
ary 1. Seven studios and provisions for
television facilities are planned at the new
site. The lease also includes use of the roof
and of a large electric sign atop the build-
ing.

Plans for improved facilities at Holly-
wood and San Francisco are still in a
formative stage. It is planned, however, to
double the capacity of the present Holly-
wood studios and to expand those at San
Francisco.

passes and NBC banners. The display of
these banners on the car gave them prac-
tically an open right of way to Lakehurst.

Leaving the Press Division where Vance
Babb had now arrived and assumed
charge of things, we went back for a look
in at the PBX room. The word had now
been broadcast and telephone inquiries
had increased to such an extent that Mil-
dred O’Neill, Mary Gannon, Dorothy
McDermott and chief operator Margaret
Maloney had all they could do to handle
the bulk of telephone traffic.

A weeping woman at the other end of
one call pleaded to be told the names of
those who had survived ... a close relative
of hers was aboard. The next call was a
listener who wanted to know what station
he could hear Rudy Vallee on.

And so it went far into Friday morning.
Phone calls, broadcasts, frantic ringing of
bells, hurrying feet, boys in white from
the drug store bringing black coffee so
tired workers could go on and on.

It had been a quiet Thursday night —
that is, up until about 7:35.

— Walter Moore.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Promotions:

Francis E. Koehler, assistant supervisor
of the guide staff is replacing Ary R.
Moll at the control desk in Guest Rela-
tions. The latter has been made assistant
to Dwight B. Herrick, in charge of dis-
tribution of broadcast tickets.

Replacing Mr. Koehler as assistant
guide supervisor is Birger Hagerth.
Thomas Severin has been transferred from
the set-up staff to replace Mr. Hagerth as
cashier.

The above-mentioned men all started in
the page staff three or more years ago.

Miss Ruth Eisner, of Stenographic, is
now in the Sales Department. During her
three years with NBC Miss Eisner has
worked in various departments as secre-
tary.

i 1 i

Miss Virginia Black, formerly of Steno-
graphic. is now secretary to Walter E.
Myers, Sales. Miss Black came to NBC
from the Commercial Investment Trust
Corp., on April 16 last.

i i i

Returns:

C. M. (Tony) Hutson, Engineering, is
back after a long illness from pneumonia.

i i i

Wayne L. Randall. Director of Public-
ity, has just returned from a two weeks
vacation in Florida. He and Mrs. Randall
motored down to Pensacola to visit their
son, Gardner, who is an aviation cadet at
the U. S. Naval Station there.

i i 1

Spencer McNary of the Mail-Messenger
Section has been promoted to a position in
the office of D. S. Tuthill, business man-
ager of Artists’ Service. During his eigh-
teen months with NBC Mr. McNary has
been a page and office boy in Guest Rela-
tions, and a clerk in Cost Accounting and
the Mail Room.

i i 1

M iss Helen Lefebre has returned to
Electrical Transcription Service from a
two months’ leave of absence which she
spent in California. Miss Lefebre had
quite a time finding her old office what
with all the changes and new doors on the
second floor of the studio section.

i i i

Miss Anne Gatesweiler has been pro-
moted in the Sales Department to replace
Miss Marguerite Andrews as secretary to
I. E. Showerman, Assistant Eastern Sales
Manager. Miss Andrews resigned to take
a job in Washington, D. C.

Resignations:

Jack Wyatt, talented young guide, left
Detroit last October to join our uniformed
staff in Radio City. Two weeks ago NBC
sent him back to Detroit to become an an-
nouncer of WW'J, NBC affiliate, owned by

Pictured above are a group of NBCites cantering on the bri<lle path of Central Park, New
York. Horseback riding claims a large number of members of the NBC Athletic Association.
Enthusiastic equestrians ride weekly in New Jersey, Westchester and Long Island.

the Detroit News. He is another product
of the announcing school conducted by
Dan Russell and many will remember him
as the suave, clear-voiced m.c. of the Brass
Button Revue presented by the Guest Re-
lations staff last February. He is only
twenty-one.

i i 1

Wilbur Auth resigned from Statistical
April 31, to become associated with the
N. Y. Fire Department. Said he, “I’ve
always wanted to be a fireman.”

Robert Burholt, a newcomer from the
insurance business, replaces Mr. Auth.

1 i i

Newcomers:

Miss Barbara Buck, formerly with
Arnold Constable and Co., is the new re-
ceptionist in the Sales Department. She
came to New York from Columbus, Ohio,
six months ago, with a diploma from Ohio
State University.

Miss Buck’s home is in that city which
became famous in the last presidential
election, Topeka, Kansas. It was there that
she went to the same school as Wendell H.
Williams. Continuity Acceptance, whom
she was surprised to see one day as he was
making one of his frequent calls in Sales.

1 i i

Charles E. McCurdy, formerly with
J. Walter Thompson and Gardner Adver-
tising Company, has joined the Statistical
Department as an artist.

Mr. McCurdy is from Pittsburgh, Pa.,
where he studied Design at Carnegie Tech
and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. His
woodcuts and paintings have been exhib-
ited in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Wash-
ington, D. C.

1 i i

Miss Dorothy Kemble joins Continuity
Acceptance on June 1 as assistant to Miss
Janet MacRorie.

Miss Kemble, for the past five years, has
been in charge of advertising acceptance
for MacFadden Publications, Inc.

i i 1

Arthur L. Forrest, formerly in the mar-
keting division of Hearst Magazines, is a
new member of the Statistical Department
where he is working at survey analysis.

i i i

James E. Cornell and Elbert W. Wil-
liams have joined the Guest Relations
Division as studio patrolmen.

Patrolman Cornell has led a very inter-
esting and adventurous life as a sailor in
the Navy for twenty-six years. He was
Chief Quartermaster when he retired in
1933. Mr. Cornell has seen and taken part
in many wars including the World War.

(Continued on Next Page)

MAY, 1937

He has many interesting stories about the
earthquakes in southern Italy and Sicily
in 1908. the Turkish Revolution which
dethroned Abdul-Hamid in 1909, the Chi-
nese Revolution in 1911, and the Mexican
upheaval in 1914, at all of which U. S.
Navy vessels were present for patrol duty
and the protection of American citizens.

Elbert W. Williams is not exactly a
newcomer. He has held two or three tem-
porary jobs in NBC in the past but this
time his job is steady.

Mr. W'illiams is quite an enthusiastic
singer and he would like to organize an
NBC watchmen’s quartet or trio. He has
had many years experience as a profes-
sional church singer. His record is twenty-
one years as a member of the choir of the
Church of the Messiah and Incarnation in
Brooklyn. He has faced the microphones
of several small New York stations as a
tenor in the Richmond Glee Club.

Before coming to Radio City Patrolman
Williams was a foreman for the Baltimore
and Ohio R.R. in Staten Island for four-
teen years.

i i i

Percy Winner, newspaper man and
radio news commentator, has joined the
Press Division as a writer. Mr. Winner
is well known in radio circles as a com-
mentator on international politics and as
one of the radio commentators who broad-
cast from the political conventions in
Cleveland and Philadelphia last summer.
Before joining NBC he was a news com-
mentator over WQXR. He has also served
as a commentator in French on CBS short
wave transmissions to France.

Mr. Winner was in the newspaper field
before going into radio. He was chief cor-
respondent for North America of the
Havas News Agency in France; news and
foreign editor for the New York Evening
Post; foreign correspondent in various
European countries for several American
newspapers and news agencies, particular-
ly the Associated Press; and New York
correspondent for the Manchester Guard-
ian of England.

Articles on various subjects including
psychology and international politics writ-
ten by Mr. Winner have appeared in well-
known magazines such as Scribner’s, Cur-
rent History, Outlook and New Republic.

Mr. Winner is also noted for his lectures
in English, French and Italian. He was
educated at Columbia University and the
Sorbonne in Paris.

Newcomers to the Stenographic Sec-
tion this past month come from all over
the country.

Miss Marie Joslin, a New Yorker, was
formerly with Fitzgibbons Company, an

engineering firm. She went to school in
Georgia, her mother’s home state. That
answers for her slight southern accent.
She also attended Friends Seminary in
New York.

Miss Joslin’s avocation is music. She
plays the violin and is now studying voice.
Radio? No, — at least not yet. She hadn’t
thought of it.

Miss Jean Hill worked in the engineer-
ing department of Johns-Manville before
coming to NBC.

Miss Florence Marin, a New Yorker,
has had three years experience in the
banking business.

Miss Mary Harrell comes from San
Francisco where she did secretarial work
for the Institute of Pacific Relations, a
Rockefeller foundation. In behalf of the
Institute she made several lectures on the
air.

Miss Bethany Mather, a graduate of the
University of Chicago and until recently
secretary to a faculty member of the Uni-
versity, is temporarily working in Central
Files.

Miss Caroline Herbert comes to us from
her native South where she was associated
with the TVA at Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
She is a graduate of Mississippi State
College which is in her home town. State
College, Miss.

Miss Lisa Lundin was born in Sweden,
reared in Des Moines, Iowa, and edu-
cated at the University of Iowa. She was
formerly with the Curtis Publishing Com-
pany in New York.

Miss Louise Greene is from Boston
where she was secretary to a faculty mem-

ber of the Harvard Medical School until
she came to New York to join NBC.

Ill

Obituaries:

We regret to announce that Walter L.
Carlin, who was in the Accounting De-
partment, died in St. Mary’s Hospital in
Trenton, N. J., on May 12.

Mr. Carlin was an old member of the
family. He was with RCA several years
before he came to NBC four years ago.

> > >

Transfers:

James H. Hill, who came to NBC from
his home in Los Angeles in February, has
been transferred from the Guest Relations
staff to the Script Division’s file room. He
is a graduate of the University of Wash-
ington.

i i i

Miss Kathleen Whaley has resigned her
position in Central Stenographic to accept
a secretarial position with announcer Ford
Bond, whose temporary office is in Studio
9-B. Miss Whaley was with the National
Geographic Society in Washington, D. C.,
before she came to NBC last January.

1 1 i

Miss Elsie Bergler, who joined our
Stenographic Section on March 7, is now
in Sales. Before coming to NBC she was
with Hearst Cosmopolitan Magazine for
five years as a secretary in the advertising
department. For several years Miss Berg-
ler was on the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.

(Continued on Page 13)

Courtesy RCA

Dr. R. R. Law is shown next to a television image projected onto a three by four screen from the
“eye” or kinescope of a television receiver. This new “projection kinescope” which was successfully
demonstrated at the recent meeting of the Institute of Radio Engineers in New York was
developed hy Dr. V. K. Zworykin and Dr. R. R. Law of RCA.

Above: Miss Grace Sniffln,
Chairman of the Dance
Committee, greets Daniel S.
Tuthill of Artists’ Service,
who acted as m.c. for the
floor show. Guide Paul
Hutchinson was ticket-
taker. Barrett Eldredge,
Guest Relations, is in the
background.

Right: L. to R., Rae Giers-
dorf (Singer), Announcer
Fred Uttal, Gogo De Lys,
Mrs. Gene Hamilton, An-
nouncer Jack McCarthy,
Miss Elinor Crafts, Alan
Kent (Announcer and
“Static”), Miss Barbara
Bierman, Guest Relations.

fi fiJ"

• ong rem
the gay anc
Dance given
letic Associa
veil Hotel, N
May 7. Milli
hundred peo
and Walter V
tographers o
took these pi
affair.

Below: At table: K<
shall, and Morton B'
floor show. Standin
bury and D. S. Tu
Thomas Tart, Mai
Miss Helen Winter,

Ilf An

|u[er':

In their haste to get to the dance set up men
Herbert Gross, left, and George Andrews fin-
ished their studio work in white ties.

Above: Minor head injuries incurred while sawing wood for a television set didn’t stop
Sound Technicians Robert Stone (white jacket) and Ray Kelly from going to the NBC
Spring Dance. Also shown are Mrs. Harry Saz, left, and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Knopfke, right.

Left: Whoopie! Guide David M. Adams and Miss Mary Owen, popular New York model.

‘ j

PL-J

Above: First couple to arrive at the
dance were not NBCites. Tsk! Tsk!
They were F. L. Eldridge and Miss
Magdelena Stein, center, of Bristol-
Meyers Co. Guides Paul Hutchinson
and George De Pue, left, took tickets.
To the right are Miss Marjorie Geich-
man (Treasurer’s), seated, and Miss
Grace Ballou (Sales).

Above: Early arrivals: Miss Victoria Geiger
(Television Div.), and H. P. Miller. That’s
Paul again taking tickets.

Below: Ben Grauer dancing with Miss Jane
Davis, well-known model.

4 i(|

Above: Engineers’ Table. L. to R., J. R. O’Kelly
(Master Control Room Supervisor), Miss Dorothy
Jorgensborg (Traffic), Fernando R. Rojas, Mrs.
Rojas, Miss Ruth Werner, R. W. Bauer.

Left: Miss Dorothy Michel (Transcribing), and
her escort, John Leahy.

Right: Guide and columnist E. Loudon Haaker and
Miss Mary Kunkel of Easton, Pa.

'Wfi

f i

tit'en

sociil

lelJi

'lit

1 PW||

lletf

letsol

(sepii

lt:Ka
Ion Bo

jiiJini

S.T«i
. )lai
inlet,

lered will be
lorful Spring

1 the NBC Ath-
at the Roose-
York City, on
hrough twelve
Jack McGhie
el, expert pho-
e guide staff,
es at the gala

ack and Peggy Mar-
who took part in the
. to R., E. de Salis-
of Artists’ Service,
om Supervisor, and
asurer’s.

NBC TRANSMITTER

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 MAY, 1937 No. 5

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS
ARY R. MOLL
HERBERT GROSS
CHARLES VAN BERGEN
CARL CANNON

Editor

Associate Editor

Circulation

Photographs

Features

N. Y. CONTRIBUTORS

DORIS RUUTH

ALWIN D. FOSTER
M. BLAKE JOHNSON
E. LOUDON HAAKER
JACK McCarthy
RODERICK MITCHELL
MURDOCH T. PEMBERTON
MILDRED L. JOY

Engineering

Statistical

Guest Relations
Guest Relations

Announcer

Guest Relations
Guest Relations
General Library

FRANK C. LEPORE Advisory Editor

Address all correspondence to :

NBC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA Bldg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

IT DID HAPPEN HERE

“It can’t be done,” cried the skeptics and
kill-joys when a small group of enthusiastic
NBCites started to beat the drums for an all-
company athletic association to coordinate and
promote athletic activities among the employes.
They said NBC was made up of too heterogen-
eous group of individuals to bring together for
social activities.

That was less than four months ago. Today
with true NBC thoroughness for coordination
every sport of the season in which NBCites are
interested has been organized and weaved into
the activities of the NBC Athletic Association
which already has over two hundred paid-up
members.

The Association’s most recent and successful
venture was the NBC Spring Dance which not
only brought over twelve hundred people to
what turned out to be the biggest and gayest
social affair of the Company but it also added
many dollars to its rather empty coffers.

Who said it couldn’t be done? Not only have
we done it but we’ve done it so well we are
doing the “impossible” — we’re pulling our-
selves up by our boot straps!

It costs only one dollar — and it's good
for a whole year of real fun and sport.

COLLECTS RADIO TUBES AS
A OOBBV. COLLECTION,
TOE LARGEST THE VnORLD,
KMCLODES CUER 2, ODD DIFFER r
ENT tubes!

KDK(\S FIRST CONCERT
STUDIO WPS A LARGE TENT
BUILT ON TOE ROOF OF
THE PLANT. (l92l)

Tae EARLV tvpe"paonotron"
COICROPBONF (DI50PAN) WAS
ALSO A UDUDSPEAKER..

LISTENER REACTIONS

by Ruth M. Crawford

Correspondent, Neiv York Audience Mail Division

In the Spring students must write class reports or theses — their subjects are
varied and range from the serious to the amusing:

How much does the complete education of an announcer cost? At what age
does the announcer’s services become useless — 40, 50?

I would like information about the queer jobs done by women around broad-
casting stations.

i i i

I want to be a radio coloratura. What steps are necessary to reach my goal?

Please send me pictures of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” and “As You
Like It.”

From Dr. Max Jordan’s mail bag in NBC, Europe:

“I thoroughly enjoyed, today, the broadcast from the Municipal Palace,
Genoa. Italy, Giulio Bignami’s superb playing was truly grand and touched the
innermost depths of many hearts. I heartily hope this supremely great artist
appears again in a future broadcast.

“I am a school teacher and am making out report cards for my pupils today.
Since hearing Giulio Bignami play I have decided to give them all good grades.”

MAY, 1937

NAMES IN THE NEWS

(Continued jrom Page 9)

i i i

To us expatriates the NBC TRANS-
MITTER is indispensable and we read
every issue avidly from top to bottom.

— Max Jordan, NBC, Basle, Switzerland.

i 1 i

I wonder if some of the employes of

NBC might not like to get in touch by

correspondence, via the TRANSMITTER,
with employes of remote NBC stations in
similar lines of work. For example, as a
lowly Esso Reporter, I should be amused
to talk shoppe with my confreres in
Washington, Detroit, or New Orleans. I
believe some of our announcers and oper-
ators, among others, might enjoy (and
possibly profit by) the same harmless
honhommie. Would it be feasible for the
TRANSMITTER to recommend this kind
of correspondence — and perhaps offer
to forward the initial letters to their proper
destination?

— Edward B. Hall, NBC Boston.

Ed: The NBC TRANSMITTER thanks
Ed Hall for his excellent suggestion. We
will gladly act as go-between for wishful
correspondents.

i i i

I enjoyed the interesting story on
George Malcolm’s part in the coronation
of King George V, — “in 1910,” as you
stated — in the last issue of the TRANS-
MITTER. But you made two glaring mis-
takes. First, the coronation of George V
was not in 1910 — it was in 1911. His pre-
decessor, Edward VII, died in 1910 but
George V was not crowned until 1911. Sec-
ond, your caption under Malcolm’s pic-
ture read: “. . . George Malcolm in the
uniform he wore seventeen years ago at
the coronation of George V.” For your in-
formation it is now 1937 and if George V
was crowned in 1911 it was twenty-six
years ago — not seventeen — that George
Malcolm rode in that coronation.

I thought you’d like to know. Come to
us for figures.

— Statistical Department, N. Y.

Ed.: We stand corrected — at least thirty
times by phone and mail. However, we
find solace in the fact that George Mal-
colm himself did not complain. Said he,
“I don’t mind it if you make me ten years
younger.”

She also is an accomplished musician, hav-
ing given various piano recitals including
one at Aeolian Hall in New York City.

Her home is in Yonkers, New York.

i i i

Miss Janet Patton has been transferred
from Station Relations to Guest Relations
to become secretary to Walter B. Davison,
replacing Miss Eugenia Carpenter, who
resigned on May 15. Miss Carpenter re-
signed to return to her home in Amster-
dam, N. Y.

Miss Patton has been with the Com-
pany since January.

ill

Mrs. Emma Little goes from Steno-
graphic to V. J. Gilcher’s office in Engi-
neering. Mrs. Little came to NBC from
Chicago where she was secretary of the
Medical Alumni Association of North-
western University Medical School. She is
a graduate of Ottawa University in Otta-
wa, Kansas.

Mrs. Little’s husband is an interne at
the Medical Center in Jersey City.

1 i i

Miss Kathleen Goddard has been trans-
ferred from the Personnel Office to Miss
Margaret Cuthbert’s office in Program to
fill the vacancy created by the resignation
of Miss Florence Whitney last month.

Miss Helen Korday, formerly of the
Monsanto Chemical Co., in New York, is
replacing Miss Goddard as secretary to
Miss Joyce Harris, assistant personnel
manager.

ill

Engagements:

Miss Frances Kelly of the Promotion
Division recently was given a lingerie
shower at the home of Miss Margaret
Sheridan in Forest Hills. The affair, a
complete surprise to Miss Kelly, was at-
tended by several “NBCettes.” The wed-
ding will be in July.

i i i

The engagement of announcer George
A. Ansbro and Miss Marie de Chantal
Turecamo of Brooklyn has been an-
nounced by the parents of the bride-to-be.
A graduate of the NBC announcing class
and the guide staff, Mr. Ansbro was added
to the regular announcing staff in 1934,
after winning a competitive audition.

i i i

Marriages:

As we go to press Miss Elizabeth Wash-
ington, Artists’ Service, and Lucius E.
Robertson, Cost Accounting, are enroute

to Miss Washington’s home in Tallahas-
see, Florida, where they are to be married
on May 27. They will motor North to New
England for their honeymoon and are ex-
pected to return to Radio City towards
the middle of June.

i i

Without fanfare
nor sound effects.
Miss Ruth Russell,
popular young NBC
actress, and Charles
Range, sound tech-
nician, went to Miss
Russell’s home in
Washington, D. C.,
one recent week-end
to be married. Their
honeymoon was brief for it was “the-show-
must-go-on” for both of them.

Miss Russell, or rather Mrs. Range, is
heard on various programs and is best
known as Nancy in the current dramatic
serial, lust Plain Bill, and as Margie in
the Snow Village sketches. She met her
husband at one of their programs about a
year ago.

Mr. Range has been with the Company
over seven years. He started in the studios
in Chicago and came to New York when
NBC moved to Radio City from its old
quarters at 711 Fifth Avenue.

i i i

Stork News:

D. B. Whittemore, Engineering, recent-
ly became the father of a baby girl, the
first offspring in the family.

i i i

Miscellaneous:

Mrs. Enid Beaupre of our Promotion
Division recently addressed the Easton
(Pa.) Branch of the American Associa-
tion of University Women. The subject of
her talk was, “Woman’s Viewpoint of
Radio from the Inside,” in which she
stressed the point that radio programs re-
flect the public taste and that the likes and
dislikes made known to the broadcasters
influence the what and how of presenta-
tion.

i i i

A. H. Morton, Manager of the operated
Stations Department, recently returned
from a two-weeks’ trip of inspection to
NBC stations in Denver, Chicago, Pitts-
burgh and Cleveland. Mr. Morton also
went to Fort- Wayne, Indiana, to attend the
inaugural ceremonies of W'OWO as a new
NBC affiliated station.

Mrs. Chas. Range

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC PITTSBURGH

by Jack Hollister

KDKA members recently feted with a surprise shower party.
They are, in the usual order, Misses Betty Eisley, Marcella
Campbell and Relda Garrett.

Three young men had just
seen a program in one of the
big studios at KDKA. As they
were standing in the lobby,
looking at all the little colored
lights and panels of the master
control room, they spotted
Charley Urquhart, production
manager.

“There goes that clapping
guy,” said one of the boys.

Now Charley stands about
six feet seven in bis socks but
his cross-section is not so im-
pressive. On occasion he has
been called the aerial of
KDKA. But“clapping guy” was
a new one.

As production man, it is one
of his duties to direct the ap-
plause and when he raises his long arms
over his head and brings his twelve-inch
hands together, the effect borders on the
grotesque.

Those who know him suspect that Char-
ley’s good nature prompts him to exag-
gerate the comical effect of his production
gestures. But the funny thing about it is,
he doesn’t applaud at all. He goes through
the motions but he is so close to the micro-
phones that he doesn’t dare let his palms
come together. Instead he strikes one hand
on the edge of the other so that it looks
as though he were applauding like an ex-
cited kid at a circus.

1 i i

Three brides-to-be of the KDKA staff
were surprised when they found them-
selves honor guests at a recent party that
was supposed to be a bowling banquet.

Girls of the station personnel had a
bowling league last winter. They say it was

the best little bowling league between the
poles and a great success. They are keep-
ing scores secret just to keep from making
other leagues unhappy.

As a climax to the season they planned
a banquet. And it was held at the Perry
Tea Room Sunday evening. May 2. But it
turned out to be a pre-nuptial affair for
Relda Garrett, of Homestead Park ; Betty
Eisley and Marcella Campbell, both of
Wilkinsburg.

Miss Garrett is private secretary to Gen-
eral Manager H. A. Woodman; Miss
Eisley is assistant to Assistant Program
Manager Dare Fleck, and Miss Campbell
is assistant to Continuity Chief Robert
Saudek. During the next few weeks these
three girls will march down middle aisles
and say “I do.”

And listed among the gifts will be the
mirrors they received from their nineteen
co-workers during the shower.

i i 1

When KDKA, Pittsburgh,
broadcast tbe news of the late
April flood, it got right down
to cases. Two announcers took
a river launch, equipped with
a shortwave sender, and cruised
the Allegheny, Monongahela
and Ohio rivers, broadcasting
eye-witness accounts of condi-
tions. They stopped at house-
boats anchored on the banks
and interviewed tlie occupants
on living conditions and flood
troubles, a “floating man on
the streets” program.

Announcers Sammy Fuller, left, and Ed Shaughency shove off
aboard a river launch to cover the recent Pittsburgh flood
for NBC listeners.

NBC PHILADELPHIA

by J. A. Aull

The past month was so full of a number
of things that I’m sure almost everybody at
KYW must feel somewhat like a king at
coronation time. The station officially got
off to a big start with the formal announce-
ment that ground would be broken within
the week for the erection of the new KYW
Building — six stories high with modern
studios and offices. .Leslie Joy as head of
the station and E. H. Gager, plant man-
ager for Westinghouse KYW, jointly trod
on the business end of the soon-to-be plati-
numed spade. And with a burst of steam
from the somewhat larger shovel, NBC’s
new home in Philadelphia began to rise
in the modern manner. It is expected to be
completed by November 1 of this year.

1 1 i

And now to Lakehurst and the great
holocaust that everybody bas read about.
We don’t want to appear like a well-fed
homing pigeon but we would like to know
if anybody in the family beat 7 :42 as the
time KYW aired the first UP news flash
of the disaster. John Thorp, KYW’s night
supervisor, has had beats before but he
claims he never beat it for a microphone
quite as quickly as he did on the closing
gong of that historic ten-bell flash. By the
time the UP checked on the ’phone, the
news was already on the air, every depart-
ment head had been called and engineers
were starting to pack the equipment.

By 8:45 the first car started with James
Begley, KYW’s program manager, at the
wheel and in full command of the situa-
tion. Three carloads made the trip. Those
on board were A1 Watton of the Program
Department, Jim Harvey still in a tuxedo
from producing a show, Allan Kennedy,
announcer on the show, also in tux; Hank
Geist and Clayt Donaldson, Westinghouse
engineers. A police escort had been or-
dered but the cavalcade left ten minutes
before the motorcycles arrived.

Lakehurst eye-witnesses were lined up
and, with Begley introducing them, the
following were heard over the combined
Red and Blue hook-up: Bill Springfield,
Acme News photographer; Sam Meyer,
Times-World Wide camera man; and
Harry J. King, member of the ground
crew officially in charge of moving bag-
gage from the ship. King, who had the
most harrowing experience, told of remov-
ing the bodies of eleven persons and two
dogs from tbe burning wreckage. He also
told how he put out with his bare hands
the flaming hair of one of the passengers
and how another’s clothes had been com-
pletely burned from his body.

{Continued on Page 20)

MAY, 1937

WTAM CLEVELAND

by Bob Dailey

Announcer George Hartrick is back on
duty after several weeks in a local hospital
and at home. He fell fourteen feet down
an elevator shaft, suffering painful injur-
ies to his right leg and hip. Hospital at-
tendants daily reported congestion outside
George’s room as friends and well-wishers
waited for their turns to see the popular
announcer.

1 i i

WTAM’s program and engineering de-
partments are prepared for another busy
summer as the Great Lakes Exposition
opened for its second season. Many spe-
cial broadcasts are planned from the
scene.

Tom Manning and Jane Weaver are
scratching their respective heads, wonder-
ing whether they are conducting a man-in-
the-street broadcast each noonday or an
employment agency.

It hasn’t happened just once, but sev-
eral times, a man is brought to the micro-
phone and when asked his occupation, he
replies, “Unemployed, but looking hard
for a job.”

Several have taken the trouble to call or
write Tom and Jane afterwards to say
that as a result of the broadcast they had
received offers of employment and once
again were at work.

Ill

WTAM’s VOX POP: Salesman Russell
Carter enthusiastic about his first trip in
one of the 21-passenger airliners. . . .
“Sandy,” who barks to the call of program
secretary Edith Wheeler, is back from one
of his frequent trips to the dog hospital.
Puppy medical bills have deprived Edith
of several new bonnets. . . . Chet Zohn,
night program manager, spending a
week’s vacation puttering around the
house and in the garden. . . . Program
director Hal Metzger also plans a vacation
this month. . . . Pearl Hummell, office man-
ager and auditor, back from New York
business trip.

1 i 1

Routine staff duties at Lakeside Hospi-
tal were sadly neglected when WTAM
took its microphones into the bedroom of
baseball’s immortal Tris Speaker.

The Grey Eagle was recovering from
serious injuries suffered as a result of a
fall in his home. Sports announcer Tom
Manning took baseball fans to Spoke’s
bedside via radio for a convalescing party.

In the bedroom Tom had the sensational
pitcher. Bob Feller; Steve O’Neill, man-
ager of Cleveland Indians; Mayor Harold

Burton and other celebrities to give per-
sonal and radio greetings to Speaker.

In fact, there were so many persons at
the bedside that newspaper photographers
had to use a stepladder to get “shots” into
the room. About fifty internes and nurses
formed the “studio audience” in the cor-
ridor.

Waldo Pooler, production man and
actor, is a bit restless these days. Several
listeners in the Far North, who tune in his
“Northern Lights” red network show each
week, have sent him remarkable photo-
graphs of virgin timber, trout streams and
camping spots. Unhappy Pooler, who is a
French-Canadian, has his tongue hanging
for a few bites of brook trout and the
odor of pine trees.

i 1 i

NBCites in Cleveland already are look-
ing forward to WTAM’s new studios to be
built in the Guarantee Title & Trust Build-
ing. The new plant which is expected to
be ready before January 1 will have seven
studios and provisions for television facili-
ties.

PERSONNEL CHANGES

IN ARTISTS' SERVICE

The Artists’ Service Department has
undergone a few personnel changes calcu-
lated to increase its talent sales to theatres,
advertisers and films.

Lawrence J. Fitzgerald, formerly act-
ing as Artists’ Service contact with the
Program Department, will now sell con-
cert and operatic talent directly to adver-
tising agencies.

William Hillpot, formerly a talent buy-
er with Lord & Thomas, and, at one time,
singing partner of Scrappy Lambert,
joined NBC on May 15 to take over part
of Mr. Fitzgerald’s old duties in addition
to preparing NBC managed talent for com-
mercial programs.

John J. Collins, assigned to D. S. Tut-
bill’s office, moves to the Auditions Divi-
sion as assistant to director Ernest J. Cut-
ting. Mr. Collins joined NBC in 1932 as a
page.

Fred Niblo, a veteran in the motion pic-
ture business and a former director of
silent movies, joins Artists’ Service as ad-
viser in film deals and contact with tele-
vision developments. Mr. Niblo was mas-
ter of ceremonies of the NBC-WPA Pro-
fessional Parade series which ended
recently.

The books listed in this column are recommended as pertinent literature on radio
and allied subjects. They will be found in the General Library on the NBC Transmitter
Shelf.

WHAT ABOUT RADIO? by Kenneth M. Goode. Mr. Goode, well known
to readers of advertising literature, has turned his attention to the radio field
in his latest book. Here he has assembled material from countless records and
surveys, and compiled a manual of do's and don't's for the broadcaster and
the advertiser. To those unfamiliar with the author’s style — a note that it is
both entertaining and pithy.

YOUR EVERYDAY SPEECH by IT illiam Norwood Brigance. At last the
Atlantan, the Bostonian, and the Chicagoan may sit down in amity to read
together a book on American speech, for here is Professor Brigance upholding
regional dialects — if they represent the best of tbeir locality. What the author
does oppose are the careless and lazy speech habits and the flat, nasal voices
so frequently found in this country. Having analyzed the common American
speech faults, the author goes on to explain carefully how the mistakes may
be corrected. A special section on speech defects is also included.

ON THE AIR: THE STORY OF RADIO by John J. Floherty. Newcomers
to NBC especially will profit by Mr. Floherty ’s book. The theory and practice
of radio — both broadcasting and communications — are simply and carefully
explained for the layman. The text is enhanced by many excellent photographs
which, with a very few exceptions, have an RCA or NBC background. The family
circle will be interested to note that Mr. Sarnoff has written the foreword for
this story of the why and how of radio.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

by Louise Landis

Ho-o-hu-m — spring fever is bad, but this
summer fever’s worse, what with vacations
to the right of you and vacations to the
left, but radio programs marching on.
NBCites here are enjoying their quota
of holidays, though. Ward Byron, pro-
ducer, takes the entire month of June for
his, as he intends to spend it in New York.
Incidentally Miss Ann Bellows, charming
daughter of George Bellows, the artist, has
returned to her home there, and if Ward
double-crosses the San Francisco Press
Department on an ^xclusive story of any
event that transpires on his vacation he
gets a big black mark beside his name,
and all the pictures we make of him here-
after will have Archie Presby’s face in
front of his!

i i i

Speaking of romance — that is, IF any-
body should happen to be chatting on the
subject — Madeline Attabit, lovely mem-
ber of the Traffic Department is wearing
a stunning diamond ring on her left hand.
The stones are beautiful, the setting ex-
quisite, and although Madeline refuses to
admit a wedding date has been selected
she confides that Harry Lipschultz is his
name.

i i i

Some other vacations already here or
just showing on the horizon: Ken Carney,
program manager, plans a fishing trip in
the Northwest in August. . . . Sam Dick-
son, writer, leaves July 4 but where, he
will not tell; it’s an old family custom with
the Dicksons for Sam to plan the vacation
and up to the moment they arrive at their
destination, to keep Mrs. Dickson guess-
ing. . . . David Drummon, writer, takes his
entire family to an Idaho ranch on
August 1. . . . Memory Roberts of the
If Oman s Magazine of the Air has divided
her vacation into two sections, the first to
be spent showing her mother the old min-
ing towns of California; the second part,
fishing on the Rogue River with her hus-
band. There’s a devoted daughter-wife
for you !

Benny Walker, Magazine m.c., and
Meredith Willson, General Musical Di-
rector of the Western Division are among
the lamentable (?) cases that don’t get
vacations this year . . . too many commer-
cials. . . . Florence Allen of program traf-
fic is counting the days until her two-weeks
holiday; her mother arrives from China to
spend it with her.

Arnold Marquis, producer, who is no re-
lation to Don Marquis but knows him and

likes him a lot, is going back to Racine,
Wisconsin, for his vacation ... he shares
hometown rights in Racine along with
Jack Benny, Ben Hecht and Frederic
March and other notables.

i -r i

Lloyd E. Yoder, manager of the West-
ern Press Division, has been leading a
double life the last few weeks. A lieutenant
in the U. S. Naval Reserve, he has been
on his annual fortnight of active service,
which, luckily for Lieutenant Yoder, took
place at the San Francisco Presidio in-
stead of on the high seas . . . from where
he probably would have been obliged to
direct his department by radio!

i i 1

J. W. Baker, Operations Supervisor,
laid aside his camera temporarily to build
a gift that has delighted his son, Joe Jr.,
beyond his dreams. It’s a sixteen-foot
sloop, which the lad immediately named
Zephyr II because his father as a boy
owned one called the Zephyr. It is the first
boat Joe Sr. ever built, and a handsome,
seaworthy thing that has young Joe’s com-
rades bulging with envy.

ill

Carlton E. Morse, author of One Mans
Family, sent Mrs. Morse a radiogram
every single day of his flight . . . each more
enthusiastic than the other . . . and if you
listened, did you hear how he saluted her
at the end of each broadcast, with a greet-
ing “To the little lady at Seven Stones
whom I know is listening”?

1 i i

Here are some of the recent changes
that have taken place in the various San
Francisco headquarters all because pretty
Aloha Wold (Mrs. Harry Warner) secre-
tary to Operations Supervisor Baker de-
cided to become a stay-at-home. Marian
Hansen of Audience Mail took Aloha’s
place, and Riola Jamison of the Duplicat-
ing Machine Department stepped into
Marion’s shoes in Audience Mail. A new
member joined Audience Mail at the same
time — Lola Comaches. Sophie Dunich left
the Typing Department to enter the Press
Department; Gladys Ferguson and Wilma
Duvall, entered the Typing Department.
Added to the office staff is Robert Sand-
strom, another NBC newcomer.

1 1 i

Send in your vacation pictures, with complete
captions, to the PHOTO CONTEST before June 18.

DIVISION ENGINEERS

MEET IN NEW YORK

NBC engineers convened in Radio City
on May 3 for their yearly meeting of na-
tional division engineers. The following
represented their respective divisions: A.
H. Saxton, San Francisco; R. H. Owen,
Denver; H. C. Luttgen, Chicago; S. E.
Leonard, Cleveland; W. J. Purcell, Sche-
nectady; A. E. Johnson, Washington, and
G. 0. Milne, New York. Operating engi-
neer George McElrath was chairman of
the convention.

Much of the convention’s time was de-
voted to the discussion of designs and op-
erations of new short wave receiving and
transmitting equipment for all NBC
offices. The visiting engineers also went to
Camden, New Jersey, to see the latest de-
velopments in new RCA apparatus.

The NBC convention ended after at-
tending the silver anniversary convention
of the Institute of Radio Engineers held
in New York on May 10, 11 and 12.
Among those heard at the latter conven-
tion was V. K. Zworykin of RCA. His lec-
ture was titled, “Development of a Projec-
tion Kinesec pe.”

NEW W.\TER SPORT

This is a new touch in wrestling, and one that
ought to become popular if there were just
enough Water Effects machines to go around.
San Francisco sound men Jimmy Lyon and
Wally Ruggles, have inserted themselves into
the framework of the machine with which
they create rainstorms, torrents, waterfalls
and fountains splashing. The one who turns a
faucet on his opponent before his opponent
manages to turn one over on him, is the win-
ner, and can prove that as a wrestler his
partner is all wet.

MAY, 1937

NBC CHICAGO

by Bob McCoy

NINE NEW MEN FOR
PAGE AND GUIDE STAFFS

New members of the Guest Relations
Staff in New York are:

Willard Jordan of Boston where he was
employed by Jordan, Marsh Co. He was
educated at the Wellesley Military School
and Thayer Academy.

Robert J. Lacklen recently left his home
in Billings, Montana, to make his first trip
to New York and to become an NBC page
in Radio City. Back home he was Super-
visor of Recreation and Education of a
WPA project. He was educated at the Uni-
versity of Montana where he majored in
Psychology. While in college he acted in
student shows broadcast over station
KGVO in Missoula.

Gordon G. Vanderwarker gave up the
department store business for the more
exciting business of radio broadcasting.
He is a Bostonian and a graduate of
Wesleyan University, class of ’36.

William Eliscu, a New Yorker, was a
teacher in a private school in Florida be-
fore he joined our uniformed staff last
month. He is a graduate of Columbia and
a member of the New York Athletic Club.
He was a member of the Columbia relay
teams which won in the Intercollegiate
Championship Track Meets in 1934 and
1935.

William L. Livingston, another native
New Yorker comes to radio from the news-
paper business. He attended Amherst Col-
lege for two and a half years.

Daniel Francis Munster is not over
twenty-four but already he has lived a life-
time of adventure with the whole world
as its setting. This tall dark strapping
young man was born in Fort Sill, Okla-
homa, of a father who was in the Army
and whose ancestors several generations
back were also in the Army, and a mother
whose family also gave its sons to the
Army as far back as the imperial days
of Prussia. He too has done his bit for the
Army. He has served in the Cavalry and
holds a warrant as First Sergeant of the
Infantry. He is an active and proud mem-
ber of the Washington Greys as Lieuten-
ant of Field Artillery.

Among other things Munster has been
an actor on the New York stage and over
station WHN, a professional boxer and
football player, a farmer, a private detec-
tive, a sailor and a tutor in English and
French. He learned French from his
mother who is an instructor in that lan-
guage at Hunter College.

As a sailor and stoker on ships he has
travelled to many European and African
ports. As the son of an army officer who
has been stationed in many U. S. Army
posts he has been all over the country and

To the Audience Mail Department goes
Marge Niess, new supervisor. Miss Niess
came to NBC early in 1936 as head of Cen-
tral Stenographic. She was once the win-
ner of a contest sponsored by an automo-
bile company. The prize was a car, and her
letter was good enough to win a job writ-
ing copy for the motor company’s publi-
cation.

1 i i

Replacing Marge Niess as supervisor of
Central Stenographic is smiling, smart-
looking Dorothy Frundt of Artists’ Serv-
ice. She was with the staff of Station
WENR when it joined NBC.

i i i

No sissies are we in Chicago when it
comes to athletic associations, although
none is officially organized as yet.

For a bit of proud pointing, look at our
newly-discovered horsey set. The PBX
operators, led by Adele Crawford, have
joined the Olympia Riding Club. Ruth
O’Connor of Continuity, Helen Schervey

in Hawaii, the Philippines and China. Last
summer, during his globe-trotting, he wan-
dered off to Spain where he found “things
so messy” even his love of adventure
couldn’t make him take more than a
spectator’s interest in the Spanish Civil
War.

Fred C. Johnstone, a native New York-
er, comes to us from the uniformed staff
of the Roxy Theatre. Before working for
Roxy he was in Los Angeles for five years.
There he attended Los Angeles Junior
College and worked for an insurance com-
pany. He got tired of the insurance busi-
ness and California so he packed a shirt
and tooth-brush and hitch-hiked back to
New York.

Alfred G. James was formerly with the
American Eastern Trading Company. He
was collegiate wrestling champion in 1933
in the 155-pound class and president of
his fraternity. Phi Kappa Psi, while at
Ohio Wesleyan University from which he
was graduated in 1936.

Edwin Miller of Indianapolis, Indiana,
and a graduate of Butler University ’36
comes to our uniformed staff with several
months’ experience as an usher at the
Radio City Music Hall.

In college he was active in dramatics.
Once he played in a school dramatic skit
over station WFBM in Indiana. A year’s
scholarship enabled him to continue his
study of drama at the Hilda Spong School
in New York. His fraternity is Sigma Chi.

of Program, and Vera Maher of the Night
Manager’s Office often gallop through
Forest Preserves west of the city. Engi-
neers Ed Horstmann ( honestly, no pun
intended), Dave Kempkes and night man-
ager Ed. Cunningham are also enthusias-
tic equestrians.

i i i

Rain has delayed the golf activities, but
on May Day ten enthusiasts were able to
get out to the Rob Roy Country Club to
unofficially open the season. Going over
spongy, muddy fairways. Mail Room’s A.
M. Elrod came in with the best card of the
day. No scores have been published yet,
(and perhaps never will be) and no prizes
are to be distributed until the remaining
players post their totals.

1 1 i

With several eyes to future afternoons
on the Lincoln Park diamonds, the base-
ball team probably will be organized soon.
Rudi Neubauer owns the ball, so he will,
of course, be pitcher and captain. An-
nouncers Bob Brown and Jimmy Neale are
expected to play. Page Captain Russ
Sparks possibly will corral some of his
staff and come out to the Park. There is
little doubt that Leonard Anderson, Tom
Bashaw and Roy Neihengen will give their
all against the Merchandise Bank em-
ployes who usually issue their yearly chal-
lenge about this time.

Ed Cerny of the Music Library is hop-
ing to form a fencing team. Cerny prac-
tices on the roof outside the Library with
Ted McNulty, newcomer to Audience
Mail, and page Bill Venn.

i i i

Sound Technicians’ School, under the
direction of Mul Wood, began its spring
and summer term May 1. Instructions are
given for two hours each Saturday, and
from the class Mr. Wood expects to take
the additional personnel necessitated by
the inauguration of the five-day week.

i i 1

A big box of cigars in the Main Con-

trol Room could indicate only one thing.
It was a six-pound boy, born May 6. Proud
parent A. H. Otto, faced with the difficulty
of getting around to all the engineers,
solved his problem by leaving the parental
offering on the desk.

i i i

Laura Satterwhite of Production and

announcer Les Griffith were married on
May Day.

NBC TRANSMITTER

LET'S GET ACQUAINTED

Ten years ago
Roy C. Witmer
joined the National
Broadcasting Com-
pany and hit a stride
with a personal ca-
reer that has held
consistently to the
pace of the industry
he chose.

In 1927, feeling
that the opportuni-
ties in the iron in-
dustry were limited,
Mr. Witmer resigned as sales manager of
the Norwalk Iron Works to become an
NBC salesman. Two years later he was
made assistant sales manager and in 1930
sales manager. Since 1931 he has been
vice-president in charge of sales. His has
been a decade of vigor and vision in break-
ing new ground for a great national in-
dustry.

Between the days when, as a stalwart
youth, he stood behind the plough on a
farm in upper New. York State and the
turning of the road which brought him to
radio in 1927 Mr. Witmer served a varied
apprenticeship.

From his home near the Canadian bor-
der he crossed the cointinent to study at
Leland Stanford University in California.
After leaving college he worked for a time
as an accountant for the First National
Bank of Los Angeles, and then for the
Southern California Edison Company.

From the West, he returned to the East,
from finance to industry. For several years
he was vice president and general man-
ager of a manufacturing plant in Fitch-
burg, Massachusetts. From there he went
to the Norwalk Iron Works where he re-
mained until he joined NBC.

Profiting from this wealth of experience
Mr. Witmer took radio in his stride though
it was new to him. His awareness of the
chance to explore and develop the unique
advantages of the new medium was the
key to his success.

The former farmer boy now looks the
part of the latter-day pioneer. Tall, with
silvering temples, he has the manner and
appearance of command. He works hard.
Once he enjoyed golf and billiards, but
the exactions of a busy life have left time
only for the occasional diversions of a
game of bridge.

ill

loin the NBC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION nowl
Participate in summer sports and meet your iellow
NBCites.

ROY C. WITMER

by Edwin Loudon Hooker

Even those not present admit the dance
on the 7th was a huge success. NBCites
turned out en masse. And we mean en
masse. By 11:00 P.M. footage on the floor
was harder to get than Florida real estate
before ’29 ... It was like going from the
sublime to the Interborough.

ill

The guides and pages arrived sartorially
supreme in tails, and the rest of the com-
pany in tuxedos. The doormen at the
Roosevelt, who were not in on the ‘know’,
did most of the bowing to the former
group. A moral victory plus one small
‘coke’ for each guide and page.

1 i i

Gilbert Ralston of the Guest Relations
Division can claim the record for long dis-
tant invitations. His date came all the
way from the hills of Virginia. “By mule’’,
said Gil, “to the nearest railroad station,
and by foot from the Penn Station to her
hotel.’’ She said she was very much im-
pressed with the Roosevelt and it didn’t
remind her a bit of the Mansion House
at home.

i i i

The evening was spent dancing and
“talking shop.” An engineer sitting at the
next table from us waxed into a discourse
about the subtleties of ribbon mikes every
time he looked at the one they were using
on the stage. And we noticed particularly
one production man surreptitiously “tim-
ing” every one of Peter Van Steeden’s
pieces. Yes, and every time the music
stopped Alan Kent instinctively looked
around for a mike.

i i 1

With one exception Grace Sniffin of
Treasurer Mark Wood’s Office, and chair-
man of the dance committee, was the hap-
piest person there. The exception was the
guy who proposed to his gal on the dance
floor and was accepted. That’s love with
a kick or something. We wonder if Miss
Sniffin had anything to do with that.

i i -t

Considering how some of those present

were greeting their friends anyone would

have suspected it was a reunion of the
Class of ’01. We were practically hugged
on six different occasions by men we’d
said, “Good-Bye” to not more than four
hours before.

1 i 1

Come to think of it there were some
there we hadn’t seen since the dance a

EXCHANGE CORNER

This classified ad section is available, free
of charge, to all NBC employes. Rules: forty-
five word limit; not more than one ad to each
employee every other issue; no regular busi-
ness or professional services may be advertised.
Address ads to NBC TRANSMITTER, Room
284, RCA Building, New York.

All items must be in writing; give name and
address.

“DREAM ACRE” — For sale or rent; fur-
nished or unfurnished. 17 miles from the
George Washington Bridge — three miles from
the Rockland Country Club. Delightful view
of the Hudson, gorgeous shade and fruit trees.
Little white cottage, five rooms and bath, pipe-
less furnace, electricity and city water — two
car garage. Ext. 231.

FOR SALE — One lot of land 60' by 170' with
all improvements at Lake Mohawk. Chris-
tian community. Suitable for all year occu-
pancy. Clinton F. Gluck, WJZ, Bound Brook,
N.J.

FREE PASSES — Good for a day’s visit at the
well-equipped YMCA at 5 West 63rd Street,
N. Y. C., are available to NBC employees.
Apply to the N. Y. Personnel Office, Room 308.

SUBLET-41 West 54th St., N. Y. C. June 1
to October 1, one room apartment, kitchen-
ette and bath. Completely furnished. Tele-
phone and radio. Quiet, cool, cross ventilation,
east and west exposures. Call Mary Coyne,
Ext. 561.

SELL OR BUY — Riding boots and equip-
ment. Call or write the NBC TRANSMI'T-
TER, Ext. 220.

ARE YOU A NATURE LOVER?— Four acres
of woodland in beautiful section of Conn-
ecticut; on paved road, opposite spring-fed
lake; 75 miles from N. Y., and adjacent to
new Merritt Parkway opening soon; near
stores and railroads; taxes $5 per year; offered
at sacrifice. Don Glassman, N. Y. Press, Ext.
579.

FOR SALE — 18 ft. pennant sloop. 165 sq. ft.

Larsen Sail, brass pump mounted, chrome
fittings, canvas cockpit cover. 15 lb. anchor
(Kedge), mast light. New boat, sailed only 8
times. E. M. Bergholz, Room 308, N. Y.

year ago. Talk about knowing your Com-
pany.

Ill

On the happy subject of artists, we
were not displeased that Manny Klein &
Co. decided not to use the P. A. system.
His trumpet is a loud speaker by itself.
Any louder and he would have been
charged with disturbing the peace, or,
considering our shins after “swinging”
with Manny, assault and battery.

MAY, 1937

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

No. 6—TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT

This is the sixth of a
series oj articles which
we hope will give you
a better understanding
of the many NBC units

The National
Broadcasting Com-
pany is an aggregate
of over one hundred
and twenty-five in-
dividual radio
broadcasting stations, interconnected by
the wire line facilities of the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company, and
divided into two basic networks with vari-
ous supplementary and optional groups
and stations. It is the function of the Traf-
fic Department to operate these networks
with as much efficiency and as little con-
fusion as possible. This is no mean task.
The Department’s efficiency depends
greatly on the accuracy with which it
handles and checks an average of ten
thousand different facts a day. These facts
concerning programs, dates, networks,
stations, and time are listed on the thin,
colored strips of paper lining the walls
of the Program Transmission Division’s
room on the fifth floor which is pointed out
to all the tourists taking the NBC Studio
Tour.

This Department is the focal point for all
information and orders concerning all net-
work programs, both commercial and sus-
taining. It handles all scheduling of pro-
grams to stations, keeps records of dis-
tribution, issues orders for wire connec-
tions, and arranges the formation of net-
works, including facilities for transmis-
sions to and from foreign countries. The
duties of the Traffic Department also in-
clude the advance offering of all commer-
cial and sustaining programs, the dis-
semination of all necessary information
concerning them, and the handling of any
special arrangements or reports of per-
formance which may be necessary, or any
complaints which may arise.

The Department is divided into three
main divisions. Commercial Traffic. Sus-
taining Traffic and Program Transmission.
The Telegraph Division is also considered
a part of the Department, and is also
under the supervision of the Traffic Mana-
ger, B. F. McClancy. The San Francisco
office of the Traffic Department which
handles the traffic problems of the Wes-
tern Division is managed by Paul B. Gale.

The Commercial Traffic Division,
headed by Elmore B. Lyford, handles the
scheduling of all network commercial pro-
grams. It is also Mr. Lyford’s job to se-

cure tbe stations wanted by the sponsors
for their program. And, since some sta-
tions are not always free to accept all new
accounts because of other commitments or
plans for local broadcasts, he often has
to do a bit of “selling” of new accounts
to the stations.

This Division’s duties also include the
handling of all local cut-in announce-
ments, station notifications of program
and talent changes, contests, and other in-
formation on commercial programs.

Mr. Lyford said that the biggest volume
of network commercial programs last year
took place during the presidential cam-
paign. All the political speeches made on
the air after the Republican and Demo-
cratic Conventions and before the election
last fall were classified as commercial
programs. During that hectic period Mr.
Lyford sometimes had to arrange coast-to-
coast networks on as short a notice as four
hours.

M iss A. M. Caramore is in charge of
the Sustaining Traffic Division which is-
sues advance notices of sustaining pro-
grams and changes to all the stations. In
addition to the scheduling of sustaining
programs it offers to the network stations
all special sustaining programs and keeps
records of the stations which currently
carry the “must” sustaining programs.
These programs which the stations are
virtually compelled to carry to satisfy the
demands of their listeners, include such
features as the NBC Music Appreciation
Hour, Cheerio, Press News, Farm and
Home Hour, and Our American Schools.
Many programs of a religious nature are
also included in this category.

B. F. McCLANCY

Manager

The Program
Transmission Divi-
sion, more common-
ly known as “Night
Traffic”, coordinates
all the Commercial
and Sustaining Traf-
fic orders. While
NBC is on the air
someone is always
on duty in this Di-
vision. On Coronation Day it started its
day at five in the morning.

Program Transmission keeps at all
times an accurate record of the advance
network program schedule, issues all
necessary facilities orders, arranges all
cues, timing, and special facilities which
may be necessary in the case of outside
origination of programs. The Master Con-
trol Board which is in the adjoining room
gets all its information on transmission
from this Division, headed by L. M. Grif-
fith and Thomas J. Dolan.

The Traffic Department sends and re-
ceives an average of over five hundred
telegrams a day therefore the Telegraph
Division, generally referred to as TWX,
has been made a part of it. On very busy
days Traffic often sends and receives over
fifteen hundred telegrams in one day.
Most of these wires sent to the stations
deal with program changes and network
arrangements and a great number of them
are messages of confirmation to insure
accuracy.

Other NBC departments bring the daily
average of telegrams that pass through
the NBC teletype machines to about 1,125
or 49,844 words.

Chief telegraph operator John S. La
Touche says he is glad the sports and
news teletype machines have been moved
to the News and Special Events Division
of the Program Department. What with
the rapid growth of the network in the
past few months the whole business of
keeping telegrams, news reports, baseball
and football scores, weather reports, and
market quotations in order was getting out
of hand in their small crowded office.

Thus, for seventeen and a half hours a
day the Traffic Department quietly and
efficiently supplies the associated stations
of the National Broadcasting Company
with a continuous flow of programs origi-
nating on land and sea and in the air
throughout the whole world.

i i 1

Turn to page twenty for a picture of the
Program Transmission Division.

E. B. LYFORD

A. M. CARAMORE

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by Noel Corbett

The influx of important transcontinen-
tals with their two-a-day which emanate
from the Hollywood studios has had its
effect upon pretty Jean Darrell. In
charge of continuity clearance, she found
it necessary to have a file of the pigeon-
hole type specially constructed to hold
scripts.

From the Sales Department came Tracy
Moore to insist that all the rack needed
was a little hay and a few chickens.

Miss Darrell arrived in her office the
other morning to find one of the continu-
ity bins housing a handful of straw in
which was nestling a hen’s egg. With
every member of the Program Department
stoutly refusing ownership the egg will
probably stay where it is, until . . .

Ill

This month finds no additions to the
Hollywood staff.

However, Sydney Dixon reports a new-
comer in his home, John William Har-
rison Dixon, May 5, blue eyes. The little
fellow weighs 8 pounds, which means he’ll
have to do some tall gaining to catch up
with his dad who tips the scales at 238.

i 1 i

In the rear of the NBC studios, over-
looking the main RKO thoroughfare, is a
young man with a friendly twinkle in his
eye and a perpetual smile of good humor
on his face. Close as he is to the movie
lot, the cinema bosses apparently have
been too busy to look up long enough to
spot a “find”.

However, that doesn’t mean that Fred
Dick, in charge of the Mimeograph De-
partment can’t copy a few ideas from the
movie colony for himself — When this is-
sue goes to press, Dick and Freda Von
Hartz will be flying to Yuma, Arizona, to
be married.

i 1 i

Badminton is evidently one of those
games that loses its flavor quickly.

A month ago it seemed that every mem-
ber of the Hollywood studios was trying
at the same time to gain admittance to the
lone court. The enthusiasm was so great
that plans for a gala tournament were
rushed ahead by Walter Baker. Valuable
prizes were arranged, even a sbower was
installed, and some of the boys wanted to
plan a special broadcast.

1 i i

But now, alas, the badminton court is
as desolate as was the stage during the
depression. Some say the weather hasn’t

been right. Others blame heavy working
hours — But at any rate, its a rare day when
the shuttlecock is seen flying across the
nets.

i .1 i

Walter Bunker, Sydney Dixon and Har-
rison Holliway, Manager KFI-KECA, are
going back to San Francisco. But it will
only be for a short visit when southern
members of San Francisco’s famed Bo-
hemian Club put on “A Nigbt in Los
Angeles”, on May 21.

i i i

Doing two or three things at the same

time is daily demonstrated by the Press
Department’s comely blond, Frances
Scully. The young lady who formerly
wrote the column thinks nothing of inter-
viewing two fan magazine writers at the
same time meanwhile arranging photo
appointments on the telephone for the
various Hollywood artists. In her spare
time she writes publicity of the big shows.

i i 1

QUICK PICKS . . . Summer arriving
fast; Ted Sherdeman and Hal Bock in
white suits, with manager John Swallow
determined to hold out until June . . .
Joe Alvin bagging a lizard in Bock’s of-
fice . . . Myrna Bay to New York via San
Francisco to get a look at Russ McNeil’s
skyscraper music library, Marvin Young’s
secretary, Joan Chapman, batting for Miss
Bay . . . Buddy Twiss still dizzy from some
of the scientific terms he picked up before
the Cal Tech broadcast . . . That was the

NBC PHILADELPHIA

{Continued from Page 14)

Many of those who walked down on the
field after midnight to see the wreckage
went by without noticing it in the dark-
ness. It was only when they turned to find
their bearings that the huge and twisted
skeleton showed through the moonlight.
The massive girders that a few hours be-
fore had been at a white heat were as
black as night.

By 2 a.m. the throngs outside the gate
had dispersed. The canteen had been
stripped of sandwiches and coffee. The
tiredness that follows intense excitement
was beginning to tell on the frazzled nerves
of everybody. It was time to go borne.

All effort was amply repaid on Friday
by the following teletype:

JOY

CONGRATULATIONS ON FINE JOB
DONE BY YOUR STAFF AT LAKE-
HURST.

ROYAL

broadcast that was covered by three an-
nouncers and three producers and the
good old wig-wag system for pickups . . .
Bob Brooke bound for the Engineers’ new
lounge, weighted with an armful of maga-
zines . . . Ruth Schooler overfeeding her
two pet turtles. Red and Blue Network, at
the request of Cecil Underwood, who likes
to watch them do their stint ... Two brick-
tops. Ray Furguson, engineer, and Holly-
wood studio one-man Traffic Department,
Karel Pearson in earnest conversation . . .
Elaine Forbes getting ready for vacation
in Yosemite which will be twice as good
as ever before, because she hasn’t got the
bugaboo sinus the doc thought she had.

The Program Transmission Division of the Traffic Department in New York. Its walls are lined
with the program schedule of NBC networks for the week — 75,000 different facts.

NBC TRANSMITTER

VOL. 5 JULY I, n)r,7 NO. 7

RCA-NBC Exhibit for 1939 World’s Fair

NBC OFFICIALS IN EUROPE
TO STUDY TELEVISION

Three NBC officials sailed for Europe
aboard the S. S. Hamburg on June 5 to
view television in various countries. They
were C. W. Farrier, co-ordinator of NBC’s
television activities, William S. Rainey,
head of the Production Division, and Rob-
ert E. Shelby, television supervisor of the
Engineering Department. Mrs. Rainey ac-
companied her husband.

Included in the itinerary of this NBC
“television expedition” are London, Paris
and Amsterdam, where they will acquaint
themselves with the technical and pro-
gram experiments in television being con
ducted by the British Broadcasting Com-
pany, the French broadcasting system,
and the Phillips Manufacturing Company,
respectively. Our representatives will also
visit the television exhibit at the Paris Ex-
position.

Messrs. Rainey, Farrier and Shelby are
expected back in New York on July 9.

In his absence Mr. Rainey’s post is be-
ing filled by his assistant, Thomas H.
Hutchinson.

BOYD APPOINTED HEAD
OF N. Y. LOCAL SALES

Maurice M. Boyd, salesman, was ap-
pointed head of the New York Local Sales
Division on June 22 to succeed F. E.
Spencer who resigned, effective July 1,
to become vice-president and general man-
ager of the New York division of Craig
and Hollingbery, Inc. Mr. Spencer’s sec-
retary, Miss Natalie M. Tait who joined
NBC four years ago also resigned to con-
tinue as his secretary in his new position.

Mr. Boyd, a native of the Hoosier State
and a graduate of Purdue University with
a B. S. E. E. degree. came to our Sales
Department in January 1933.

He started his career as a salesman im-
mediately after leaving college when he
joined the student training sales corps of
the Westinghouse Electric and Manufac-
turing Company. Following a short period
with station KDKA in Pittsburgh, West-
inghouse sent him to the sales promotion
department of its stations in Boston and
Springfield, WBZ and WBZA, where he
remained until he came to NBC.

Ill

Send your vacation pictures with complete
captions to the Photo Contest before July 17.

David Sarnoff, president of the Radio
Corporation of America, and Grover
Whalen, president of the New YOrk
World's Fair of 1939, signed an agreement
on June 17 whereby public demonstra-
tions of every aspect of radio and tele-
vision — the modern world’s and the future
world’s most effective means of communi-
cation and entertainment — will be given
by the Radio Corporation of America and
the National Broadcasting Company at
the coming World’s Fair.

The ceremony was televised in the tele-
vision studio of NBC in the RCA Building
where representatives of the press both
saw and heard the major participants, Mr.
Sarnoff. Mr. Whalen and Lenox R. Lohr,
president of the National Broadcasting
Company.

By terms of the agreement, RCA will
construct on the Fair Ground in New York
City an ultra-modern building which will
house a complete exhibition of all
branches of the radio art and its develop-
ments. Facilities will be provided for prac-
tical demonstration of all aspects of mod-
ern radio and television.

This building, linked with the NBC
television transmitter on the Empire State
Building, will televise outstanding World’s
Fair events, and will bring to visitors, for

the first time in radio history, joint dem-
onstrations of the marvels of sound and
sight broadcasting.

The complete story of radio will be told
to Fair visitors, Mr. Sarnoff declared at
the ceremony which was broadcast over
NBC’s networks. Mr. Sarnoff appointed
Mr. Lohr to take charge of the RCA-NBC
exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair. Mr.
Sarnoff said:

“In addition to his duties as president
of the NBC, I have delegated Mr. Lohr to
take charge of the RCA Family’s partici-
pation in this great fair. His successful ex-
perience as head of the Chicago Century
of Progress Exposition admirably quali-
fies him for this important assignment. As
a member of the RCA Family the NBC
will not only conduct the television dem-
onstrations at the fair, but its networks
will also carry the story of the exposition
to our world-wide radio audience.”

The introductory speech at the cere-
mony was made by Mr. Lohr, who said:
“We welcome you this afternoon to our
National Broadcasting Company television
studio where in a brief ceremony history
is to be made. Over a period of years,
RCA has developed television. In the last
year television has been turned over to
{Continued on Page 11)

A'fiC Photo by V'm. Haussler

Television was assured an important role in the 1939 New York World’s Fair when David
Sarnoff, president of RCA and Grover Whalen, president of the World’s Fair Corporation,
signed a contract for extensive RCA and NBC participation in the Fair. Taking part in the
ceremony in the NBC television studio in the RCA Building, the first of its kind ever to be
televised, were, left to right: Betty Goodwin, NBC fashion editor and television announcer; Lenox
R. Lohr, president of NBC; Mr. Sarnoff and Mr. Whalen. Engineer A. W. Protzman is operating
the Iconoscope camera.

NBC TRANSMITTER

"(Jiiotiition Marhs"

DEMOCRACY AND RADIO

“I have been told that radio in America is “utterly commercialized,”
but commerce did one great thing for radio — it took it away from centralized
authority on the one side and from the esthetic tyrant on the other.”

— Democracy by Gilbert Seldes, Cosmopolitan, July 1937.

* * *

NBC'S MUSICAL SCOOP

. . as evidence of its awareness of his increasing susceptibilities, radio
has just underwritten the greatest artistic venture in its history and is as-
sembling an orchestra for the purpose of meeting the demands of the incom-
parable Arturo Toscanini, who a year ago departed from our shores, leaving
behind the impression that he would not return.

“By this gesture, the National Broadcasting Company furnished the
year’s outstanding item of musical news, adding immeasurably to its own
prestige and to that of the industry itself.”

— Roulades and Cadenzas hy Carleton Smith (NBC Announcer),

Esquire, July 1937.

* * *

JINNI'S MODERN LAMP

“Incredibly swift and all but ubiquitous, radio is reckoned one of our
ten major industries. I venture to say that it is the greatest business in the
world, because it touches more lives than any other. It “has broadened its
service,” says David Sarnoff, president of the Radio Corporation of America,
“until today it is a medium of entertainment, education, and information.”
Surprisingly, Mr. Sarnoff understates his case; for radio is a medium also of
security, protection, and cultural democracy.

“Police cars, fireboats, and fire stations are now equipped with two-way
radio sets, so that they can receive alarms and relay them instantly.*** How
far would commercial aviation have progressed without its beacons and its
tidings of weather conditions?”

— Radio: Aladdin s New Lamp by Silas Bent, The Commentator,

July 1937.

RESIGNS AFTER A

DECADE IN RADIO

After having devoted ten fruitful years
to radio and the National Broadcasting
Company, an old timer has decided to let
it stand at a decade. Geraldine Fenrich
of Artists Service resigned last month
to devote all her time to her home.

Members of Artists .Service held a little
farewell dinner party in her honor at the
Campus Restaurant on Thursday, June 17.
Frank Murtha made a very witty dinner
speech. Fred Niblo, with whom Miss Fen-
rich has been working lately, also spoke
and jocularly tempted her to stay with
offers of a raise and a twenty-hour week,
but Miss Fenrich who in the past had been
persuaded twice to withdraw her resigna-
tion could not be persuaded to reconsider
ber third resignation from NBC. Miss Fen-
rich left behind many warm friends after
her decade of useful service, and all were
genuinely sorry to see her go.

It was back in 1926 that Geraldine Fen-
rich was initiated into the then very mys-
terious science of radio broadcasting at
stations WJZ and WJY, when their offices
were located on 42nd Street. Among the
early pioneers with Miss Fenrich were
Bertha Brainard, then station manager,
now commercial jjrogram manager for
NBC; Helen Guy, assistant to the busi-
ness manager of the Program Depart-
ment; Angela Caramore, Traffic Depart-
ment; Madge Tucker, manager of chil-
dren’s programs.

The station had a staff of ten. including
the engineers, and claimed innovation of
written scripts. Up until that time artists
and announcers addibbed or recited from
memory. Audition facilities were not
quite so abundant as they are today. Mem-
bers of the office staff were often routed
from their desks by cries of “Clear the
room for an audition.” Work was resumed
after the audition until someone else
would come in with another “find” for
the manager to hear.

“In those days the sponsors paid only
for the talent on their programs,” said
Miss Fenrich, “and received the air time
free. Most of the sustaining programs con-
sisted of singers and small orchestras, with
dramatics playing a very small part be-
cause of the need for a method of produc-
ing sound effects which still had to be in-
vented.”

WJZ had only two small studios equip-
ped with the old type carbon microphones.
The studios were mystically labelled Y
and Z. Program troubles and technical in-
terruptions were numerous and the people
who were in the business then little real-
ized to what magnitude and split-second
smoothness of service their station was
someday to arrive.

NBC Engineer Not Hurt

By Lightning Shock

George Butler of the New York staff of
field engineers was indirectly shocked by
a bolt of lightning while covering an out-
door Goldman Band concert in Central
Park, New York, on June 21. Although
the shock knocked him several feet away
from the amplifier he was not hurt.

The incident happened during a rain
and thunder storm which did not stop the
Goldman Band and its guest conductor,
Percy Grainger, and the NBC men from
broadcasting the music over the NBC-Blue
Network.

The electrical storm overhead, ex-
plained Mr. Butler, had gradually charged
with electricity the insulation of the radio
wires until a point of saturation was
reached when an additional flash of light-
ning added enough to the load to cause
the accumulated heavy charge of static

electricity to break through the insulation
of his headphones.

“It was a heavy jolt on the head,” said
Mr. Butler who looks and feels as well as
he did before the accident. “It felt as if
someone had struck me on the head with
a baseball bat.”

The effect on the broadcast which was
completed with no further interruptions
was merely a burst of static.

ill

The New York Guest Relations Division
invites all NBCites visiting Radio City
during their vacations to take the NBC
Studio Tour — the quickest and best way
to see and learn about the headquarters
of the National Broadcasting Company in
the RCA Building.

Complimentary Studio Tour passes may
be secured by presenting one’s NBC em-
ploye’s pass at the Guest Relations
Division.

JULY 1, 1937

WTAM CLEVELAND

by Bob Dailey

Five WTAM staff members have some
pointers on how to fight coal mine fires —
not that they may ever have any use for
the information. In New Straitsville, Ohio,
recently for an NBC-Red Network broad-
cast from the world’s largest underground
mine blaze, they learned how it feels to
live over a volcano.

The fire is burning over a fifty-mile
area and not much of that territory was
missed by NBC men during explorations.
The land is dotted with seemingly bottom-
less pits from which fire and gases belch,
and each proved an inviting mystery to
WTAM’s staff of mine investigators.

Announcer Tom Manning led the broad-
cast crew which included Engineers Eddie
Leonard, Alvin McMahon and John Dis-
brow and your correspondent.

It is not probable that wives of the men
would have recognized them in their min-
er’s regalia, including high boots, heavy
helmets and electric mine lamps. And all
had stiff necks for several days after
spending hours groping through the low-
ceiling tunnels.

The crew almost had to call on a search-
ing party of local woodsmen when Man-
ning decided to do a little exploring after
the broadcast. The area is densely wooded,
with only about four houses to every five
square miles. But the red headed an-
nouncer was back in an hour with a story
of discovering an old abandoned moon-
shiner’s still in the hillside.

Ill

Salesman Russell Carter’s usual ami-
able nature has been taxed considerably.
He took a lake cottage with the intention
of spending his two weeks’ vacation with
his wife and daughter.

But such was not to be his fate. A big
potential commercial program kept Carter
driving the fifty miles to Cleveland each
morning and back each night for the two

NBC GRANTS TWO

MUSIC SCHOLARSHIPS

Two scholarships for advanced instru-
mental study during the summer at the
National Music Camp in Interlochen,
Michigan, have been granted by the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company to youthful
winners in the National Orchestra Con-
test, held May 15 at Columbus, Ohio.

The recipients of the scholarships, both
graduates of high schools this spring, are
Roy Houser, Jr., seventeen years old, of
Centerville, Iowa, bassoon player, and Ed-

Walter Logan, Musical Director of WTAM,
is shown rehearsing his orchestra for the
premiere broadcast of his own composition
which he dedicated to Cleveland and which
has been adopted by the Cleveland Chamber
of Commerce as its official song.

weeks. And to top it off, it rained every
night for the first week, spoiling all eve-
ning activities at the lake. And it was so
cold he didn't even get a dip in the water.

Carter is investigating vacation insur-
ance for the next time he rents a lake
cottage.

> > >

WTAM Vox Pop — Agnes Anderson tak-
ing over Lila Burkhart’s duties in musi-
cal rights department while latter has a
leave of absence. . . . Marcella Harlow,
national sales secretary, back to work
after a month’s illness. . . . Manager Ver-
non H. Pribble taking a lot of good-na-
tured ribbing for his baby picture in last
issue of Transmitter. . . . Program Secre-
tary Edith Wheeler bribing her younger
brother to do the work and then bragging
about her garden. . . . Organist Doc Whip-
ple being dragged into the miniature cam-
era craze by Pianist Earl Rohlf.

ward Epstein, sixteen, of Chicago, French
horn player.

Winners in the individual instrument
contests, the youths were described by the
judges as being exceptionally gifted and
the most talented among the scores of win-
ners in the annual contest.

The NBC scholarships of $200 each pro-
vide for the board and tuition of the boys
at the camp during July and August. As
part of their training, they will join the
National Music Camp Orchestra, which,
for the last six years, has been heard over
the NBC networks every Sunday in July
and August.

NBC SOUTH AMERICAN

SERVICE EXPANDED

A new fifteen-minute program of cul-
tural discussion to be heard every Sunday
afternoon and a series of Press Radio
News broadcasts in Spanish and Portu-
guese to be heard daily from 7:00 to 7:30
p.m., EDST except Sundays have been
added to NBC’s schedule of broadcasts to
South and Central America over short-
wave station W3XAL, Bound Brook, N. J.

Charles Carvajal, production director of
tlie South American Program Department,
speaking in Spanish, presented the new
Sunday program under the title of “News
of Inter-American Cultural Activities” on
June 20 at 1:30 p.m. EDST These new
programs increase the total time devoted
to NBC’s short-wave broadcasts to Latin
America to nine hours and fifteen minutes
a week.

With the increase in the activities of
this Department two South American an-
nouncers, Martin Viale and Pinto Tamei-
rao. have been added.

Mr. Viale, from the Argentine, is a law-
yer. journalist and radio commentator. He
will present, in Spanish, Press Radio
News in broadcasts directed especially to
Argentina every day except Sunday at
7 :00 p.m., EDST.

Mr. Tameirao formerly was editor of
A Fazenda, an American agriculture mag-
azine published in Portuguese and circu-
lated in Brazil. He will give the Portu-
guese news reports during the second half
of each news broadcast.

NEW MEN IN MAIL ROOM

Three new men recently joined the New
York Mail-Messenger Service Section.
Their names follow.

Gene Kennedy of Brooklyn, a graduate
of Notre Dame University, is assistant
supervisor in the Mail Room. He was for-
merly office manager of the Kennedy Ad-
vertising Company in New York.

John Witschger, evening assistant su-
pervisor. comes to NBC with ten years’
experience with the New York Herald-
Tribune and one year with Standard
Statistics.

John Philip Sousa, 3rd, grandson of the
late bandmaster, joins NBC as a mail
messenger. He was graduated with a Cum
Laude in English from Princeton Uni-
versity last spring. Mr. Sousa went to
school in France for four years.

He was with Twentieth Century-Fox in
Hollywood as a script reader before com-
ing to Radio City. Mr. Sousa, 3rd, says he
does not plan to follow in his famous
grandfather’s footsteps. He wants to be a
writer.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Transfers:

Miss Bethany Mather of Central Steno-
graphic has been assigned to replace Miss
Geraldine Bone who resigned from the
Legal Department last month.

i i i

Charles C. Bevis has been transferred
from the guide staff to Night Program
Manager Wm. Burke Miller’s office, re-
placing George Hayes who is now an an-
nouncer. Mr. Bevis, who has been with the
Company less than a year, is studying
journalism at New York University.

/ / y

M iss Lisa Lundin who recently joined
the Stenographic Section has been trans-
ferred to the office of Walter G. Preston,
Jr., head of General Service. Miss Lundin
replaces Miss Florence Baird who in turn
is replacing Miss Doris Seiler who re-
signed as secretary to Walter Koons, music
editor of the Publicity Department.
i i i

Marriages:

George Malcolm. NBC old-timer and
well known studio host, was married to
Mrs. Madeline Evans at the Church of the
Truth on 42nd Street, New York City on
June 12. The wedding, which was followed
by a reception at Jack Lyons’s Restaurant

near Radio City, was attended by relatives
and friends of the couple, including sev-
eral NBCites.

This wedding was the culmination of a
Radio City romance, since the bride also
works in the RCA building. She is a cash-
ier at the Museum of Modern Science and
Industry.

The newlyweds are going to Martha’s
Vineyard on their honeymoon in the latter
part of this month. They will make their
residence in Babylon. Long Island where
the ex-member of the King’s Guard.
George Malcolm, owns “a cozy little house
with a garden.”

■f i i

Announcer Jack Costello was married
to Miss Mary Sullivan of Minneapolis in
the Lady Chapel of St. Patrick’s Cathe-
dral in the morning of June 17th in the
presence of a large number of his col-
leagues and other NBCites.

A breakfast and reception was held in
the Palm Room of the Hotel Park Central
after the nuptials. The newlyweds made
their escape, according to tradition, dur-
ing the reception, amidst much cheering
and rice-throwing. They went to Green-
wood Lake, New York, for what had to be
a brief honeymoon because “broadcasting
must continue as usual” and the bride-
groom had commercial radio commitments
in Radio City.

Mr. and Mrs. Jack Costello announce
that they are at home to their friends at
the Beaux Arts Apartments.

1 i i

Stork News:

Philip I. Merryman. Station Relations
Department, received an eight-pound baby

girl. Heather Ann, from the stork on June
5. The event took place in Mr. Merry-
man’s former home, Washington, D. C.,
where mother and child are doing very
well.

i i i

Richard Leonard. Production, became
the father of a baby boy on June 11.

■t i i

Returns:

Bill Bailey, announcer, has returned
from Philadelphia where he was confined
to the Mt. Sinai Hospital bdlowing an at-
tack of appendicitis, while he was attend-
ing his brother’s wedding in that city on
June 5.

i i i

Miss Marion Lamphere of Artists Ser-
vice who has been recuperating at her
home and at Poughkeepsie, New York,
from a long illness has returned to her
office after seven weeks’ absence.

i i i

Miss Ruby Smith of Artists Service has
returned, fully rec»>vered from a ten
weeks’ illness, to fill the vacancy in Mr.
Niblo’s office, caused by Miss Geraldine
Fenrich’s resignation.

i i i

Resignations:

Miss Harriett Fiseber resigned from the
Audience Mail Division last month to go
to California where she will be married
next week.

i i 1

Newcomers:

Carlos Clark, formerly with Commer-
cial Radio and Sound Co., station WNEW
and RCA Victor, has joined the Engineer-
ing Department as a maintenance engi-
neer.

i -t -f

Donald Ewert. formerly chief engineer
of WMFJ, joined our Engineering Depart-
ment on June 15.

i i i

T. Daniel.son is a new member of the
engineering staff at WJZ’s transmitter in
Bound Brook. N. J. He formerly was with
station WOR.

i i 1

Frederic (Ted ) Slade comes from Mon-
treal, Canada, to join our staff of sound
technicians in Radio City. Mr. Slade for-
merly was in charge of sound effects at the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and
Marconi Company (CFCF) where he also
did quite a bit of acting and announcing
in English and Erench. He was on the
stage before going into radio.

1 1 i

Six new men have joined our Radio City
page staff since the last issue of the NBC
Transmitter.

Erederick E. Wesche comes to NBC for
(Continued on Next Page)

NBCites at a house warming party given by Photographer William Haussler and his wife for
the members of the N. Y. Press Division Photo Section at their new attractive home at
Strathmore — Manhassett, Long Island. Shown above are some of the guests present, L. to R.
Sydney Desfor, Robert Fraser, Ray Lee Jackson and Mrs. Desfor who seems to be blushing at
her husband’s remarks.

JULY 1, 1937

(Continued from Previous Page)
a second period of service. He was with
us in 1934 — 1935, first, as a page at the
711 Fifth Avenue studios, later, when we
moved to Radio City, as a guide. At pres-
ent he attends Rutgers University where
he will return, after the NBC Studio Tour
summer rush, to continue his studies and
to resume his place on the varsity fencing
team.

Leo William Bennett comes from the
department store business. His home is in
Brooklyn. He attended Loyola University
in Chicago for two years.

Edward Kimball Renwick is another
newcomer, from Winnetka, Illinois. His
alma mater is Hamilton College, whose
two claims to fame are its choir and Alex-
ander Woollcott. The choir, of which Ren-
wick was a member, has been heard fre-
quently on NBC networks.

John H. Graham comes to us fresh from
Fordham University with a newly-ac-
quired Bachelor’s degree. In his time, he
says, he has hopped bells, operated eleva-
tors, worked in the National City Bank,
sold rings, and worked in a public library.

George Flood, who resigned from NBC
last fall to enter Villanova College, has
returned to work on the page force until
the end of his summer vacation when he
goes back to college. We’re glad he’s with
us this summer because he’s a good man
to have on the baseball team.

Jacques Tartiere comes to Radio City
from his native Paris, France, by way of
Virginia where he worked for a year as
an assistant trainer of thoroughbreds.

Before coming to America, Tartiere
worked as a reporter on a Paris news-
paper. He was educated in French schools,
at Eton in England and the Sorbonne in
Paris. He was collegiate epee champion of
France in 1934.

It did not take a movie talent scout long
to discover the potentialities of this tall,
handsome Gaul as a movie actor. Shortly
after his arrival on these shores Monsieur
Tartiere was rushed off to a studio for a
screen test which resulted in an offer from
a motion picture company. But, unfortu-
nately, Monsieur Tartiere’s ambitious
agent turned down the offer and held out
for a bigger sum. Later, after no larger
offer could be procured, Jacques and his
agent returned to the first bidder but, un-
fortunately, the offer had been cancelled
and the movie people could not be per-
suaded to reconsider it.

“C’est la vie,” said Jacques dolefully
after relating the anecdote above.

1 i 1

Sam Monroe joins our staff of sound
technicians bringing with him several
years’ experience in the theatre, movies
and radio. He spent many seasons with

the Peterboro Playhouse in New Hamp-
shire as an actor, stage designer and man-
ager.

Mr. Monroe comes from a family of
theatre folk. His mother is tlie well known
actress, Irene Hubbard, who has played
the part of Aunt Maria on the Showboat
program for many years.

Miscellaneous:

Miss Frances Barbour, secretary to J.
V. McConnell in Sales, recently gave a
song recital at the Miss Mackie Studios,
50 West 67th Street, where she has been
taking singing les.sons, on and off, during
the past four or five years. Miss Barbour
says that singing is in her blood — both
her parents were concert singers.

i i i

After a brief visit here in the East,

Charlie Smith has returned to his office
in Artists Service, Hollywood.

i i -r

Miss Margaret McHale, formerly of the
New York Sales Department and now sec-
retary to J. S. K. Hammann in Philadel-
phia. was in Radio City recently, during
her vacation, visiting old friends.

i i i

Mrs. Agnes Mommertz of Program
Analysis Statistical gave a cocktail party
at her home, 25 Park Avenue, on Tuesday
evening, June 15, in celebration of the
forthcoming nuptials of Misses Rita Doyle
and Antoinette Force, both of Statistical.
Several NBCites were present.

Miss Mildred Joy of the General Li-
brary sailed on June 30 for a six-weeks’
vacation in Europe, including Russia. This
item upsets our tranquility considerably
— we can’t quite conceive what this ardent
Ohio Republican would be doing in
Russia. y y y

Margaret Cuthbert, Director of Wom-
en’s Activities, has been appointed to act
as vice-chairman on the committee of the
1939 biennial convention of the National
Federation of Business and Professional
W'omen’s Clubs during the World’s Fair
in New York.

i i i

The Misses Frances Sprague and Mil-
dred Joy of the General Library repre-
sented NBC at the twenty-ninth annual
convention of Special Libraries Associa-
tion held in the Roosevelt Hotel, June 16
to 19. ^ ^ ^

Miss Frances Sprague of the Library
reports that her brother, Stewart Sprague,
formerly of the NBC Legal Department,
became the father of an eight-pound baby
boy on June 24th.

Mr. Sprague is now practicing radio law
as a partner of the firm of Crawford and
Sprague in New York City.

1 1 i

Miss Phoebe Mink in Press confided
that Day Editor Ed Curtin’s fourth wed-
ding anniversary was on June 25th last.
Miss Mink remembers it very well because
on the same day last year she had her ap-
pendix operation, causing her to miss Mr.
and Mrs. Curtin’s third wedding anniver-
sary party.

l^BC Photo by Syd Desfor

NBCites in the New York Promotion Division had a triple birthday party on June 23rd — they
are pictured tasting their cake, facing the camera, from left to right: Diana Miller, J. K. Mason
and Louise Levitas. Others in the picture are: Mary Coyne, left, Enid Beaupre, W. B. Parsons,
Margaret Huemer (Sales) and Frances Kelly.

NBC TRANSMITTER

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 JULY 1, 1937 No. 7

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS Editor

AKY R. MOI-1 Associate Editor

CARL CANNON Features

HERBERT CROSS Circulation

CHARLES VAN BERGEN Photographs

N. Y. CONTRIBUTORS

RODERICK MITCHELL Guest Relations

MILDRED L. JOY General Lihrary

SPENCER MrNARY Artists Service

FRANK C. LEPORE

Advisory Editor

Address all correspondence to:
NBC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA Bldg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

PROMOTION SYSTEM

It always has been a policy of the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company to fill vacan-
cies in the Company with qualified and
experienced men and women who have
served their apprenticeship in the ranks.
This has been consistently shown in nu-
merous cases — especially during the past
four years of increasing expansion in fa-
cilities and personnel.

Though the system of providing train-
ing for aspirants in the different depart-
ments of NBC is still in the stage of de-
velopment, and has not yet been intro-
duced into a few departments, it already
has been put into effect and has produced
satisfactory results, both for the individ-
uals and the Company, in several major
divisions.

The RCA Institute in New York and
Chicago has provided the necessary
“book” knowledge that has made it pos-
sible for ambitious young men in the Com-
pany to fill apprenticeships in the
Engineering Department.

The announcing classes that were
started less than three years ago in Radio
City and. more recently, in Chicago have
trained many of our present announcers.
A number of the announcing schools’
“graduates” have been placed in various
NBC affiliated stations. In New York
alone, there are eight men on the announc-
ing staff who formerly were pages and
guides trained by the Company to fill their
present posts.

The Sound Effects Section also has been
successful in various NBC regional divi-

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sions in recruiting and training young men
from the ranks to become sound effect
technicians.

Two years ago a script-writing class,
which we hope will be resumed soon,
succeeded in uncovering and teaching em-
bryonic writers to write for radio. Some
of the scripts written by members of the
class were accepted by the Program De-
partment and produced on the air. Six
members of the New York Script Division
today were at one time members of the
uniformed staff.

We can cite many other cases in which
NBC’s policy of filling higher positions
from its ranks had been put into effect but
our space is limited.

In conclusion, may we express our de-
sire to have this excellent policy main-
tained and, if possible, expanded to cover
all branches of the Company. There is still
some territory to be explored and made
available to the young people of NBC and
we have implicit faith in the Company’s
plans and efforts in training as many of
the qualified aspirants as is possible for
every department.

i i i

Every NBC employee is a reporter of his paper,
the NBC TRANSMITTER.

Ah, 9h4aUcU40H

Mr. and Mrs. Lenox R. Lohr in-
vite all NBC members and their
families to a picnic and fireworks
display on the grounds of their home
in Tarrytown, New York, in the eve-
ning of July 5th. Those wishing to
take their own picnic suppers are
welcome to come in the afternoon
and use the spacious grounds of
President Lohr’s estate.

Mr. Lohr’s car will meet all
trains arriving from New York in
Tarrytown between 5:00 P.M. and
8:13 P.M.

Those who are going by automo-
bile are advised to take Route Num-
ber 9, the Albany-Post Road, or
Highway 119 which goes through
White Plains.

The address is 321 South Broad-
way, Tarrytown, N. Y.

JULY 1, 1937

The twoks listed in this column are recommended ns pertinent literature on radio and
allied subjects. They will be found in the General Library on NBG Transmitter Shelf.

MIDDLETOWN IN TKANSITION; by Robert S. and Helen Merrell
Lynd. Harcoiirt. Brace & Co.. Inc. An eventful decade has elapsed since the
Lynds first studied the city of “Middletown" and reported the findings of their
study of contemporary American culture. The story is now carried forward
from 1925 through the presidential election of last year. The two volumes
have been planned along similar lines for purposes of comparison, hut the
present work discusses as well those new and significant problems which
have entered the life of this typical American community during the last few
years. Of particular interest to broadcasters is the report on the flourishing
radio station that has been established in “Middletown" and on the poj)u-
larity of radio as a form of entertainment among its citizens.

B.B.C. ANNUAL 19, S7. A glimjjse at radio across the Atlantic is especi-
ally in order now that the new yearbook of the British Broadcasting Corpor-
ation has been published. 1936 broadcasting trends and .some of the outstand-
ing programs themselves are described; general technical progress and tele-
vision advances receive a generous amount of attention; and financial reports
for the year are included. All in all this |)rovides a most comprehensive view
of British radio today.

MY SIXTY YEARS IN THE SHOW BUSINESS. 1874-1934; as told by
George Blumenthal to Arthur H. Menkin. Overflowing with recollections of
famous people and shows. Mr. Blumenthal's hook presents a valuable picture
of the theater during the last half century. The connecting link in this story
of backstage events is Mr. Blumenthal’s long and close association with
Oscar Hammerstein and his family. A manager and promoter himself, Mr.
Blumenthal has given an excellent account of the promotional side of theat-
rical life.

LISTENER REACTIONS

by Ruth Crawford

Correspondent, New York Audience Mail Division

Orchids :

“The dramatization of “Mice and Men” given last night over WEAF was the best
ever heard on the radio. It seemed to me the very height of excellence both as to script
and acting. . . .

“This is the first fan letter I have ever written.”

Eleanor B. Roosevelt (Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt. Jr.)

i i i

A Boston music lover:

“There are many things I wish to thank you for. principally for the music you have
given us this winter. . . .

“Also — I forgot to say that the fact that you are to give us Toscanini fills us with

joy.

i i i

A short-wave fan in England:

“It gives me great pleasure and appreciation to write you and let you know how
much I enjoy your programs. The short-wave set I purchased a few months ago brings
in a great many stations under NBC.”

i i 1

A 1937 high school graduate:

“I want to express my thanks for your kindness in sending material for my Senior
essay contest. At Commencement I was named as one of the four winners. The prize
is a week’s trip to Washington with all expenses paid and spending money besides.”

SPORTS

BASEBALL

The NBC baseball team removed itself
from its season slump on June 12th and
look over the Apeda .Studios team at
George Washington stadium by a sc(»re of
9 to 5.

Behind the exi)ert pitching of Williams
and Von Frank the NBCites hunched their
hits at the important moments to come
out on the long end of the score for its first
victory.

Left-fielder Herb Gross was behind the
|)late for the first time this season and as
catcher seemed to give the hoys the proper
inspiration. He set them an example at
the plate too. for he had a jterfect day, get-
ting five hits in five times at the hat.

The next week, however, the hoys slip-
ped by the way and dropped a game to
Columbia Pictures. 5 to 2. “Hooks” Hen-
derson ( Mail Room ) had his first pitching
assignment of the season, and though on
the losing side, turned in a fine perform-
ance.

Seen at the last game were such steady
and enthusiastic rooters as George Mc-
Elrath. president of the Athletic Associa-
tion; R. J. Teichner. A. A. vice-president;
Dwight G. Wallace, personnel manager;
Bert Williams and Earl Harder of Guest
Relations.

ill

SWIMMING

Adam J. Yung. Jr., chairman of the
swimming committee, recently conducted
a poll which revealed that NBCites want
the swimming activities at the Parc Ven-
dome pool to continue during the summer
months.

The group meets every Wednesday eve-
ning at five-thirty. The price is forty-five
cents and in addition to a swim it includes
the use of the gymnasium which is well
equipped with body-building or reducing
apparatus, whichever you need.

ill

SKATING AND BICYCLING

Miss Helen Winter (Treasurer’s),
chairman of the skating group, reports
that quite a number of NBC people have
been turning out every Monday evening at
six o’clock to roller-skate on the Mall in
Central Park.

The skaters are so zealous about their
sport that they plan to write a letter to
the mayor of New York City petitioning
him to improve the pavement on the Mall
in order to make it more suitable for
roller-skating.

This group is also planning to organize
bicycle-riding groups to ride in the park.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC CHICAGO

by Bill Senn

SENSATION : At last something new
has hit the airlanes! A1 Barker. Contin-
uity. and Don Marcotte. Music Library,
are responsible for the “new” theme song
for a certain program which, according to
fan mail and ’phone calls, “has all the
swing and verve of a great march.” All the
enthusiasm is over a song frequently men-
tioned as a second “national anthem” for
the United States, “Columbia, the Gem
of the Ocean,” first presented in Phila-
delphia in 1843.

i i i

DEVOTION : Ken Rohin.son, continuity
editor, temporarily lost an admirer when
his nine-year-old son, Ray, recently wrote
a fan letter to a program not written by
Ken, praising it as the best on the net-
works.

i i ^

DIPLOMACY : Mail Room this month
had a reminder of the tragic plane crash
in Utah last December. Two letters, re-
covered from the wreckage, were received
in government envelopes. One was ad-
dressed to Bill Young of Transcription
Service, the other was for the Fitch Jingle
program. The incident was not without its
grim humor. As a supreme example of
understatement, stamped on each letter
was a note to the effect that they were
“delayed due to interruption of Air Mail
.Service.”

i -f i

RECOVERY: From the feminine ranks
of our office force comes the cheering word
that Miss Ruhye Downs, Sales switch-
board operator, has returned to her desk
after a forced “vacation” due to a serious
operation; Miss Marg Niess. new Audi-
ence Mail Supervisor, recovered from an
appendectomy in the surprisingly short
time of four days; and pretty Jane Stahl
is hack in Central Stenographic after a
week’s siege of the flu. You just can’t
keep ’em down!

i i i

If ELL-KNOW N : On June 10 a post
card was received here from Pennsylvania
by a broadcast originating in the Chicago
studios with only these words for an ad-
dress, “It’s a beautiful day here in Chicago,
111.” The same program received a card
with the enthusiastic support, “Your pro-
gram was so great. I liked it good. I never
heard you have a better one. But just don’t
enjoy writing.”

i i i

“AH DOES" : Miss Virginia Thompson
of Statistical will be wearing a veil and
whispering “I do” for the benefit of one
Anson Sweet on Saturday, June 26; and

Miss Marion Cooper down in Central
Stenographic was surprised with a towel
shower by Miss Carolyn Turner and the
other girls in the department — she is to
be wed to George lYlwards in August.

i i i

CAUGHT : Candid camera fans have
been spotted catching unusual shots in
the studios; the NBC Night Club and per-
.sons connected with the Program Depart-
ment seem to he the chief centers of inter-
est. Lookers-on have suggested spreading
the dirt. What better way than entering
the prints in the NBC TRANSMITTER
Photo Contest?

i i i

PROUD PAPA: A box of cigars in
Main Control on June 15 with an attached
note announced the addition of another
eight-pound son to the family of Vern
Mills.

■f i i

ISHKABIBBLE : .Speaking of diction
(or was anybody) try this title for a
press release. “JOTOKYOREYUOREITO
STARERENCEC ‘STREAMLINED
SHAKESPEARE’ SERIES”. It had John
Bay of the Duplicating Division stumped,
too. until he discovered the mistake (a
slip in the machine). “It’s Russian.” says
Bud, for the correct version. “JOHN
BARRYMORE IN ‘STREAMLINED
SHAKESPEARE’ SERIES”.

i i i

TWO NEW PRODUCERS: Coming
from Toledo, Lyle D. Barnhart starts his
first radio production job at the Central
Division. A graduate of Alma College,
Michigan and Toledo, Mr. Barnhart is a
former director at the University Civic
Theatre of Toledo and the Shaker Village
Players of Cleveland; he has been em-
ployed at stations WTAM and WSPD, and
was recently head of the department of
speech at the University of Toledo.

Cordon T. Hughes, a native of Worces-
ter, Mass., is another newcomer to the
Production Department. Starting in
vaudeville at the age of five, and radio at
twelve, Mr. Hughes has been radio direc-
tor. author, and actor. He leaves his posi-
tion as Director of the Community Thea-
ter of Des Moines, Iowa, to join the Cen-
tral Division of NBC.

i i i

AMIABLE : Six feet, five and one-half
inches of blond announcer in the person-
age of Durward Kirby, replaces Rene
Cekiere. Mr. Kirby started in radio sing-
ing at WDAA, Purdue where later he
became a staff announcer. Moving from
Purdue, he spent a year and a half at

both WEBM, Indianapolis, and WLW,
Cincinnati. He was born in Covington,
Kentucky. ^ y ^

BRASS BUTTONS: Pages George A.
Heinemann and Robert B. McGinnis, re-
placing Robert Wilson and Robert Venn,
are actively engaged in touring the studios
with visitors, among whom there was no-
ticed the other day an “army” of Boy and
.Sea Scouts.

i i i

ADVANCEMENTS: Leonard Ander-
.son. Assistant Office Manager, replaces
George Vlach, who left our employ. Rus-
sell Sturgis, engineer in our employ for
six years, is promoted to the post of Con-
trol Relief Supervisor.

i i i

STUDIO ENGINEERS: Raymond C.
Bierman, horn in Elkhart, Indiana, on
February 18. 1910, became a studio engi-
neer for the Central Division. Education — ■
Knox College, where he studied dramatics
under C. L. Menser. (Production head)
and Purdue University where he earned
the degree of Bachelor of Science in Elec-
trical Engineering. Experience — design-
ing in the electrolytic condenser division
of P. R. Mallary and Company (later in
Sales Engineering Department), Finnell
System. Inc., Frost Radio Company, Sta-
tions WLW, Cincinnati, and WBAA, Pur-
due. and several smaller stations. Hobbies
— amateur radio, photography, and music.
Married since 1931. Member of Masons
and of Knights of Pythias.

Robert B. Whitnah first became inter-
ested in radio in 1926 when he began op-
erating amateur station W9DBT. In 1931
he obtained his commercial second-class
operator’s license; at the same time be-
came a motion picture projectionist. Stu-
died Electrical Engineering at Iowa State
College and worked at college station
WOI. Was a relief operator at KSO and
KRNT until 1935 when he joined the staff
of the Affiliated Broadcasting Company
and became Master Control Supervisor.
He is now employed as Studio Engineer
in NBC’s Central Division.

i i -f

TRANSFERRED: Miss Lillian Wack
and Miss Florence Reiland have switched
positions. The change leaves Miss Reiland
in Local Sales and Miss Wack in National
Sales. ^ ^ ^

F AREW^ELL-. After two years of han-
dling the pick-up and delivery of office
mail, Charles A. Robb now leaves for the
Rapid Copy Service Company on Michi-
gan Avenue — he will be a sales promoter.

JULY 1, 1937

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by Noel Corbett

Helen Aldrich, pretty brunette secretary
to Tracy Moore in the Sales Department,
will spend her vacation playing the lead-
ing role in a stage play “Confetti Trail”
which is being presented by Curtain Calls,
a Hollywood Little Theatre group. This
isn’t Helen’s first theatrical experience, as
she was quite active in Oakland in pur-
suit of a dramatic career.

Honey, the tricky little wire-haired pet
of Walter Bunker, blessed-evented this
month by presenting the Bunkers with
three puppies.

i i i

Charles Swallow, the young son of the
Hollywood manager. John Swallow, grad-
uated this month from the Elisnore Mili-
tary Academy.

i i i

Honor Holden, secretary to Dema
Harshbarger in the Hollywood Artists’ Bu-
reau. treked east on her vacation so that
she could witness the graduation of her
daughter. Charlo from Depaw College in
Indiana. Mrs. Holden will bring her
daughter to Hollywood where she will re-
main.

i i i

Newcomers to the Hollywood studios
include Earl Sorensen, recently graduated
from the University of California, who has
been added to the engineering staff under
Donald De Wolf. John Knight, who is on
a summer vacation from Pomona College,
has been added to the Mail Department.

i i 1

It seems that everything happens to
Russell Hudson, head of the combined
mail department-page boys and ushers.
During a recent Burns & Allen show, a
ten-year-old youngster bolted into the stu-
dio and dashed down the aisle. Fearful
less he cause a commotion, young Hudson
let the lad stay put until after the show,
at which time the barefooted-overall clad
lad resisted Hudson’s ejection to the point
of almost biting his finger off. Nice goin’
says Russell with his injured finger done
up in bandages.

i i i

Since Virginia Elliott’s hubby accepted
an assignment down in El Centro, Cali-
fornia, which will keep him in the Imper-
ial Valley city for several weeks, Ruth
Schooler and Virginia have become apart-
ment sharers.

ill

Hove iun this summer. Join the NBC Athletic
Association in New York.

We always try to
include as many
names as possible in
our column, hut two
of our people here
in New York have
had such unusual
things happen to
them lately, that we
have decided to de-
vote our entire col-
umn to telling you about them this time.

Ladies first — and her name is Mildred
O’Neill (Bliss) of that literal “tower of
Babel.” the NBC telephone switchboard.
An attractive young lady of some twenty-
odd years (see illustration), Mildred was
commissioned during one of her days off
to take her eight-year-old niece over to
John Powers’ Agency with a view to find-
ing the little lady work as a child model.

They had quite a wait — sitting in Mr.
Powers’ outer office — but finally they were
admitted to the inner sanctum. Mr. Powers
almost completely ignored the eight-year-
old girl, hut started his usual routine ques-
tions of Miss O’Neill.

“But. I’m not looking for modeling
work,” she explained. “I’m here to try to
get my young friend something to do.”

Mr. Powers couldn’t believe it. and ven-
tured the opinion that Mildred had better
have some professional pictures made, in-
timating he’d be plenty interested in the
results.

You’ve probably guessed the answer.
The pictures proved that she should never
hide her loveliness behind a switchboard.
John Powers had given her a listing with
his agency, and her first professional ap-
pearance will be after July 31 when she
will have ended her duties for NBC to
accept her first assignment modeling for
the Black Box Studios. But we’re willing
to bet that the first time the camera shut-
ter clicks on her lovely features, it will
take a lot of will power to keep her from
saying “This is the National Broadcast-
ing Company.”

* * »

The other interesting person is Rowe
Langston, twenty-three years old, a na-
tive of St. Louis, Missouri and at present
a receptionist in the Office Section on the
fifth floor.

With ten dollars in his pocket, Rowe
took himself off on a no-expense vacation.
By means of his thumb pointed toward
the South, he enjoyed a hitch-hiker’s tour

MILDRED O'NEILL

PLAUDITS FOR NBC

ECLIPSE BROADCAST

We can think of no more adeipiate com-
mentary on the |)art NBC played in the
recent National Geographic — U. S. .Navy
Eclipse Ex[)cdition to the .South Seas than
the following letter addressed to A. A.
(Abe) Schechter, NBC Director of News
and Special Events by Thomas W'. Mc-
Kann, assistant secretary of the National
Geographic Society in Washington, D. C.
“Dear Mr. Schechter:

“W hen I see you I am going to tell
you how much we appreciated the op-
portunity of working with you on the
eclipse broadcasts and how good we
think they were under your direction,
hut as I don’t expect to get up to New
York for .several weeks or more, I am
not going to wait until then to tell you
that we think N.B.C. did a swell job
and that the National Geographic So-
ciety has fullest appreciation for the
assistance and cooperation rendered
efficiently and effectively in this series
of broadcasts. It added a great deal
of color to the eclipse which other-
wise might have been a little drab,
as scientific expeditions are some-
times inclined to he.

“To me. the high-light of the whole
thing was George Hicks’s description
of the actual eclipse on the afternoon
of June 8th. He did a magnificent job
and one which was fully appreciated
by the listening audience. Then, too,
his handling of the other programs in
this series was superb and he deserves
a lot of credit, but we must not forget
the unsung heroes, those radio engi-
neers, Brown and Adams, who did not
appear in the front so very often but
whose work was all important.

“Personal regards and all good
wishes.

“Sincerely yours,

(Signed) Thomas W. McKann.”

of the region between New York and
Richmond. Overnight stops and meals,
carefully planned in advance, were en-
joyed with friends and relatives along the
way.

He timed his trip so that he arrived
back in New York one week later with
five dollars still left and joined up with
friends who were motoring to Cape Cod
and through New England.

Mr. Langston figures he has traveled
25,000 miles in the last twelve months
at approximately .003 cents per mile, and
the Richmond Times Dispatch said,
“Smartly dressed in gabardine — Mr.
Langston’s type of ‘sponging’ is a classier
brand.”

— Walter Moore.

NBC TRANSMITTER

LET S GET ACQUAINTED

W E want you to meet a good friend of
ours, Dominick Caracciolo. Isn’t his
name familiar? Well then, take a look at
his picture. Oh! We thought you would
recognize him. He is one of NBC’s oldest
employes. He celebrates his tenth NBC
anniversary next October 6th. Through
the years he has gone about his work
quietly and efficiently. Whenever you en-
counter him. he greets you with a gruff,
hearty “Good morning’’ or “Good after-
noon,’’ as the case may be.

Dominick is one of the porters who keep
the Radio City studios in order. He began
as one ten years ago and, in his own
words, he “has been one all the way
through.” While his job may not seem very
important when one thinks of the tycoons
whose biographies we are accustomed to
read in columns like this, he has always
performed it to the best of his ability,
given it all that he had to give. That is
why we feel that he deserves recognition
at long last.

Dominick came to America from Reg-
gio Calabria in Italy as a youth of nine.
He attended public schools to learn Eng-
lish. A few years later he became the
bread winner in his family and had to
leave school. In his early ’teens he set out
to win his way in the world.

He held a variety of jobs as the years
passed. He had one job for almost thirty
years with a beer bottling concern. Domi-
nick was a foreman in charge of fifty men.
He lost his job when the company closed
its doors with the advent of Prohibition.

Then he went into the building line and
soon again was a foreman. Years later,
one day in the fall of 1927 he came to
NBC.

He has seen NBC grow from a small
network to the vast and established organ-
ization that it is today. Many people have
passed through our doors in his time.
Some entered as unknowns and went out
famous. Young men that he knew as
“Jimmy” or “Shrimp” today are execu-
tives of this great company of ours. Others
have drifted into many channels. It is dif-
ficult to keep track of them. Dominick re-
marked wistfully — it was a few days short
of pay day — “I wish I had a dollar for
everyone who has come and gone.”

Dominick has found many valuables
while making his rounds. Many an absent-
minded artist has showered profuse thanks
upon him for the return of something they
thought they had lost forever. He is a firm
believer in the old maxim, “Honesty is
the best policy.” Once this paid him divi-

DOMINICK CARACCIOLO

“Honesty is the best policy"

dends. Dominick found a twenty dollar
gold piece. He promptly turned it into the
Lost and Found Department. Weeks
passed. Finally after three months, no one
having claimed it, the gold piece was re-
turned to him.

Tragedy has darkened his life these last
few years. Life hasn’t been as bright since
his wife and two daughters passed away,
all within a short time of each other. One
who is not on intimate terms with him
would never know of the grief that has
troubled him, for with his characteristic
outlook he has put his .sorrow in the back-
ground and stoutly carried on.

Of his remaining children he can justly
be proud. One son is prominent in the
Democratic party in Queens. Another is
in the grocery business. A third, the baby
of the family, is an honor student in high
school. His daughter helps keep house for
him.

NBC LIBRARY HONORED

NBC’s New York General Library was
included in the list of libraries recom-
mended by The Library Journal for in-
spection during the National Convention
of the American Library Association held
at the Waldorf-Astoria from June 21 to 26.

Librarian Frances Sprague reports that
a large number of visiting librarians from
different parts of the country have come
to inspect our radio library, considered the
only one of its kind in this country.

by Frank W. Nesbitt

But there is nothing off balance about
this. During a recent television demon-
stration for the press, our NBC photog-
raphers took shots of the event at 4:15
o’clock. Fifty-one minutes later, at 5:06,
eighty-five prints, complete with captions,
were rushed to the pressmen for use in
their papers and syndicates. And for news
of television progress and a sample of
one of the photos see page one.

y f Y

Soon there may be a new trio lulling
the radio waves. Pat O’Connor, Roderick
Mitchell, and Dick Barron, all of Guest
Relations, are the boys. They are due for
an important audition.

Y Y Y

We admit that this is pretty hard to
take, but really it’s true. It concerns one
of the fellows in the Mail Room. A few
rainy nites ago he was to attend a rather
swank dinner party on Long Island. With
the thought of preserving his sartorial ele-
gance, he wore a raincoat. Entering the
house, he removed it, and all his poise too
— he had forgotten to change from his uni-
form to his street clothes.

Y Y Y

Guides taking the early morning studio
tours are arousing their parties on the
ninth floor by pointing out Ford Bond’s
mail outside his office.

Y Y Y

Speaking of the tours, a guest on one of
them, after being shown the dirt removed
from an air-dust filter, said, “This isn’t
air-conditioning; it’s real estate.”

Y Y Y

For what’s what on Broadway and the
legitimate stage, you might question Page
Murdock T. Pemberton. He’s the nephew
of producer Brock Pemberton. And his
father is Murdock Pemberton, the writer.

Y Y Y

Pretty Yvette Bedard of the Sales De-

partment is going to Bermuda for a
“rest.” A contradiction in terms, but a
swell thought.

Y Y Y

Would the announcer who can say suc-
cessfully “toy boat” ten times in rapid
succession please communicate with this
column. We would like to shake his hand.

Y Y Y

The new small RCA set in the tube
exhibit is one of the swankiest little sets we
have ever seen. Go up and take a look.

JULY 1, 1937

NBC PITTSBURGH

by Kay Barr

Here are some of the answers we got
from the members of KDKA to our query
on vacation plans, “When, where, how are
you going and what do you expect to do
when you get there?”

Bill Jackson, head of local sales, “The
whole Jackson family sails for Geneva on
the Lake July 18, to play golf, swim, fish,
dance, play golf, read, rest, play golf, ride,
play golf and play golf.”

Ed Schaughency, announcer and main
spring of the Musical Clock, goes to Mus-
kegon, Michigan, July 19, to “Sleep ’til
noon every day. Then sleep, swim, sleep,
eat, sleep and fish.”

Edith Hingley, switchboard operator, is
making elaborate plans to go nowhere
with nobody and do nothing, starting Au-
gust 2.

Program Manager John Gihon and Dor-
othy are going to take their son to Des
Moines, Iowa, so his great-grandparents
may see him. Then a week’s cruise around
Lake Michigan on the private sailing
yacht of a friend.

A. LeRoy Hasenbalg, national sales
head, wishes he knew when he was going
to take his vacation. He adds: “It may be
I should say, ‘and how.’ ” But it’s a Great
Lakes cruise, private yacht, start and fin-
ish in Chicago.

Announcer “Sunbeam” Billy Hinds
would like to go,

“Out on an Indian Reservation
Far away from a radio station,”
but instead he plans a busman’s holiday,
visiting friends in Radio City, a hurried
jaunt down to Avalon by the Sea and a
general round of “loafing, swimming, fish-
ing and stuff.”

Lynn Morrow, head of Sales Promotion,
will take his vacation on the installment
plan because he is tied up four days a
week with interview broadcasts. So it will
take him ten weeks to get two weeks off.
His family will be at Geneva and he will
spend the week-ends with them, Thursday
evening to Monday each trip.

Jimmy and Ann McConnell, of Artists’
Service, say dates are hard to book in the
summer and they can’t take a vacation be-
cause it would not be fair to their acts.
But if they could take a vacation it would
be with fishing, swimming and rowing as
the objectives, perhaps at Tidioute, Penn-
sylvania.

Adelaide Lasner, assistant production
manager, is dreaming of Banff and Lake
Louise. But only dreaming, because she is
on the artist payroll. Which means vaca-
tions are on one’s own pocketbook instead

of on the house. .So Adelaide will probably
spend her summci “on the Isle of Tran-
scription, where platters are filled with
grooves, not sea-food.”

Marcella Campbell, Continuity, says
“It’s all over . . . but not forgotten.” “It”
was a honeymoon with the beautiful vistas
and gorgeous green mountains of a motor
trip down through Maryland and Virginia
to the Endless Caverns, the Shenandoah
Valley, and Washington. . . . “Much nicer
than the ordinary vacation.”

And Bob Saudek, head of Continuity,
will “pull on a pair of dungarees and an
old white hat and take the first train for
New England where the salt-sea is waiting
to toss us around in a little cat-boat. This
is our regular formula for my two-weeks-
with-pay. Warwick Neck, Martha’s Vine-
yard and Nantucket. One dollar goes to
who can convince me that this isn’t the
best way to be lazy.”

Your correspondent also yearns to go
down to the sea — the Caribbean Sea, to be
specific. So it will probably be a cargo
vessel to the Honduras for a load of ba-
nanas. There’s many a slip, so an October
motor trip may be substituted for the
coastwise cruise.

Jack Hollister, sports commentator, de-
clares, “I am going to the Texas Exposi-
tion in Dallas, where I worked last year,
and lie like hell to the boys about what a
big job I have now.”

Eleanor Ondek, John Gihon’s assistant,
used half of her vacation on a honeymoon
last February. The remaining week will be
spent in their cottage back in the hills
near Ligonier.

General Manager H. A. Woodman’s va-
cation plans are still indefinite but his
native New England has a powerful ap-
peal.

G. Dare Fleck, assistant program mana-
ger, “Ain’t goin’ nowhere, don’t know how
I’m goin’ or what I’m goin’ to do when I
get there.”

And Dale McFeatters, the Press news
reeler, plans to spend two weeks in July
on an ore boat on the Great Lakes, sketch-
ing and reading “Gone With the Wind.”

i 1 i

Janet Ross of Style and Shopping has
just returned from her vacation where she
visited her father, mother and brother.

1 1 i

Relda Garrett, secretary to Mr. Wood-
man, has just returned from a combina-
tion vacation and honeymoon.

EXCHANGE CORNER

All items must be in writing; give name and
address.

WE.STWARD TO OHIO— Will accommodate
up to three people in return for reasonable
fee in late model car. Leaving around July 4.
Going by way of Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh.
Charles Hawel, Ext. 402, Mail Room.

FOR RENT — Giving up apartment at 24 E.

61st St., N. Y. C., Oct. 1st, but will relin-
quish before that date to anybody interested.
Large living room with fireplace, bedroom,
porch, kitchenette with Electrolux. Quiet
house. Enid Beaupre, Room 416, Ext. 860.

RADIO COURSE — New York University
offers a six-week radio workshop course be-
ginning July 6. The study will cover continuity
writing, plays, program planning, acting, and
the preparation of musical broadcasts. The
tuition is $50.00.

SAN FRANCISCO — Modern artists’s cottage
with separate quarters for two people.
Furnished or unfurnished. Fireplace. Shower.
Nice kitchen. Large garden and parking space.
Apply at 953 Union St., San Francisco or
phone Evergreen 0784, or write to the NBC
Transmitter.

RCA-NBC Exhibit

For 1939 Worid's Fair

(Continued from Page 1)

the National Broadcasting Company for
extensive field tests and to study the art
of programming. As I talk to you now, the
television camera is pointed at us and our
voices and likenesses are being sent to you
tbrough our television transmitter W2XBS
located on the Empire State Tower, in
New York City. From that point, it goes
through the air and is received on tele-
vision sets installed in our offices in the
RCA Building, and is received with a clar-
ity comparable to home movies in the
homes of RCA and NBC engineers and
executives within a radius of fifty miles.
To this extent, seeing through the arr is
now an accomplished fact.

“All that we have done and are doing
today is on an experimental basis, in
which we are carefully progressing day by
day towards the goal of a public service
of television broadcasting. Much remains
to be done before television becomes avail-
able to the general public, but we firmly
believe that some day this will be accom-
plished and our faith in the future is be-
ing expressed in this ceremony today.”

WINNERS IN JULY PHOTO CONTEST

Below. “Silhouette in
the High Sierras” was
taken by Marcelle
Mitchell of Central Di-
vision Sales. It wins
tickets for two to Chica-
go’s RKO Palace Thea-
tre.

“OSCAR”

Left. Charles E. Mc-
Curdy of the N. Y.
Statistical Department
submits a humorous
study which is tops this
month. The prize; a
pair of tickets to the
Radio City Music Hall.

RULES

FOR PHOTO CONTEST

1. Prints must be no smaller

than X 4" (the larger the

better). Negatives cannot be
aceepted,

2. Captions are desirable.

3. Name, stations and de-
partment must appear on the
back of photograph.

Pictures will be judged on
composition and subject mat-
ter. Judges are Ray Lee Jack-
son and William Haussler. De-
cisions are final. All entries
will be returned but the NBC
Transmitter will not be respon-
sible for those which are lost.

Entries for August contest
must be in by July 17.

HONORABLE MEN-
TION: N. Y. Engineer
Ed Kampf’s fetching
“Seaside Portrait” of
his wife, Idella Grind-
lay (Production Divi-
sion), taken during
their vacation in Flor-
ida.

Above. “Morning Trek”
taken from the window
of the NBC Statistical
Department in Radio
City by Roy V. Berth-
old. It ranked high in
the opinion of the
judges and was award-
ed Honorable Mention.

NBC TRANSMITTER

VOL. 5 JUNE, n).-')7 NO. (i

Guide Garroway Wins Golf Tournament

Guide David Carroway hitting a three iron
shot to the tenth green during the NBC
Athletic Association Golf Tournament on
June 9.

PERSONNEL SHIFTED

IN ARTISTS SERVICE

George Engles, vice president and man-
aging director of Artists Service, recently
announced several personnel changes in
his department in New York.

John Potter, former agency contact
man, is now assistant to Fred Niblo who
joined NBC last month to take charge of
television and motion picture transactions
in Artists Service.

J. Ernest Cutting has been made talent
scout and contact-man for NBC owned
and operated stations.

Chester Stratton will act as Mr. Cut-
ting’s assistant and also take charge of
sustaining bookings.

Jack Von Tilzer and Robert .Smith,
jointly, will handle auditions.

S. L. Ross, contact for NBC stations in
the East, was transferred to the advertis-
ing agency division.

Tim Sullivan resigned as theatre con-
tact-man on May 15.

i i 1

Send in your vacation pictures to the NBC
THANSMITTEH S PHOTO CONTEST and win a
pair ol ticket* to your local theatre.

Bright and early on the morning of
Wednesday, June 9th, the Rockland
Country Club at Sparkhill, N. Y., saw the
advance guard of the NBC golfers de-
scend upon it, and for several hours they
continued to descend upon it, until fifty-
seven members of the NBC Athletic As-
sociation and their guests were busy re-
moving neatly cut divots from the soft
verdant fairways, not to mention the not
so soft rough and sand traps.

First to appeal* on the scene was that
perennial runner of golf tournaments, A.
Frank Jones of Artists Service, 'under
whose direction the tournament flowed
smoothly all day long with never a hitch
or halt, so common in most tournaments.
Mr. Jones, who has seen the Rockland
Country Club grow from a farm into one
of the country’s finest courses, and who
has had a 72 over this course, a figure not
even approached in the tournament, did
not play himself, but devoted all his ener-
gies to the successful management of the
event.

Just as the sun was setting, the last of
the gang came struggling down the
eighteenth hole and the compilation of
the scores was undertaken, with the fol-
lowing results. The Championship Handi-
cap was won by David Garroway, Jr., of
Guest Relations, whose 82-12-70 was
equalled by Announcer Frank Cody and
Frank Chizzini of Electrical Transcrip-
tion. Garroway won the draw with Frank
Cody winning second prize. The low gross
for 36 holes went to Walter Tepper of
Accounting with 159. The Guest Handicap
was awarded to Herbert Rice with 83-
14-69. There was a Consolation Handicap
flight for those who cared to play only 18
holes and the winner in this division was
Lloyd Egner, Manager of Electrical
Transcription, with 93-21-72. The Booby
Prize went (among cries of “Again?”)
to Larry Fitzgerald of Artists Service
whose score of 137 was “tops” for the day.

During the banquet which lasted well
into the night, the presentation of prizes
took place amidst much cheering and
good-natured kidding.

1 i i

Short Putts:

Vice President John Royal and Bill
Hillpot (Artists Service) 'finished with
their shoes in their hands, and Mr. Royal
was reputedly two blisters up on Hillpot.

(Continued on Page 10)

NORMANDIE TO BE
FLOATING RADIO STATION

E. R. Cullen, assistant operating engi-
neer, sailed on the lYench liner Norman-
die on June 2 to make a survey of the
ship’s radio problems and to instruct the
ship’s operators in the technique of broad-
casting. He will conduct several test
broadcasts from the high seas.

Mr. Cullen is undertaking the survey at
the request of French Line officials, who
wish to make their giant liner available
for broadcasts over American networks by
traveling radio artists. While aboard the
ship he will inspect the Normandie’s pres-
ent equipment and determine which of
the public rooms is best suited as a studio.
He will also teach the marine operators
how to handle microphones and associated
sound equipment. In Europe he will pre-
sent his recommendations on changes and
additions to the equipment to officials of
the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique.
He will return aboard the same ship from
Havre June 23 to continue his survey on
the westward passage, arriving in New
York June 28.

SPECIAL BULLETIN

As we go to press A. Frank Jones,
chairman of the golf committee, re-
quests us to announce that he made a
mistake in the compilation of scores at
the golf tournament. The winner of the
Championship Handicap should have
been Dwight G. Wallace, manager of
Personnel, whose score was 99 — 30 — 69.
This will not affect those who have won
prizes in this division; however, Mr.
Wallace will be the recipient of a spe-
cial award.

Glenn W. Payne, Treasurer’s Dept., and
George Engles, vice-president and director of
Artists’ Service, are snapped by Photographer
Bill Haussler as they compare scores at the
golf tournament.

NBC TRANSMITTER

WHO'S WHO IN THE NBC NETWORKS

Introducing — LESLIE W. JOY

When WEAF had a staff of thirty-five
and was pioneering in the early days of
radio, John Holman, now manager of
WBZ. was program manager of the sta-
tion and looking for likely prospects in
a little known business that seemed to
have possibilities. A few years earlier
Leslie Joy had made his radio debut on
WJZ and been heard from time to time on
WEAF as a concert singer. Also he was
looking for a job a little more stable than
was then afforded such talent. One day
back in 1925 Mr. Holman popped the
question to Mr. Joy who thought well
enough of the idea lo join the staff as
announcer. Mr. Joy has been with WEAF
ever since growing up in the interim with
the vast NBC organization.

Today he is station manager of KYW'
Philadelphia having assumed his new du-
ties last September when NBC took over
the management of the station.

Leslie Wells Joy was born in Tacoma.
Washington in 1894, the son of a pioneer
family that trekked to Washington Ter-
ritory back in the early eighties. When he
was quite young the family returned to the
East and the boy received his early educa-
tion at Peekskill Military Academy. Then
followed four years at the Wharton School
of the University of Pennsylvania, class of
’16. While at the University Mr. Joy ma-
jored in advertising, was elected a member
of the Mask and Wig Dramatic Society
and was leader of the Glee Club. Follow-
ing his graduation he began a post grad-
uate course at Penn but gave it up at the
call of war. He joined the army as balloon
observer for the heavy artillery and was
stationed first at Omaha and later at Ar-
cadia, California.

The war over he turned his attention to
concert work and in 1923 made his first

LESLIE W. JOY

Station Manager of KYW Philadelphia

radio appearance on W'JZ. Singing oppo-
site his program over the competitive
WEAF that night was John McCormack.
The new radio star freely admitted that
listener reaction to his first broadcast was
small on the following morning.

After signing up with WEAF and after
a year of announcing. Mr. Joy was trans-
ferred first to the program department
then to the executive department and
special assignments. As an annoue-'-'r he
was in charge of the Goldy and Dusty
shows among others and he announced
the famous Lindbergh flight to Paris.

Although he had spent his college days
in Philadelphia, when Mr. Joy left the city
he had pictured his return only in terms
of reunion. It was like a home-coming
therefore when in the Spring of 1935 he
returned to Philadelphia to maintain the
NBC tradition as representative at KYW.

In the meantime in 1930 he had mar-
ried Anne Lutz, of Princeton, and is now
the father of a boy, Leslie Wells Jr., five
years old.

10,665 TOUR NBC
STUDIOS IN THREE DAYS

With thousands of visitors in New York
for the Decoration Day week-end, there
was a marked increase in the number of
guests visiting the studios as compared
with the total during the same three-day
period for previous years. The increase,
according to the Guest Relations Division,
is in line with this year’s twenty per cent
monthly uptrend apparent since the first
of January.

This year the long week-end attracted

10,665 tourists as compared with 8,990 a
year ago, or an increase of over eighteen
and a half per cent. The entire staff of
guides was kept working at top-speed
from 9:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. during the
period. Officials of Guest Relations re-
ported that operations moved smoothly
and that no mishaps occurred.

Guest Relations also reported that the
total number of guests visiting the studios
during the first five-month period of 1937
is approximately 65,000 over the total for
the same period of 1936. Last year the in-
crease over the year before was 4.938.

I SAW THE QUINTUPLETS

By Frances Sprague,

N. Y. General Library

How the Editor of the NBC Transmit-
ter learned that I had just visited
“Quintland.” as the home of the Dionne
quintuplets is called in Ontario, is a mys-
tery to me. He seemed determined that I
relay the story on to you and if you are to
any degree as interested in reading it as
he was in having me write this account,
it’s all right with me.

My sister who lives in Detroit invited
me to meet her at Niagara Falls and
spend the Memorial Day weekend driving
to Callander. This town, near the birth-
place of the “quints” is beautifully lo-
cated on Lake Nipissing. Doctor Dafoe’s
home is also located here. The whole town
has changed greatly by its sudden rise to
fame. People from all over the earth go
there for a glimpse of “the world’s most
famous children.”

The Dionne home and the Dafoe Hos-
pital in which the little girls live, are
located about two and a half miles outside
of Callander. The quintuplets can be seen
without charge twice a day, at 9:30 A.M.
and at 2:30 P.M., weather permitting.

We got an early start and were there at
about eight-thirty. Smiling traffic officers
helped us park our car and then, as we
had about an hour, we decided to look
around a bit. The hospital and the staff’s
home are attractive log and frame build-
ings. The hospital grounds are inclosed
by a high wire fence watched over by
polite but determined guards.

Across the road is the Dionne home, a
small house with all doors closed and
curtains tightly drawn. I understand this
is always the case, now that there are so
many spectators around. Next to the home
is a large building containing souvenirs,
photographs, etc. It is run by Olivia
Dionne, the “quints’ ” father. Nearby an-
other large concession is run by the two
women who assisted at the birth of the
quintuplets.

Our first view of the “quints” was at
nine o’clock when they came running out
of their home and down into their play
yard. Their playground is a large portion
of the lawn which is entirely surrounded
by a narrow, covered corridor. Spectators
are taken into this corridor to view the
children through windows constructed of
glass and screen in such a way that visit-
ors may view Annette, Yvonne, Cecile,
Marie and Emile without being seen by
them. Thus they play unconcernedly, com-
pletely oblivious to the hundreds of spec-
tators passing by. The visitors have to
{Continued on Page 11)

JUNE, 1937

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

by Louise Landis

All NBC babies are objects of great
interest but when Arthur Schwarzman,
staff pianist, burst into the Press Depart-
ment the other day with a big box of
cigars in one arm and a big box of candy
in the other, there were cheers. . . . Little
Sandra Schwarzman, seven pounds and
one ounce, had just arrived, and she and
her mother, Barbara Merkley Schwarz-
man, who plays the harp in NBC orches-
tras were doing well.

Not so Arthur. Some fiend in the Pro-
gram Department had dared him to smoke
one of the cigars. It was his first, and a
lifetime of Russian cigarettes had not suf-
ficiently paved the way for it . . . all that
day Arthur, definitely, was NOT doing
well.

i i i

Lots of NBC feet were among the
110,000 that crossed San Francisco’s
Golden Gate Bridge the day of its open-
ing. Librarian Russell McNeil who lives
in Marin County, across the Gate, actually
walked to work, and other Marin-ites have
been following his example.

i i 1

Vice President Don E. Gilman doesn’t
let the grass grow under his feet these
days . . . here’s a typical week out of his
calendar . . . Monday, San Francisco;
Tuesday, Portland; Wednesday, Seattle;
Thursday, Wenatchee, Washington, to ad-
dress the Washington Federation of
Women’s Clubs; Friday, Hollywood, to
confer with President Lenox R. Lohr on
possible sites for the new Hollywood
studios.

ill

Speaking of Hollywood, Hal Bock, press
representative there, and his charming
blonde bride Sybil spent a few days of
their vacation in San Francisco inspect-
ing Hal’s old stamping ground. . . . Sybil,
who looks like Sonja Henie, only cuter,
left a trail of Bock-pals who are now
firm Sybil-fans behind her when she and
Harold sailed away on a United Air-Liner.
“There go my last two Bocks!” mourned
one of the gang which gathered to watch
their departure.

1 i i

Knitting seems a gentle art by compari-
son with radio but some of our San Fran-
cisco girls turn it into a whirlwind occu-
pation. Blanche Davies, secretary to Lew
Frost, for instance, already has completed
her second suit and Kitty Morgan, Pro-
gram Traffic, is on her third one.

1 i i

Janet Baird of the tT Oman’s Magazine
of the Air designs hers instead of knitting
them. She is waiting anxiously for the

dressmaker to finish the most recent one
she designed — a pale yellow evening gown
with an Empire touch — low shoulders and
a corselet of yellow satin.

i i i

Good wishes are fluttering like wings
around Adele Hoover, formerly of the
Sales Promotion Department hut now a
free-lance advertising expert. Adele re-
signed in order to devote herself to this
project, and all her NBC friends are pull-
ing for her. Edwarda Gilmore, formerly
of the Typing Department, takes her place
as secretary to urbane Dave McKay.
(How’ya, Dave? )

i i i

Twinkle-eyed Helen O’Neill, she of the
silken voice, who spends her days listening
to folks who want to go on the air — “be-
cause radio is such a fascinating profes-
sion!” — is going to shake off the 'air as-
pirants for two weeks starting June 18.
She’ll spend her holiday in Hollywood
“resting,” says Helen.

i i i

If you see a picture of Producer Ward
Byron in a plug-hat, resting comfortably
on a brake-beam, don’t believe a line of
it. It’s just a photographer’s idea of how
radio editors would like to see the pro-
ducer of Bug House Rhythm ride to New
York on his vacation. He and Jack Mea-
kin, baton-eer on the program, took to the
air June 4, arriving there in time to air
the following" week’s Bug House Rhythm
from Radio City. Just a couple of postmen
at heart!

i 1 i

Pat Kelly, former member of the Pro-
duction Department, is in England. Imag-
ine a chap with a smile like Pat’s and a
name like Kelly working for the BBC!

i i i

Larry Allen, manager of Artists’ Service
limped around the office for a week with
a bandaged foot refusing to make any
comment beyond “Ten percent of the
wages of sin!” then finally broke down
and admitted he stepped on a nail while
nefariously visiting a neighboring house
in process of construction, looking for
just one little two-by-four he needed for
some repair work at home.

You can’t beat that chap Allen, though.
. . . Trying to sell a scenario for Sam
Dickson, staff writer, he was informed the
story was excellent but the fact that a
narrow gauge railroad was required in
the story might prove an obstacle. Ban-
daged foot and all, Larry climbed into
his car and found a real narrow-gauge,
all by himself, near Santa Maria.

SEVEN WEDDINGS IN

NBC NEW YORK

"Here They Are" —

Miss Jeanne Bradley of the Personnel
Office surprised her colleagues on Mon-
day, May 24, when she came to work with
a wedding ring.

The wedding, a small and informal af-
fair, attended by close friends and rela-
tives of the bride and groom, took place
at the Little Church Around the Corner
in New York City on Saturday afternoon.
May 22.

The groom was Allan Cassidy of Phila-
delphia. Miss Ellen Stock of the Person-
nel Division was maid of honor. The
only other NBCite who got wind of the
affair before it happened and was able to
attend was Miss Helen J. Moore, also of
Personnel.

The wedding was followed by a recep-
tion and dinner at Gene’s Restaurant in
Greenwich Village.

The newlyweds are making their resi-
dence in Flushing, Long Island. They are
postponing their honeymoon trip until
August when they both go on vacation.

The newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Cassidy,
with the maid of honor. Miss Ellen Stock (Per-
sonnel ) , left, are photographed as they leave
the Little Church Around The Comer.

John Baxter, assistant sales promotion
manager of Artists’ Service, was married
to Miss Patrice McCormick of the J. Wal-
ter Thompson agency at St. John’s Cathe-
dral in Brooklyn on June 5.

James L. Stirton, Artists’ Service, was
one of the ushers. Many other NBCites
also were present at the wedding which
was followed by a gay reception.

Mr. and Mrs. Baxter went to Virginia
Beach on their honeymoon and are plan-
ning to return this week. They will live in
Tarrytown, N. Y.

i i i

George Sax of Artists’ Service was mar-
ried to Miss Eleanor Chascione of Astoria,
Long Island, on June 13. The wedding,
attended by many NBCites, took place in
the Mt. Carmel Church, Astoria. Frank
Murtha, Artists’ Service, was best man.

A reception at Kneer’s Hofbrau, also in
(Continued on Page 4)

NBC TRANSMITTER

WTAM CLEVELAND

by Bob Dqiley

Opening of the Great Lakes Exposition
at Cleveland had station executives, pro-
duction men, announcers and engineers
busy for several days feeding programs
locally and to the NBC networks. John B.
Kennedy came from New York to describe
Billy Rose’s Aquacade.

1 i i

The reception room and corridors of
WTAM took on new color this month with
the hanging of another art exhibition. The
current display of thirty-six paintings is
by Frank N. Wilcox, well-known land-
scape painter.

Program Director Hal Metzger first at-
tracted attention of art admirers to
WTAM’s studios several years ago when
as press relations director he obtained the
first exhibition. This month his latest dis-
play brought hundreds of visitors and
many newspaper and magazine critics.
i 1 i

Two new faces joined the WTAM fam-
ily this month, one an announcer — the
other an engineer. Robert Swan, who for
the past year has collaborated with Waldo
Pooler in writing the NBC-Red Network
program of Northern Lights and been
heard in WTAM dramatic productions,
became an NBC announcer. He replaced
Bromley House who resigned to become
master of ceremonies at the Showboat at
the Great Lakes Expo.

Horace Clark, former RCA engineer
in Cleveland, joined the engineering staff.
Henry Gowing also returned to the engi-
neering staff, after a year’s absence.
i i 1

WTAM Vox Pop — Lila Burkhardt tak-
ing a leave of absence from her duties in
music rights division because of ill health.

Hal Metzger, program director of WTAM,
attracts the press and public to the NBC
studios in Cleveland with art exhibits.

Jane Weaver, home economics expert, off
for a vacation cruise to the West Indies
with her husband . . . Vernon H. Pribble,
WTAM manager, getting a present of half
a hundred large pineapples after Tom
Manning had conducted a network pro-
gram from Cleveland’s fruit auction.
i i i

A handsome horse, carrying a showy
rodeo saddle, was led into an elevator, up
six floors, and into WTAM’s studios to
become the first equine animal to enter the
station.

Hoot Gibson, well-known movie and
cowboy actor, was appearing at a circus
near Cleveland. Arrangements for the un-
usual broadcast were made between the
circus management and Hal Metzger, sta-
tion program director. Gibson and his
horse renewed their friendship with Tom
Manning during the show.

1 i i

Engineers at WTAM’s transmitter in
Brecksville have tKeir
troubles. Art Butler and
Hugh Walker found a
grey squirrel’s nest
with six young ones in
the woods nearby. The
mother had been killed
by a dog. so the two en-
gineers took upon them-
selves the parental bur-
dens.

Feeding time finds
Butler with boiled milk
and an eye-dropper and
Walker with several
peanuts. The squirrels
have thrived on the diet
and are getting too big
for the cage.

The problem now is

WEDDINGS IN NEW YORK

(Continued from Page 3)

Astoria, followed the wedding.

Mr. and Mrs. Sax are going to Maine
on their honeymoon trip in July.

1 i i

Robert Van Fleet, who joined the air-
conditioning plant crew as an electrician
last May 1, was married in Newark, N, J.,
on May 29.

Before coming to Radio City Mr. Van
Fleet worked on the construction of the
new 640-foot transmitting tower for WJZ
at Bound Brook, N. J.

Ill

Miss Lillian Mone of PBX was married
to Daniel Di Bianco at the Lady of Refuge
Church in New York City on June 6. Miss
Mone received a lovely table lamp as a
wedding present from NBC’s telephone
girls.

The Di Bianco’s went to Bermuda on
their honeymoon.

1 1 i

At an informal wedding at NBCites’
favorite church for nuptials, the Little
Church Around the Corner in New York
City, Miss Eloise Dawson, radio actress,
and F. Gerard Wolke, Assistant Manager
of Guest Relations, were married on May
28.

Best man was Thomas Tart, supervisor
of the Mail-Messenger Section, and the
maid of honor was Miss Jessie Hyatt, for-
mer NBC nurse.

The wedding was the culmination of a
romance which started two years ago when
the bride, then an NBC hostess, met the
groom, a supervisor of the page force.

1 1 i

As we go to press Walter B. Davison,
in charge of promotion for Guest Rela-
tions, is having a bit of trouble getting a
marriage license in New York City to be
married in Auburn, New York. If Mr.
Davison succeeds in getting the necessary
permit, the wedding, a small intimate
affair attended by relatives of the bride
and groom, will take place on June 16.

The bride-to-be is Miss Marion Eliza-
beth Dietz. The wedding ceremony will be
performed by the groom’s uncle. Rev.
Walter Davison, a professor at Auburn
College.

After a honeymoon trip to Cape Cod and
Canada, the Davison’s will return to their
new home at Riverside Gardens, Red
Bank, New Jersey.

— how to introduce the little animals to
their natural elements in the woods. They
are too dependent on the cage, the eye-
dropper, and peanuts.

Hoot Gibson and Announcer Tom Manning with Gibson’s horse in
WTAM’s studios during a recent broadcast in Cleveland.

JUNE, 1937

NBC BOSTON AND SPRINGFIELD

by Edward B. Hall

What with all this practicing up vaca-
tioning over Memorial Day week-end, we
became a little curious about where some
of the NBC people might be going for
their vacations. We started out a little
badly — the first six didn’t know ivhere
they were going, and three out of the six
didn’t know when or where. Otto Brandt
(Station Relations) said he didn’t care
when or where he went, but he knew one
thing he was going somewhere that would
give him a complete change. Doris Wil-
liams (Sales) has decided to take a cruise
to Vera Cruz (that’d make a good title for
a song, “On a Little Summer Cruise to
Vera Cruz”) and thence by train to Mex-
ico City. Bill Robotham (Mail Messenger)
will join the increasing number of NBC
artists and employes at Westport, Connec-
ticut. That’s where Bill lives — and we
know it is a swell place to “unlax.” Cecile
Cummings (Press) already has left with
her folks for a six-week trip to Europe.
And speaking of Europe, Norman Morrell
(Program), Charlie Phelps (Sales) and
Harry Kopf (Chicago Sales) will also sail
in that direction for their vacations. Vir-
ginia Latimer (Special Events) will take
a Caribbean sojourn, but June Hynd (Pro-
gram) can’t make up her mind between
Virginia Beach and Bermuda. Steve Var-
ley (Supply) will head for New Hamp-
shire, while Ruth Crawford (Audience
Mail) will go him one better by stopping
in Maine — then going on to the Gaspe
country. Wes Conant (Sound Effects) will
bask on the seashore of Long Island Soijnd
at Milford, Connecticut. Announcers Dan
Russell and Gene Hamilton are traveling
together, as they did last year. What with
Dan’s ability to speak fluent Spanish, and
Gene’s pugilistic ability, they made out so
well in Cuba last year that it was decided
to try it again. This summer they are
going to Mexico by boat. Well, so much
for what a few NBCites have planned.

Ken R. Dyke, Eastern Sales Manager,
is mentioned in Dale Carnegie’s “How to
Win Friends and Influence People” as a
successful writer of letters that get results.
. . . Sound Effects Department is now
getting together a collection of objects
that will televise truthfully. . . . Shouldn’t
they call them “Sight Effects?” . . . .The
only complaint NBC guestourists have is
“Oo, my poor feet.” . . . Thelam Ingle
(Audience Mail) had a listener from Bom-
bay, India, drop in to make her acquaint-

WBZ and WBZA have been lately hon-
ored with an official visit by Alfred M.
Morton, manager of Operated Stations.

i i 1

John A. Holman, general manager of
WBZ and WBZA, will attend the annual
NAB Convention in Chicago this month.
Should this important function fail to ac-
complish anything more, it will at least
afford Mr. Holman a temporary respite
from the conflict of his enthusiasms for
golf and gardening. The tantalizing choice
confronts him every evening at this season
of the year. The links, he acknowledges,
often win the toss.

i i i

Program Manager John F. McNamara
will tour Europe this summer, sailing from
Boston on the Transylvania, June 19.
After visiting Dublin (the ancestral home
of the McNamaras) he will proceed to
London. Paris, Edinburgh, and Glasgow,
returning August 1.

i i i

Within a three-day period last month
three members of the WBZ staff took vows
of matrimony. Miss Alfreda E. Carlson,
former secretary to Office Manager
Charles S. (Cy) Young, became the bride
of Norman E. Whittaker (Sales) only
three days before Frank R. Bowes, popu-
lar new recruit to the sales force, married
Dorothy Healy in New York.

i i i

Miss Carlson’s resignation from the
staff, following her marriage to “Whit.”
elevates Miss Ruth D. Higgins to the sec-
retarial position in Mr. Young’s office.

1 i i

The entire NBC-Boston staff recently
participated in an auction sale of prop-
erties acquired by the Promotion Depart-
ment. With W. Gordon Swan (Traffic)
presiding as auctioneer, bidding was spir-
ited — in fact, at times hilarious. Proceeds
of the sale were quickly earmarked for
the Company by Bob Halloran (Account-

ing). ^ ^ ^

Apropos planned economy, Harry D.

ance recently because her name appeared
at the bottom of each letter he received in
answer to inquiries about NBC's short
wave programs. . . . Theodore Steinway
gave a very interesting talk at the last
meeting of the NBC Stamp Club. . . . Boy!
I wish we had air-conditioned business
suits for these warm days.

— Walter Moore.

Goodwin, Promotion and News, has exe-
cuted a commercial coup unprecedented
in the annals of horse-trading. A chauf-
feur’s cap was needed by his department
for an advertising photograph. The alert
Goodwin spotted one in a nearby clothing-
dealer’s window, purchased the chapeau
for seventy-five cents — and a couple of
hours later resold it to a rival dealer for
11.25.

i i i

The title of this item is; “Coles to New-
castle; or. This Ensuing Confusion.” Fred
Cole, the latest addition to the IX'BZ fold,
is not Fred Cole of Promotion. He’s Fred
Cole the new announcer (ex-KHJ, Los
Angeles ) . Hereafter all letters and phone
calls for the Fred Coles will be referred
to a clairvoyant to determine the intended
recipient.

i i i

Arthur S. Feldman (Special Events),
continues to distinguish himself in his new
assignment as originator of topical, news-
worthy — sometimes farcical — programs.
His latest fantasy brought to the studios
a partially domesticated duck, the mascot
of an M.l.T. fraternity. “Gozzie’s” air
debut here was in fine keeping with WBZ
tradition and adds still another species
to the studio roster, which began with the
late King Leo, movie lion.

i i 1

Announcer Charles A. Nobles is this sea-
son’s commentator on the Blue Network
broadcasts of Boston Pop Concerts. . . .
Wes Morgan, intellectual ex-page boy, has
been transferred to Traffic to register good
deeds in Gordon Swan’s program bible.
. . . The vacation parade has begun. Page
Boy Ken Strong leading off with a two
weeks’ sojourn at Oxford, N. H. . . . Mrs.
Grace D. Edmonds (Hostess) will be
missed for six weeks while she enjoys a
motor tour of the West and South. . . .
After telling about a four and one-half
pound brook trout he landed last week-
end at Rangeley Lakes, Jameson S. (Jay)
Slocum (Sales) effectively spiked the
skeptics by producing an authentic snap-
shot of self and fish. . . . Gordon V. (Babe)
Norris (Sales), undisputed WBZ golf
champion, neatly appraises his own game
as “pediculous, but consistent, with occa-
sional lapses into the mid-seventies.”

Watch the next issue oi the NB C -TRANSMITTER
for the winners of the July Photo Contest.

/ / /

The NBC TRANSMITTER wants your vacation
pictures with complete captions. Theatre tickets
for the winners of the Photo Contest.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Newcomers:

Norman Cloutier, former musical di-
rector of WTIC, Red Network outlet in
Hartford, Connecticut, has joined the
Miisic Division as a conductor. He was
with WTIC seven years and was best
known for his Merry Madcaps program.
Mr. Cloutier is also known to his public
through his Brunswick recordings.

Having three children, he picked radio-
people’s favorite suburban district. Jack-
son Heights, “where there’s lots of grass
for the children to play on’’.

i 1 i

Clarence G. Alexander comes from
Pittsburgh where he was with the Com-
monwealth Real Estate Co., to become
assistant manager of the Building Main-
tenance Division.

1 i 1

Harry Hiller, former sound engineer for
several New York theatres, has joined our
staff of studio engineers. Although he has
spent the last few years working in the
Radio City Music Hall, the Center Thea-
ter, the Capitol, Roxy and other Metro-
politan theaters, he is a veteran radio
engineer.

Back in 1921 Mr. Hiller was one of
the original staff of three of station WJZ
which was then owned by the Westing-
house Company and located in Newark,

N. J. The other two on the staff were
George Bliziotis, another engineer, and
Thomas H. Cowan, announcer. Mr.
Cowan is now chief announcer of WNYC
and. according to latest reports, Mr. Bli-
ziotis is back in his mother-country —
Greece.

“In those days,’’ said Mr. Hiller remi-
niscently, “Milton J. Cross was a popular
one hundred and sixty-five-pound tenor.’’

In 1923 when WJZ was moved to
Forty-second Street in New York City,
C. W. Horn, now NBC research and de-
velopment engineer, commissioned him to
install WBZ’s transmitter in Springfield,
Mass. Completing his job in Springfield,
Mr. Hiller returned to New York to be-
come acting engineer in charge of WNYC
where he remained for three and a half
years.

From WNYC he went to the Roxy The-
ater and, subsequently, to other New York
motion picture houses which were then in
great need of sound engineers to install
and operate the new talking machines.

i i i

Ashton Dunn, formerly with R. H. Macy
and Company for six years, has joined
our Personnel Division. '

Mr. Dunn is a native New Yorker. He
is married and has a year-old son. He was
graduated from Princeton University in
1930 and attended Trinity Hall of Cam-
bridge University, England, for a year.

i i i

J. A. Miller, former chief radio man in
the U. S. Navy, has joined the engineering
staff at WEAF, Bellmore, Long Island.,

i i i

E. J. Costello came from Rockefeller
Center Inc., to become a maintenance en-
gineer on June 9.

The following have joinfed the Central
Stenographic Section:

M iss Helen Devlin, formerly with the
National Organization Masters and Pilots
of America and a graduate of the College
of Mount St. Vincent, is replacing Miss
Martha Carlson, of social-security-card-
number-26,000.000 fame, who is now in the
Station Relations Department.

Miss Dorothy Lewis from Bayonne, New
Jersey, where she was with the Board of
Education for three years is attending Co-
lumbia University in the evenings.
i i i

Resignations:

Alexander Petry resigned from the
Music Division on June 1 to sail for
Puerto Rico where he will work on a plan-
tation as an assistant to the manager. It
was with not a little regret that Mr. Petry
left us, since he had been with the Com-
pany almost eight years. Many of his NBC
friends went to bid him hon voyage when
he sailed on June 12.

William M. Paisley, well known NBC
songwriter, has been assigned to take over
Mr. Petry ’s former duties.

i i i

Harold Levey, who resigned from, the
staff of musical conductors last month, is
in Hollywood under contract to a movie
company. ^ y ^

Miss Margaret Harcher resigned from
the Research 'and Development Division
on May 15 to be a June bride.

Miss Marie Joslin of Central Steno-
graphic replaces Miss Harcher.

1 i i

Miss Geraldine Bone who resigned on
May 28 from the Legal Department was
given a farewell dinner party on May 27
by the girls of the Department. The re-
ception for Robert P. Myer’s former sec-
retary was held at the Maison de Winter
in Radio City.

“Gerry”, as she was called by her close
friends, had been with NBC four years
when she resigned. In private life she is
the wife of Dr. Harvey Zorbaugh, New
York University professor and World’s
Fair Committee man.

i i i

John F. Sheldon, Personnel Office, re-
signed on May 28 to accept a position with
an insurance company in Boston.

i 1 i

Miss Muriel Parker resigned from the
General Service Department on June 4 to
pursue her study of tap and ballet danc-
ing. She joined the Company two years
ago and is well known to many NBCites
for several humorous poems she has writ-
ten for the NBC Transmitter.

Photo by McCurdy, Statistical

An unidentified gentleman helping an unidentified lady onto her mount during an unascertained
meeting of the NBC Athletic Association’s riding group at an undisclosed location.

JUNE, 1937

Sick List:

0. B. Hanson, chief engineer, is recup-
erating from an appendix operation in
Norwalk Hospital.

i 1 -t

Coming and Going:

Dr. Walter Damrosh, accompanied by
Mrs. Damrosh, sailed for a month’s vaca-
tion in Europe aboard the S.S. Rex on
May 29. On June 25 NBC’s Music Coun-
sel will attend the International Music
Educators Conference in Paris. The Dam-
rosch’s are planning to return on the Nor-
mandie from Havre July 7.

ill

Wilbur C. Resides, Engineering, has re-
turned after undergoing an appendicitis
operation. ^ ^ ^

Miss Joyce Harris, Assistant Personnel
Manager in New York, is back from a
brief vacation in Bermuda.

1 i i

C. H. Thurman, Manager of Guest Re-
lations, returned last week from his sum-
mer home in Sawyer. Michigan. He was
accompanied by Mrs. Thurman on his va-
cation. ^ ^ ^

M iss Marie E. Dolan, Research and De-
velopment, recently went on a cruise to
Nassau and Havana.

i i 1

Arthur J. Daley, production man. sailed
for a two weeks’ vacation in Bermuda on
June 4. ^ y ,,

Andrew S. Love, continuity editor in
San Francisco, returned to that city last
week after spending a fortnight in New
York, studying our Continuity Acceptance
and Literary Rights (Script Division)
set-up in Radio City.

When approached for comment Mr.
Love said it was his first visit to New York

and that he was duly impressed with

everything in Radio City. “They thought
of everything here,” he said, “except a
word to describe it.”

i i i

A. W. Kaney, Editor of Continuity Ac-
ceptance of the Central Division came to
New York on June 3 to confer with Miss
Janet MacRorie, head of the Continuity
Acceptance in New York.

i i i

Promotions:

Walter Hawes, former Service Mainte-
nance Supervisor, has been appointed to
supervise the Central Supply-Receiving
Section, replacing Charles R. Kuster who
resigned on May 21. Mr. Hawes has been
with the company five years.

1 i 1

Gilbert Ralston was promoted on May
26 from the Guest Relations Division to
Electrical Transcription Service where his
new duties will include the writing of con-

tinuity. Mr. Ralston joined the Company
as a page two months ago and became a
guide shortly before his transfer to Elec-
trical Transcription Service.

He has had several years’ experience in
the theatre as an actor, director, producer
and writer. His last theatrical appearance
was in the New York and road produc-
tions of “Lady Precious Stream”. Last
summer he had his own small stock com-
pany in Maine — .so small that he had to
be producer, director and scenic designer.

Two summers ago he acted as produc-
tion manager of the Barter Theatre in
Abington, Va.. which is managed by Rob-
ert Porterfield, well known radio and stage
actor.

Mr. Ralston, who is a Californian, also
has had some movie experience, having
faced the Klieg lights while he was serv-
ing his apprenticeship in the theatre out
West: ^ ^ y

De\^ itt C. Shultis and Milton W.
Kitchen were promoted to newly created
supervisory positions in the Engineering
Department on June 1. Mr. Shultis was
made Maintenance Relief Supervisor
while Mr. Kitchen was appointed Studio
Relief Supervisor.

i i i

Stork News:

Dorian St. George, former NBC guide
and now an announcer at W'LVA, Lynch-
burg. Virginia, writes that he is now the
proud father of an eight pound baby boy.
His close friends will remember that
“Saint” met his wife on one of his NBC
Studio Tours.

i i i

Lee B. Wailes, assistant to A. H. Mor-
ton, manager of the Operated Stations De-
partment, became the father of a seven
pound twelve ounce baby boy, Stephen

Lee Wailes. on May 28 at 12:07 P.M.

i i i

Transfers:

Miss Elizabeth .Morris, formerly of Cen-
tral Files, replaced Miss .'Mice Brown, re-
sign<*d. in the Legal Department on
May 24.

Miss Morris came to NBC from Youngs-
town. Ohio, four months ago. .She was edu-
cated at the Finch .School in New York
and the Sorbonne in Paris. .She is an
ardent golfer and hopes the Athletic As-
sociation forms a golf association for
women. i i i

Miscellaneous:

Walter G. Preston. Jr., head of General
Service, was away from his office doing
jury duty in New York City courts from
May 12 to 28. ^ ^ y

Ben Grauer, captain, announcer Lyle
Van. bandleader Carl Hoff and singer Pbil
Duey represented NBC in the second an-
nual radio golf tournament at the River-
vale Country Club, Riv<*rvale, N. J.. on
May 21.

This year CB.S again won the tourna-
ment with a score of 589. The WMCA
team was second with 602. The other
teams were WOR and WHN.

i i i

Dr. Franklin Dunham was honored with
a Litt. D. conferred by St. Bonaventure
College on June 8. He received the honor-
ary degree for his distinguished service to
educational and religious radio programs
as NBC’s Educational Director and for
his work in literature which was his sec-
ond major when he was an undergraduate
at Columbia University. For his first
major, which was music, he received the
degree of Doctor of Music from the New
YOrk College of .Music in 1935.

Breaking ground for the new KYW building to be erected at 1619 Walnut St., Philadelphia.
Left to Right — William Wark, head of Wark Construction Company; E. H. Gager, KY'W plant
manager for Westinghouse; Leslie Joy, KYW station manager; Walter N. Gay, representing
Hymann & Bros., realtors, and George W. Pepper Jr., architect.

1. Hi diddle diddle

This looks like Pribble
Believe it or not —

He’s just learning to scribble.

(Vernon H. Pribble is tbe one standing
and the other is his sister.)

Trrtv

PholotrriLphi:

2. Rub-a-dub-dubbry

Who lies in the shrubbery?
The butcher? The baker?
No — John Almonte.

3. Now Donald E.
Here, seems to me.
Must have his mind
On NBC — .

OT to b

NBC Athleti|D''>'''
social affairs
NBC TRANSllWl
children’s pafk
and invited
ables, some «
tured here.

(Turn to
names and
these lovely

tWfl

10. Cock-a-doodle-
You’re now a
But when thes duie;
You’ll soon be in

4. Nelson had a little lamb
He also had a cat
He says he ate the little lamb
But tell me — where’s the cat?

5. Harry, Harry - lii.
Would to the I (p
He stuffed hin ;(m
Ice cream, nov

Captions by Man
Service Z/Li

'kiltdone by the
tti lisociation in
in staff of the
Ns ITER gave a
PSihe other day
<1 ly NBC not-
(| horn are pic-

0 1 » sixteen for
d •artments of
riles.;

6. Bean porridge hot
Bean porridge cold
This is Kolin Hager
Six months old.

fj- die contrary
kp f go

hio on strawberry
no* uldn’t you know!

Sing a song of six pence
A stomach full of rye*

Bill was here and Bill was there
And Bill was very high.

8. One, two, button your shoe

What makes Georgie look so blue
Just when he would like to play
They dressed him up for party day.

9. John A. Holman, John-a-dandy,
Loves plum cake and sugar candy
He bought some at a grocer’s shop.
And out he came, hop, hop, hop!

fii/j °arker. General
;ffl rtment.

’Cereal.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC HOLLYWOOD

NBC TRANSMITTEB

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 JUNE, 1937 No. 6

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS Ediior

ARY R. MOLL Associate Editor

HERBERT GROSS Circulation

CHARLES VAN BERGEN Photographs

CARL CANNON Features

N. Y. CONTRIBUTORS

WALTER MOORE

ORVILLE HOWLAND Guest Relations

E. LOUDON HAAKER Guest Relations

RODERICK MITCHELL Guest Relations

FRANK C. LEPORE Advisory Editor

Address all correspondence to;

NBC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA Bldg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

GOLF TOURNAMENT

{Continued from Page 1)

The President of the NBC Athletic As-
sociation, George McElrath, has improved
his game tremendously lately, got down
to 112 this time. He was hot with his putter
but had a bit of trouble with the brassie,
to say nothing of the garage that he at-
tacked en route the eighteen holes.

Bill Frederick of Traffic hit a 350-yard
drive on the ninth hole, to his surprise.
The ball went straight toward the hole for
180 yards, hit a tree and came straight
back 170 yards, the ball, having traveled
350 yards, was then 10 yards directly in
front of the tee.

Graham McNamee clipped four strokes
from his NBC record with a 96, and
seemed to be having a pretty good time
doing it, too.

Professional Alex Morrison, author of
the well known book, “A New Way to
Better Golf,” played as one of the fifteen
guests, as did professional Neil Frey.

Dwight G. Wallace, Manager of Per-
sonnel, played his 36 holes, played nine
more and was still rarin’ to go. What a
man !

After two regulation rounds, a mighty
driving contest took place on the first tee
between George Engles and Charley
Wall, to the considerable delight of as-
sembled spectators.

Jack Hammann of Sales in Philadel-
phia was seen firing golf balls at the auto-
mobiles in the parking lot in the course
of his second eighteen, but it is believed
that no lasting harm ensued.

by Noel

Here’s where we scoop that gatherer of
odd facts, Robert Ripley, and announce
that our small staff of sixty-five people in
the Hollywood Studios travels over 1200
miles each working day of the year to and
from their respective home sweet homes.

Dema Harshbarger, head of Artists’
Service, covers over seventy miles coming
and going to her La Habra Heights resi-
dence. Virgil Reimer, soundman, reels
off sixty miles of cop-dodging every day to
round-trip from his Alhambra hideaway.
Joe Thompson, producer, brags of cover-
ing twenty-five miles to his Manhattan
Beach house in thirty minutes flat, some-
times making the trip twice a day.

Out of North Hollywood each morning
a couple of engineers, Murdo MacKenzie
and Frank Figgins race one another fif-
teen miles through the fast-moving Cahu-
enga Pass. Marvin Young, Program,
crosses 320 inter-sections each day, and
.sometimes imagines he has had to stop at
more than half of them.

Of course there are always a lot of
softies like Russell Hudson, his boss. Wal-
ter Baker, and Syd Dixon’s secretary,
Elaine Forbes, who have to live within
“walking distance,” which cuts down our
mileage and almost ruins an otherwise
perfect story.

V T T

Hal Bock, Hollywood Press rep, and his
pretty wife, Sybil, took a flying trip to San
Francisco, but had to be back here before
the Golden Gate Bridge was opened. Lloyd
Yoder, Western Division Press head man.
arranged for a pass so the two could ride

Corbett

•

across the huge span. They caught a blow-
out as they drove up to the well-guarded
entrance.

Hal and Sybil are now making plans for
a trip to San Francisco so they can drive
across the new Golden Gate Bridge.

i i i

Painters arrived early one morning to
dandy up Studio C. Came afternoon and
heatwaves. The air-conditioner was
switched on. Paint odors were whisked
through hidden flumes to other parts of
the building. In one studio a comedian was
rehearsing his stuff. Producers, techni-
cians and artists listening to him were sud-
denly conscious of a ghastly, unknown
odor. They became very unkind in their
remarks toward the comedian’s material.

Walter Baker, who holds dovm so many
jobs that it would be unfair to discrimi-
nate titles, was on the spot to remedy the
situation quickly. Walter now has a
staunch friend for life.

Ill

Ted Sherdeman, producer, did not leave
Hollywood during his vacation. However,
he claims he really went places catching
up in his writing.

Cecil Underwood, who produces the
Fibber McGee and Molly show, batted for
Sherdeman. This month marks Cecil’s
thirteenth year in radio.

i 1 i

Marvin Young, program manager, is
installing a badminton court with night
lights on his chicken ranch. Marvin figures
to come out ahead on shuttlecocks, as he
(Continued on Page 11)

Hollywood soundmen showing off their new streamlined RCA turntable to songstress Trudy
Wood of Fred Astaire’s Packard program. They are Harold Dicker, Virgil Reimer and Ed Ludes,
chief sound technician.

JUNE, 1937

NBC HOLLYWOOD

(Continued from Page 10)
can use cast-off chicken feathers. But he
doesn’t know just how his barnyard pets
will react to the night lights.

i i 1

Nero will live again. In the person of
Tracy Moore, fifty percent of our Sales
Department, the ancient fiddling Roman
will wake up and live during a Los An-
geles Ad Club meeting for new members
on June 22nd. Tracy wrote the skit him-
self, which he says is definitely not for an
ether airing. Hope the new members won’t
be too shocked.

1 i i

QUICK PICKS . . . Tab this one for
the next time your RCA set acts up: Be-
cause Virginia Elliott told Bob Brooke he
had a swell Southern California tan, which
he has, the young engineer fixed her radio
so well it can now even bring in such local
stations as. . . . Taking a tip from Jack
and Mary, and Gracie and George, the
Jack Votions have adopted a little one. . . .
Mr. Gilman’s secretary in this corner of
the Western Division. Nadine Amos, one
morning made a quick decision and was
that night watching fireworks burst over
the new Golden Gate Bridge. . . . Joe
Alvin has been letting the cat out every
night. But now the cat’s out of the bag —
there is a Mrs. Alvin, and Joe has been
too busy knocking together those swell
publicity yarns to let us know. . . . We
won’t miss Fred Astaire, because our own
John Swallow can rattle off a neat tap.
On his desk he keeps a couple of adjust-
able steel toe-tappers which he’ll slip on
any time to prqve he knows all the rou-
tines. . . . His secretary, Ruth Schooler,
scraping paint nowadays, but when this is
read she’ll be rounding Catalina in her
boy friend’s yacht. ... “I Wish I Was in
Peoria” is the ditty Ken Carpenter is
humming around the studios. Reason, his
wife and son are vacationing there. . . .
Present statistics show five hats in the
announcers’ headquarters: They belong
to Buddy Twiss, Ken Carpenter, Joe Park-
er, Joy Storm, and recent addition. Ben
Gage, who used to sing with Anson Weeks.
. . . Sid Goodwin taking a two-dayer to
S. F. for a very good reason, to get his
wife. . . . Frances Scully helps Walter
Winchell when he’s getting his Sunday
broadcast together, and because she does,
the famous newscaster gave her a picture
autographed “To My Girl Sunday.”

I SAW THE QUINTUPLETS

(Continued from Page 2)
move through quite rapidly but may re-
turn to the end of the line and come
through as many times as they can during
the half hour. As we were near the front,

by Alan Kent

Vacation time has come to the NBC.
Employes will now spend the noon hours
acquiring sunburn instead of heartburn.

i i i

We find hustle and hustle on every side.
The hustle, of course, is on the distaff side.

i i 1

The folks who like Dude Ranches will
board trains headed due West. They will
return with callouses due South.

i i i

A vacation is really a simple thing. Or
is it the people who lake it?

i i i

As an organization NBC always has
stood on its own feet. When dancing on
vacation employes will do well to uphold
tradition.

i i i

We suppose that a few people will spend
their two weeks in a trailer. You know —
one of those “in-a-door” beds on wheels.

i i i

There’s only one thing that we can say
for a trailer. Nobody can steal your milk
off the back porch.

i i i

The waiters on vacation boats have
ideals. They believe in the dictum, “They
also serve who only stand and wait.”

i i 1

There has been some wonderment as to
what happened to the old summer hotel.
The telephone company bought the rooms
and made phone booths out of them.

i i i

They should have bought the social di-
rector also. A social director (if you’ve
been spared ) is one of those ebullient par-
ties with all the sparkle of a glass of warm
gin with a hair in it — and with about the
same effect.

■t i i

We thought these up at Hurley’s the
other day, in between chimes: As monot-
onous as the drug store menu. As friendly
as a song plugger. As self-conscious as a
strip teaser.

we were able to go through three times.

The children were giving rides to each
other in wagons and then, prompted by a
curiosity of what the world beyond is like,
perhaps, they dragged saw horses to a
fence and then tried to climb over. They
were even more charming than their pic-
tures and movies indicate.

A few nights before I had heard Dr.
Dafoe and his world-famous charges
broadcast over NBC. This made seeing
them all the more interesting.

FETED ON EIGHTH

ANNIVERSARY WITH NBC

On May 20 the
members of the New
York Personnel Of-
fice gave George
Nelson a surprise
party on the occa-
sion of his eighth
anniversary with
NBC. While he was
away from his office CEO. M. NELSON
attending a confer-
ence feigned by Personnel Manager
Dwight Wallace his fellow workers filled
his desk with presents and a large cake
with eight candles.

It has been eight years since this south-
ern gentleman resigned from social ser-
vice work to join NBC. But it wasn’t with-
out a great deal of thought and uncer-
tainty that Mr. Nelson left his social ser-
vice job to become NBC’s supervisor of
the Mail-Messenger Section. When NBC
offered him the job he spent nights con-
sidering it. Finally he went to an astrolo-
gist who told him (much to his surprise
and for ten dollars) that he was consider-
ing a change. She urged him to make the
change; in fact, she said it was “impera-
tive” that he make the change. That
cinched the deal. The next day found Mr.
Nelson at NBC. Today he is glad he made
that momentous change and he is grateful
to that astrologist for her sound advice.

After seven years in the Mail Room Mr.
Nelson was appointed to his present posi-
tion as interviewer of male applicants in
the Personnel Office. *'

Mr. Nelson spends much of his leisure
time on his many hobbies. His dearest
hobby is collecting autographs. It all
started many years ago when he was ill
in bed with pneumonia and with time on
his liands. A kind lady (not an astrolo-
gist ) suggested that he collect autographs
by mail to pass the time away. His first
acquisition, Anna Held’s signature, start-
ed him off on a collection which now in-
cludes the prized autographs of the ex-
Kaiser of Germany and Queen Marie of
Rumania.

Mr. Nelson also collects stamps, coins,
books and walking sticks. Speaking of
walking sticks, he inherited his Virginia
ancestors’ custom of carrying canes but
he gave it up when the depression came
because beggars would follow him for
blocks when they noticed his walking stick
which they mistook as a sign of prosperity.

The theatre is another of Mr. Nelson’s
interests. Some years ago he wrote several
plays which have been produced on the
road, Broadway, and in London.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC CHICAGO

by Bob McCoy

NBC Chicago loses a page and Cleve-
land’s WHK gains an announcer. Answer-
ing an early morning hurry call for an
announcer’s audition, Bill Leyden, page,
went through the difficult tests., came out
not a little dazed, happy and completely
victorious, as far as the Chicago end of
the audition was concerned.

To Cleveland that night for the final
audition at WHK’s studios the following
day went the exuberant Leyden, then back
to Chicago to hop into his uniform for his
final week on the page staff.

Well congratulated and with a flock of
good wishes, Leyden returned to WHK on
May 28, to become a member of that
station’s announcing staff.

i i i

New writer in the Press Department is
Phil Fortman, a graduate of Ohio State
University. Mr.- Forfman was with Inter-
national News Service before coming to
NBC.

i i i

Taking time-off during her vacation,
Helene Heinz, secretary to the night man-
ager, was married to Eugene Ellery, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Ellery went on a honeymoon
trip to California.

To the other side of the country went
General Office’s Fern Buerger on her
honeymoon. Fern was married May 22 to
Russell Grote. Mr. and Mrs. Grote went
to Smoky Mountains, Va.

i i 1

Seen and Heard . . . “Bucky” Harris and
A. D. Scott doing a buck and wing while
waiting for an elevator. Used to have an
act together in vaudeville — now produc-
tion directors. Salesman Merritt Schoen-

Don Gilman To Have

Office in Hollywood

The rise of Hollywood as a source of
national network programs and NBC’s
contemplated building project there have
made it necessary that Don E. Gilman,
Vice-President of the Western Division,
be located at the film capital, it was an-
nounced in New York by President Lohr
on May 24.

“This does not mean that Mr. Gilman
will abandon his Sa^j Franciso offices,”
stated Mr. Lohr. “The National Broadcast-
ing Company has no intention of curtail-
ing its San I’rancisco activities, and Mr.
Gilman will continue to spend a consider-

feld practicing a new juggling gadget —
doing pretty well too . . . Esther Ludwig of
Continuity watching her facial expres-
sions in a mirror before going to her sing-
ing lesson. . . . Dorothy Masters of Press
thrilled over her coming European trip
. . . plans to leave the latter part of June.
Production Men Jack Mathae and Boh
Wamholdt back from vacations, nicely
browned and healthy looking. Mathae was
in the hills of Virginia; Wamholdt bi-
cycled around Bermuda. . . . More vacation
talk, in fact that is about all we hear. . . .
Ed Cerny of Music Library and Harry
Bubeck, Jr., of Production, get a dreamy
look in their eyes when you mention their
coming drive to California. . . . Marcelle
Mitchell of Sales, another California fan.
. . . Marge Niess of Audience Mail a lei-
surely jaunt to Cape Cod. . . . Marion
Cooper from Central Stenographic hum-
ming and whistling and" singing selections
from “Lohengrin” . . . she is to be mar-
ried in August. Bill Barth, Production,
back from some deep-sea fishing in Flor-
ida waters. . . . Lincoln Douglas looking
baffled and trying to figure out just how
he happened to get a “scrub brush” hair-
cut. . . .Two new pages. Bob McGinniss
and John Lagen, awaiting their brass but-
tons; meanwhile talking “this radio
world” over in the checkroom, preliminary
training ground. . . . Gertrude Herbes,
newcomer to Central Stenographic, saying
that she intends someday to swim the
Hellespont. Don’t know just how the
Hellespont got in her — but there you are
— the young lady would like to swim it.

The EXCHANGE CORNER gets results. Try it.
See page 14.

i i i

Have you got your NBC ATHLETIC ASSOCIA-
TION card?

able portion of his time in that city. San
Francisco is one of the four cities in the
United States in which the National
Broadcasting Company operates two
broadcasting stations, and the major part
of our sales and accounting activities for
West Coast operation is centered there.”
“The great increase in radio program
production in Hollywood, however, has
made it advisable that Mr. Gilman estab-
lish his residence there. This will enable
him to devote a greater amount of per-
sonal attention to the millions of listeners
NBC now serves from Hollywood, and to
our plans for providing the finest broad-
casting facilities to keep pace with the
program production in that city.”

NBC WASHINGTON

by Marian P. Gale

^e don’t like to deliberately take the
wind out of KYW’s sails BUT, in the May
issue of the NBC Transmitter Scribe J. A.
Aull of Philadelphia asks for it. KYW he
says, “aired the first UP news flash of the
Lakehurst disaster at 7:42 EDST.” We
praised in the last issue our Bob Cotting-
ham of the W ashington News Department
for getting the UP Hindenburg bulletin
on WMAL at 6:33 EST, about eight min-
utes after the disaster occurred. We repeat
our statement, however, for KYW’s at-
tention, and in like manner challenge any-
one in the family to beat the 6:33 record.

1 1 i

The annual golf tournament between
local NBC and CBS was held Monday,
May 24th. Although CBS brought four
extra men with them they still couldn’t
win. Bill Coyle did his part to help the
home team, — it’s reported he sunk three
fifteen foot putts and two approach shots,
finishing up with a very low score — a lot
lower than the rest, anyway.

i i i

Speaking of golf, that reminds us —
Keith Williams, field engineer, who at
present is on vacation, was golfing at a
local club the other day when he spotted
the NBC equipment being set up for a
broadcast. Like the proverbial postman on
vacation he was back on the job for the
afternoon.

1 i i

The auditing department won’t have to
work overtime any more since pretty
Helen Stretmater has been added to its
staff. . . . Helen says she will be commuting
to work from Annapolis during June week
at the Naval Academy. . . . Midshipmen
will learn to like running in competition
with the boys from St. Johns College that
week. ^ ^ ^

Mary Mason, WRC Home Forum con-
ductor, will be feted when she attends the
Strawberry Festival at Wallace, N. C.,
from the 7th to the 12th of June.

Here and there we also learn that quiet
John Hurley, WMAL announcer, is cram-
ming for a law examination in between
standbys. . . . Frances Childs has recov-
ered from that streptococcus infection. . , .
Bud Barry has been thinking about play-
ing in summer stock, but not seriously. . . .
James Edmund Sweet, formerly with the
ff ashington Daily News, joins the Sales
Department this month.

i i ■(

Both the staff of WRC and WMAL
wish to extend their sympathy to Elsie
Ramby for the recent death in her family.

JUNE, 1937

NBC DENVER

- by Charles Anderson-

The latest in musical directors' stands. On the left Dramatic Director
Roscoe Stockton, and Musical Program Editor Carl Wieninger, both
of KOA, Denver, inspecting their latest invention to keep programs
on time. Besides the clock it has STOP and GO signals and other
gadgets.

Coincidence: When the United
Airlines inaugtirated their Main-
liner service through Denver.

Derby Sproul, continuity editor,
took his four-year-old son, Pete,
for a spin over the town. Imagine
his surprise to discover the pilot
was Frank Yeager, who had giv-
en Derby his first airplane ride
over the same city when he was
thirteen years old. The only dif-
ference was that Derby’s first
ride was in a two-seater Oriole
and Pete’s was in the most mod-
ern of sky-lounges.

i i i

This column wants to thank
Bob Brown for his helpful co-
operation in the broadcast from
Chicago of the arrival of the
Mainliner from Denver on its
record-breaking flight. If plans had
worked out “we” would have been there
in time for a full half-hour show, but alas,
the champagne for christening the plane
must have been late in arriving. The de-
parture from Denver was delayed a half-
hour and left us only ten minutes when
“we” did arrive in the Windy City. (“We”
— Derby Sproul and your correspondent.)
If you can imagine “we” being in the NBC

Chicago studios Sunday morning at ten
and back working at the Denver studios at
seven that evening you have a rough idea
of how fast this world travels nowadays.

i i i

Vacation time shows Roy Carrier, trans-
mitter engineer and president of ATE. in
Oceanside, California, enjoying the sun-
light. Roy Fell, transmitter engineer, is in
Kansas visiting his relatives. Joe Gillespie,

announcer, is due back from his
trip to New York, 'tour corres-
pondent plans a round-trip to the
East to include Chicago. New
^Ork and Washington, D. C.
Billy Stulla, ann<»uncer. will
spend his vacation in the Rocky
Mountains of good old Colorado.
Tom W ilson, page, will do a little
fishing during his holiday period,
lie’ll need the rest after the ex-
citement of graduating from Uni-
versity of Denver, where he spe-
cialized in Chemistry.

i i i

Visitors to KOA include Oliver
Morton and G. B. McDermott
from the Chicago office looking
over our Rocky Mountains. They
will have a look-see at KOA’s
talent while here.

i i i

Two picnics in a row have everyone
healthy and covered with sunburn. Roscoe
Stockton invited the staff to his Eldorado
Springs cabin for the week-end. May 15th.
After everyone had a chance to catch his
breath Derby Sproul had them all up to
his Indian Hills home for a spread, the
following week-end.

in* 1

|LJ|B ;■

This picture was taken at a luncheon at the Denver Club given by the staff of KOA in honor of A. H. Morton, Manager of the
Operated Stations Department, during his western trek last month.

Seated, L. to R. — Wm. Stulla and Joe Gillespie, announcers, C. A. Peregrine, engineer, J. R. McPherson, salesman, A. W.
Crapsey, sales manager, A. E. Nelson, station manager, A. H. Morton, Don Gilman, vice-president in charge of NBC Western
Division, Wm. Gregory, L. B. Long, announcer, T. E. Stepp, mail clerk, Roy Carrier and Walter Morrissey, engineers.

Standing, L. to R. — Derby Sproul, script writer. Gene Lindberg, radio editor of Denver Post, A. J. Slusser, engineer, Chas.
Anderson, announcer. Dale Newbold, auditor, Roscoe Stockton, production manager, C. C. Moore, program manager, and Dean Lewis,
RCA-Victor representative in Denver.

NBC TRANSMITTER

STAMP CLUB NOTES

The NBC Stamp Club (New York)
held its regular meeting on Monday, May
24, in Room 618. Following a buffet sup-
per a short business meeting was held to
discuss plans for a forthcoming series of
broadcasts of interest to stamp collectors.

Mr. Theodore Steinway was guest
speaker for the evening, and gave a talk
on the Mayfair Find. The Mayfair Find
details are so interesting that we are pass-
ing them on, briefly, to TRANSMITTER
readers.

Back around 1841 the son of a Duke (in
London ) having plenty of time on his
hands and plenty of money in the bank,
whiled away a few weeks writing letters
to the postmasters of all the English colo-
nies. In his letters he asked for whatever
postage stamps were available, and en-
closed a five pound note to cover the cost
— this being the small paper money in cir-
culation in England at the time.

In those days mail and travel to foreign
countries was only by means of sailing
ships and slow freighters and the next
Spring found our young hero off to col-
lege before he could receive replies to his
letters. He asked his mother, however, to
be on the watch for packages for him, and
not to bother to open them but just put
them away in his room and he’d take care
of them on his return. Before he had fin-
ished school, though, the Crimean War
broke out. He enlisted, went immediately
to the front, and was killed in action.

In the meantime, bundle after bundle
was arriving at his home, and his mother,
believing he would return, put them all
away as he had asked. On learning of his
death she straightened up his room,
packed all the bundles away in a trunk
in the garret — and forgot them.

In 1922 a great-great-grandniece of the
young man found the old trunk among
some things that were left to her in an
estate. She opened it and wasn’t particu-
larly impressed with what she found. She
called in a friend, who was something of
a stamp dealer. He took one look and
promptly fainted. That trunk contained
sheet after sheet of first or early issues of
stamps from almost all of the English
colonies. One exception was a colony in
Germany, where the postmaster, not un-
derstanding what a young man could pos-
sibly want with so many stamps, took the
trouble to send only one stamp each of
those available and a draft for the bal-
ance of the five pounds.

The “find” was auctioned by a leading
stamp firm in London, and a friend of Mr.
Steinway’s paid $14,000 for just one sheet
from the colony in Australia. The whole

New Members of

N. Y. Guest Relations

Recent replacements in the Guest Rela-
tions’ uniformed staff are:

George W. Humphrey, a former usher at
Radio City Music Hall, who lives in
Brooklyn but whose real home is in Akron,
Ohio. He has traveled extensively through-
out the world. He wants to earn enough
money to go to medical school.

Victor Alfsen, formerly in the sports
section of Lord and Taylor as a ski expert,
was born in this country but he lived most
of the time in Norway where he learned to
ski like an expert. He said he used to
skate on the same lake with Sonja Henie
when she was just a little schoolgirl.
Victor, whose parents are now living in
Norway, says that he missed the snow this
past winter here. He was able to get out
and ski only two week-ends for lack of
snow. In Norway he used to ski to school.

He was educated at Park College,
Missouri.

Philip Houghton comes to us from
Antioch College to replace Robert Hart-
man who went back to college to continue
his studies. Under the special arrangement
between Antioch College and NBC Hough-
ton will work here until August when he
goes back to his studies and Hartman will
return to serve his second term at NBC.
Thus for a year these two Antioch men
will combine study with work in the field
they are interested.

Peter Ratyca, a New Yorker and gradu-
ate of Commerce High School, wants to be
an air conditioning engineer. When and
if he can, he will go to an Engineering
School while working at NBC.

Daniel P. Connor, formerly of Syracuse,
New York, comes to NBC via the National
City Bank of New York. He attended Cor-
nell University.

Palmer Wentworth comes to Radio City
from Philadelphia and the University of
Pennsylvania ( Class of ’36 ) , where he spe-
cialized in journalism. He wants to become
a script writer. His last job as a private
tutor took him on a cruise to South
America on the Aquitania.

Franklin M. Evans comes to Radio City
with a long record as an orchestra leader.
First, he worked his way through high

auction netted the woman approximately
50,000 pounds.

Now I ask you — was that a “find” or
wasn’t it? Perhaps you who do not in-
dulge in this hobby of saving stamps can
understand why those who do seem to take
their collecting so seriously. Better take a
look in that trunk you’ve got — there might
be something in it!

EXCHANGE CORNER

All items must be in writing; give name and
address.

LOST — A Chi Psi fraternity pin at the NBC
Athletic Association Dance in New York
on May 7th. My name, chapter and the year
’32 are engraved on the back. Bob Owen, En-
gineering, KOA, Denver, Colorado.

RIDE TO ASHEVILLE, N. C.— Will take up
to three people in five-passenger car in ex-
change for part of traveling expenses. Going
by way of Washington, D. C., and Richmond,
Va. Starting on or after June 27. Herb Gross,
Ext. 220, Room 284, N. Y.

FREE PASSES — Good for a day’s visit at the
well-equipped YMCA at 5 West 63rd Street,
N. Y. C., are available to NBC employes. Apply
to the N. Y. Personnel Office, Room 308.

SELL OR BUY — Riding boots and equipment.

Call or write the NBC TRANSMITTER,
Ext. 220.

“DREAM ACRE” — For sale or rent ; fur-
nished or unfurnished. 17 miles from the
George Washington Bridge — three miles from
the Rockland Country Club. Delightful view
of the Hudson, gorgeous shade and fruit trees.
Little white cottage, five rooms and bath, pipe-
less furnace, electricity and city water — two
car garage. Ext. 231.

SUBLET^l West 54lh St., N. Y. C. June 1

to October 1, one room apartment, kitchen-
ette and bath. Completely furnished. Tele-
phone and radio. Quiet, cool, cross ventilation,
east and west exposures. Call Mary Coyne,
Ext. 561.

school and two years at the University of
Virginia with his own orchestra. Then he
took his orchestra on a trip around the
world with a long stopover at a Havana
night club. Lately he and his boys were
heard over WNEW for several weeks. Over
the same station Evans also was featured
as a vocalist on a sustaining program. He
also has had some experience in vaude-
ville with Gus Edwards.

While in New York he studied drama-
tics at the Eeagin School in between
shows. At the present he is attending
New York University in the evenings.

Now that he is with NBC Franklin
Evans wants to become an announcer.

N. Erederick W'eihe is fresh from col-
lege. He was graduated from Drew Uni-
versity, New Jersey, with the class of ’37.
His home is in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

JUNE, 1937

WGY SCHENECTADY

by O. H. Junggren

WGY extends its heartiest good wishes
to RadcliiTe Hall, one of its announcers
and production men, and Gertrude C.
Peeples, Chairman of the Artists’ Audi-
tions Committee of the Buffalo Broadcast-
ing Company. They were married Satur-
day, May 29, in the Little Church Around
the Corner, New York City. It’s another
radio romance, inasmuch as Mr. Hall met
Miss Peeples when he presented himself
before her for an audition in Buffalo.
Later, they worked together in producing
the Victor Amateur Hour for Buffalo radio
listeners.

i i 1

The old timers at WGY were surprised
last week to see the much changed al-
though smiling countenance of Clyde Kit-
tell, one of our alumni. Under the guiding
wing of Johnny Finke, musical director,
Clyde was introduced to the boys who now
put the mikes through their paces, as he
did when he gave forth on the commer-
cials in dear old Studio B.

i i i

Reports from the Glenridge Sanitarium
indicate that Bob Rissling, announcer ex-
traordinaire, is coming along nicely in his
recuperation from a serious illness. We
hope it won’t be long (and the impatient
advertisers express the same wish) before
Bob will be back with us.

1 i i

The “hardy” souls at WGY who thought
they were in good physical shape are just
beginning to get their knotted muscles in
working order once again, several days
after their annual outing.

Thursday, May 27, was the red-letter
day for WGY, as the whole force of an-
nouncers, officials, control men, transmit-
ter crew and artists joined in for an excel-
lent day of fun at Tom Luther’s White
Sulphur Springs Hotel at Saratoga Lake,
N. Y. John Howe, salesman de luxe, did a
fine job of managing the affair.

One of the high spots of the day was the
annual soft ball game between the techni-
cians and the programmers. Manager
Kolin Hager pitched the programmers to
an 11 to 1 win over the technicians. The
losing pitcher in this fray was A1 Knapp.
The second game was between the artists
and the technicians, and again the control
men lost, 20 to 10. Jim Healey, WGY’s
“sports authority,” refused to run, for

some reason or other, with men on second
and first, and allowed the artists to make
a triple play. Anyway, there were lots of
sore muscles.

Caroline Osan, secretary to Mr. Hager,
won the darts contest, and Marjorie Mc-
Mullen, of Leighton and Nelson Agency,
won the ping-pong fray, with Mrs. John
Howe.

Dinner, served by Luther’s able staff,
appeased the hearty appetites worked up
in the blistering sun in the afternoon.
Gordie Randall’s orchestra played for
dancing after the meal.

Boyd Bullock, assistant manager of the
publicity department of the General Elec-
tric Company, presented a plaque on
behalf of the company to WGY’s trans-
mitter crew for their enviable record dur-
ing 1936. Ralph Sayre, representing the
boys at South Schenectady, received the
award. It was inscribed as follows: “Merit
Award, WGY, 1936, presented by the
General Electric Company to the NBC
operated station maintaining the most
nearly perfect record for the year 1936.”

During the dinner short speeches were
made by George McElrath, operating en-
gineer of NBC, Kolin Hager, Boyd Bul-
lock and others.

TWO PICKED FROM

ANNOUNCING SCHOOL

George Hayes and Arthur Gaharini
were graduated from Dan Russell’s an-
nouncing class to the staff of announcers
in Radio City on June 1.

George Hayes, formerly of the night
program manager’s office, came to NBC as
a page about two years ago. He is a
graduate of Manhattan College where he
had a baseball scholarship.

Arthur Gaharini has been with the Com-
pany for one year working on the page
staff. Before coming to NBC, Mr. Gaba-
rini worked as an announcer on stations
WVFW in Brooklyn and WAAT in Jersey
City. He was graduated from New York
University in 1932.

A new class under Dan Russell’s direc-
tion has been started with four new stu-
dents who were chosen from a group of
eleven pages and guides who were audi-
tioned on May 23. Those selected were
Joseph Novenson, David M. Adams, David
Garroway, Jr., and John O’Reilly.

The NBC school for announcers was
started two years ago to train young men
in the Company who want to become radio
announcers. Since then several “gradu-
ates” of the school have been made an-
nouncers in various NBC stations. Other
announcers in New York who were trained
by Dan Russell are David Roberts, Leon
Leak and Jack McCarthy.

WGY receives the General Electric merit award for excellent transmitter service in 1936.
Ralph Sayre, representing the station’s transmitter engineers, receives the plaque from Boyd
Bullock, left, assistant manager of the publicity department of G. E. Looking on, from L. to R. —
W. J. Purcell, station engineer, George McElrath, NBC operating engineer, and Kolin Hager,
manager of WGY.

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

NO. 7 — TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT (PART 2)

NBC TRANSMITTER

“IN RADIO IT’S RCA ALL THE WAY’’

The Magic Key of RCA program in the largest broadcasting studio in the world, 8H, in
Radio City. In the foreground are the guest artists, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.
In the background to the left is the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frank Black.
To the right is part of the large audience, numbering over a thousand.

This is the seventh of
a series of articles
which we hope will give
you a better under-
standing of the many
NBC units.

The May issue of the
NBC Transmitter car-
ried an article about the
Traffic Department,
describing its organiza-
tion and explaining its
functions. In this arti-
cle we shall try to show
how the Traffic Depart-
ment puts the programs
on the air.

A typical Magic Key
of RCA program, that
of May 16, 1937, can be
used as a good exam-
ple. This particular job
was conceived by the
Program Department to
commemorate Lind-
bergh’s epic flight to
Paris in 1927. It in-
volved two-way conversations between the
stage of the Chicago Opera House and old
friends of Lindbergh at various other
points. Lindbergh’s successor on the old
Chicago-St. Louis mail route was to be in-
terviewed while flying in a plane over
Chicago by John B. Kennedy from the
Chicago Opera house; the mechanic who
tuned up his plane for the epic hop was
to talk from Roosevelt Field, Long Island;
and one of the first three persons who
greeted him when he landed on the other
side of the Atlantic was to be interviewed
from the spot where the Spirit of St. Louis
rolled to a stop in Le Bourget, Paris.

Such an elaborate program first called
for a meeting of engineers, announcers,
and officials of the Traffic Department and
Special Events Division to discuss the pre-
liminary details and to determine the gen-
eral feasibility of the program from all
angles. The cost of the hook-up, avail-
ability of land lines and short-wave chan-
nels, and probable short-wave quality for
that date were the particular problems of
Steere Mathew of the Traffic Department.
Mr. Mathew drew up a report which pre-
dicted favorable short-wave conditions for
the broadcast and quoted a cost for the

facilities which was within the expense
budget, and the program was booked.

Upon receipt of the actual order for the
program, it was the job of Roy Holmes
of Traffic to order the necessary transmis-
sion facilities. The land lines consisted of
two circuits between the NBC master con-
trol rooms in New York and Chicago,
broadcast telephone circuits between
NBC, New York, and Roosevelt Field,
Long Island, and a two-way short-wave
radio channel between New York and Le
Bourget, Paris. All switches were on an
instantaneous basis, and provisions were
made to permit tbe mixing of the entire
program either at New York or Chicago.

Mr. Holmes also furnished the engi-
neers of NBC, the A. T. & T. and RCAC
with the proper cues and timing for the
different switches in the program.

All the facilities were made ready for
the broadcast an hour before the program
went on the air in order to allow for a
dress rehearsal immediately preceding the
show. Although everything went well dur-
ing the dress rehearsal, including satis-
factory tests with the flying plane, it was
not so with the actual broadcast. When the
cue to switch to the airplane was given —

“Are you ready to come
in, Sloniger?’’ — there
was no answer. After
another unsuccessful
try to contact the flyers,
those down below real-
ized that something had
gone wrong with the
transmitter in the plane.
New York Traffic men
were all attention,
ready for any change
that might have been
needed in the set-up,
but fortunately the gap
was filled in with an
“ad-lib’’ by John B.
Kennedy in Chicago.

Tense men through-
out the network sighed
with relief when the
“ad-lib” ended and the
other remote points
were successfully
brought in according to
schedule.

Thus NBC brought
another Magic Key of
RCA program packed with entertainment
and thrills to its vasy army of listeners on
Sunday afternoons.

BABY PICTURES

1. Vernon H. Pribble — Manager of
WTAM Cleveland.

2. Juan de J. Almonte — N. Y. Evening
Manager.

3. Don E. Gilman — Vice Pres., in
charge of Western Division.

4. A. E. Nelson — Manager of KOA
Denver.

5. Harry A. Woodman — Manager of
KDKA Pittsburgh.

6. Kolin Hager — Manager of WGY
Schenectady.

7. William S. Rainey — Manager of
N. Y. Production Division.

8. George Engles — Vice Pres., Direc-
tor of Artists Service.

9. John A. Holman — Manager of WBZ
and WBZA.

NBC TRANSMITTER

VOL. 5 lULY ir,, 105 7 NO. «

DR. ANGELL NAMED NBC
EDUCATIONAL COUNSELOR

Ten Southern Stations
Added To Blue Network

NBC ACTIVITIES AT THE
BOY SCOUT JAMBOREE

Guide Frank Nesbitt (left) and Engineer
Walter Godwin in the arena at the Boy Scout
Jamboree in W'ashington, D. C. Nesbitt ad
libbed for twenty-seven minutes during this
experimental tour of Jamboree City.

by Frank W. Nesbitt

Special to the NBC T ransmitter

Washington, July 2. — The News and
Special Events Division certainly has rea-
son to be proud of its handling of the Boy
Scout Jamboree. Don Goddard of NBC
New York is in charge of the field opera-
tions, and with the assistance of the
Washington staff, he has kept things on
the move at the National Broadcasting
Company headquarters at Tent City.

Here, on the Avenue of Flags the NBC
forty-foot tent studio stands out as one of
the most interesting attractions of the
meeting. The latest in field equipment, in-
cluding seven-and-a-half-meter pack trans-
mitters, and microphones, is on exhibition.
The sides of the tent are lined with pic-
tures of NBC artists and the New York
studios, as well as scenes from the Radio
City NBC Studio Tour. So far more than a
thousand people a day have visited this
unique field studio.

To date we have been on the air at least
twice a day with regular programs, many
of which have gone from coast to coast.
John B. Kennedy, Lowell Thomas, and
Lanny Ross are all expected to partici-
pate in these gala goings on. This evening
we did a broadcast which included the
(Continued on page 9)

Dr. James Rowland Angell, who retired
as president of Yale University last month
after holding that office sixteen years, ac-
cepted the post of educational counselor
of the National Broadcasting Company on
June 27.

“I am accepting the invitation with the
greatest enthusiasm,” Dr. Angell said in
an announcement to the press, “and in the
hope that the opportunity given me will
allow me to render a real public service.
The educational possibilities of radio are
but just beginning to be fully appreciated
and I trust that I can make some small
contribution to increasing its significance
for young and old alike.”

Lenox R. Lohr, president of NBC, made
this statement:

“Acceptance by Dr. James Rowland
Angell, retiring president of Yale Univer-
sity, of a post with the National Broad-
casting Company naturally is gratifying to
all of us. It is a happy culmination of ef-
forts on our part of more than a year to
extend our broadcasting activities along
educational lines in order to provide the
NBC audience with the best cultural pro-
grams.

“Our organization is greatly honored
by the privilege of having associated with
it in a full-time capacity a man of Dr.
Angell’s distinguished attainments and
notable intellectual station. In joining us,
he is only changing his base of educa-
tional endeavor from New Haven to New
York, from a university to the air. He will
have a free hand to devise and suggest
methods by which we may more effec-
tively serve radio’s listening
millions.”

Dr. Angell, who was born
in Burlington, Vermont on
May 8, 1869 is a descendant
of great American educa-
tors. His father was the late
Dr. James B. Angell, presi-
dent of the University of
Michigan, and his maternal
grandfather was President
Caswell of Brown University.

Dr. Angell received the
degrees of A.B. and M.A.
from the University of Mich-
igan in 1890 and 1891, re-
spectively. From the Univer-
sity of Michigan he went to
Harvard for a year; thence

(Continued on page 11)

“This is a Blue Network presentation
of the National Broadcasting Company.”
This familiar phrase will now reach,
through the facilities of ten new stations
in the South, additional millions of listen-
ers in that part of the country.

The addition of these ten stations to the
NBC networks was announced by Presi-
dent Lohr June 30. The new stations will
become part of the Blue Network on Au-
gust 1. Previously most southern cities had
only one NBC station but now they will
have two, enabling them to listen to both
the Red and Blue Network programs.

Since January 1, 1937, counting the new
southern affiliates, NBC has acquired
thirty new stations available to the Blue
Network. This, in addition to the seventy-
seven stations which previously consti-
tuted the Blue Network, now brings the
grand total up to one hundred and thirty-
six in both networks.

These one hundred and thirty-six sta-
tions are NBC’s response to the demands
of the public and business for a complete
coverage of the United States.

A brief description of the new stations
and the territories each serves follows:

WAGA, at Atlanta, is owned by the Lib-
erty Broadcasting Company, an affiliate of
the Atlanta Journal. The station operates
full time on a regional channel frequency
of 1450 kilocycles with a day-time power
of 1,000 watts and a night-time power of
500 watts. Atlanta, the leading market of
the South, ranks twenty-fourth in the na-
tional market rating. An important rail-
(Continued on Page 8)

DR. and MRS. JAMES ROWLAND ANGELL
From New Haven to Radio City

NBC TRANSMITTER

WHO*S WHO IN THE NBC NETWORKS

Introducing — KOIIN HAGER

How should a boy, ambitious to become
the manager of a radio station, proceed?

There are probably all sorts of routes
which lead to the same objective, but in
the case of Kolin Hager, manager of
WGY, Schenectady, born before radio
broadcasting blossomed into the field of
big business, the training was varied and
might just as easily have led him into a
career on the stage or in opera, or to the
post of president of a college.

Kolin Hager as a youngster had three
consuming passions, a love of baseball and
sports in general, a delight in public
speaking, whether as a debater or orator,
and a fondness for music.

In grade school he began to win prizes
for declamation. At the same time he was
a member of the boy choir of All Saints
Cathedral in Albany and at eleven became
soloist for a four-year period. This early
training in music influenced him to con-
tinue with his studies, and when he early
developed into more than an average bari-
tone, Kolin Hager set his course for the
concert and operatic stage. In the mean-
time, however, he entered and worked his
way through the New York State College
for Teachers, was graduated and later ob-
tained a job as teacher for English, Dra-
matics and Music. While in high school
and college he played the lead in many
dramatic performances current in Albany
and vicinity, including The Servant in the
House, Galsworthy’s The Silver Box, and
Hamlet. He also played minor parts in
Bert Lytell’s Albany Stock Company for a
summer season.

Then one day an opportunity was of-
fered the young teacher, then assistant
professor of English at State Teachers’
College, Albany, to join the sales promo-
tion staff of the General Electric Com-
pany. That was in the days before electric
refrigerators, radio receivers, and other
modern electrical devices which have since
found acceptance in the home. Kolin
Hager’s job was to write and deliver “pep”
talks to dealers and distributors. He trav-
eled over the country from coast to coast,
visiting practically every state in the
Union, “pepping” salesmen far and wide
with the energy and will to sell GE ap-
pliances. This was a part of the famous
GE merchandising conference in 1921-22,
which created a new type of promotion in
that field of work.

It was at this stage, 1922, to get down
to the actual year, that Martin P. Rice,
manager of the publicity department of
the General Electric Company, was look-

KOLIN HAGER
Manager oj WGY Schenectady

ing around for someone with the training
to handle a radio station. No one knew ex-
actly what was required of a radio station
manager, except that he must know some-
thing about the entertainment field, be
able to -entertain in his own right, and
have the type of personality in his voice
that would make people want to listen to
him and his station. And there was Kolin
Hager already cut to measure for the job.

WGY’s rating as one of the outstand-
ing radio stations on the air today is con-
firmation of Mr. Rice’s judgment and Mr.
Hager’s ability. It was soon discovered
that Mr. Hager had the restless disposi-
tion which demands change and improve-
ment, and resents inertia. Within a week
after WGY went on the air, the station
was reaching out for programs from other
points of origin than the studio and in the
first year WGY was importing programs
from New York, Washington. Boston and
Philadelphia.

With the exception of two years. Kolin
Hager has been with WGY continuously
since the inaugural program of the station
February 20, 1922. He has grown with
radio broadcasting and has played an im-
portant part in the development of the new
art. Furthermore, he has developed into a
capable business executive which isn’t
had. when you consider that he once as-
pired to a career on the stage or in opera.

By the way. there is a Mrs. Hager, and
two Hager children — twin girls, Koline
and Norine — and both youngsters have in-
herited their daddy’s love of music.

i i i

Winners oi the August Photo Contest will be
announced in the next issue oi the MBC TRANS-
MITTER.

NEWCOMERS TO N. Y.
PAGE AND GUIDE STAFFS

Several new men, most of whom are re-
cent graduates of school and college, have
joined the uniformed staff of the Guest
Relations Division in New York. Their
names follow.

Daniel H. Wells comes to Radio City for
his first steady job. He comes from Hart-
ford, Connecticut and Hamilton College.
Last March he sang in the bass section of
the Hamilton College Choir during an ap-
pearance on the Rudy Vallee program.
Mr. Wells has made one other radio ap-
pearance — years ago as a member of the
Loomis School Glee Club he sang over
WTIC in Hartford.

In college he was active in sports, hav-
ing played varsity football, basketball and
track. He was a member of the Chi Psi
fraternity.

Jere Baxter 3rd comes from Yale with
a B. S., and his home town, Washington,
D. C. This is also his first job. He has
traveled a great deal, having been to
Europe, South America, Panama, and
Hawaii where he lived for some time.

Albert Roraback, twenty-two years old,
is also from Yale, class of ’37. His home
is in Brooklyn. He isn’t quite sure what
branch of radio he likes; at present, he
thinks he might like the advertising angle.

Mark Saxton was graduated from Eli’s
favorite enemy. Harvard, last year. He
comes to NBC with two summers’ exper-
ience in the newspaper business, specifi-
cally one summer with the New York
Herald-Tribune and another with News-
W eek magazine. He is interested in writ-
ing, especially script-writing.

Frederick Judd Van Wagner, from
Madison, New Jersey and Peddie School,
is here for his first job. Thinks radio is
exciting business.

F. Colburn Pinkbam, Jr., of Forest
Hills, New York and formerly with the
J. C. Penney and Bristol-Meyers’ compan-
ies. went to Princeton University for two
years before tackling the business world.
He wants to be an announcer.

Robert Evans Dennison is another
Princeton man (class of ’37) on the page
staff. He was quite active in extra-curricu-
lar activities at college — manager of the
Princeton Tigers, a dance band which
made two trips to Europe and four to
South America. He was also a member of
tbe Princeton Triangle Club, famous for
its yearly musical comedy productions.

12,13.3 persons took the Radio City NBC
Studio Tour during the three-day Inde-
pendence Day holiday this year as com-
pared with the 8,603 tourists who were
conducted through the studios during the
same period last year.

JULY 15, 1937

NBC CHICAGO

by William E. Lawrence

WGY SCHENECTADY

by O. H. Junggren

“CRUG’S FOLLY”

The accompanying picture proves to all
and sundry that B. W. Cruger, WGY
maintenance supervisor, is pretty clever
with his hands. Inasmuch as a small pic-
ture cannot begin to show all the detail
involved in the construction of this loco-
motive, let it be said that it is an exact
replica, perfect in every outer detail.
“Crug” says it represents three months’
work. He reports he fashioned the com-
plete “Double O” gauge locomotive with
the exception of the wheels and couplers,
from brass tubing and plate in his own
workshop. The wheels and couplers were
purchased. The locomotive is operated by
an electric motor. By the way, Crug has
been elected secretary-treasurer of the
Electric City Model Railroad Club.
(Photo by Horton Moster, control room.)
i i 1

A1 Taylor seems to be very happy of
late. Reason? His son, Winslow, has just
returned from the hospital, after an attack
of scarlet fever. Taylor Junior is all set
now to continue where he left off rooting
for Lefty Gomez of the Yanks.

i i i

John Howe, of the Sales Department,
is telling all his co-workers about the big
bass he’s going to catch when he hits the
vacation trail. John will spend his two
weeks at Eagle Lake, near Ticonderoga,
N. Y.

■f 1 i

Alex MacDonald, the man who sends
out those pretty little gadgets telling what
a good thing WGY is, reports that his
wedding trip to the coast of Maine last
year made such a lasting impression that
he will return there this year for vacation.
ill

Veteran Fisherman Coggeshall, pro-
gram manager, is out full blast with his
fishing tackle in search of the elusive
bass. He and Salesman Howe can tell
some terrific fish stories, with the season
only a couple of weeks old. What’s it go-
ing to be like when the season is over?
ill

“Chet” Rudowski, Auditing, the Beau
Brummell of WGY, is contemplating a
very “excloosive” vacation at Lake Placid,
N. Y., this month.

New Faces in NBC Chicago:

The following have joined NBC’s Cen-
tral Division during the past month;

Lyle Barnhart in Production, Laura
Linroth in Central Stenographic, George
Heinemann, page, Leonard Anderson, as-
sistant office manager, and Eugene Sulli-
van, messenger in the Mail Room.

i i i

Newcomers in the Engineering Depart-
ment are:

Thomas Gootee, Andrew Schomaker,
Hugh White, Aryl Aldred, Homer Cour-
chene, Arthur Hockin and Laurence Dut-
ton.

i i 1

Durward Kirby, new announcer, for-
merly with WLW, Cincinnati, measures

six feet, six inches in silk socks. This, ac-
cording to an official source, breaks the
old record in the Announcers’ Room by
two inches. Try again. Bill Craig.

i i i

Whitney J. Clement has been appointed
Local Sales Manager, replacing M. B.
Wolens who goes to WCFL as sales man-
ager of that station.

1 i 1

News Flashes:

Last issue’s Chicago correspondent for
the NBC Transmitter, Bill Senn of Mail
and Messenger, streaked out the door the
other day with a packed valise in one hand
and a leave of absence in the other, bound
we understand, for a camp in the North
Woods.

i i i

Harry Bubeck, Sound Effects, and Ed

Cerny, Music Library, have returned from
their vacations looking like California
Chamber of Commerce men, each with a
terrific Hollywood tan.

Production Director M. P. Wamboldt
and party are safe and sound on dry land
after a twenty-five-hour battle with the
elements in a recent storm.

i i 1

Laura Satterwhite of Production has
resigned to devote all her time to house-
hold duties. In private life she helps An-
nouncer l.es Griffith ring the chimes.
Dorothy Horton, formerly of Audience
Mail, will keep the daily program sched-
ules straight in Laura’s stead.

ill

Page William Weaver, who carried off
honors in the last home talent production
from Chicago and sings occasionally on
the Club Matinee program, received his
first fan letter the other day.

i i i

Head Traffic Man, Ed Stockmar, re-
fused to be a June groom so he made his
little speech July 3 and is now honeymoon-
ing in the Catskills.

i i i

Virginia Thompson of the Statistical
• Department was married June 26.

i i i

When Violet Colliander of Central Sten-
ographic returns from her vacation in
Guatemala, she will take up new work
as secretary to C. W. Wester in Network
Sales replacing Dorothy Soiberg.

The NBC Stamp Club has received a rare addition to its collection in the form of a letter
from W. R. Brown, engineer for NBC, who accompanied Announcer George Hicks to Canton
Island for the eclipse.

The cover (pictured above) has unusual historic, as well as philatelic interest in that it
was cancelled aboard the U. S. S. Avocet at Canton Island at 8:38 a.m., June 8, 1937, at
exact day and moment of totality of the eclipse.

It is planned to mount and add this new gift to the NBC Stamp Club exhibition, which
now may be viewed on the mezzanine floor of the NBC studios in Radio City.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Marriages;

Miss Rita Doyle, secretary to B. T.
Rumple in Statistical, was married to
Joseph D. O’Brien of Brooklyn at the St.
Anne Church in New York City on July
10th.

The wedding, followed by a reception in
the Casino-in-the-Air at the Hotel Mont-
clair, was attended by many NBC friends
of the bride. The newlyweds fled from the
reception under a noisy barrage of rice.
No one — not even the NBC Transmitter —
was able to find out where they went on
their honeymoon.

1 i i

Miss Frances Kelly of the Promotion
Division was married to Edward Joseph
Sheridan at the Church of the Holy Child
Jesus, Richmond Hill, Long Island, on the
morning of July 5th.

The guests, including many NBCites,
stayed for the high mass which followed
the nuptials. Following the ceremony,
breakfast was served at the Homestead
Hotel in Kew Gardens and a reception for
all the guests was held in a Richmond Hill
country club.

The newlyweds, who are expected back
from their honeymoon on July 19, plan to
make their residence in Forest Hills, New
York.

Stork News;

Mike Kopp, carpenter, is now a family
man. His first offspring — a girl — was born
in the morning of July 2 while he was in
another hospital getting a divorce from
his tonsils. Reports are that father and
child are doing very well.

ill

Resignations;

M. Blake Johnson, guide, who came to
NBC after his graduation from Dartmouth
College last February, resigned to accept
a one-year scholarship at Oxford Univer-
sity, England.

1 i i

Transfers;

E. Loudon Haaker, guide, was trans-
ferred to the News and Special Events Di-
vision on July 1.

Mr. Haaker came to NBC as a page in
1933. In 1935 he left the Company to work
as a radio salesman, script-writer and
copywriter for an advertising agency in
New Hampshire and Vermont. A year
later found him back in Radio City, re-
claiming his NBC guide’s uniform.

1 1 i

Miss Florence Marin of Stenographic
has been transferred to the Sales Depart-
ment to replace Mrs. Margaret Raynolds
as secretary to F. M. Thrower, Jr. Mrs.
Raynolds resigned on June 22 to go on a
European tour with her husband. Miss
Marin joined NBC last April.

i i 1

Miss Jeanne Harrison, formerly in Sten-

ographic, is now in the Sales Traffic Di-
vision. Miss Harrison worked on the NBC
program, America's Town Meeting of the
Air before coming to NBC last October.

Miss Dorothy Allred, who came from
Wichita, Kansas, last October to join our
Central Stenographic Section, has been
transferred to the Building Maintenance
Section to replace Miss Muriel Parker
who resigned last month.

Miss Allred had faced a microphone
before coming to NBC. As a member of
the Mary Mount College (Kansas) group
of dramatics and music she took part in
programs heard over Station KFBI in
Kansas. She also attended Sacred Heart
College and St. Mary’s of Leavenworth in
Kansas, at which places she was an in-
structor in music and dramatics besides
being a student.

i 1 i

Palmer Wentworth has been transferred
from the uniformed staff to the Telegraph
Office to replace William R. Glenn, Jr.,
resigned. Mr. Wentworth, who is a grad-
uate of the University of Pennsylvania,
joined NBC last month.

i 1 i

Newcomers;

Albert N. Williams, formerly with the
Newell, Emmett Agency in New York
City, joined the Production Division last
June 15th. Mr. Williams comes to NBC
with several years’ experience as a script-
writer, producer and director in radio,
movies and on the stage.

Before coming to New York, Production
Man Williams spent much time writing
and producing stage shows for small thea-
tres in several New England cities. He
also did a bit of work as a free-lance
movie producer.

Mr. Williams is a family man. He be-
came the father of a baby boy, the first
offspring in the family, on Thursday morn-
ing, July 1st.

i i i

Bill Belts, former newspaperman, is a
new member of the night staff of typists in
Stenographic. He has done promotion and
secretarial work for various newspapers
including the W ashington Daily News,
Columbus Citizen (Ohio) , the New Yorker
magazine and some Hearst newspapers.
Not long ago he ventured as publisher
and editor of The Mountaineer, a weekly
in Waynesville, North Carolina, but un-
fortunately his happy career as a pub-
lisher was ended abruptly by a bank crash
in that state.

“It was a mess,’’ sighed Mr. Belts, shak-
ing his head.

1 i 1

Recent additions to the Central Steno-
graphic Section are as follows:

Miss Nancy Barnes, formerly of Berst
Forster Dixfield Co., in New York. When
she’s not working she’s studying voice and
piano. Once she faced the microphone at
(Continued on next page)

Courtesy of Long Island Daily Press

The newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Joseph Sheridan, are photographed as they leave the
Church of the Holy Child of Jesus, Richmond Hill, Long Island. The bride is the former
Miss Frances Kelly of the N. Y. Promotion Division. (See Marriages.)

JULY 15, 1937

her home town’s station. WFAS. as a mem-
ber of the White Plains Gilbert and Sulli-
van Group.

Miss Dorothy Wallaee comes to us with
some experience as a reporter and co-edi-
tor of newspapers in her hometown,
I.eonia. New Jersey. She attended Beaver
College in Pennsylvania.

M iss Wallace’s great grandparents were
in the theatre — great grandfather was
Merry Harley, well known scenic artist,
and great grandmother was an English
Shakespearian actress — which, she says,
is perhaps the reason she often gets a feel-
ing she ought to be in the show business.

Miss Claire Maxwell of Jersey City
was a catering secretary for a hotel in that
city before coming to NBC. When asked
if she had ever faced a microphone she
nodded in the affirmative.

“Yes.” replied Miss Maxwell, “our high
school debating team debated once
through a microphone.”

“What station?”

“Oh. it wasn’t on the air,” she answered.
“It was just a public address system.”

Miss Adrienne Wormser is a New
Yorker educated at the Woman’s College
of the University of North Carolina. Noth-
ing very exciting has ever happened to
her, she stated, except for the time she
was returning home from Europe on the
5. S. Olympic when she (the ship) ram-
med into the Nantucket Lightship. News-
paper readers will remember that that
nautical accident happened in the spring
of 1934.

ill

Miscellaneous:

Miss Rita Doyle of Statistical was the
guest of honor at a luncheon given by sev-
eral NBCettes at the Promenade Cafe in
the sunken garden of Rockefeller Center
on June 30th.

Those who attended the luncheon given
to Miss Doyle on the occasion of her then
forthcoming marriage (see Marriages)
were: the Misses Antoinette Force, Vir-
ginia Beers, Agnes Mommertz, Helen
Wildermuth, Miriam Hoffmeir, Mae Katz,
and Jean Niblette, all of Statistical; Mar-
alena Tromly (Purchasing), Katherine
Hoffmeir (Sales), Marion Ayer (Treas-
urer’s), Frances Sprague (General Li-
brary), Margaret Leonard (Steno-
graphic) and Jean Treacy (Artists Serv-
ice).

i i i

Charles Anderson, deep voiced an-
nouncer of KOA Denver and correspond-
ent of the NBC Transmitter in that city,
visited us in Radio City late last month
during his transcontinental holiday jun-
ket.

Mikeman Anderson motored east via
Chicago, Detroit and Canada. From New
York he went to Washington, D. C. ; thence
back to Denver. He was accompanied by
his mother and younger brother. While in
Radio City they went on a busman’s holi-
day: they took the NBC Studio Tour and
saw a couple of broadcasts in Studio 8 H.

i i i

Charles A. Wall, assistant to the treas-
urer, who is a captain of the 16th Infantry,
has been appointed assistant to the chief
of staff for plans and training for the First
Division of the proposed First Army Com-
mand Post exercises at Camp Devens next
fall.

i i i

Don Gardiner, ex-NBC guide and now
chief announcer of station WAIR, Wins-
ton-Salem, N. C., dropped in the other day
to say “hello.” He reports that he and
Roger Von Roth, also erstwhile NBC guide
and member of Dan Russell’s announcing
class, are doing quite well at their new
jobs. Mikeman Von Roth, he stated, is
working Postmaster Farley’s boys in that
city overtime with his heavy intake of fan
mail.

Don also reported that our circulation
manager, Herb Gross, dropped into WAIR
to see his former colleagues while circu-
lating through the South during his fort-
night of respite from Radio City.

i i i

Norman Morrell, assistant commercial
program manager, Charles Phelps of the
N. Y. Sales Department, and Harry Kopf
of Chicago Sales are sailing for Europe
aboard the Europa, midnight July 24th.

Traveling together on their vacation
these three NBC gentlemen have quite an
extensive itinerary before them — London,
Paris, Brussels, Antwerp. Hamburg, Ber-
lin. Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Amsterdam
and various other points.

i i i

(iarl Cannon and Frank Nesbitt of the
guide staff and steady contributors to the
NBC Transmitter rushed to NBC W'ash-
ington on June 30 in answer to a call for
personnel, expert in the handling of large
crowds, to assist in the NBC broadcasts
of the Boy Scout Jamboree. Guides Can-
non and Nesbitt returned to Radio City
last week loaded with anecdotes of their
stay at the capital.

i i i

Dr. John K. Curtis, attending physician
for the First Aid Room, flew to his home
state, California, July 1, for a month’s va-
cation. He was accompanied by his wife.

Dr. D. B. Fishwick will act as NBC’s at-
tending physician during Dr. Curtis’s ab-
sence.

i i i

A. L. Ashby, vice president and general
counsel of NBC, accompanied by his wife
and two children, sailed for a two months’
stay in Europe aboard the 5. S. Hansa on
July 7. Mr. Ashby will make a study of
foreign copyright on the continent while
his family will visit relatives in England.

i i i

Send your vacation pictures with comptete cap-
tions to the Photo Contest. Theatre tickets tor
winning pictures.

Miss Rita Doyle (center facing camera) of the New York Statistical Department was the guest
of honor at this luncheon given by several NBCettes at the Promenade Cafe in Rockefeller
Center on June 30th. For further details see first item under “Miscellaneous.”

INDEPENDENCE DAY was cele-
brated by scores of NBC men and
women and their families as guests of
Lenox R. Lohr, president of NBC, at
his home in Tarry town. New York.
Major Lohr threw open his spacious
home and grounds July 5 to members
of the New York staff and provided
games and amusement for everyone
— croquet, bowling, billiards, boat-
ing, motion pictures, dancing and, of
course, a dazzling display of fire-
works. Photographs on these pages
are by Sydney Desfor, NBC photog-
rapher.

Pictured above are Robert F. Schuetz, audio facili-
ties engineer, Mrs. Schuetz and their son, Robert F.,
Jr., as they arrived at the NBC fireworks party
given by Mr. and Mrs. Lenox R. Lohr.

Above. Miss Joyce Harris (assistant personnel
manager) and William F. Neuheck (Manager of
Building Maintenance) are photographed indoors
as they seem to be cooking up something funny
for the party.

Left. Here are some of the merrymakers in front
of the house as they waited for darkness and the
fireworks which were set off from the opposite side
of the small lake in the background.

This is the sai fc pi
skyrockets and flare.' lof*
H. Thurman, Bill Ntlaiii
NBC staff members lilieit

pro i

Jac' lltill,

Per i (la

i>-.(

IBUf,

al lake on the grounds of President Lohr’s home
“Hawthorne” before dark.

The fireworks were preceded by picnirs on the spacious grounds of President
Lohr’s house. Standing in the foreground, left to right: Sam Monroe (Sound
Effects), Richard Lewis, general manager of KTAR, Phoenix, Arizona, Bruce
Robertson and Martin Codel of Broadcasting magazine. Standing in the back-
ground: Harry Hartwick of N. W. Ayer and Son, Inc., and Mrs. Hartwick (Miss
Maryann Henderson of the President’s Office). The picnic-basket raiders to the
right are. Pages Murdock Pemberton and Stoddard Dentz, Bill Neubeck (Building
Maintenance), Tom Berry (Office Section receptionist) and Miss Martha McGrew
of the President’s Office.

ke pictured at top, illuminated by all sorts of fancy
t of which were set off with glee by Major Lohr, Charles
ck and Sam Monroe. In the foreground are some of the
their families who shared the fun with Major Lohr’s
family.

It. A glass-bottomed boat on the “lake” in front of President Lohr’s house
much fun for the youngsters — and some grown-ups too. Pictured are
Reilly (page), self-appointed skipper, Major Lohr’s daughter, Patricia,
?1 Manager Dwight G. Wallace’s children, Louise and Bruce and Guest
Relations Manager C. H. Thurman’s nephew, Billie Champine.

Below. They had a swell time these NBCites who danced with all the others
in President Lohr’s house after the fireworks display.

NBC TRANSMITfER

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NBC TRANSMITTER

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 JULY 15, 1937 No. 8

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS Editor

ARY R. MOLL Associate Editor

CARL CANNON Features

HERBERT GROSS Circulation

CHARLES VAN BERGEN Photographs

N. Y. CONTRIBUTORS

E. LOUDON HAAKER News and Special Events

ROBERT HOROWITZ Guest Relations

FRANZ NAESETH Guest Relations

FRANK C. LEPORE Advisory Editor

Address all correspondence to:
NRC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA RIdg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

Ten Southern Stations

(Continued from page 1)

road center, the city is the capital of
Georgia and the financial and manufac-
turing center of the Southeast.

WSGN, at Birmingham, is operated by
the Birmingham News and Age-Herald.
Located in one of the richest mineral re-
gions of the country, Birmingham is the
largest city in Alabama. Its population to-
tals 259,678. The station operates full time
on a frequency of 1310 kilocycles with a
day-time power of 250 watts and a night-
time power of 100 watts.

WNBR, at Memphis, broadcasts full
time on a regional channel frequency of
1430 kilocycles with a day-time power of
1,000 watts and a night-time power of 500
watts. Memphis, with a population of 253,-
143, is the largest city in Tennessee and,
also, is one of the nation’s greatest inland
ports. The cotton market there, the largest
in the world, handles more than one mil-
lion bales a year.

WROL, at Knoxville, is owned by the
Stuart Broadcasting Corporation. It oper-
ates full time on a frequency of 1310 kilo-
cycles with a day-time power of 250 watts
and night-time power of 100 watts. The
city of Knoxville, with a population of
105,802 and a trading zone population of
434,234, is one of the top-ranking markets
of Tennessee.

WJBO, the only radio station in Baton

Rouge, is owned by the Baton Rouge
Broadcasting Company, Inc. It operates
on a frequency of 1120 kilocycles with a
power of 500 watts. The owner of the sta-
tion also is president of the State Times
and Advocate, the only newspaper in the
city. Baton Rouge is the capital of Louis-
iana and has a population of 30,729. The
University of Louisiana, with an enroll-
ment of several thousand students, is lo-
cated there. The city also is an important
distributing and shipping point.

WDSU, at New Orleans, is owned by
WDSU, Inc. It operates full time on a re-
gional channel frequency of 1250 kilo-
cycles with a power of 1,000 watts. New
Orleans, the largest city in Louisiana, is
the sixteenth largest city in the United
States. It has a city population of 458,762
and trading zone population of 850,000.
The city is the greatest distributing point
in the South.

KFDM, at Beaumont, is owned by the
Sabine Broadcasting Co. Inc., and oper-
ates full time on a regional channel fre-
quency of 560 kilocycles and a day-time
power of 1,000 watts and a night-time
power of 500 watts. Located in the center
of the largest oil and refining industry in
the world, Beaumont has a population of

58,000. Twenty miles to the Southeast is
Port Arthur with a population of 50,902.

KXYZ, at Houston, is owned by the
Harris County Broadcast Company. It op-
erates full time on a regional channel fre-
quency of 1440 kilocycles with a power of
1,000 watts. Houston, whose market rating
is second in Texas and thirtieth in the
United States, has a city population of
292,352 and a trading zone population of
746,827.

KRIS, at Corpus Christi, a city of 50,-
125 in population, is owned by the Gulf
Coast Broadcasting Company. It operates
full time on a regional channel frequency
of 1330 kilocycles with a power of 500
watts.

KRGV, with studios and transmitter lo-
cated at Weslaco, serves the great Lower
Rio Grande Valley. Owned by KRGV In-
corporated, the station operates full time
on a regional channel frequency of 1260
kilocycles with a power of 1,000 watts. Its
territory embraces four rich and fertile
counties, Willacy, Hidalgo, Cameron, and
Starr, in the Rio Grande Valley.

i i i

Winners oi the August Photo Contest will be
announced in the next issue oi the NBC TRANS-
MITTER.

JULY 15, 1937

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

By Louise Landis

by Murdock T. Pemberton

Roving Reporter Walter Moore was put
securely in his place the other day by a
young visitor whom he was accompany-
ing to the Mezzanine for a studio tour.
When they arrived at the fourth-floor ele-
vators the six-year-old asked what was in
all the glass cases in the corridor. Walter,
with his usual savoir faire, and with a
voice of authority, told him that the guide
would explain them in the course of the
tour.

“So you don’t know, eh!” snapped the
little fellow.

i i 1

Captains Courageous: Vacation to end
all vacations (we hope not) is that of John
Bachem and John A. Green of Sales. On
July 15 they expect to sail on the latter’s
boat to Gloucester, Mass.

i 1 i

Those of us who attended President
Lohr’s party and firework display on July
fifth wish to thank him heartily through
this column. The “good time had by all”
was the result of a feeling of complete in-
formality. Comedy was provided by those
who set off fireworks from a boat and
never seemed to get away fast enough.
After the display which was climaxed by
a “Niagara Falls” there was dancing in
the music room with Bill Meeder at the
console. We also wish to thank Mr. Thur-
man, Mr. Wallace, Pete Bonardi, Stod-
dard Dentz, Pete Ratyca, Bill Neubeck
and Stuart McQuade, who contributed
largely to the success of the party.

Ill

The rumor that Dr. Walter Damrosch
is returning from Europe on the same
boat with the Radio City Rockettes is not
a rumor — it’s a fact. We thought you’d
like to know.

1 i i

Joseph (Scotty) Bolton, in charge of in-
ventory in the Service Department goes
one better than his famous countryman,
Harry Lauder, who recently went on a
cruise around the world with the dimes
he had saved as a comedian. “Scotty,” who
has often used his brogue on NBC pro-
grams, is sailing on July 30 for his
“mither countree” for a month’s vacation
with all the nickels he has saved during
his four years with NBC.

A secret source has confided to this col-
umn that out of deference to the traveling
Scotchman the NBC Irish porters in Radio
City will go to the pier to see him off —
dressed in kilts!

There must be something in the air in
the Audience Mail Department that in-
clines to romance . . . two big diamond
rings bloomed there on the fourth fingers
of two of its prettiest girls, within twenty-
four hours.

One day last week Ruth Vetter stole
blushingly to her desk and held up her
left hand as announcement that she and
William Young of the Telephone Company
will say “I do” soon . . . and the very next
day Lillian Hillberg arrived with her
sparkler, and news that she and Edwin
Carlson will be filing intention to wed
within a few months.

1 1 i

Andrew C. Love (Andy to his col-
leagues in San Francisco who bade him a
fond farewell and gave him a new brief-
case when he left for Hollywood to be-
come head of the new Continuity Accept-
ance Department there) caused some
quick shifts in personnel that reminded
us of Pussy-Wants-A-Corner.

Byron Mills has succeeded to the post
vacated by Andy, and Dorothy (Peter)
Brown, formerly secretary to Production
Manager Frank Cope has moved into the
Continuity Acceptance Department. Lois
Lavers, formerly secretary to William
Andrews, supervisor of announcers, re-
places Dorothy as Cope’s secretary and
Grace Davis moves from the Program De-
partment to the announcers’ quarters.

i i i

Big Bill Andrews mourned, as his for-
mer secretary departed for her new desk,
for all femininity was deserting him at
once. His wife, pretty Helen Musselman
(Ann Waite of One Man's Family) left
for a week’s vacation in Hollywood, and
the maid resigned the same day!

i i i

Little ribboned cards fluttering through
the NBC mail, have brought word that
Mr. and Mrs. Grover Rothenberg are
proud parents . . . Mrs. Rothenberg was

NBC Activities At The

Boy Scout Jamboree

(Continued jrom page !)
music of a band, a bugle and drum corps,
two quartets, and the interviewing of some
of the scouts by Announcer Frank Cody.

One of the highlights of our operations
at the Boy Scout Jamboree has been the
use of a seven-and-a-half-meter pack
transmitter with which roving announcers
have wandered around the parade grounds

Frances I^flinger, lovely, dark-eyed host-
ess, before her marriage last summer. She
and her husband and little Frances Clag-
ett Rothenberg, the new arrival, are living
in San Mateo, suburb on the San Fran-
cisco peninsula.

1 1 i

And speaking of babies — all in one day
recently came tiny Carolyn Wilmshurst,
Diana McNeill, Sandra Schwarzman and
John William Harrison Dixon, to call on
NBC. Carolyn’s mother is the former
Mary Ohman of the Traffic Department,
who now lives in Santa Rosa. Carolyn’s
father, Harold Wilmshurst, is a brother
of Radio City Engineer Ernest Wilms-
hurst.

i i 1

Diana McNeil’s pretty mother. Fern,
was a member of the Sales Department
until a year or two ago, and her father,
Russell McNeil, is music librarian. Sandra
is the month-old daughter of Barbara
Merkley, NBC harpist, and Arthur
Schwarzman, NBC pianist.

As for John William Harrison Dixon
he’s the latest “grasshopper” as his daddy
calls him in the household of Sydney
Dixon, NBC sales representative in Hol-
lywood, and this was his first visit to San
Francisco. Just two months old he’s hardly
big enough to carry his resounding cog-
nomen as yet. The “Harrison” section of
it is for Harry Anderson, Sales Manager
of the Western Division.

i i i

The NBC Press Department has an ad-
ditional member in the person of Lee
Strahorn, formerly associated with Lord
and Thomas, and member of the Califor-
nia's Hour staff when that agency handled
it.

Ill

Attention NBCites in San Francisco.
Send your prize photographs and vacation
pictures to the Photo Contest of the NBC
Transmitter and win two tickets to the
Warfield Theatre.

and through the tents which house the
25,000 scouts from all parts of the world.
These field broadcasts have provided
much fun for the scouts who were inter-
viewed and most of whom had never faced
a microphone before. Many of the fellows
who used the NBC microphone were from
foreign nations, including Mexico, Lithu-
ania, Poland, France and England.

In all of our operations we have been
greatly aided by the characteristic helpful-
ness of the Boy Scouts and their masters.

NBC TRANSMITTER

WTAM CLEVELAND

by Bob Dailey

The clash of dueling swords, cries of
“touche” and the quick, short breaths of
athletes were part of the sounds broadcast
by WTAM in an unusual program re-
cently.

Three fencing matches, with some of the
leading amateur fencers of the world com-
peting, were broadcast and described dur-
ing a thirty-minute program. Hal Metzger,
program director, brought Olympic and
national champions to the studio from the
Great Lakes Exposition for the broadcast.
WTAM engineers rigged up special micro-
phone arrangements to catch all sounds
connected with the matches.

i i i

Shorts: Bob Arthur announcing four-
teen network shows a week from Great
Lakes Expo.

George Caskey, brother of WTAM’s en-
gineer Harry Caskey, taking job as en-
gineer at WSPD, Toledo NBC-Blue sta-
tion.

Badminton craze reaching WTAM mu-
sicians, including Maestro Stubby Gordon,
who has erected a court in his backyard.

1 1 -f

WTAM continues its popular canine
shows for children this summer. Two
parks, in the eastern and western sections
of Cleveland, have been selected as scenes
for the dog shows.

Boys and girls from eight to sixteen
years old are invited to enter their pets
in the contests, which are jointly spon-
sored by the Animal Protective League
and the station’s weekly program. Uncle
Henry's Dog Club. Manager Vernon H.
Pribble and Program Director Hal Metz-
ger started the shows last year.

■fir

WTAM Personalities: Musician Ben
Silverberg serenading Program Secretary
Edith Wheeler in the music library with
a violin solo of Dark Eyes . . . Walter
Logan commuting sixty miles each way
from his summer home at Sandusky, Ohio,
where the popular maestro has written
many of his musical numbers . . . Chet
Zohn figuring up more practical jokes
. . . Rachel Cope, young protege of Hal
Metzger, singing with Emerson Gill as
Carol Dean.

Vernon H. Pribble and Tom Manning
picking rainy days to play golf so the
courses won’t be crowded.

Salesman Russell Carter painting
frontispiece for new song to be published
called My Expo Rose and written by
Clevelander Dudley Blossom.

Engineer Jesse Francis using name of
Rex King to double in brass and m.c.,
early morning hill-billy program.

Fourth of July weekend, having a cor-
dial invitation to spend the holiday with
friends in Baltimore, we seized the oppor-
tunity to trek on into Washington to look
in on the Jamboree and tbe NBC Wash-
ington studios.

First wiping our fourteen-mile hiking
brogues on NBC’s doormat, we stalked
into the old offices to find Mrs. Hazel
Smith in the throes of packing to move to
the new studios and trying to wind up her
week-end activities at the same time.
Catherine O’Neill was helping her, but as
work kept piling up, it looked as if they
would spend most of their holiday in the
office.

Miss Jeanne Butler assisted us in mak-
ing a couple of phone calls, and after-
wards we chatted a bit with Bill Coyle. So,
on to the Lotus Club for dinner, where we
found Engineer John Hogan and An-
nouncer Hugh Mcllrivy, the latter a for-
mer guide in the New York Studios.

Deciding to put the Jamboree visit off
until the next day, our caravan once more
roared into Washington and this time
came to rest at the NBC tent on the Ave-
nue of Flags. Here among some 25,000
Boy Scouts we found Tom Riley and Don
Goddard from New York busily working
on bulletins and proposed broadcasts. The
NBC tent was crowded with visitors, and
Guides Carl Cannon and Frank Nesbitt
were bard pressed explaining the whys
and wherefores of broadcasting. They esti-
mated more than 1500 persons a day vis-
ited the tent. “Trading” was very brisk
throughout the camp, and the scouts of-
fered an array of articles from all parts of
the world in “trade” for parts of the NBC
equipment. Frank Nesbitt had approxi-
mately eighteen offers a day for his NBC
armband, and the scouts would have
quickly dismantled, piece by piece, the
NBC Mobile Unit, if they had been given
the chance.

Members of the Washington technical
staff seen at the tent included Walter God-
win, Keith Williams, John Hogan, Bill
McGonegal and Dan Hunter, and these
fellows were augmented by Frank Cody,
Ed Wilbur and Andy Thompson from New
York.

Carleton Smith, NBC’s presidential an-
nouncer, dropped by to watch the Sunday
afternoon pickup of the RCA Magic Key
program. Off on an errand to the studios
with Tom Riley we ran right smack into
Bud Barry; Bill Verner, a newcomer to

KYW PHILADELPHIA

by J. A Aull

After a week’s absence to attend the
NBC Convention, Leslie Joy, station man-
ager of KYW, has returned to his desk.
He will just about have time to clear it of
pressing matters before setting out on his
summer vacation early next month in
Maine.

iff

Clarice Mayer, KYW’s Woman Re-
porter, has announced her intention to
marry Dr. Joseph L. Garfield, Philadel-
phia Dentist, at the Hotel Majestic in
Philadelphia on August 1. In celebration
of the occasion a surprise shower was held
for her on Monday, June 28, at the Ar-
cadia International Restaurant. Among
those present were Jane King, Mrs. James
P. Begley, Rosalind Stuart, Edith Roday,
Paula Markmann and a number of other
KYW artists.

iff

Three radio engineers have been added
to the Westinghouse staff at KYW in the
past few days. They are James V. Thu-
nell, Leslie E. Schumann and W. Sheridan
Gilbert. The first two will be stationed at
the studios while Gilbert will be a trans-
mitter operator at Whitemarsh.

Thunnel was formerly with WOWO-
WGL at Fort Wayne, Inrf., where he
helped to install new studio equipment.
He is married and lives in Upper Darby.
Schumann, a graduate of RCA Institute
and for two years employed by RCA as
transmitter testman, was formerly with
WHAT in Philadelphia. Gilbert came to
KYW from WIBG. He is a graduate of
the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and
Science where he acquired a B.S. degree.

iff

Don McClean, formerly with WVED
Waterbury, Vt., has been added to the an-
nouncing staff at KYW. McClean will be
stationed in Atlantic City during the sum-
mer to handle the broadcasts from the
Million Dollar Pier.

NBC; Fred Shawn, assistant station man-
ager; and had the pleasure of saying hello
to our old friend and a former New York
News Division assistant. Bob Cottingham.

Listening to the Magic Key we liked
best the little chap from the Middle West
who claimed the prize for the most unpop-
ular boy at the Jamboree because he was
“the guy who wakes up the bugler.”

Finally on our way home we drove past
the new Washington NBC studios but
didn’t go in. That’ll have to wait until an-
other time, but meanwhile we’re looking
to Marian Gale to give us the dope on
them, and the anecdotes and sidelights of
moving. — Walter Moore.

JULY 15, 1937

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by Noel Corbett

Hollywood hot spells have
sent Bob Brooke sky high.

The young engineer makes
regular flights with an Army
crew in a new Lockheed sub-
stratosphere plane. “It’s the
only way to cool off,” enthusias-
tically claims Bob. “You leave
the Burbank Airport when it’s
a hundred, and in less than an
hour you’re floating around the
sub-strata in below zero
weather.”

Nice cool hobby these days,
we’d say.

> > /

Seems like Cecil Underwood,
producer of the Fibber McGee
and Molly show cleaned up a
lot of family business on his

Behind the scenes with NBC’s series of “Streamlined
Shakespeare” are the Shakespearian authorities, John
Swallow, manager of the NBC Studios in Hollywood, and
Marvin Young, production manager, who produce the NBC
Shakespearian series. Right, actor John Barrymore.

way east.

Leaving sunny California on July 5, he
planed to Spokane, Washington, where he
was met by his wife. The two motored to
Fan Lake for a visit with their two sons.
They then hurried to Couer d’Alene,
Idaho, to see their daughter. Back to
Spokane later for dinner with Cecil’s
mother, and next, forty miles up country
to be complimented upon his Chicago as-
signment by his in-laws.

Two hundred miles later, watching the
dawn of July 7 from Pullman 6B bound
for Chicago, Underwood was wondering
if he had missed a cousin or two along the
line.

i i 1

Elaine Forbes is one girl who got too
enthusiastic about her vacation. A couple
of months back, Syd Dixon’s vivacious sec-
retary purchased a watermelon-green
bathing suit with red and black markings
which she planned to give a lot of use this
summer.

Last weekend, with the thermometer
rising, she decided to cool off at one of
the nearby beaches. However, two months
have made a difference in Elaine. She has
gained over ten pounds and the pretty
swimming suit no longer fits.

ill

Vacationists in our midst are Lloyd
Yoder and his attractive wife, Betty.
Yoder, a former all-American player from
Carnegie Tech, as Division Press Mana-
ger, has been packing the ball for NBC
since the days when broadcasting was
very young.

i i i

Script Arbitrator Andy Love a few days
ago journeyed down from San Francisco.

And, Love is here to stay, to be Holly-
wood’s Continuity Editor.

i i i

Miss Honor Holden, secretary to Dema
Harshbarger in Artists Service, went to
Chicago on her vacation, and came back
Mrs. William G. Traynor.

She was married on June 16 in the
Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Chi-
cago. Mr. Traynor, who is in business in
the windy city, plans a permanent Holly-
wood residence soon.

i i i

QUICK PICKS . . . Warm evenings find
Jack Wormser, Sound Effects, and Russell
Hudson of the office staff, off to the ocean
beaches loaded down with wienies for a
moonlight swim and picnic . . . Announcer
Ken Carpenter, a tennis fan, and Myron
Dutton, producer, who is a badminton
shark, at loggerheads as to which is the
better exercise ... It would be golf, if
Sid Goodwin, producer, had anything to
say about it all. Sid is known in polite
golfing circles as a three-handicap man.
He recently shot seven birdies in an eigh-
teen hole game to finish four under par.
Oh yes, Sid is eager to cross clubs with
Guide David Garroway. recent champion
handicap winner of the Radio City Tour-
nament . . . With everybody excited about
the Louis-Braddock rumpus, Jane Flem-
ing, Music Library, the least interested,
copped the office pool. Jane, about to em-
bark on a trip to the Sierras, wasn’t put
out . . . Frances Scully on her vacation,
motored to Del Mar for the July 3 opening
of Bing Crosby’s track . . . took her Dad
and Mom along for good luck. Now it de-
velops that Frank Figgins, as a Colorado
Museum paleontologist, led a scientific ex-

EXCHANGE CORNER

This classified ad section is available, free
of charge, to all NBC employes. Rules: forty-
five uord limit; not more than one ad to each
employe every other issue; no regular business
or professional services may be advertised.
Address ads to NBC Transmitter, Room 284,
RCA Building, New York.

All items must be in writing; give name
and address.

FOR RENT — One room apartment — com-
pletely furnished, grand piano, large radio,
gas and electric free, within three blocks of
Radio City. Rent very reasonable. Call Frank
Murtha, Room 505, Ext. 834, N. Y.

SAN FRANCISCO — Modern artist’s cottage
with separate quarters for two people. Fur-
nished or unfurnished. Fireplace, shower, nice
kitchen. Large garden and parking space. Ap-
ply at 953 Union St., San Francisco, or phone
Evergreen 0784, or write to the NBC
TRANSMITTER.

FOR RENT — Giving up apartment at 24 E.

BARGAIN — for boat owners. Set of signal
code flags (size approximately 18" x 20")
in very good condition, complete with canvas
bag container. Evelyn Sniffin, Publicity Dept.,
Rm. 404, Ext. 236, N. Y.

Dr. Angell Named NBC
Educational Counselor

(Continued from Page 1)
to various European universities for fur-
ther study.

France and Italy have decorated Dr.
Angell with the honorary titles of an Of-
ficer of the National Order of the Legion
of Honor and Grand Officer of the Order
of the Crown of Italy.

Dr. Angell is expected to assume his
NBC post next September.

pedition into New Mexico ten years ago.
He was rewarded with the discovery of a
spearpoint in a fossilized bison which es-
tablished the known existence of man on
this continent over 16,000 years ago. In-
teresting as the work was, Frank decided
that radio was more profitable. He still
has a collection of spearpoints and bison
bones to show his friends, however. . . .
Ray Ferguson has stopped wearing those
dark glasses now that the trailer broad-
casts are over and daily trips to the movie
lots are a thing of the past.

NBC TRANSMITTER

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

No. 8 — MUSIC LIBRARY

This is thfi eighth of a
series of articles which we
hope ivill gU'e you a better
unrierstanding of the many
J^BC units.

Thomas H. Bfxviso

Two years ago a
call from a city hos-
pital was piped into
the Music Library of
the National Broad-
casting Company in
New York.

“Do you have all the words to the song
beginning ‘My name is Yon Yonson. I
come from Wisconsin.’ ’’ was the urgent
request. “It’s an emergency.’’

Music Library personnel, hardened to
bizarre requests, looked at each other in
disbelief. “Repeat that please?” they
asked. With unmistakable emphasis the
request was repeated.

It developed that a patient, in need of
an immediate operation, refused to be cut
until he had all the words to Yon Yonson.
After a long search, the piece was found,
the words relayed and the patient suffi-
ciently satisfied to let the operation go on.

Thomas H. Belviso, manager of the
Music Division, of which the Music Li-
brary is a section, attests to the genuine-
ness of the above anecdote.

All sorts of odd requests are received
in the library. It is not at all strange for
persons to call up, hum tunes over the
telephone and ask that the songs be iden-
tified and the music librarians seldom fail
to get the titles. More common are calls
for the dates and origin of popular songs.
Arguments as to when a certain tune came
out, what show it was in, are often settled
by calling up the NBC Music Library.

The files of the library go as far back as
music and music publishing
itself. Library men never know
when a call will come in for
some of the very oldest music
they have. Once a request
came in for Gloria in Excelsis
Deo, the hymn that the angels
sang at the birth of Christ.

The order was filled.

Three hundred thousand
titles of musical compositions
comprise the library. This
does not include the different
arrangements nor the number
of copies of each title, which
in some cases may add up to
as many instruments as there
are in a band. The composi-
tions run the musical gamut,
from Wagner, Beethoven and
Brahms to Berlin, Kern and

Billy Hill. Operas, symphonies, marches,
hymns, litanies, ragtime, hill-billy, jazz and
swing are all represented. Almost every
piece is classified and cross-indexed.

The library itself is the most active,
working music library in the world. Built
with an eye to speed and convenience, a
piece can be located in a very short time.
Research and reference are secondary to
the more practical purpose of supplying
the studios with whatever music they need
or want.

Years ago the library simply supplied
music to the studios. Rather than shop for
music for every individual program as it
came up, it was decided to buy and keep
adding to it all the music that was most
used in broadcasting and put it in a room
near the studios. This was done and. in
the course of time, the room came to he
known as the Music Library.

As the library grew, it began to be used for
reference; as a clearing house for all kinds
of musical information. Hence, the calls
mentioned at the beginning of this piece.

“These calls, however, represent only the
small, incidental services of the library,”
stated William R. Marshall, head of the
Music Library. “Our main j)urpose is to
supply all the musical needs of most of the
sustaining and some of the commercial
programs at NBC.

“We help select music for many special
occasions besides putting in form for
broadcast the music used on NBC-built
shows. NBC artists come in and are aided
in making selections to sing or play on
their programs.”

The library is subject to calls at all
times. So long as one studio is operating,
a man is kept in the library. At times, as

Wallace Magill

Madge Marley, the Carolina Songbird, is shown consulting W
Marshall, head of the NBC Music Library, about music for her
Martin Hoade of the library’s staff of fourteen is to the right.

during the recent
British coronation
broadcasts, it is open
day and night. This
is necessary because
last-minute program
changes may neces-
sitate music differ-
ent from what had
been first planned.

Sometimes they have
only second to dig out a piece and rush it
to a studio.

In locating a piece of music, library
men first consult files and indexes ar-
ranged by the Music Library’s mainte-
nance staff, headed by Wallace Magill.
This section is an important part of the
Music Library — the axis around which all
its activities revolve. Here are catalogued,
cross-indexed and filed all the pieces so
that a number is readily available. With-
out this maintenance section, the library
itself would be a jumble, a hodge-podge
of musical pieces without beginning or
end. in which no particular piece could be
found without a week’s rummaging. Not
only does it keep in order all the pieces on
hand, but also is responsible for getting
and cataloguing new music as it comes off
the press — a large and complicated task.

The NBC Music Library has been in ex-
istence for over ten years; as long as NBC
itself. It is the result of combining the
small working libraries of WJZ and
WEAF in 1926. plus the small and large
private libraries — including the New
York Symphony Library, formerly owned
by Dr. Walter Damrosch — that have been
bought from time to time.

Growth and expansion of the library
was not planned or charted;
it just grew, naturally and
spontaneously. Each addition
was made as the result of a
legitimate need.

Assisting Mr. Magill in
Maintenance are Marion
Murray and Edith Walmsley.
Mr. Marshall is assisted by
Richard Birtwhistle, Theo-
dore Gray, Frank Heffer,
Martin Hoade, Lee Jones,
Howard Keressy, Randolph
Ketcham, Leonard Mac-
Swayne, Jaye Marney, Mich-
ael O’Donnell, George Par-
sons and Harry Wightman.

William Paisley, of the
music staff, does all the pur-
chasing for the NBC Music
Library in New York.

illiam R.
program.

VOL. 5

NO. 9

NBC TRANSMITTER

A II (ill ST 1,957

IN MEMORIAM

GlIGLIELMO MARCONI
The Father of Radio

THE WORLD MOURNS THE
PASSING OF MARCONI

Radio, Italy and the rest of the world
lost a great man and a guiding genius of
the modern world of science when Gug-
lielmo Marconi, sixty-three, died of a
heart attack in Rome on July 20th.

Death came while the inventor was
working in his home on experiments in
the field of microwaves that he hoped
would make his previous inventions and
developments insignificant by compari-
son.

When the man who successfully sent
the first message by wireless across the
Atlantic in 1901 died, news of his unex-
pected passing was flashed throughout
the world by the magic medium of his
own creation. Leaders of the radio world,
in America, in Canada and Europe, voiced
their respects to his memory in an inter-
national memorial broadcast over both
networks of the National Broadcasting
(Continued on page 1)

I E genius of Marconi was a gift
not to the people of one nation
but of all nations. His scientific
achievements — like the radio waves
themselves — transcended interna-
tional boundaries. They benefit all
men everywhere, regardless of the
man-made barriers of language, creed
and politics.

“It was my great privilege to have
known Guglielmo Marconi for more
than thirty years, ever since I was a
boy. He was always a source of in-
spiration to me; always a kind teach-
er and a loyal, helpful friend. It is
impossible to put into words my deep
sense of personal loss. I can only ex-
press my gratitude that my life
should have been enriched by this
friendship.

“His visits to the United States
have given Americans an opportun-
ity to know of him not only as a great
scientist, but also as a man of rugged
character and extraordinary personal
charm. America joins the world in
the deep sense of loss which his
death brings.

“The whole world today mourns
the passing of this illustrious world
figure, Guglielmo Marconi. We can
only bow our heads and say:

“ ‘Life's race well run.

Life's work well done.

Life's victory won.

Now cometh rest'."

— David Sarnoff, President of RCA.

The new NBC studios of WRC and
WMAL in Washington, D. C., were form-
ally opened during a full hour program
Thursday, July 22, over the combined Red
and Blue networks. Officials of the Fed-
eral Government and the National Broad-
casting Company participated in the in-
augural ceremony.

Among those heard were Postmaster
General James A. Farley, Senator Burton
K. Wheeler of Montana, Melvin C. Hazen,
Commissioner of the District of Colum-
bia; Eugene 0. Sykes, a member of the
Federal Communications Commission,
and Lenox R, Lohr, president of NBC,
Music was provided by the United States
Marine Band in Washington and an NBC

I N every gathering he stood out as
a distinguished gentleman, whose
intellectual force and personal charm
would have commanded universal re-
spect regardless of his scientific
achievements. In his death the world
has lost more than merely one of the
greatest inventors and industrial sci-
entists of all time. Marconi the man
was fully as great as Marconi the
inventor. He had rare qualities of
simplicity, direct thinking, frankness
and sympathetic friendliness. His
work and his life will always furnish
one of the brightest pages in the his-
tory of mankind.”

— Gen. James G. Harbord,

Chairman of the Board of RCA.
* * *

“riNHIRTY-SEVEN years ago when
wireless telegraphy was re-
garded as a dreamer’s fancy, Mar-
coni demonstrated the practicability
of joining continent to continent by
radio’s invisible link. Now the entire
world is immeasurably richer for the
culture, enlightenment and entertain-
ment that broadcasting carries to
homes everywhere. On the high seas
radio guards the passage of ships. In
the air radio guides the flight of air-
planes. For these things civilization
owes a debt to Guglielmo Marconi
which must place his name high
among history’s roster of those who
have served mankind.”

— Lenox R. Lohr, President of NBC

orchestra in New York under the direc-
tion of Dr. Frank Black.

The new headquarters of NBC is
housed in the entire top floor of the new
Trans-Lux Building. It has 20,000 square
feet of floor space and it embraces the
latest developments in engineering and
studio construction.

There are seven studios. The largest
one is forty by thirty-two feet, two stories
high, and has an observation booth for the
studio audience. There are two smaller
studios, fourteen by twenty-seven feet, two
small speaker studios, and two studios for
the reproduction of electrical transcrip-
tions.

(Continued on page 9)

NEW MODERN STUDIOS OPENED IN WASHINGTON

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by Noel Corbett

ADVERTISING MAN JOINS
PROGRAM DEPARTMENT

Douglas W. Meservey

John F. Royal, vice president in charge
of programs, before sailing for Europe
on July 14, announced the appointment
of Douglas W. Meservey, former advertis-
ing rrian, to an executive post in the Pro-
gram Department.

Mr. Meservey resigned as advertising
manager of the Du Pont Cellophane Com-
pany, Inc., in New York, to assume his
new position in Vice President Royal’s
department on July 15.

Mr. Meservey, a native of Nebraska,
was reared and educated in California
where he was graduated from Leland
Stanford University in 1926. He spent one
year at Stanford Law School and another
at Harvard Law School. While at these
universities he also acted as sports corre-
spondent for the Associated Press and In-
ternational News Service.

His yen for writing led him to Europe
where he soon discovered that a young
scribe’s life is not very lucrative so he
joined Erwin Wasey and Cie., in Paris.
It seems that he was cut out for the ad-
vertising field: one year out of college, he
became an account executive of that firm,
representing American products in
France, Switzerland and Belgium.

In the latter part of 1929 he returned
to the States to become associated with
McCann-Erickson, Inc., before joining
Du Pont Cellophane Company, Inc., in
1930.

As chairman of the entertainment com-
mittee of the Association of National Ad-
vertisers he and Ken R. Dyke, manager
of Eastern Division Sales, conceived and
organized the year-old but now already
notorious Ad-Ribbers Club of the A.N.A.
Mr. Meservey produced and assisted in
the direction of the first Ad-Ribbers’ din-
ner and show at White Sulphur Springs
in October, 1936.

Mr. Meservey has also had stage experi-
ence in producing shows for the Sands
Point Bath Club, Long Island.

Mr. Meservey is a bachelor, and claims
golf, squash, and the theatre as hobbies.

Along the banks of the lazy, curving
Russian River, ’neath the shade of giant
Redwoods, a group of Hollywood NBCites
joined other Bohemian Club members for
their annual vacation powwow at the Bo-
hemian Grove, during the last week of
July.

Don E. Gilman, vice-president in
charge of the Western Division, Sydney
Dixon, assistant sales manager, and Wal-
ter Bunker, producer, joined by Harrison
Holliway and Earle C. Anthony of KFI-
KECA, made the trip to the famed recrea-
tion spot for a few days of pleasant enter-
tainment and cool idleness, while fellow-
workers back home in Hollywood were
wondering if the air-conditioner hadn’t
stopped working.

Bohemian Grove has a roster of profes-
sional and businessmen who yearly gather
for a program of festivities in keeping
with the Club’s name. The beautiful
grounds are situated just north of San
Francisco and are a few scant miles from
famed Russian River resorts, where, on
summer nights, thousands of carefree va-
cationists are ruled by the kings of swing
and notes from sizzling clarinets chase one
another through the clear crisp air.

However, the Grove, situated in a beau-
ty spot by itself, might easily be in an-
other world. Its exclusive members derive
their amusement from a schedule which
features musical and cultural events.
Their Scattered Leaves Program and Cre-
mation of Care, along with the annual
Grove play, which this year was Lifkro-
nan, and written especially for the occa-
sion, give the encampment a Hiltonian
touch, which is accentuated by the danc-
ing white reflections from gas lamps that
are in evidence every evening. The mod-
ern approach in automobiles is banned, as
are movie cameras, and radios.

So, if any of the vacationing radio clan
heard Burns & Allen or One Mans Fam-
ily, they did so with a pair of earphones
and a smuggled crystal set, or else jit-
neyed down to where their cars were
kept to listen in.

i i i

During the Hollywood Leading-Man-
versus-Comedians-Baseball Game, Buddy
Twiss turned the mike over to Benny
Rubin for a few minutes while he made for
another mike in Governor Merriam’s box.
The Russian Flyers were there as guests
and Buddy was to introduce them to the
audiences.

The visitors from Moscow, who were
trying their best to make sense out of the

great American horsehide pastime, which
was further complicated by the antics of
the Ritz Brothers, Vince Barnett, and
NBC’s Olsen and Johnson, and Lum and
Abner, were surrounded by a mob of
autograph hunters and gapers in general.
So the best Buddy could do was to get
back to the original mike and give a des-
cription of the Russian air visitors.
i i 1

Donald De Wolf, spent so much time, a
few months back, working on the NBC
trailer for pickups from the movie lots,
that he finally fell.

When vacation time came for the engi-
neer in charge, he, his wife and three
daughters motored to the High Sierras
with their very own portable parlor-bed-
room-sink hooked onto the back of their
car. It will give them every modern con-
venience such as are found in a Beverly-
Wilshire suite . . . they hope.

i 1 i

QUICK PICKS . . . Jack Votion, Ar-
tists’ Service, has built a hothouse on his
ranch. He’s starting a flock of orchids and
gardenias for future corsages when he and
Mrs. Votion visit the Cocoanut Grove. . . .
Helen Aldrich, Sales, spent her vacation
portraying Mrs. Dixon in Confetti Trail,
at the Hollywood Little Theatre. . . .
Karyl Pearson, Traffic, kept his eyes open
36 hours waiting for the Russian aviators.
. . . Charley Smith, Artists’ Service, let
George Engles, director of A. S., interest
him in golf on his recent trip to New
York. Now he’s at Lakeside playing with
Jimmie Fidler and John Swallow, studio
manager, every chance he gets. . . . Virgil
Reimer was a guest on “Buck” Jones’
yacht when the 112-ft. boat landed on a
sand dune. The party had to listen to the
hoots and jibes of passing yachters for
five hours until the tide came in. . . .
Honor Holden’s kitchen is decorated in
red and white, so when Kay Fehlan, En-
gineering secretary, Nadine Amos, Mr.
Gilman’s secretary, and others gave the
bride a shower, they brought her red and
white gifts such as kitchen aprons, rolling
pins, mixing bowls and nutmeg graters.
. . . Ken Carpenter is making a series of
shorts as narrator of Unusual Occupa-
tions for release through Paramount. . . .
Andy Love, who recently set up here as
Continuity Editor, has real estate dealers
from Glendale to Westwood Village on
the trail of a house to fit his needs. . . .
Sydney Dixon, Sales, has a hide on which
are many famous autographs. But it’s a
Deer hide, not his own.

AUGUST 2, 1937

NBC PITTSBURGH

by Kay Barr

Four established radio personalities who have been graduated
from “artists” to full-fledged members of the KDKA staff. From
left to right, Announcer Sammy Fuller, Aneurin Bodycombe,
musical director; George Heid, production man who sings on
various programs and em cee’s the Smiles Revwe Thursday eve-
nings; and Adelaide Lasner, transcription librarian, who handles
and takes parts in many dramatic programs for the Production
Department.

Four artists frequently
heard on sustaining pro-
grams over KDKA have
become regular employes
of the station. However,
they will continue with
their airings as part of
their new duties.

Artists transferred to
the regular station staff
from the “artist” classifi-
cation are Aneurin Body-
combe, Adelaide Lasner,

Sammy Fuller and George
Heid. Bodycombe, as mus-
ical director of the sta-
tion, will have charge of
all matters connected with
musical programs, such
as supervision of the mu-
sic library, the engage-
ment and scheduling of
singers for the musical
programs, and auditions
for singers. “Red” has
many achievements to his credit, the most
recent being the national distinction won
by his KDKA Choralists, a group of six-
teen mixed voices, at the Kiwanis Inter-
national Convention in Indianapolis.

Miss Lasner assumes the title of trans-
cription librarian. She is attached to the
Production Department and coaches, di-
rects and takes part in many of the dra-
matic productions of the station. She also
announces the KDKA Home Forum and
other programs. Fuller is best known for
his KDKA Kiddies' Klub and Starlets
programs, in addition to his own personal
presentations of songs and patter, work-
ing single at the piano, Sammy Fuller also
does his trick as a member of the KDKA
announcing staff. His duties will not
change in the new set-up.

George Heid has been assigned to the

production staff under Charles Urquhart,
and will continue with his present pro-
grams and announcing duties. Heid has
had long and varied experience in theatri-
cal and radio fields, and his rich baritone
voice will be heard more often on KDKA
and the network.

i i i

Sara Boyd, who recently joined KDKA,
became engaged last month.

Sara had to work overtime a few eve-
nings ago on some reports and her boy-
friend, James King, came to the station to
take her home.

Before leaving the Grant Building, they
went to the deck of the skyscraper for a
breath of breeze, if any, hundreds of feet
above the street. And when they came
down, Sara had a very beautiful new ring
on the significant third finger.

Mark Woods Wins Prize

In RCA Tournament

A large number of NBC executives
played in the RCA Invitation Golf Tourn-
ament for executives of RCA subsidiaries
at the Wykagyl Country Club, New Ro-
chelle, N. Y., on Tuesday, July 13. NBC
Treasurer Mark Woods won an electric
clock for shooting the largest number of
par holes — nine — in the special events
class.

A. Frank Jones of Artists’ Service who
has managed RCA and NBC golf tourna-

ments since 1925 was again in charge. He
reports that sixty members of tbe RCA
family participated in the tournament and
that about a hundred were present at the
dinner during which the presentation of
prizes was made by John B. Kennedy.

E. C. Anderson of the License Division
of RCA won the prize for the low gross
with a score of 79.

In the handicap class W. R. Eberle,
assistant treasurer of RCA, won the low
net with 123 — 63 — 60. Runner-up for low
net was J. M. Smith, RCA vice-president,
83—20—63.

by Frank W. Nesbitt

Listening to a tour up in air condi-
tioning, we noticed one of the guests was
particularly impressed and obviously
awed by the intricacies of the system. Just
as the party was leaving his expression of
wonderment gave way to the light of an
idea as he asked if RCA stood for “re-
conditioned air.”

i i i

0. B. Hanson, chief of the engineering
staff, left July 16 for a three- week vaca-
tion. He will pass it aboard his new thirty-
foot cruiser Phantom. That’s not bad. Our
boat is forty-two feet, but it, too, is a
phantom.

1 i i

The NBC plant here in New York is
really pretty remarkable. Just about
everything works by pressing a button
or pulling a switch. So automatic is it that
even the guides are Thurmanstatically
controlled . . . catch?

1 i i

Next to 9G observation there is a small
room. On the door the number 958. Noth-
ing else. Throughout the day a radio plays
softly, continually, bringing in queer, “un-
firmiliar” programs. Occasionally the door
will open and a figure dart out — into a
waiting elevator. Could it be Arch
Oboler’s office? Or the resting place of
pencil stubs? We wish the Know Your
Company department would do something
about it.

i i 1

As the Radio Corporation of America
improves the equipment for radio trans-
mission and reception, disturbances are
disappearing from our loudspeakers. So
too from the pages of the Transmitter
STATIC has disappeared. We certainly
hope that Alan Kent’s swell column will
be back soon among these pages. That’s
the kind of interference we like.

1 1 i

Recently, at a party, one of the mem-
bers of the family of NBC was completely
floored by a flood of questions pertinent
to broadcasting. He did much more
squirming than explaining. We don’t
want to be impudent, but to save him any
further embarrassment we suggest that
he drop in to Guest Relations and get a
complimentary pass for the NBC Studio
Tour — a ticket for an hour of sugar-
coated instructions in the fundamentals
of broadcasting.

Come and take a studio tour.

All our guides are sweet and pure;

T hey will show you behind the scenes

And give you knowledge by the reams.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Promotions:

Miss Mary Harrell who came to the
Central Stenographic Section from San
Francisco last April has been named sec-
retary to Maurice M. Boyd, manager of
the Local Sales Division.

1 1 i

Mrs. Josephine Walker who came from
the Engineering Department of KYW,
NBC-Red Network outlet in Philadelphia,
on June 15, to join the Central Steno-
graphic Section, has been named secre-
tary to I. E. Showerman, assistant man-
ager of the Eastern Sales Division.

Previous to her affiliation with Station
KYW Mrs. Walker was secretary to Keith
McLeod, formerly with NBC in New
York and now production manager of
WEIL, NBC-Blue Network station in
Philadelphia. She also has spent over two
years with Leopold Stokowski as his secre-
tary.

1 1 i

Engagements:

Miss Helen Goldschmid’s engagement
to Arthur Gould was announced at an
informal party at the home of her parents,
Mr. and Mrs. John J. Goldschmid, at Long
Beach, Long Island, July 4.

Miss Goldschmid is in our Program
Department and her fiance is with the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The
date of the wedding has not yet been
announced.

1 1 i

Marriages:

Miss Margaret O’Connor, secretary to
Vice-President John F. Royal, and Wil-
liam McCaffrey, formerly with our Ar-
tists’ Service and now a partner in the
firm of Hesse and McCaffrey, artists’ rep-
resentatives, were married at City Hall
in New York City, July 16.

A small and intimate luncheon at
Moneta’s Restaurant, attended only by
close friends including several members
of NBC, followed the wedding.

Mr. and Mrs. McCaffrey are honey-
mooning at Lake Tahoe, California, and
are expected back in New York about
August 15.

i i i

John Wagner, formerly of the New
York Division and now of San Francisco
Cost Accounting, came East during his

vacation to be married in Englewood, N.
J., July 17.

Mr. Wagner began with NBC in the
New York Mimeographing Division two
and a half years ago. A short time later
he was promoted to D. B. Van Houten’s
office in Service. From there he went up
to Cost Accounting; then he was sent to
San Francisco to inaugurate the Cost Ac-
counting system there.

i i 1

Stork News:

Miss Emma Weisbecker (Mrs. George
Kuhn) who resigned from the Program
Department last March became the moth-
er of a girl, July 12, 1937.

1 i 1

Alfred J. Wies, field engineer, became
the father of a girl on July 7.

That makes two for Mr. Wies. The first
one was a girl.

ill

Edward Nolen was recently a happy
cigar-giver-outer in the Engineering De-
partment. It was a boy.

i i i

Obituaries:

Tim Gallivan of the Guest Relations
studio operations staff died in Bellevue
Hospital at 6:30 P.M., July 18.

A number of NBCites attended the fun-
eral services at the Holy Name Roman
Catholic Church.

i i i

Transfers:

Miss Claire Maxwell was transferred
from Stenographic to the Guest Relations
Division, July 15, to replace Miss Janet

Patton, resigned, as secretary to Walter
B. Davison who is in charge of tour pro-
motion.

i i i

Miss Lisa Lundin, formerly in the office
of Walter G. Preston, Jr., manager of
General Service, has taken the place in
the Personnel Office vacated by Miss Jane
Miles who resigned. Miss Miles who was
secretary of the Athletic Association came
to NBC a year ago. Miss Lundin came to
Radio City from her home in Iowa in May.

i i i

Resignations:

Herbert Gross of the studio operations
staff and circulation manager of the NBC
Transmitter resigns to accept a position
as secretary-treasurer of a textile firm in
New York. His excellent batting will be
missed on our baseball team.

Herb Gross came to NBC as a page over
two years ago; later, he became a guide
in which capacity be distinguished him-
self with his ability to speak German flu-
ently. Herb says the most exciting Ger-
man tour he ever took was the time he
conducted the officers of the ill-fated Hin-
denburg through our studios, a year be-
fore it crashed. On another occasion, at
the end of the tour, the mayor of Duis-
burg, Germany, invited Herb to drop in
and see him if he ever came to Duisburg.
A few weeks later, during his vacation, he
did go to Germany and surprised the
mayor by dropping in. Herb says the
mayor remembered him and was pleased
to see him — he was royally entertained
for two days.

(Continued on next page)

f^BC Photo by Sydney Desfor

Close friends, including several NBCites, drink a toast to the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. William
McCaffrey, at the luncheon, following their marriage Friday noon, July 16. The bride, shown
in the center with the groom, was the former Miss Margaret O’Connor of Vice President

Royal’s office. (See Marriages.)

AUGUST 2, 1937

KOA DENVER

by Charles Anderson

John Flynn, messenger in the Mail
Room since last October, resigned July
15, to accept a position with Blackett-
Sample, Hummert, Inc., advertising
agency.

i i i

Jack Morrison who joined the Mail
Room staff in March has resigned from
NBC to return to his former job of selling
automobiles in Jackson Heights.

i i 1

Newcomers:

A new member of the page staff is
Gerald Vernon, graduate of Colgate Uni-
versity, class of ’37. He majored in psy-
chology, likes people and for that reason,
among others, likes Ins work here.

He was born in Korea in 1914 where
his father did mining engineering work.
For nine years young Vernon traveled all
over the world with his parents. As a
child he spoke Korean, French and Span-
ish fluently. “I can hardly speak any of
them now,” he added, ruefully.

i i i

Nathan R. Lipscomb, who says he is
“a good Democrat from Greensboro,
North Carolina,” comes to NBC to re-
place Julius H. Halas, resigned, as secre-
tary to N. Ray Kelly, head of Sound
Effects.

Mr. Liscomb who has had a year’s ex-
perience as secretary to an executive in
the Vick Chemical Company in Greens-
boro is a graduate of the University of
North Carolina, class of ’37, and a mem-
ber of Sigma Chi.

1 i i

Austin M. Macdowell has joined Guest
Relations as quartermaster. He comes to
NBC from a jeweler’s firm in New York
where he worked as a watchman for over
ten years. Mr. Macdowell who lives in
Brooklyn with his wife is an ex-Navy
man, having entered the service when he
got out of high school in 1905.

i i 1

C. Parker Ruff, formerly with Sperry

Gyroscope Co., in Brooklyn, has joined
the Statistical Department as a drafts-
man, replacing John Kunick, re.signed.
Mr. Ruff is a graduate of the University
of California. At one time he was sports
writer for his home town paper, Evans-
ville Journal (Indiana). He still writes
occasionally for fiction magazines.

i i i

The following are new faces in the Cen-

tral Stenographic Section.

Miss Lucille Lizotte, formerly secretary
to the vice-president of Pinaud Incorpor-
ated, New York, is from White Plains,
N. Y. She thinks radio is “fascinating.”

Miss Lucille Anderson who was born in
New York comes to Radio City from Chi-
(Continued on Page 11)

Vacation Shots:

Billy Stulla, announcer, sends word
from Buffalo Creek, Colorado, that he has
managed to snag his trousers several
times, but as yet no fishes have allowed
the snagging to concern them.

Joe Gillespie and your correspondent
are still telling the home-folk about their
grand trip East. Joe took some nice pic-
tures and will send them in soon for the
vacation-shot contest.

Studio Engineer Billy Williams has just
returned from a trip to Grand Lake where
he practised his golf and tennis game to
be ready for all comers.

Glenn Glasscock goes next week from
the studio engineering staff to go as far
away from the heat as possible. Possibly
Pikes Peak. That should be cool enough.

F. A. Nelson, transmitter engineer, is
back from a trip to Yellowstone Park, and
a visit to his mountain cabin at Deckers
on the South Platte.

Harold Austin, transmitter engineer,
braved the heat from a trip to Chicago
on his vacation.

“Perry” Peregrine, control supervisor,
enjoyed the altitude at Woods Lake in the
Holy Cross National Forest region, 9,300
feet high. It WAS cool enough.

Russ Thompson, transmitter engineer,
is seeing Colorado first.

Helen Loucks, Traffic, spent her vaca-
tion time driving around town in her new
car. She claims she knows how to drive
it now.

Ellsworth Stepp, plans to forget the
Audience Mail Department and search the
streams of Colorado for a string of flash-
ing trout.

Thelma Erickson, Sales office stenog-
rapher, left for Kansas City to visit rela-
tives.

Ed Sproul, page, is heading for the
sunny shores of California on his coming
vacation.

i i 1

Woo-woo, I’m an Indian. Lucille Bei-
deck, stenographer, donned war paint and
head-dress to take part in the Elk’s page-
ant held here during their convention.
During the progress of the show a whole
tribe of real Indians sat down in front of
her waiting for their cue to go on. Every
once in a while one of the Indians would
turn around to look at Lucy. Finally he
turned around, extended his hand and
asked her what tribe she belonged to.
Well, the red paint saved the day; it con-
cealed her blush. However, she doesn’t
like to talk about it.

Bob Harris is the newest member of
our announcing staff. He comes from Col-
orado Springs, Colorado. He’s a member
of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity at Colo-
rado College. Gained his first announcing
experience at KVOR in Colorado Springs.

1 1 i

The golfers are in full swing. Harry
Long, Sales, took the writer for a trim-
ming last week and this week. However,
Derby Sproul, Stan Neal, Verne Andrews,
and Carl Schuknecht expect to give him
a run for his money. If everything goes
well we’ll have a little tournament right
here among our own staff. Billy Williams
is in good form to help the engineering
staff, and Billy Stulla should be able to
mow ’em down for the announcers.

i i -f

Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Nelson spent a
recent week-end in Estes Park at the Stan-
ley Hotel, famed for the cool breezes that
air-condition our Colorado Rockies.

1 i i

KOA staff members qualify for mem-
bership in the Audubon Society. Derby
Sproul has been conducting a class in
nature study for several days now. Across
the street a feathered romance has been
transpiring between two members of the
species columbae, commonly known as
pigeons. Several times during the day they
can be seen billing and cooing and then
the male member of the family flies away
to gather material for the nest which for
a time was built in the awning above
Sproul’s window. But they have moved
two awnings up the street and Derby fears
they were tempted by some scheming
landlord with offers of hot and cold run-
ning water. In order to get them back
Sproul is going to offer free telephone and
radio service and the first and last months’
rent free. As yet no reply has been re-
ceived from the pigeons.

i i i

Clarence Moore, program director, re-
fuses to be “dog bait” for anybody’s dog.
Recently a neighbor’s dog nipped him.
The aggressive canine’s mistress couldn’t
believe her Fido capable of such a das-
tardly deed. She called Mrs. Moore and
suggested she be called the next time
Clarence left the house. Then she would
let her dog out. If he bit Clarence again
she would take the matter in hand and
cure him of such habits (the dog. not
Clarence). Fortunately the dog bit some-
one else first, putting an end to the test.

NBC TRANSMITTER

IThE 3 NEW GIGANTIC
RCA SIGNS ATOP THE RCA
BUILDI MG , HE ADQUARTECS
OF CJBC IN IRaDIO ClTV, CAN
BE SEEN AT NIGHT 25
MILES AWAV.

SOUT OF EVERV 100
ASPIRANTS V/l-O COHE
TO NBC FOR. AN AUD-
ITION ARE found
ACCEPTABLE FOR. NET-
VDPK PROGRAMS,

Tit

J '31

?HE SMALLEST ORCM-
ESTRA EVER HEARD ON THE Al&G
NErVORKS- WAS A 1-MAN BAND; THE
LARGEST WAS AM ORCHESTRA OF AOD
MUSICIANS ALTERNATELY ORECTEO

BY Walter. [Xmrdsch and Frank
Black during the inaugural broad-
cast OF THE NBC STUDIOS IN
Radio City, November n, 1933.

NBC TRANSMITTER

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 AUGUST 2, 1937 No. 9

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS Editor

ARY R. MOLL Associate Editor

CARL CANNON Features

FRANZ NAESETH Circulation

CHARLES VAN BERGEN Photographs

N. Y. CONTRIBUTORS

MURDOCK T. PEMBERTON Guest Relations

HAROLD Z. HAKLIK Mail & Messenger

GEORGE HUMPHREYS Guest Relations

FRANK C. LEPORE Advisory Editor

Address all correspondence to:

NBC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA Bldg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor:

On these frequent rainy and hot lunch
hours, when you have the inclination to
go somewhere and flop — to let the rest of
the world go by — what do you do (or
what can you do) ?

This question has not only been raised
many times but has been the subject of
animated discussion among NBC em-
ployes. The concensus of opinion is that
we should have a lounge, game or what-
have-you-room, perhaps sponsored by the
NBC Athletic Association.

Investigation reveals that companies
comparable to NBC have such facilities
for the use of their personnel, which is
certainly proof in itself of the fact that
the desire for relaxation is not necessarily
prompted by instinctive laziness. On the
other hand, such a recreation room would
tend to promote harmony among us “fel-
low workers” and engender a more coop-
erative spirit in our universal aim — selling

“Let’s Get Acquainted.”

Ed. — Paging Mr. McElrath, president
of the NBC Athletic Association!

1 i i

May we use the medium of your col-
umn to express our appreciation of the
courtesy shown by A. T. Williams, of
Engineering, to the guides. Mr. Williams
has, on several occasions, added to the
enjoyment of the tour by explaining to us
in otherwise empty studios the various
microphone setups and the operation of
the sliding panels.

— The Guides in Radio City.

NINE NEW ENGINEERS
ADDED TO N. Y. STAFF

Several new men have been added to
the Engineering Department in New York
during the last month. Their names
follow :

Roland W. Jordan, in the Maintenance
Division comes from KOA, NBC station
in Denver. He has also worked for the
Western Electric Company.

Though just starting at NBC, Melvin
A. Lewis, field engineer, is no stranger to
two of our engineers. Before coming to
Rockefeller Center, Mr. Lewis had con-
tacted two NBC engineers through his
private short-wave transmitter. Upon ar-
rival here Mr. Lewis immediately renewed
his short-wave acquaintances with Engi-
neers Dan Whittemore and Ed Wilbur,
who are also short-wave enthusiasts.

Before coming to NBC Mr. Lewis had
been employed by the Western Electric
Company, De Forest Radio and Station
WAAT in New Jersey.

Ten years ago, John E. Holmes was an
RCA messenger when RCA was located
at 66 Broad Street, New York, N. Y.
Today Mr. Holmes returns to the RCA
family circle as an engineer in NBC’s
Reference Recording Room.

The intervening years have been spent
at school and work. He spent two years
at Rutgers University and the other years
working for the Emar Instrument Cor-
poration and E. V. Brinckerhoff and
Company, both of New York City, and
Rangertone, Inc., of Newark, N. J. Mr.
Holmes also has worked at the RCA short-
wave station located at Somerville, N. J.

W. E. Mullaney comes from station
WINS with seven years’ experience as a
field engineer. He is a graduate of the
RCA Institute.

William A. Irvin, while new to NBC, is
not new to WEAF. Eleven years ago he
was associated with that station when it
was owned and operated by the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company be-
for NBC was organized in 1926.

Mr. Irvin who was formerly with the
Commercial Radio Sound Corporation is
in the Maintenance Division.

The following will be studio engineers:
Robert Bigwood, who comes to us from
Station WCAX, Burlington, Vermont
where he was chief operator; Donald Ab-
bott, from Station WEAN, Providence,
Rhode Island; Henry Geist, formerly with
KYW and WCAU, Philadelphia; Harold
Luedeke, who lives in Flushing, Long
Island, formerly worked with the New
York City Department of Health.

AUGUST 2, 1937

The NBC Transmitter salutes these members of the National Broad-
casting Company who, this month, complete their tenth year of
continuous service with the Company.

Vincent J . Gilcher,
manager of Techni-
I cal Services in the

Engineering Depart-
ment in New York,
marks his tenth year
with NBC this
month.

This young man,
Vincent J. Gilcher who is a native of
Jersey City, New
Jersey, has made one of those proverbial
meteoric rises in radio broadcasting. He
became interested in radio as a hobby
while still in high school. Following his
graduation from the Dickinson High
School in Jersey City he attended various
technical schools including the RCA In-
stitute where he studied radio engineering
and the International Correspondence
Schools for electrical engineering.

After working for the Thermiodyne
Radio Corporation and the Priess Radio
Corporation for several years, he joined
NBC in 1927 as a maintenance engineer.
Subsequently he became assistant plant
engineer and then plant engineer.

When NBC installed new equipment
and studios in Chicago in 1929, Mr. Gil-
cher was placed in charge of the engi-
neering design and the insulation of the
studios at NBC’s Central Division plant.

Engineer Gilcher still lives in his native
state. New Jersey: he has a home in
Bogota where he lives with his wife and
three-year-old daughter, Peggy Ann.
There he has lots of room for his two
hobbies — raising bull-dogs and cactus
plants, samples of which he often brings
to Radio City to decorate his blue-print-
cluttered office.

i i 1

John M. Flynn, assistant station engi-
neer at the WEAF transmitter in Bell-
more, Long Island, completes his decade
with NBC this month.

He was born in Long Island City and

was graduated from
Bryant High School
in New York City.
In 1915 he was ap-
pointed a special
student at the
School of Engineer-
ing of the U. S.
Naval Academy at
Newport, R. I. Two
years later he re-

JoHN M. Flynn

ceived his Ensign’s commission and was
sent to France for duty. In 1921 he re-
signed with the rank of Lieutenant.

After leaving the Navy he joined RCA
as transmitter engineer at Tuckerton,
New Jersey, where he spent five years
nursing Alexanderson alternators and
tube transmitters. In 1927 he joined NBC
and worked at the five-kilowatt transmit-
ter, WEAF, on West Street. He was soon
transferred to the station’s new fifty-kilo-
watt transmitter at Bellmore.

In those days the operation of a trans-
mitting station was difficult and interrup-
tions were many. Chief Engineer O. B.
Hanson, who was a frequent visitor at
Bellmore used to greet his engineers with,
“Give us this day our daily breaks.” But
today there are no more breaks, states
Engineer Flynn.

Mr. Flynn is married and has two sons,
thirteen and fourteen. His hobby is fish-
ing, and now and then he turns in a good
game of golf.

During his ten
years with NBC Mr.

Flynn has com-
pleted numerous
courses in radio en-
gineering and oper-
ation at Pratt Insti-
tute and Columbia
University.

Of his depart-
ment John M. Flynn
says: “As rapid as

has been the growth of radio broadcasting
it is my belief that the development of
transmitters in the past ten years depicts
the rapid change more than in any other
branch of our company.”

Andrew J. Waddell

Ten years ago a scrawny young man
of seventeen left his home in Fitchburg,
Massachusetts, where he was just gradu-
ated from high school, and went to New
York City in search of a job. It did not
take him long to find one. The then newly
organized National Broadcasting Com-
pany at 195 Broadway had a vacancy for a
messenger boy and Andrew J. Waddell
got the job.

A few weeks with NBC, and he decided
to carve a career for himself in the new
industry so he studied radio engineering
at the RCA Institute in the day time. He
also took up advertising at New York
University.

NBC TEAM BEATS RKO

After many false starts, the NBC base-
ball team finally broke its jinx by topping
its arch rivals, RKO, which ranks second
in the league, by a score of 4 to 3 in a
game at the Catholic Protectory, July 17.

All was comparatively quiet on the
baseball front until the sixth inning. With
three men on bases Von Frank (Guest
Relations) hit a single which brought in
two NBC runs, making the score 2-0.
Later George Flood (G. R.) hit a terrific
triple of over 300 feet to add two runs
to NBC’s score.

Von Frank, who was on the mound,
limited RKO to six hits.

As usual Dwight G. Wallace, personnel
manager, was in the bleachers rooting for
the NBC team. With him were his daugh-
ter and young son, who helped Pete Bon-
ardi (G. R.) peg the long ones in from
the right field.

The Passing of Marconi

(Continued from page 1)
Company. The NBC stations, along with
hundreds of stations throughout the
world, were silenced for a minute in honor
of the great “father of radio” at 1 P.M.,
EDST, July 21st.

Surviving are Senator Marconi’s widow
and a young daughter; and three other
children by his first wife. His only son,
Giulio, twenty-six, who has been with
NBC since April (NBC Transmitter, May,
1937) sailed for Italy upon receipt of the
news of his father’s death. Young Mar-
coni is expected to return to New York
after settling his father’s estate to con-
tinue his radio apprenticeship with RCA
and NBC.

In those days, said Mr. Waddell, who
is now in the Maintenance Division of
the Engineering Department in New York
the Mail Division shared a small room
with the Audience Mail Section, then
headed by Adelaide Piana who is still in
charge, and the Traffic Department which
was managed by Harry A. Woodman, now
general manager of KDKA, NBC-oper-
ated station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

There were four other men in the mail
room besides Andy Waddell; two of them
are still with NBC, Thomas J. Dolan and
Joseph S. Sauer, both of the New York
Traffic Department.

Mr. Waddell became a page and guide
when NBC moved from its downtown
offices to 711 Fifth Avenue, New York.
After completing his studies with the
RCA Institute he became an apprentice
in the Engineering Department.

Andy Waddell got married two years
ago. He and his wife live in Yonkers.

NBC TRANSMITTER

TELEVISION ABROAD

by William S. Rainey

William S. Rai-
ney, Manager of the
Production Division
in New York, who
recently returned
from a European
tour to view the pro-
gress being made
in television pro-
William S. Rainey gramming abroad
wrote this brief sum-
mary of his observations for the readers
of the NBC Transmitter.

Of the three countries visited, England,
Holland and France, we found the former
to be most actively engaged in the broad-
casting of television programs. The BBC’s
television studios and transmitter are lo-
cated in Alexandra Palace, situated on
Muswell Hill in North London. This three-
hundred-foot hill is one of the highest in
London.

Regular program service is maintained
daily, except Sunday, from three to four
in the afternoons and nine to ten in the
evenings. The evening program is a repe-
tition of the afternoon program. A typical
broadcast consists of a variety act or two,
followed by a short newsreel and then an
ambitious dramatic presentation lasting
about three quarters of an hour. This
presentation may use forty or fifty actors
in the cast and ten to twelve different
settings.

Several presentations witnessed proved
to be entertaining. Of unusual interest
was the televised broadcast of the Wim-
bledon Tennis matches. The pictures had
good definition and the play could be
easily followed. From an engineering
standpoint, the feat was particularly in-
teresting because the transmission was
relayed from Wimbledon to Alexandra
Palace, a distance of about nine miles by
short wave instead of by coaxial cable.
Three mobile trucks were used — one to
transmit the signal, one as a power plant
and the third to regulate the control.

At the present time probably two thou-
sand receivers have been sold in London.
Some of these are in department stores
and other spots where the general public
may view the regular programs. Sets sell
for as low as fifty-five guineas — approx-
imately $285.00.

The British public apparently are rap-
idly becoming television fans, and will
become even more enthusiastic if the price
of receivers is reduced and programs
improve.

In Holland, television is still in the

WGY SCHENECTADY

by O. H. Junggren

“What-a-Man” Hasche, auditor, is a
man of several trades. It seems that not
so long ago WGY’s blond cashier got a
hurried call at 5:30 p.m., from New York
to get out some “figgers” for Local Sales.
Well sir, what do you think? He goes
home, grabs a bite, plays a softball game
(wins) blows his oompah tuba up to a
hundred at a band rehearsal, comes down
and gets the digits out on time— that same
night! All without the aid of “Chet”
Rudowski, who’s at Lake Placid on vaca-
tion. “What a Man!”

1 i 1

Kolin Hager returned Monday, July 19,
from a four-day session at G. E.’s Camp
Engineering at Association Island, Hend-
erson Harbor, N. Y. Manager Hager
served on the entertainment committee.
He says the cool breezes almost made him
wish he could stay for a while longer.
r i i

Bill Purcell, chief engineer, certainly
picked himself a swell time to take a
breather. The first four days of his vaca-
tion were as hot as we ever want to have
it. Bill whiled the time away dropping the
plug for the fish at Lake Champlain.
i -t 1

A. 0. Coggeshall, program manager,
pulls out one of these days for the Maine
coast and other points east. He’s running
around with boards and gadgets trying to
get the engineers to figure out how he
can get fifteen suitcases in a baggage com-
partment in his new car which is meant
for five pieces.

laboratory, but is nevertheless well ad-
vanced. Particularly interesting are the
unique studio lighting facilities devel-
oped, holding great promise for one of
the most difficult of television problems.
Apparently there are no immediate plans
to market receivers in Holland — the
Dutch preparing to wait until some prac-
tical means are devised to finance an
adequate program service.

Television in France is in a transition
period. The equipment is being changed
over from the mechanical scanning sys-
tem to the cathode ray tube system, now
being used in America and England. A
new television transmitter in the Eiffel
Tower is being completed and in a few
months some interesting developments
should be forthcoming from Paris.

The engineers have given us a workable
system. The next problem is to decide
what will make the most interesting pro-
grams and how are they to be paid for.

RADIO FELLOWSHIP
AWARDED TO N.Y.U. MAN

The third univer-
sity fellowship of
1937 for advanced
study in radio
broadcasting with
the National Broad-
casting Company
has been awarded
by the Rockefeller
General Education H. M. Partridge
Board to H. M. Part-
ridge, program director of the New York
University Radio Committee. The appoint-
ment is for three months, ending October
1st.

Mr. Partridge, thirty-four, of Hillsdale,
N. J., is a Bachelor of Science graduate
and Master of Arts post-graduate of the
University of New Hampshire. In 1928 he
received his Ph.D., degree from the
N.Y.U. Graduate School. Since then he
has been lecturer on analytical chemistry
at N.Y.U., and as program director of the
Radio Committee has directed ten dif-
ferent series, including one hundred and
fifty programs, over local stations. He will
study under Dr. Franklin Dunham, NBC
Educational Director.

Royal to Europe to

Extend Exchange Policy

John F. Royal, vice, president in charge
of programs, sailed on the Normandie
July 14 for a tour of Europe during which
he will visit England, France, Germany,
Holland, Switzerland, Italy and the Scan-
dinavian countries.

While abroad, Mr. Royal will make a
detailed survey of international broad-
casting conditions and will renew the very
close associations which the National
Broadcasting Company maintains with
leading European radio organizations
such as the British Broadcasting Corp-
oration and the Reichs Rundfunk Gesell-
schaft.

One of the purposes of Mr. Royal’s trip
is to complete arrangements for an ex-
tension of NBC’s policy of exchanging
with foreign broadcasting organizations
not only programs but personnel.

The already extensive exchange of pro-
grams with England, France, Germany
and other countries will be augmented.
In addition, steps will be taken to assign
representatives of NBC as guest personnel
with foreign broadcasting organizations
in exchange for guest announcers from
such nations as England, Sweden and
Italy, already serving with NBC in this
country.

AUGUST 2, 1937

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

By Louise Landis

Van Fleming, producer, has returned
from a ten weeks’ trip abroad during
which he saw the new King and Queen of
England, the Paris Exposition, and tele-
vision as it is being developed by Euro-
pean broadcasters.

Mr. and Mrs. Fleming sailed on the
freighter Moldanger in May and idled in
leisurely fashion through the Panama
Canal, returning on the same vessel. In
Paris they visited the Exposition and
found it intensely interesting despite the
fact that it iS not yet completed. They
reached London in time for the official
celebration of King George’s birthday and
witnessed the inspiring Trooping of the
Colors ceremony. At the British Broad-
casting Corporation they saw the newest
developments in television — “1 still think
the American results, even in their pres-
ent stage, are more desirable,” Van says.
He advocates a freighter trip as a perfect
vacation for a tired radio producer — no
social life aboard; nothing to do but rest.

Single unpleasant feature of the trip —
a Paris burglar stole Mrs. Fleming’s sable
scarf, and the Surete, despite its tradi-
tional prowess, hasn’t located it.

i 1 i

San Francisco has a feminine producer
pro tern.

She is Anita Bolton, pretty assistant to
Jennings Pierce, in charge of agricultural
broadcasts. While Pierce is vacationing in
the high Sierras Anita is carrying on for
him, producing the western Farm and
Home Hour daily.

New Washington Studios

{Continued from page 1)

The construction of these studios is
similar to that of the Radio City studios.
Extreme care has been taken in sound-
proofing them. Modern developments
have given the announcer a streamlined
control box built on the order of a speak-
er’s rostrum. A loud speaker and a clock
of the latest design also are housed in the
new announcer’s panel.

Ventilation and air conditioning are
provided by two giant plants located on
the roof of the building. The whole sys-
tem works by thermostatic control.

All the engineering and technical de-
velopments in the new studios were
worked out under the personal supervi-
sion of 0. B. Hanson, chief engineer, who
supervised the NBC constructions in
Hollywood and Radio City. His represent-
atives in the work have been Thomas H.
Phelan and J. Gordon Strang.

JULY VACATIONERS: Lillian Run-
yan, bride of Charles Runyan, staff or-
ganist, who is in the Northwest on a be-
lated honeymoon tour of Crater Lake,
Mount Hood and other spots in which
Runyan has found inspiration for a series
of musical sketches. . . . June Shaw, in
charge of program schedules in the Press
Department, who is at Pinecrest in the
Bret Harte country. . . . Sophie Dunich,
Press typist, who also picked a mountain
site for her holiday. . . . Wallace Ruggles,
sound-man, and Warren Andresen, studio
engineer, who spent part of their vaca-
tions together, in Hollywood, shooting
miles of color film. . . . Nell Cleary, of the
Continuity Acceptance Department, also
Hollywood-bound for a fortnight. . . .
Norma DeValle of the Mimeograph De-
partment, who is dividing her holiday into
a series of trips. . . .

1 i i

Announcer Archie Presby, who bur-
lesques a staid concert commentator on
Bughouse Rhythm weekly, has to be seri-
ous part of the time for the next month,
as he is m. c.ing Crosscuts from the Log o’
the Day during Laurance Cross’s vaca-
tion. . . .

1 i i

Press Manager Lloyd E. Yoder per-
formed his annual feat of ridin’ herd on
a bus-full of radio editors and radio ar-
tists who were guests of honor at the
Salinas Rodeo July 16 ... he has been
General Chairman of Radio Day ever

These innovations in broadcasting in
the nation’s capital are a far cry from the
old methods used in 1923 when WRC was
opened by RCA, and even in 1926 when
WMAL sent out its first program. The
latter station was leased by NBC on
March 1, 1933, to become the Washing-
ton outlet for the NBC-Blue Network.

In connection with the opening of the
new broadcast center, Kenneth Berkeley,
general manager of WRC and WMAL,
said: “Our new studios . . . represent the
latest step in our constant endeavor to
give Washington, through our two sta-
tions, the very best in broadcast service.”

In establishing these two network sta-
tions in Washington, the National Broad-
casting Company has kept uppermost in
mind the fact that these stations should
have a local identity also, and should be
devoted to the service of the people of the
community.

since the Rodeo Committee instituted one,
several years ago . . . day before the event
Mr. Yoder acquired a beautiful new De
Soto in an elusive shade which bears the
wealthy-sounding title of “Sable.” . . .

Ill

Two new faces in the Typing Division
presided by peppy Jo Elletson: Lois
Reedy and Betty Milligan.

1 1 i

Regretful goodbyes will be said July
31 to Ward Byron (S. Ward Byron on his
checks) who produces Bughouse Rhythm
as well as a good deal of studio humor
that audiences never hear. . . . The fare-
wells will be regretful because Ward will
be missed, but congratulations will be in
order, too, because rumors are that the
job that Jured him away from NBC for
the first time in twelve years is one of
those big opportunities that don’t come
too often ... it is with the Music Corpora-
tion of America, in Hollywood, which
Ward joins as studio consultant in a new
unit being organized there.

Ward is a real NBC veteran, as he
joined the WEAF staff in 1925, and ex-
cept for a brief spell when he handled
the Wheatena program, Billy Bachelor,
has been affiliated with NBC ever since its
formation. Lots of good wishes will go
with Ward when he leaves, even if your
correspondent does mutter a doggone-it
or two on-account of now she never will
get that beat on the big Ward Byron
romance story !

i i i

Bessie Atkinson of telephone switch-
board and never-failing wit, never forgets
a friend. . . . Learning that the San Fran-
cisco Examiner, whose switchboard she
left to join NBC, needed another player
on its soft-ball team Bessie joined-up and
may be seen tossing hard ones with a soft
ball almost any Friday . . . we’ll have a
picture of her in her snazzy new uniform
for the next issue.

i i -t

Speaking of pictures, the Transmitter
started something when it ran that double-
truck array of execs as they used to be
. . . the San Francisco News promotion
manager saw a copy of our magazine,
chuckled over the baby pictures and or-
dered a similar series of San Francisco
business men to start right away. . . ,
V. P. Don E. Gilman, whom he visited
with a plea to use the photo he had seen
in the Transmitter, hasn’t said yes, yet,
but may let him use it.

NBC BOSTON AND SPRINGFIELD

by Edward B. Hall

John A. Holman, general manager of
WBZ & WBZA, has been named on a
committee of distinguished Bay State
executives who will endeavor to stimulate
the absorption of the unemployed by pri-
vate industry. His appointment gives NBC
a leading role in radio’s contribution to
the enterprise organized by James Roose-
velt, the President’s son and secretary.

1 i -r

John F. McNamara, WBZ’s vacationing
program manager, writes from Dublin
that his European jaunt is proving im-
mensely enjoyable. Taking a busman’s
holiday in Dublin, he visited the principal
broadcasting station, where he was hos-
pitably entertained by Dr. Kiernan, the
director.

i i i

Others on vacation from WBZ are Cleon
B. White, manager of Artists Service, at
his summer home in Bridgewater, N. H.
. . . Norman E. Whittaker (Sales),
sojourning with his recent bride, the
former Alfreda Carlson (ex-WBZ staff)
at Centre Harbor, N. H. . . . Harry D.
Goodwin (Promotion and News), recum-
bent on the Marshfield dunes. . . . An-
nouncer Arch MacDonald, at his home in
Warwick, R. I. . . . Jameson S. Slocum
(Sales), getting acquainted with his latest
accession, a farm in Holderness, N. H. . . .
Miss Evelyn Billet (Sales), somewhere on
Cape Cod. . . . Mrs. Grace Edmonds
(Hostess) still unreported on her motor
tour of the West and South. Several staff
members have gallantly come forward
with offers to conduct a searching party.

i i i

While on the subject of vacations,
Arthur (Special Events) Feldman has

been assigned to make a survey of New-
port in preparation for broadcasts of the
America’s Cup yacht races. He will later
assist NBC announcers at the finish line.

i 1 i

Wandering recently through Radio
City, Doris Tirrell, WBZ organist and
former accompanist of Gospel-Singer

Edward MacHugh, encountered her old
friend and fellow musician, Alden Edkins.
Mr. Edkins, a WBZ alumnus, graciously
escorted Miss Tirrell on a grand tour of
the studios.

Announcer Charles A. Nobles is boning
up on his football in anticipation of forth-
coming auditions for a series of local col-
lege broadcasts. With characteristic re-
ticence Charlie has refused to confirm

persistent rumors that he was All-Ameri-
can waterboy at Cornell in 1928.

i 1 i

Under the direction of Plant Manager
Dwight A. Myer and Chief Supervisor
Robert G. Duffield, the task of re-wiring
and modernizing the WBZ Control Room
progresses apace. John 0. Felmly of West-
inghouse has been drafted from Pitts-
burgh to assist the local staff.

i i i

Keyes Perrin, new WBZ announcer,
comes to radio from the stage. Prodigy of
a veteran theatrical family, Keyes made
his Broadway debut at the age of eleven.
During his early ’teens he starred as a
juvenile with such headliners as Robert
Warwick and Frank McHugh. Now only
twenty -one (and recently married), he
has already had two years experience in
radio at Albany, Providence and Spring-
field. A capable all-round announcer,
Keyes excels on news.

i i i

Prentice (Pete) Greene of the WBZ
Little Show band becomes the first Boston
NBCite to boast possession of a privately
owned airplane. His new cabin mono-
plane finally arrived at the airport, after
Pete had spent anxious days scanning the
horizon. Maestro Rakov gloomily predicts
Pete’s arrival for rehearsal one of these
days via the studio skylight.

1 i 1

Another staff member who has been
gaining altitude at this particular airport
is newcomer Frank R. Bowes (Sales),
whose enviable record during the past six
months calls for honorable mention.

1 1 i

Robert E. (Bob) White, Program Di-
rector of WBZA, has discontinued his
weekly drama classes to develop talent for
the WBZA Players until September. The
popular Friday-night series has attracted
hundreds of aspirants from the Connecti-
cut Valley area.

i 1 -f

“Life is earnest” ... at WBZ. Authority
for this somewhat revolutionary statement
originates from one of the hotel elevator
boys, overheard instructing his vacation
substitute : “It’s a cinch to spot them radio
people on the fifth floor — they’re all so
studious-lookin’.”

i i i

Evtry member ot NBC is o r epor ter oi his news-
magatine, the NBC TRANSMITTER.

Send your prise photographs to the Photo Con-
test before August 17,

NBC TRANSMITTER

What with vacations falling so thick
and fast — here’s for letting you all in on
what a few more of the New York folks
are doing . . . George McElrath took his
family car AND the family for a little
4400-mile jaunt to the Black Hills around
Rapid City, South Dakota . . . Contrary to
previous reports that they had already
hauled anchor. Jack M. Greene and John
Bachem still have to point the nose of
Greene’s 35-foot, auxiliary sloop, Con-
stance Mainewards . . . Leonard Brad-
dock, back from a week’s motor trip
through New England and Canada said
“Little or New York isn’t such a bad
place after all” . . . Mark Woods spent
most of his vacation at Lake Hopatcong
in New Jersey . . . Grace Ballou didn’t
take her vacation, but she did return, re-
cently, as good as new — but minus her
appendix . . . Jack Anderson took himself
to Cape Cod . . . Gordon Mills, the Mrs.
and the baby to Rochester, New Hamp-
shire . . . Isabella Hurst, motoring
through Canada . . . Frank Breslin to his
cabin up near South Kingston, New York
. . . Helen Winter up to the top of one of
the Poconos . . . Vance Babb to Bigwin Is-
land, Ontario... Nancy Baird to Guatemala
. . . Helen Guy off to Point Pleasant, New
Jersey with her husband . . . and Cecile
Cummings, back from Yurrop, said she
liked the Montparnasse section of Paris
the best. ... ^ ^ ^

This is one of those “might-have-hap-
pened-to-you” affairs. Frank Lepore,
former editor of The Transmitter, and a
pal, riding in the pal’s car one night. A
misjudged turn, causing rear wheel of
said car to go over the curb. A big cop,
seeing all, knowing all, blowing one big
whistle. He approaches car, gun drawn.
No explanations accepted. Frank ordered
to the back seat, cop sits in front. Keeps
gun drawn. A quick drive to police sta-
tion. Car registration missing from car.
Driver’s license in another suit. Pal held
at station until Frank returns from search
for missing license. Frank finds no-one at
home. Forced to climb through fire-escape
window. Gets license and back to station.
Elapsed time, three and a half hours. Ex-
planations. Profuse apologies by police.
Reason — car, exact style and color,
manned by two men dressed exactly like
Frank and pal stolen an hour earlier. Cop
just on his toes hoping to “get his man.”
Moral ALWAYS GO STRAIGHT —
DONT’ TURN CORNERS.

—WALTER MOORE.

AUGUST 2, 1937

NBC CHICAGO

by William E. Lawrence

The entire NBC Chicago staff is deeply
concerned over the condition of Alex
Robb, assistant manager of Artists’ Serv-
ice.

Alex has been in the Passavant Hospi-
tal since July 2, the night of a serious
railway accident in which he suffered dan-
gerous internal injuries. He was journey-
ing home from the studios preparing to
leave on his vacation. His brother-in-law,
who was riding with him on the train
when the mishap occurred, provided an
ironic but tragic twist to the incident when
he dropped dead at his desk a few days
after being released from the hospital
after a week’s observation. Because of the
close, personal relationship between the
two, Alex’s improvement was retarded for
a few days, when he was told of this. At
press time, however, he has been dis-
charged from the hospital and is definite-
ly on the mend .

i 1 i

Some of the more prankish members
of the Chicago staff are receiving consider-
able amusement these days by suddenly
asking Ruth O’Connor of Continuity to
“strike a pose.” Those who do not know
of Ruth’s enrollment in a prominent mod-
eling school begin to wonder when Ruth
is seen in the corridors with hands grace-
fully outstretched in various nymph-like
poses. y ^ ^

Regarding the replacement of A1 Bark-
er in Continuity your correspondent was
informed that the avalanche of mail he
received in connection with his Don Wins-
low of the United States Navy script com-
pletely covered his desk and rapidly
began filling the entire Continuity De-
partment. His co-workers could not, ob-
viously, put up with this condition and so
set forth to remove the letters. When the
office was completely cleared it was found
that script-man Barker had been inadver-
tently removed also, necessitating his re-
placement. William C. Hodapp, who is
doing the shoe filling, is a native of Ken-
tucky and has done free-lance radio writ-
ing, play writing, and for three years
taught dramatics at the University of
Indiana. Among these accomplishments
he also possesses the distinction of coming
from Kentucky and not being a Colonel,
although there is much talk of mint juleps
and Kentucky Derbies.

i 1 i

Page John Lagen has already had a
one-half-hour dramatic script produced
on a local station with several more on the
fire. ^ ^ ^

Frank E. Colder, former studio engi-
neer, has been transferred to the Night
Traffic Department as supervisor, replac-
ing John O’Neill, who is resigning be-
cause of ill health.

NAMES IN THE NEWS

(Continued from Page 5)
cago where she worked for Swift and
Company.

Mrs. Beatrice Hurlbut comes from El
Paso, Texas, where she was secretary to
State Senator H. L. Winfield. This is her
first trip to New York and she thinks
Radio City is “overwhelming.”

At one time Mrs. Hurlbut was a public
stenographer in the Hotel Paso del Norte
in El Paso and in that capacity she met
many celebrities and great men. She re-
members taking dictation from Admiral
Richard Byrd, Herbert Hoover, Webb
Miller, Courtney Riley Cooper and A1
Jennings. She says ex-President Hoover
was very pleasant but not as exciting as
A1 Jennings, one-time bank robber who
was pardoned from his prison term by
President McKinley and who later ran for
governor of Oklahoma but lost by seven
votes.

Mrs. Hurlbut also has had some experi-
ence as a radio actress over station
KTSM, El Paso. Once she played the
part of a woman who was captured and
scalped by Indians.

i i i

Miss Josephine Anthony of the New
York Public Library is pinch-hitting in
the General Library for Miss Mildred Joy
who is vacationing in Europe.

Ill

Miscellaneous:

Mrs. Claudine Macdonald, writer, pro-
ducer and announcer of programs for
women, who has a penchant for unusual
vacations, left July 20th for what is gen-
erally conceded as the most original and
coolest vacation among NBCites this sum-
mer. Equipped with two sets of clothing
— one for summer and the other for win-
ter wear — she deserted New York’s siz-
zling sidewalks for the wilds of the Arctic
region in the northwestern corner of
Canada.

Mrs. Macdonald went by train to Ed-
monton, Alberta, and from there, weather
permitting, she was to go by plane and
freighters on the Mackenzie River to
Labine Point on Great Bear Lake. There
she will be the guest of the only white
woman — the wife of the superintendent of
the Eldorado Mines (radium) — in that
region.

Mrs. Macdonald, the third known wo-
man to penetrate that cold region, plans
to visit Eskimo villages and hunt caribou
during her stay there.

1 i i

Win two tickots to your locol thoatrox-oend your
iracotion pictures with identifying captions to the
NBC transmitter's Photo Contest*

A messenger stopped at the reception
desk on the nineteenth floor the other
morning, and left a package to be deliv-
ered to one Fort Dearborn. After a dili-
gent search among the list of employes it
was finally decided by Page Charles
Whipple that Announcer Fort Pearson
was meant. Just another instance of the
efficiency of the Page Staff. (Adv.)

i i i

J. Ernest Cutting of Artists’ Service
has returned to his office, in Radio City,
after spending several days looking over
the summer playhouses in Cape Cod for
radio talent.

Ill

Miss Jeanne Bradley, Personnel, and
her husband, Allan Cassidy, were the
happy victims of a surprise party given
in their honor on the occasion of their
recent marriage (NBC Transmitter,
June, 1937) by George M. Nelson of the
Personnel Office at his apartment on Fifty-
Fifth Street, New York, July 10.

The buffet supper which Mr. and Mrs.

Ill

Golder, before joining NBC, was chief
engineer of the Affiliated Broadcasting
Company, regional network organized in
Chicago last year by Samuel Insull.

Ill

Rumor has it that Sound Effects man
Mike Eisenminger will soon hear the wed-
ding bells tinkling in his ear.

Cassidy expected to be a small dinner
party was well attended by a number of
NBCites including the entire staff of the
Personnel OfiBce.

Mr. Nelson’s party, later in the eve-
ning, developed into a progressive affair
which was continued at Assistant Person-
nel Manager Joyce Harris’s flat, in the
same building.

When they went home the newly-weds
were laden with wedding gifts from their
NBC friends. i i i

Henry T. Hede of Purchasing has re-
turned from his vacation at Niagara Falls
and Mackinac Island, Michigan. Mrs.
Hede accompanied Mr. Hede on what he
called their second honeymoon.

WINNERS IN AUGUST PHOTO CONTEST

FIRST PRIZE goes to this picture of the back of the statue of Atlas
in front of the International Building in Rockefeller Center. The
spires in the background are of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Roy V.
Berthold of the N. Y. Statistical Department will receive the prize —
two tickets to any theatre in New York City.

“.SHORE LINE,” taken in Puerto Rico during his recent vacation,
was submitted by 0. H. Junggren of the Press Department in WGY
Schenectady. It takes the third prize this month — a pass for two to

“METROPOL-
ITAN INTER
L U D E ” was sub-
mitted by Charles E.
McCurdy of the Sta-
tistical Department
in New York. The
judges awarded the
second prize, two
tickets to the Radio
City Music Hall, to
this interesting study
of New York life.

“STRIKE” receives Honorable Mention. This unusual picture was taken by Engi-
neer Howard E. Wheeler of WGY Schenectady. He didn’t say who got the strike.

RULES FOR PHOTO CONTEST

1. Prints must be no smaller than 2y<i x 4" (the larger the
better). Negatives cannot be accepted.

2. Captions are desirable.

3. Name, stations and department must appear on the back
of photograph.

NBC TRANSMITTEB

VOL. o ALIOUST Hi, 10 -I 7 NO. 10

NAMED SALES MANAGER
OF KYW PHILADELPHIA

JOHN S. K. HAMMANN

Leslie W. Joy, station manager of K\ W.
NBC station in Philadelphia, announced
the appointment of John S. K. Hammann,
former national sales representative for
NBC in Philadelphia, as sales manager of
KYW effective August 2.

Mr. Hammann has been with NBC since
1933 when he joined the Eastern Sales
Division in New York where he remained
until September 1936. From Radio City
be went to Philadelphia to become the
Company’s sales representative for the
South. Previous to NBC he spent ten years
as sales representative for various pub-
lishing firms in New York; he was with
the Scientific American, Better Homes and
Gardens, and Popular Science Monthly
magazines.

Jack Hammann is a native of New Jer-
sey where he attended the Plainfield High
School. The salesman in him manifested
itself in his early ’teens when he started
selling the Saturday Evening Post to the
housewives in his neighborhood. Later,
while still in school, he worked as a clerk
at neighborhood stores on Saturday eve-
nings.

When he went to New York City he
entered Columbia University where he
studied advertising and business adminis-
tration in the evenings for three years
while working in the publishing business.

During the War Mr. Hammann went
overseas with the 105th Field Artillery of
the 27th Division.

In 1924 he married Miss Janette King,
daughter of the late Professor King of
W'abash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana;
and is now the father of two youngsters,
Bob, ten, and Barbara, four.

European Announcer

Joins NBC As Guest

Lisa Sergio, whose English and French
radio programs over 2RO. short-wave
station in Rome of the Italian Broadcast-
ing Cotnpany. have won for her an
outstanding position in international
broadcasting, recently arrived in ber
mother's native land, America, to make
a study of American radio and to act as
guest announcer of the National Broad-
casting Company. ^

Miss Sergio’s association with NBC
constitutes another step in NBC’s policy
of exchange of personnel with the broad-
casting organizations of foreign countries.
In furtherance of this policy, designed to
strengthen friendly relations in interna-
tional broadcasting, there have already
been exchanges between NBC and Eng-
land, Sweden and Italy.

LISA SERGIO

The Voice of 2RO

Miss Sergio, well-known in Europe as
‘‘The Voice of 2RO,” has since July, 1933,
been in charge of the English and French
news and special events broadcasts of
EIAR, the Italian Broadcasting Com-
pany. In this capacity, she developed a
service of Italian news broadcasts, organ-
ized educational programs and created
the American Hour which is broadcast
daily from Rome to North America.

Miss Sergio has severed her connection
with EIAR in order to spend some time
in the homeland of her mother who, be-
fore her marriage to Signor Sergio, was
Margaret FitzGerald of Baltimore. While
in New York, she will be with her aunt.
Miss Alice FitzGerald, who was chief of
the American Red Cross Nursing Service
in France during the World War.

(Continued on Page 3)

ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
ELECTS NEW SECRETARY

■At its last monthly meeting, held in the
Client’s Room in Radio City on August 2,
the members of the NBC Athletic Asso-
ciation who were present, unanimously
elected Grace Johnsen of the General Ser-
vice Department secretary of the Associa-
tion, succeeding Jane Miles who resigned
from the Coni[)any last month.

Following the election of Miss Johnsen
several chairmen of different sports made
reports on the plans for or progress being
made by the tennis, baseball, and pistol
and rifle shooting groups.

Tennis Team

Engineer Jarrett L. Hathaway, chair-
man of tennis activities, reported that, al-
though little progress had been made in
organizing on a big scale all tbe NBC
tennis enthusiasts because of the difficulty
in getting reasonable rates for the use of
tennis courts in Manhattan, a small group
of excellent NBC tennis players has been
organized to represent NBC in tourna-
ments with other companies.

After a heated debate brought about by
members of the A. A. who insisted that
tennis appropriations be used in securing
tennis courts for tbe use of all the A. A.
members before giving financial support
to the few comprising the NBC team, Mr.
Hathaway secured a majority vote grant-
ing the NBC tennis team appropriations
to defray expenses incurred in its partici-
pation in the Entertainment League this
season.

To satisfy the faction which clamored
for cheap facilities for any member who
wished to play tennis, it was decided that
(Continued on page 7)

GRACE JOHNSEN

Secretary of NBC Athletic Association

NBC TRANSMITTER

WHOS WHO IN THE NBC NETWORKS

Introducing — JOHN A. HOLMAN

The career of John A. Holman admir-
ably illustrates one of Ralph Waldo
Emerson’s favorite maxims: that success
is to be achieved only through pursuance
of one’s proper calling. For the present
general manager of the NBC Managed
and Operated Stations WBZ and WBZA in
Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts,
began his rapid ascent to the top only
after three fruitless attempts at barking
up the wrong tree.

Filial duty rather than faulty judgment
may be held responsible for the young
Chicagoan’s initial mistakes in choosing
a vocation. For the senior Holman, deter-
mined that one of his three sons should
become an accomplished musician, elect-
ed John to immortalize the family name.
No sooner had he completed his formal
education in Chicago schools than a violin
was thrust into his unwilling hands. Then
began four interminable years of intensive
tutelage under a Polish virtuoso with long
hair, an artistic temperament and bound-
less enthusiasm for cognac and counter-
point.

Aesthetically, the experiment was a
fiasco. As Mr. Holman puts it. “The anat-
omical origin of violin music was never
so apparent. My best efforts only made
the tortured catgut shriek!”

The senior Holman, in part relenting,
compromised on a vocal career for his
son. This second venture proceeded with
somewhat happier prospects of success.
Young Holman exhibited reasonable
promise— had even given a recital or two
at Hull House — when a throat ailment
forced him to abandon singing. And that
effectively put the quietus on the artistic
aspirations of Holmans, pere et fiis.

Rejected by Army

The young man’s next move was a far
cry from wooing the Muse. Perhaps that’s
why he chose it. At any rate, he studied
for four years at a military academy in
Washington, seeking a commission in the
United States Marine Corps. But after
passing all other requirements, he was
denied a lieutenancy because of defective
eyesight.

That is, he was denied a peace-time
lieutenancy. They told him they would be
glad to accept him in the event of war . . .
a fine distinction, puzzling to the layman.

Returning to the Middle West a mere
civilian, Mr. Holman applied for a posi-
tion as subscription salesman with the
Michigan Telephone Company. The job
lacked glamour and gold braid perhaps,
but it was actually the beginning of a

JOHN A. HOLMAN
General Manager of WBZ & WBZA

career for young Holman. That was in
1915.

Subscription Salesman Holman took an
energetic interest in his new work, dili-
gently studied the technical aspects and
engineering problems of telephone com-
munication. His employers, not failing to
perceive his ambition and recognize his
ability, promptly appointed him commis-
sioner of Gratiot County. Only a few
months later he worked himself up to the
position of company manager at Lansing.

When the War came Mr. Holman im-
mediately tried to enlist in the Marine
Corps — no doubt bent on hounding offi-
cialdom for that long-promised lieuten-
ancy. But the War Department had other
plans for him. They preferred to utilize
his engineering experience in the Signal
Corps. Hence, by arrangement between
the Chief Signal Officer and the Michigan
Telephone Company, he was assigned to
manage installation of telephone systems
at army training camps. By the conclusion
of the War he had become the telephone
plant engineer on the staff of the Chief
Signal Officer of the Army at Washington,
D. C. He now holds the rating of Captain
in the U. S. Signal Corps Reserve.

Tries Radio

His first professional brush with radio
occurred in 1922 when as Ohio represen-
tative of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company he participated in a
successful legal battle against certain
manufacturers who had usurped company
patents.

In 1924, A. T. & T., having resolved to
explore the yet unpredictable possibilities
of radio, Mr. Holman was appointed man-
ager of broadcasting and assigned to
direct the company’s newly-built experi-
mental station, WEAF, New York.

It was an era of feverish development
in the still embryonic industry. Almost
every day produced new problems, new
discoveries, with attendant changes in pol-
icy and procedure. The life of a station
manager at the time was at once romantic
and precarious. Yet if occasional mis-
takes were made, steady progress was
achieved, and John Holman as manager
of WEAF played a vital role in the devel-
opment of radio broadcasting as we know
it today. One of the historic landmarks of
his administration was the establishment
of the first network, connecting WEAF
and Colonel Edward H. R. Greene’s
WMAF at South Dartmouth, Massachu-
setts.

But all was not serene at WEAF as the
exigencies of broadcasting came to con-
flict more and more with ultraconservative
A. T. & T. policies. Mr. Holman realized
that to build and hold his audience it was
essential to compete with rival stations in
the presentation of spectacular public
events. Broadcast descriptions of prize
fights, automobile races and baseball
games — though vital to the survival of
WEAF — did not set well with the Tele-
phone Company’s sense of official pro-
priety.

Gives Up Radio

Actually, both sides were right. Soon
the Telephone Company realized that it
was working at cross purposes with itself
in attempting to maintain conservative
policies and at the same time fulfill the
requirements of radio broadcasting. Mr.
Holman himself, one of the first to recog-
nize this fact, reluctantly recommended
that A. T. & T. abandon WEAF. This was
done in 1926.

For six years thereafter Mr. Holman
held various posts with the Telephone
Company, ultimately achieving the highly
responsible position of district manager
for the New York Telephone Company.
Nevertheless, he could not escape a grow-
ing conviction that he had made an unfor-
tunate choice in relinquishing the fertile
field of radio.

In 1933 an opportunity to return to
broadcasting presented itself. George Mc-
Clelland, Mr. Holman’s former assistant
at WEAF and subsequently a vice presi-
dent of the National Broadcasting Com-
pany, invited Mr. Holman to join him as
partner in the formation of a national net-
work to compete with NBC and CBS. He
accepted.

The bold venture collapsed in April of
1933 when certain financial sponsors
failed to fulfill their agreements. Mr. Hol-
(Continued on Next Page)

AUGUST 16, 1937

WTAM CLEVELAND

by Bob Dailey

SARNOFF SAILS

TO SEE TOSCANINI

David Sarnoff, president of RCA and
chairman of the board of NBC, sailed
August 5 for Salzburg, where he will con-
fer with Arturo Toscanini, the celebrated
conductor, on the series of concerts the
Maestro will present under auspices of
NBC in the Fall. He will be joined in
Salzburg by members of his family who
preceded him to Europe.

Later Mr. Sarnoff will travel in several
European countries, studying develop-
ments in television.

European Announcer

Joins NBC As Guest

(Continued from Page 1)

Though born and educated in Florence,
Miss Sergio has since her early ’teens
been closely associated with things Amer-
ican. At seventeen, she was editor of the
Italian Mail, of Florence, the only Eng-
lish newspaper in Italy. Then, for several
years, she worked with American archeol-
ogists on research at Minturno and else-
where in Italy.

When her unusually fluent command
of English came to the attention of officials
of EIAR, she was invited to broadcast in
English. Within a short time she was in
complete charge of news broadcasts, per-
sonally taking care of all English and
French programs and directing programs
in German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic,
Czech, Rumanian, Bulgarian, Greek, Jap-
anese. Chinese, Croatian and Hindustani.

John A. Holman

(Continued from Page 2)
man, now definitely committed to broad-
casting. was appointed one month later
to his present position as general mana-
ger of the Blue Network outlets in Boston
and Springfield.

Joins NBC

During the past three years Mr. Hol-
man has effected a judicious reorganiza-
tion of the New England stations, bring-
ing big gains in audience, coverage and
prestige. Among the many stimulating
policy reforms instituted by him may be
mentioned the development of strong local
programs, emphasis on news and special
events — and a wholesome antipathy to
broadcasting “talks” by the near-great.

Mr. Holman’s interests are varied and
wide in scope. He is a member of the
Program Council of the Boston Rotary
Club, the Publicity Committee of the Com-
munity Federation of Boston, and the
Scituate Country Club. He is also director
of the Advertising Club of Boston and
vice president of the Scituate Drama Club,

Eddie Leonard, head of*WTAM’S engi-
neering staff, stepped behind a microphone
recently, for the third time in his long
radio service, as the central figure in an
incident dramatized as a tribute to
Marconi.

It was on the Northern Lights program
broadcast by WTAM to the NBC-Red Net-
work each Thursday night that Mr. Leon-
ard appeared. Waldo Pooler, producer of
the broadcast, dramatized an incident that
took place when Mr. Leonard was working
as a radio construction engineer aboard
the ship Opelika tied up in South Shields,
England.

He heard Madame Melba singing from
a station in Chelmsford, England, 240
miles away, to set the record in 1920 for
long distance reception of a regularly
scheduled program.

The Northern Lights program, dedica-
ted to listeners in the Far North, saluted
the memory of Inventor Marconi in giving
radio to men and women isolated in the
woods of Canada and Alaska.

i i i

Sports recreation at WTAM has taken a
new form. Women employes are utilizing
their lunch hours to play deck tennis on
the roof of the building which houses
WTAM. The daily pastime, inaugurated
by Program Secretary Edith Wheeler.
Manager’s Secretary Mildred Funnell,
Singer Marian Nadea and Broadcaster
Jane Weaver, brings many spectators to
the windows of surrounding buildings. In-
cidentally, the girls even dress the part

when playing — they wear shorts. (See
cut.)

1 i i

Several dealers in trotting horses have
been around to see Tom Manning. Rumors
are prevalent that Tom wants to own his
own horse since driving some of the Grand
Circuit competitors in his recent network
special events broadcast.

i i i

Considerable interest in construction
work at the site of WTAM’S proposed
new quarters in the Guarantee Title and
Trust Co., was shown last week.

In tearing out bank fixtures from the
building, which is to be known as the
National Broadcasting Company struc-
ture, workmen carted away two bank vault
doors weighing thirty tons. The founda-
tion of the building and tbe sidewalk were
torn out to move the gigantic doors. The
moving brought about a broadcast and
newspaper pictures of the doors being
loaded onto trucks.

1 1 i

WTAM Personalities — May Draxell
back from a vacation of movie-going and
shopping. . . . Violinist Ben Silverberg
writing a new tango entitled The Call to
Love. . . . Pressman Bob Dailey weds Vir-
ginia Jackman in Toledo. . . . Salesman
Harold Gallagher suffering the only in-
jury during Tom Manning’s baseball
party for 125 youngsters. He got a cut
knee from stumbling over a guard rail in
a local eating spot.

NBCettes play deck tennis during their leisure hours on the roof of, the \^’TAM studios. They
are, in the usual order, Edith Wheeler, Mildred Funnell, Jane Weaver and Marian Nadea. In
the background, to the left, is a Goodyear blimp.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Promotions;

Edward R. Nathan, formerly of the
office staff in the Building Maintenance
Division is now an apprentice electrician.
Mr. Nathan joined NBC as a page in 1929
when the Company’s headquarters were
at 711 Fifth Avenue, New York. During
the intervening years he has held several
clerical positions in various divisions, and
studied at the RCA Institute.

Frank Mocarski, former page, mail
room messenger and night watchman, is
taking Mr. Nathan’s desk in Building
Maintenance.

i i i

Edward A. Blainey who was transferred
from the Guest Relations staff to the
Sound Effects Division in February to be-
come an apprentice sound effects techni-
cian became a full-fledged sound man on
August 2.

F. Tilden Brown who joined the Com-
pany as a page three years ago and sub-
sequently became a guide and a member
of the set-up staff has been moved up from
Guest Relations to Sound Effects to fill
the vacancy caused by Mr. Blainey’s pro-
motion.

i i i

Engagements:

M iss Alice Berube of Audience Mail
recently became engaged to William Lieb-
haber whom she has known since child-
hood. The wedding date has not yet been
decided.

i i 1

Marriages;

Reinald Werrenrath, Jr., of the Guest
Relations staff was married to Miss Eli-
zabeth Imbrie at Newburgh, New York,
July 31st.

The bride’s father, the Rev. Dr. Charles
K. Imbrie performed the ceremony. The
bridegroom’s father, Reinald Werrenrath,
well known baritone, sang 0 Perfect Love.
Following a honeymoon in the Adirondack
Mountains, the couple will live in Forest
Hills, Long Island.

i i i

Stork News:

H. Weston Conant, sound effects tech-
nician, became the father of a baby boy,
his first, on July 29th.

Adam J. Yung, Jr., wore an excited but
happy smile when he came to work in
Statistical on the morning of August 4th.
The reason: Mrs. Yung had presented
him with their first child, an eight-pound-
three-ounces baby boy at 1 A.M., that
same day.

i i i

Transfers;

William Betts, who came to NBC last
month with several years of experience in
the publishing business, has been trans-
ferred from the Stenographic Section to
the office of Walter E. Koons, music editor.

i i i

Miss Lucille Lizotte who came to NBC
as a stenographer last month has been
assigned to the office of D. B. Van Houten
in General Service, to replace Miss Lisa
Lundin who was transferred to the Per-
sonnel Office.

i i i

Hugh Mcllrevey, formerly with the NBC
staff of announcers in Washington, D. C..
has been transferred to Radio City where
he started with the Company as a guide
over three years ago. After “graduating”
from the guide staff in New York, Hugh
distinguished himself as an all-around an-
nouncer during his two years with the
NBC studios in Philadelphia and Wash-
ington.

i i i

Newcomers:

Ralph Nordberg. former sales mana-
ger of WJJD. Chicago, who became sales
manager of WGY, Schenectady, Decem-
ber 1936. came to Radio City August 2
to join the Local Sales Division of the
Eastern Sales Department.

Mrs. Winifred Kirby is acting as relief
nurse in the First Aid Room while NBC
nurses are vacationing. At present she is
relieving Miss Eve Boudreau who is spend-
ing her vacation visiting her family in
Massachusetts. When Miss Boudreau re-
turns Head Nurse Mabel Phelps will leave
to go on a motor trip to her home in To-
ronto, Canada.

i i i

Several replacements have been made
in the Central Stenographic Section since
the last issue of the NBC Transmitter.
They are as follows:

Miss Bernadette Bautz, of Englewood,
New Jersey, a recent graduate of the
Catherine Gibbs Secretarial School in
New York, is here for her first job as a ste-
nographer. She is a distant relation by
marriage of A1 Smith whom she thinks is
a “swell guy.”

Miss Mary Crosby, a New Yorker who
thinks NBC is “impressive” comes to Ra-
dio City with some experience in the
publishing business.

Miss Ruth Bliss comes from the bank-
ing business. She is a New Yorker, edu-
cated in Chicago where she lived for many
years. She attended the University of Illi-
nois for a year.

Miss Clara Malia, a young lady from
Nashville, Tennessee, who still has a def-
inite southern accent although she has
been living here in New York during the
past five years, comes to NBC with many
years of experience as a stenographer in
the publishing business. Her hobby is
singing but as yet no talent seeker has
proffered her a contract. We can’t vouch
for her singing but we wager her chances
are above average in a screen test. Give
a look. Mr. Goldwyn!

{Continued on Page 10)

ABC Photo by Sydney Desfor

Mrs. Enid Beaupre, in the center wearing a printed dress, is pictured cutting the birthday cake
presented to her by her co-workers in the New York Promotion Division on July 15. It was a
double anniversary party for Mrs. Beaupre was also celebrating her eighth year with NBC.

C-r-r ... THIS IS LEO SPEAKING

Leo, the late MGM lion, just after he had sailed through the air ‘with the greatest of ease’
during an airing at NBC’s studios in Boston. (See Roving Reporter.)

AUGUST 2, 1937

Well, your Roving Reporter isn’t in
New York — he’s in Boston. And in view
of the fact that he has just spent four
days lying on the sands at a Connecticut
seashore, it is kinda warm.

Being up in this neck of the woods,
however, he couldn’t resist the opportun-
ity of running into the NBC Boston office
to say “hello.” Bernie Johnson (the lit-
tle gal who collects match covers) acted
as a one- woman reception committee; and
in quick order we were introduced to
Wesley Morgan, Keyes Perrin (the lat-
ter a newcomer to Boston), Jameson S.
Slocum, Robert Halloran, Ruth Moran,
Evelyn Billett, Katharine Leatherbee
(Secretary to George Harder) and last,
but by no means least, Ed Hall (Boston’s
Tkansmittkr correspondent).

Stamp Club members in New York will
be interested to know that Messrs. Hal-
loran and Slocum are both ardent phila-
telists — so here’s your change to strike up
some new “trading” acquaintances.

With George Harder we took a look-see
at the studios, met Bob Duffield and Jack
Wright, who were entertaining Engineer
B. F. Fredendall from the New York of-
fice, and finally dropped back to meet Mr.
John A. Holman, general manager of
WBZ and WBZA.

Here, during a period of reminiscing,
Mr. Harder told us of the now famous
day, April 28, 1932, when Leo, the late
and well-known MGM lion, made a per-
sonal appearance at WBZ.

It seems that Leo took exception to hav-
ing no more of an audience for a radio

broadcast than his trainer and a control
room engineer, so just before his radio
appearance he leaped some twenty feet
through the air and sailed on thru a con-
trol room window (see cut). Despite the
fact that the double thick glass was %"
thick, Leo landed unceremoniously in the
lap of the engineer — leaving long
scratches on the panel housing the volume
control indicator. These souvenirs are still
there.

The engineer promptly deserted his
post leaving the door open, so Leo took
himself off on an unguided tour of the
studios. In the corridor he cornered a
young lady named Alice Wilkins, who
having a bit of the stuff in her veins which

goes to make up famous folks like Frank
Buck, Sir Hubert Wilkins, etc., grabbed
Leo by the mane and yelled “Get outa
here!”

But Leo wasn’t getting. He chased
George Harder down an observation
studio — George insists he aged twenty
years during those brief twenty seconds
— and so out into a corridor.

Leo was finally cornered; shamefacedly
he crept back into his cage. NBCites went
to work to clear up the battlefield, and
the story has now become one of the leg-
ends of Boston, along with Bunker Hill,
Boston Common and the Boston Tea
Party.

—Walter Moore.

SIX LANGUAGES NOW
HEARD OVER W5XAL

A new short-wave service in six lan-
guages to Europe, South and Central
America and other parts of the world over
the National Broadcasting Company’s
short-wave station, W3XAL at Bound
Brook, N. J., was inaugurated on July 26.

The new service marks continuation of
NBC’s policy of providing the greatest
possible service in the field of interna-
tional short-wave broadcasting. NBC’s
two new directional beam antennae were
put into regular operation on July 26 for
the first time. The antennae, one for
Europe and one for Latin America, have
been in use on an experimental basis since
early this year. Reports from many coun-
tries, especially in South America, indi-

cate a great improvement in reception of
W3XAL’s signal.

The new short-wave schedule, which
will be on the air from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00
a.m., EDST, daily, will carry the pick of
NBC sustaining programs from both the
Red and Blue Networks. Hitherto, the
company’s international short-wave serv-
ice has consisted chiefly of programs from
the Blue Network and specially arranged
programs fitr Latin America broadcast by
W3XAL over a non-directional beam. Ex-
tension of short-wave service to other
countries has been under way for several
months, following visits by John F. Royal,
vice president in charge of programs, to
Europe and South America.

Details of the new schedule have been
worked out by Charles Carvajal, produc-
tion director of W3XAL, under the super-

vision of Phillips Carlin, sustaining pro-
gram manager. In addition to the network
broadcasts, programs of particular inter-
est to individual countries will be put on
the air from time to time and the spe-
cially arranged programs for Latin Amer-
ica will be continued.

Announcements in English, French,
German, and Italian will be made on all
programs broadcast to Europe, and in
English, Spanish and Portuguese on pro-
grams broadcast to South and Central
America. Speakers of French, German
and Italian have been added to the an-
nouncer’s staff, which already had Span-
ish and Portuguese-speaking members.

The European announcements will be
made by Ernst Kotz, a recent addition to
the staff, and Miss Lisa Sergio, well known
European woman announcer.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by Noel Corbett

Tailor's Delight

An eastern visitor had an idea for a
story on warm-weather clothes as worn by
the better dressed Hollywood business-
man. So we gave him a peek into the dif-
ferent offices.

As he arrived at 9 a.m., we started with
the manager’s office. Genial John Swal-
low was outfitted for the day in a dark
green gabardine sport jacket, slate gray
trousers and white shoes with black crepe
soles.

Our next look-see was into Producer
Joe Thompson’s office, where we found
the collector of swing records, who spare-
times producing transcontinentals, per-
spiring over a typewriter in white flannels
with brown pin stripe, and a crew-neck
sweater, of black, white, red and some
other color.

As we strolled into the main lobby, we
saw two gentlemen conversing beneath a
modernistic arch. They were outfitted in
flannel and Palm Beach suits; both in
ivory tone.

“Are those fellows movie actors?” our
friend inquired.

“No,” we replied. “That is Hal Bock,
our press representative, showing Percy
Winner of the New York Press Depart-
ment, our NBC set-up out here.”

As we rounded through the halls, and
more into the Hollywood atmosphere, we
glanced in Marvin Young’s office. We
hadn’t expected to see the Production
Manager, as it was his day off, but there
he was. In brown slacks and open polo
shirt, also brown, he was fumbling for a
cigarette in the pocket of his white linen
coat which was flung over the back of his
chair. Sitting beside him, in white slacks,
two-tone black and white shoes, blue raw
silk polo shirt and blue and white tie, was
Sid Goodwin. They needed the cool at-
tire, as both were laboring over a script.

In the Continuity Department was
Andy Love, late of San Francisco, who
still has a lot t>f conservative clothes. And
outside of a new straw skimmer, with col-
ored band, the office was very sombre in-
deed.

As we strolled across the yard, we were
greeted by Charlie Smith in a tailor-made
blue and white strij>ed searsucker job.
The cloth he had picked up in New
Orleans. He and the other gentleman from
Artists Service, Jack Votion, were climb-
ing into the latter’s new maroon Packard.
Jack was sporting a brown, pin-striped
suit.

Our visiting friend pointed to two
handsome young gentlemen strolling

JOHN W. SWALLOW, Manager of the NBC
Studios in Hollywood, snapped by a candid
camera in his office in the Film City.

within the shadow of our Artists Service-
Press-Sound Effects-Typing building.

“Who are those two?”

They were Ed Ludes, in yellow bush
jacket with polo shirt of lighter shade
and white linen slacks, and his first as-
sistant. Virgil Reimer, in a dark green
corduroy polo shirt, brown-red slacks, off-
set with light blue sneakers he recently
acquired for week-end yachting trips.

“Those two.” we replied. “Why, they’re
our soundmen.”

Secretarial Changes

When a program goes off the air, we
have so many in radio, we quickly forget
it. We have a lot of employes too, but
when one as nice as Jean Darrell leaves
the organization, her friends don’t easily
forget her.

Jean, who has been with NBC for nigh
onto five years, is moving to one of the
agencies. She will be succeeded in the
Program Department by Jane Fleming,
who used to be in Music Rights. That
puts Joan Chapman in Music Rights with
Myrna Bay. Helen Wendt is now Produc-
tion Manager Young’s secretary, and
Marg Wright, who is brand new to NBC,
but not to radio, will be Andy Love’s sec-
retary in Continuity. Miss Wright used to
be at KHJ as a singer with a trio.

Excuse It Please!

Producer Myron Dutton cued Sound-
man Hal Dieker for an off-stage pistol
shot during a recent rehearsal. Dieker
opened that big Studio B exit, poked the
pistol out into the hall, fired a blank, and
inadvertently frightened four musicians
out of their wits. The musicians, obeying
the no-smoking-in-the-studios regulation,
were smoking in the hallway, their backs
turned to the studio door whence the shot
came.

When the smoke (from the gun-shot)
settled, Soundman Dieker had much apol-

ogizing and explaining to do to prove that
no gag was intended.

Grunion

Two pages, Russ Hudson and Bob Ed-
wards, and two soundmen. Jack Wormser
and Hal Dieker, decided to celebrate the
latter’s birthday at the beach, hunting
grunion. Those are the little fishes that
pick the dark of night to waddle up onto
the sands where they lay their eggs. They
then catch the next wave back, if there is
a wave, and if nobody’s there to bag them.
The grunion weren’t running that night,
so the boys did the next best thing — went
swimming.

Quick Pix

Myrl Alderman, THE staff musician,
played Dream in My Heart six times on
a fifteen-minute program a couple of
weeks back — but it was really an audition
conducted by the lyric-writer of the num-
ber, Joe Thompson. Song pluggers, all
right. . . . Sid Goodwin, producer, went
to Ensenada for a week and brought back
naught but the flu. . . . Bob Lamb. Main-
tenance, is going down there on his vaca-
tion also, but let’s hope he brings back
something more interesting. Perhaps one
of those big hats that look like a cross
between the roof of a silo and a beach
umbrella. . . . Which reminds us that Ray
Ferguson packs one of those collapsible
parachutes around in the back of his car
to keep away the sunburn. . . . From
KVOR, Colorado Springs, came Floyd A.
Caton to land in our Sound Effects Di-
vision, and up the racket-making group
to five. . . . Marv Young, Production,
spending his vacation at home figuring
out a way to make his hens lay more eggs.
. . . Nell Cleary, S. F. Continuity, down
for a week to see how her old boss, Andy
Love, likes this here village. . . . Mae
Regan, Artists Service, has been invited
to tea on March 20th, next. The place is
a friend’s villa on the Riviera. . . . Claude
Ferrel is very proud of a five-leg table he
constructed for Fred Dick’s Typing De-
partment. It will be required to hold six
active typewriters, hence the extra leg.
. . . Visiting radio man is Birt Fisher,
manager of KOMO-KJR, Seattle. He and
Buddy Twiss chinned over the days when
Buddy raced a one-dog sled team to vic-
tory. . . . Elaine Forbes and Helen Aid-
rich, Sales secretaries, dining Santa Bar-
bara friends in the Brown Derby. . . .

i i i

Win two tickets to your local theatre— send
your prise photographs to the NBC TRANS-
MITTER'S PHOTO CONTEST.

AUGUST 16, 1937

SPORTS

TENNIS

The NBC tennis team jjlayed its first
matcli against the Du-Art team on the
Queens Community Tennis Courts at Elm-
hurst. Long Island, August 3. With no
previous practice together and without
the support of its two stars, Paul Ritten-
house and Joe Merkle, both of Guest Re-
lations, the NBC team, headed by Jarrett
L. Hathaway of Engineering and com-
posed of Bud Faillace and Ed Kahn of
Guest Relations, Serge A. de Somov and
George M. Nixon of Engineering, made a
clean sweep of all its games.

In the singles Faillace, NBC, defeated
Eefertz, Du-Art, 8-6, 6-4. Hathaway, NBC,
overcame Lee, Du-Art, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Kahn,
NBC, beat Riehstein, Du-Art, 6-2, 6-4.
De Somov, NBC, defeated Ranft, Du- Art,
6-3. 6-1, and Nixon, NBC, won from Rath-
ner, Du-Art, 6-2, 6-1.

In the doubles the NBCites continued
their landslide with Kahn and de Somov
defeating Riehstein and Ranft, 6-2, 6-2.
Faillace and Nixon completed the rout,
winning from Lefertz and Rathner, 6-2,
6 - 2 .

The team expects stiffer opposition in
its next match when it meets the RCA
Radiotron Team which is an undefeated
member of the West Hudson Industrial
Athletic Association League, said Chair-
man Hathaway. The game is scheduled
for August 16 at 5:45 p.m., to be played
in Elmhurst, L. I.

i i i

BASEBALL

The NBC baseball team lost its last two
ball games, the first, a bitterly fought
ten inning game, to the Skouras Company
by a score of 7-8. Columbia Pictures took
the second, 5-0.

Prior to this the team had a winning
streak of three games which had made
them eligible for the playoffs for first
place in the league. The two defeats that
followed dropped them to third place. At
present they are leading the Motion Pic-
ture League in batting averages.

NBC’s next and last league game of
the sea.son will be with the Apeda Studio
team. Manager Jack Wahlstrom of Guest
Relations is confident his team will come
out on top.

In the first half of the league season
the team won two games and lost four.
Lack of proper practice facilities was
largely responsible for the poor showing.
As the season progressed and more games

Athletic Association

Eiects New Secretary

(Continued from page 1)

the Association would try further, and if
necessary give partial financial support, to
secure special rates for tennis courts with-
in the city. It was also suggested by tbe
not-too-expert tennis players that an inter-
company tournament be launched to
promote interest in the sport among the
novices.

Shooting and Baseball

Gordon H. Mills (Local Sales) gave a
complete and very promising report on
the possibilities of making rifle and pistol
shooting a sport available, at a very rea-
sonable rate, to all — both men and women
— who are interested in it. He stated that
he had already made tentative negotia-
tions with a rifle range within easy access
of Radio City to reserve the range for one
designated evening a week for the exclu-
sive use of NBCites.

John Wahlstrom, manager of the base-
ball team, reported that the team is mak-
ing a better showing in the second half
than it did in the first half of the Motion
Picture League. In the second half, to
date, the NBC team has won two games
and lost three. Manager Wahlstrom jocu-
larly pointed out that NBC created a great
deal of good-will with its opponents in the
league by losing five games and winning
only one during the first half. •

Proposed Holiday

Charles H. Thurman of the Member-
ship Committee told the assembly that
the number of paid-up memberships in
the Association has jumped up to three
hundred.

The meeting ended with a discussion
regarding the possibility of securing a
whole day off for all NBC members in
order to have an NBC Athletic Associa-
tion field day at some country club where
there would be facilities for various sports
including tennis, golf and swimming.

were played, the team became stronger
and more efficient on tbe field.

The remainder of the season will be
devoted to outside competition. Numerous
challenges have been received by the team
which they were unable to accept earlier
in the year because of league games. One
of the first post-season games will be with
the Lord and Thomas team.

i i i

Have you an idea tor the pages oi the NBC
TRANSMITTER? Write it down and send it to
the editor.

by Frank W. Nesbitt

W ith one Leak going out over our wires,
it was a bit of a surprise tt» find ttut that
we recently had another. This one was dif-
ferent. though, in that it was not very
pleasant. One of our water pipes over-
flowed into a wire duct and short-circuited
the phones in Press. The damage was
([tiickly rectified by an army of plumbers
and electricians. ^ ^ ^

And this time it is Barbara Buck who
makes the news for Sales. Mildly famc»us
for being the only woman receptionist in
NBC, she is causing weeping among many
of our males by announcing her intention
to take the final vows with one “Vance.”
The gentleman remains much a mystery,
perhaps for protection.

1 i i

Stories keep appearing in the press
about the efficiency of our pages, and here
is one more example of it. Recently Ed-
ward Tomlinson was to do a broadcast on
South America. He had gotten out of a
sick bed to do the program only to find
that our pleasant manufactured weather
was a bit too chilly for him. He wanted a
sweater. Five minutes after he had ex-
pressed the need to a page, the extra
woolen garment was being pulled over his
head. What a chance for a commercial —
“Sister’s Susies Swank Shrinkless Syrian
Sweaters Save Show.” Some stuff!

i -t i

For anyone who has a short-wave radio,
we would suggest tuning in on W3XAL.
Recently it has become a full time station
operating on a regular schedule, and serv-
ing Europe and South America sixteen
hours a day. The pick of Red and Blue
sustaining shows are carried by it. along
with special broadcasts for particular
areas. That makes three program logs to
fight with now. A few more and we’ll have
to get our recruits from lumber camps.

i i i

The month of July saw more than 70.-
000 people take the NBC Studio Tour
. . . up twenty per cent for the same period
last year. And how about you? Have you
taken it yet? It gives you such a sweeping
scope of broadcasting operations that it
might very easily help you in your daily
work.

// you tvork for

There's no doubt that you should be
y'ersed in elemental theory

From microphone to speaker.

So come and take a studio tour,

(A G. K.* pass won't make you poor)
And there you'll get to the very coeur
Of microphone to speaker.

* Guest Relations pass, issued compli-
mentarily to NBC employes, in Room
254, NBC New York.

Among those heard dur-
ing the inaugural rere-
monies of the opening
of the new NBC
Studios in Washington,
D.C.: L. to R. — Frank
M. Russell, Vice Presi-'
dent of NBC Washing-
ton Division; Senator
Arthur R. Capper of
Kansas; Lenox R. Lohr,
President of NBC.

Studio D. This is
one of the two
living-room type
of speaker’s
studios in NBC’s
new headquar-
ters in the Trans-
Lux Building,
Washington, D.C.

N&e

PICTURES OF THE NEW Nl
WRC AND WMAL IN

The spacious foyer of
the new headquarters of
WRC and WMAL in
Washington, D. C. Two
NBC page boys, Wil-
liam S. Ewing, left, and
Lionel M. Farr, stand
ready to take visitors on
a tour of the studios
while Miss Rose Ewell,
hostess, answers tele-
phone requests for
information.

(anager of WRC-WMAL, pictured in
, office.

i STUDIOS AND OFFICES OF
N E NATION'S CAPITAL

The Master Control
Room. From the studio
control room the pro-
grams are transmitted
to the master control
desk, known among en-
gineers as the MCD.
This is the heart of the
entire broadcasting
plant, and the engineer
in charge controls both
Station WRC and
WMAL from this board.

(a; igton located in the two upper floors
at (urteenth Street and York Avenue.

From the roof of the
NBC Studios in the
Trans-Lux Building
these lovely girls from
the Fanchon Marco
Unit released 1,000 bal-
loons bearing lucky
numbers exchangeable
for prizes given by NBC
as part of the opening
ceremonies of the new
headquarters of WRC-
WMAL. Announcer
Gordon Ilittenmark is
the jovial interviewer.

NBC TRANSMITTER

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 AUGUST 16. 1937 No. 10

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS Editor

ARY R. MOLL Associate Editor

CARL CANNON Features

FRANZ NAESETH Circulation

CHARLES VAN BERGEN Photographs

N, Y. CONTRIBUTORS

FRANK C. LEPORE Press Correspondent

FRANCES SPRAGUE General Lfbrary

Address all correspondence to;
NBC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA Bldg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

NAMES IN THE NEWS

(Continued from Page 4)

Miscellaneous:

Arthur Gabarini, deep-voiced announc-
er, recently graduated from the page staff,
has passed a voice test to make movie
trailers and preview announcements for
National Screen, Inc.

i i i

Vice President Frank E. Mason, who
is vacationing in Europe with Mrs. Mason,
is expected hack in New York on August
20th.

1 1 i

Lewis Lane of the Music Research Sec-
tion and Miss Dorothy Bayer gave a piano
recital at the house of Mr. Lane’s former
music teacher. Edwin Hughes, Wednes-
day evening. July 28.

Mr. Lane, who played during the en-
tire first half of the concert, included
some of his own compositions in his pro-
gram. He played his Fragments, Opus 6
and several parts of his Green Mountain
Sketches, Opus 5.

1 i 1

Antioch College sends us another page.
Charles Linn, who replaces Phillip
Houghton returning to Antioch to resume
his studies. Linn will be heie for ten
weeks when he will be replaced by Hough-
ton. F’or further details on the special ar-
rangement between NBC and Antioch see
the July first issue of the Tkansmittkr.

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LISTENER REACTIONS

by Ruth Crawford

Correspondent, New York Audience Mail Division.

THIS and THAT from the mail of a hot summer’s day:

“A friend of mine has sent me a phonograph which I enjoy very much. But there
is one thing I can’t figure out. Why does it always play the same thing over and over?
Perhaps the thing is broke. If so maybe you could help me fix it. I’m getting sick of hear-
ing Stars and Stripes Forever all the time.”

i i i

“From an economic viewpoint which do you think the most practical — to become
an undertaker or to attend the New England Conservatory of Music and study harmony
and composition and instrumentation? I don’t mean the cost of each respective training
or the time required to obtain it, but rather in which field will I be most apt to make a
decent living.”

1 1 i

“I recently read about cows that are taught to yodel. This I think would meet with
as much pleasure to thousands of listeners if you could put it on the air as were the
singing rats.”

i i 1

“To settle an argument — please tell me whether Milton Cross has ever announced
a football game!”

i i i

“What state is Radio City in? Please broadcast it.”

i i 1

“I have listened to many of your programs and like them very much, especially
‘Husbands and Wives,’ although I am only 16 I hear their problems and I know I never
will get married.”

AUGUST 16, 1937

NBC CHICAGO

by William E. Lawrence

William C. Hodapp, recent addition to
the Continuity Department, although only
twenty-five years old (and single) has
already taught dramatics and screen writ-
ing at the University of Indiana, directed
the Old Fort Players, civic dramatic group
at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and besides
voluminous radio writings has two plays
now in production, Heloise and Abelard,
which will take the boards in Pasadena,
California, in the Fall and Off the Deep
End, to be done by the University of
Indiana players.

i i i

E. W. Young, Salesman in Transcrip-
tion Service, recently turned down an op-
portunity to become an “angel” to pos-
sible future radio stars. The Mail and
Messenger staff’s locker room is located
across the courtway from his office. The
boys often spend their rest period there
singing. They appear to believe in quan-
tity rather than quality and the result is
not always pleasant to Mr. Young’s sen-
sitive ears.

The other day a client, visiting in his
office, heard one of the boys singing. He
became interested in the voice floating
across the courtyard and asked if he
might go to the studio and meet the singer.
Mr. Young had to admit that the “studio”
was not a very glamorous one and that
while the singing was not of the highest
type it was not without merit.

Later he called the locker room and in
a jocular vein requested that the singing
be confined to studios. The boys countered
with the suggestion that he audition some
of them and that he might possibly rise
to fame and fortune as the discoverer of
another Caruso. Mr. Young declined.
However, the singing goes on — albeit
somewhat toned down, a la crooner’s
style.

i i i

New Faces:

Joseph W. Conn, Jr., studio field en-
gineer, filling vacancy caused by transfer
of Frank Colder to Program-Traffic.

Henry J. Guill, TWX operator in Com-
munications, will replace William E. Phil-
lips, who resigned.

Hubert F. Abfalter is a new member of
the field group of engineers.

1 i i

Marj Stockdale, secretary to Produc-
tion Manager C. L. Menser, has resigned
to become Mrs. Heidler. Rubye Downs,
now secretary to Salesman Scboenfeld,

will replace Miss Stockdale. Miss Downs,
by the way, was one of the winners in the
NBC tenth anniversary slogan contest.

i i i

Announcer Lynn Brandt and WLS An-
nouncer Ed Paul when playing tennis
make their stakes high or not at all. They
were playing for Grant Park for a time,
until Paul finally annexed that. Then they
put up the Stevens Hotel, and Lynn has
that to his credit. They fought to a draw
the other day, though, when WLS and
NBC were the stakes.

i 1 i

Correction: In the NBC Transmittkr
of July 15 we announced that Whitney J.
Clement had been appointed Local Sales
Manager which has been brought to our
attention as being incorrect. Whitney
Clement became a member, not manager,
of the Local Sales Division. W. W. Smith
continues as manager of Local Sales.

SCHECHTER SCOOPS
RECORD RUN OF

NORMANDIE

David Sarnoff, President of RCA and
chairman of the board of NBC, A. A.
Schechter, director of the News and Spe-
cial Events Division of NBC, and Howard
Claney were aboard the Normandie on its
record-breaking trip of 3 days, 23 hours
and 2 minutes on its trip from New York,
eastward, August eighth.

In keeping with NBC’s policy of broad-
casting events at the time of their occur-
rence, Mr. Schechter immediately ar-
ranged a special broadcast from the boat
itself, during which Mr. Claney inter-
viewed the captain.

This special events program came over
the air Sunday afternoon Aug. 8 at seven
o’clock.

ill

Winners oi the September Photo Contest will
be announced in the next issue oi the NBC
TRANSMITTER.

i i 1

Zrery member oi NBC is a re port er oi his
newsmogazine the NBC TRANSMITTER.

On ffvi

The books listed below are recommended as pertinent literature on raaio and
allied subjects. They ivill be found in the NBC General Library, New York.

PRODUCTION AND ANNOUNCING HANDBOOK by Bob Cunning-
ham. 1937. The author through his experience with the Central States Broad-
casting System has compiled this handbook for announcers and producers.
There are chapters on rehearsals, schedules, copy, studios, commercial con-
tinuity, microphone technique, etc.

DO’S AND DONT’S OF RADIO WRITING by Ralph Rogers. 1937.
After ten years of experience in broadcasting, the author has compiled this
very interesting and useful handbook of instructions on what to do and not
to do when writing, building, selling and broadcasting a radio program. Mr.
Rogers is director of the radio courses at Boston University, also President
of Associated Radio Writers, Inc.

TELEVISION CYCLOPAEDIA by A. T. Witts. Chapman & Hall. 1937.
This is another addition to the already extensive literature on television
written by the English. This book, in the form of an encyclopedia, defines
terms used in the new medium. It is illustrated with diagrams.

HANDBOOK OF BROADCASTING by Waldo Abbot. McGraw-Hill.
1937. Although “designed as a guide for teachers and students of broadcast-
ing,” this should be of value to newcomers in NBC in giving them a well-
rounded idea of radio broadcasting. Writing, speaking, commercial con-
tinuity, electrical, radio education and radio as a vocation are discussed in
different chapters. The author is well known for his work as director of
Broadcasting Service at the University of Michigan.

RADIO INSPIRES NBC
BLUE NETWORK GOWN

Bll F\i rWORK

THE BU'E NETWORK GOWN
Worn l)y Margret Brill, brilliant, young and
beaulifnl harpist, beard regularly on the Blue
Network.

F'asliion for the fir.st time has taken in-
spiration from radio with the creation of
an NBC Blue Network Gown, an original
Fall evening style designed in tribute to
the Blue Network of the National Broad-
casting Company.

Shown for the first time in the South,
when ten stations in that section cele-
brated their affiliation with NBC, the
dress is a new and brilliant National Blue
cotton net, cross-barred in gold. The style
is an exclusive version of the “corselet”
bodice with a voluminous skirt that meas-
ures twenty-five yards around the hem.

On its first showing under the sponsor-
ship of the radio stations of the South, the
gown was extremely successful, being the
subject of several beauty and essay con-
tests. It was featured in store windows
and starred at society halls. The national
display of the dress will also he under the
individual sponsorship of the stations of
the Blue Network.

The presentation of the gown, in con-
junction with several beauty and letter-
writing contests which offer many prizes,
including many Blue Network gowns with
complete accessories and a trip to Radio
City, is being sponsored in various south-
ern cities by the following new NBC Blue
Network stations:

WROL, Knoxville; WDSU, New Or-
leans; KRGV, Weslaco, Texas; KFDM,
Beaumont. Texas; WSGN. Birmingham;
KXYZ. Houston; WMFS (formerly
WNBR 1, Memj)his; WJBO, Baton Rouge;
KRIS, Coritus Christi; and WAGA, At-
lanta.

Miss Lisa Sergio, NBC guest announcer
from Rome, Italy (see page 1) accepted
the NBC Transmitter’s invitation to be
a guest columnist in this issue and wrote
these, her impressions of NBC and Radio
City, for the readers of the Transmitter.

It is common knowledge that a certain
quality of international comradeship ex-
ists among sailors and seamen of all coun-
tries, which is not usually found in other
walks of life. Personally, I believe this
applies also to people whose walk of life
is “on the air.” Even as radio establishes
connections between the most distant
points of the globe so does it create a
bond between all persons who, in one way
or another, are engaged in radio activi-
ties. I don’t know what else could account
for the warm and congenial welcome that
I, an utter stranger, received from every-
body I have met in NBC.

It was a practical demonstration of this
spirit of cooperation when NBC set up
two difficult and important memorial
broadcasts on the day of Guglielmo Mar-
coni’s death, within the shortest possible
notice. That I, NBC’s guest announcer
since three days before, should have been
offered the privilege of appearing on one
of those programs, was something which
moved me deeply, and which I shall not
forget.

.\ man from the Old World invented
wireless which made broadcasting pos-
sible. but the New World certainly has
out-done Europe in developing the prac-
tical aspects of that invention. As I walk
for miles down NBC corridors, travel up
and down elevators, meet new members of
the staff, and am offered opportunities
for seeing everything from the inside, I
feel I have dropped into a world of un-
realities. I do not believe there is any
radio program one could suggest that
NBC would feel technically unprepared to
put on the air right away, and I am de-
lighted to be here to see how it is done!

I feel entitled to say. however, that Ital-
ian radio ranks high in Europe. For in-
stance, the idea of broadcasting in foreign
languages originated with EIAR (Italian
Broadcasting Company) and is now being
taken up successfully in other countries,
although none as yet can boast of putting
news on the air in fourteen different lan-
guages, including Hindustani, Chinese,
Bulgarian and Swedish as we do in Rome!
These programs are broadcast mostly by

NBC TRANSMITTER

EXCHANGE CORNER

This classified ad section is available, free
of charge, to all NBC employes. Rules: forty-
five word limit ; not more than one ad to each
employe every other issue; no regular business
or professional services may be advertised.
Address ads to NBC Transmitter, Room 284,
RCA Building, New York.

All items must be in writing; give name
and address.

WANTED — Maple bedroom suite; full-size
bed, dresser, chest of drawers and night
table. Also broadloom rug, about 9'xl2'.
Must be inexpensive. Apply to the NBC
Transmitter, Room 284, Ext. 220.

FOR RENT — One-room apartment — com-
pletely furnished, grand piano, large radio,
gas and electric free, within three blocks of
Radio City. Rent very reasonable. Call Frank
Murtha, Room 505, Ext. 834, N. Y.

CAMERA BARGAIN— 2% x 3% Ihagee
“Venus” camera. Triplex anastigmat F 4.5
lens. Compur shutter, speeds 1 second to
1/250 second. Also yellow filter. Complete
820. R. V. Berthold, Room 311, N. Y.

BANJO FOR SALE — Super Paramount En-
semble King; Wm. L. Savage manufacture.
Cost $200; will sell reasonably. Apply to the
NBC TRANSMITTER, Room 284, Ext. 220.

BARGAIN — for boat owners. Set of signal
code flags (size approximately 18" x 20")
in very good condition, complete with canvas
hag container. Evelyn Sniffin, Publicity Dept.,
Rm. 404, Ext. 236, N. Y.

sbort-wave, since tbis is tbe best possible
means of overcoming such hindrances to
good reception as the Alpine mountain
ranges, or the English Channel. Most
European radio sets of some standing are
equipped for short-wave and fans all over
Europe like to say they can tune in to
America and other distant places al-
though few of them really do, I am afraid.

Now that I am here, I realize that what
we do listen to is not always America’s
best, tbis being due partly to the six-hour
difference in our clocks and partly to the
fact that few of the best NBC and other
American programs have a short-wave
hook-up.

Europeans have very little idea of the
high quality of American radio programs
and of the tremendous amount of com-
mercial interests entailed. Nor do we have
a notion of punctuality as compared to
NBC. NBC programs are always “on the
nose.” Have I not learned American radio
talk quickly from my hosts in the RCA
Building? But I have also learned from
them that the courtesy and kindness for
which Americans are universally known
is borne out to the extreme by my radio
comrades of the National Broadcasting
Company.

— Lisa Sergio.

AUGUST 16, 1937

My Hobby Is - RAILROADING

by Bill Paisley

Lover of steam locomotives. Songwriter Bill Paisley of the New York
Music Division, shown against a background in which he gloats.

This is the first of
a series of articles
on interesting hob-
bies of NBC mem-
bers. If'illiam M.

Paisley of the New
York Music Divi-
sion and composer
of many songs is the
author of this story.

A steam locomo-
tive with no safety
valve would ex-
plode. An office
worker with no
workable hobby
might conceivably
blow up — tempera-
mentally if not physically. My hobby, and
that of a friend. Bill Steen, is railroading
as it is operated by steam; and we are not
alone in our devotion to the lonesome
rails. Hundreds of men and boys, and
even some girls, avail themselves monthly
of special trips that are offered by the
railroads to those who are interested in
trains as a hobby. Trainloads of fans are
pulled over hundreds of miles of track to
visit a round house, a shop, or a railroad
yard, and are returned, full of exposed
film and happy memories, to the point of
departure. A recent trip to the plant of
the American Locomotive Works in Sche-
nectady drew thirty-five hundred railroad
enthusiasts.

Bill Steen and I, keen in our worship of
the mighty racers of the rails, recently
sought and obtained permission to ride in
the cab on the regularly-scheduled runs of
Jersey Central trains 3301 and 3308 to
Bay Head Junction and return. Our rea-
son for asking for this run that started at
3:30 a.m., was the fact that the fireman
was George Wohnus, a pleasant fellow
whom we had met on one of our pilgrim-
ages to our favorite sanctuary of steam,
the Jersey Central Terminal in Jersey
City.

We went across the Hudson River on
the three o’clock ferry which slithered
across the satiny blackness between the
ghost-like forms of lighters, car-floats, and
tugs that spoke in hushed tones as became
the lateness of the hour.

The road foreman of engines, who was
sent along with us by the railroad, al-
lowed only one of us at a time to ride in
the cab with him and Engineer Dumke
and Fireman Wohnus so my friend and I
had to take turns.

On the return trip, while it was my turn

to ride up in front, we pulled a com-
muter’s train that picked up passengers
at the shore points and then sped like the
wind from Red Bank to Jersey City. I
leaned far out from the firemen’s win-
dow, my eyes protected by close-fitting
goggles, to watch the driving rod as the
engineer pulled the throttle back and the
big Pacific-type monster began to i)uff.
Each thrust of the driving rod propelled
us more than seven yards. Each revolution
of the huge driving wheels was accompan-
ied by a quartet of explosive spurts of
steam and sweet-smelling coal-smoke
from the squat stack. Puffs and black
spurts came faster and faster; faster and
faster went the driving rod until it be-
came a blur of motion; and tbe exhaust
from the stack lost itself in a steady
rhythmic roar, punctuated by ear-si)lit-
ting blasts from the whistle, warning
automobiles at the crossings. My hat blew
off and whipped back onto the right of
way. Cinders peppered my sparsely cov-
ered pate. But why worry about such
trivia as hats when I could see that long
stretch of double track rushing up to me
at seventy miles an hour! A curve loomed
ahead. I confess to a slight chill as we hit
it full speed; and never was I more con-
scious of an abiding hope that the elevated
outer rail would hold fast!

Mile after mile was clipped off. Finally,
however, the intermittent hissings from
the air-brake lever, the pungent odor of
hot brakes, and the slowing down of the
rushing train brought us into that maze
of tracks that spelled journey’s end.
i i i

Get acquainted with your iellow NBCites —
join the NBC Athletic Association.

"ESTA ES ESTACION

WHAQ. SAN JUAN"

Like the legendary postman on vaca-
tion, the writer, in San Juan, Porto Rico,
recently found it hard to resist visiting a
local broadcasting station. Handicapped
by a sadly limited actjuaintance with
Spanish ( buenas noches, adios muchachos
and the like I he finally persuaded a cab
driver to drive bim to the Edificio Tele-
grafico, which is the center of San Juan’s
telephone, telegraph and radio activities.
On the sixth floor of the building was sta-
tion WHAQ.

It was amazing to see the feverish activ-
ity that went on in such a small space.
Two studios (each the size of our own 8E
or 8F), one control booth and a transmit-
ter on the roof constitute the station’s
broadcasting facilities. Yet programs are
ground out fifteen hours a day, every day
of the week. And what heat there was in
those cramped quarters! The local pro-
gram director, an American, hastened to
explain that their very excellent air-con-
ditioning plant was temporarily out of
order.

Through a speaker in the studio an an-
nouncer could be heard, in his high-
pitched babble of Spanish, excitedly des-
cribing a horse race at a nearby track.
My friend, tbe cab-driver, wbo had bet on
the race, was feverishly puffing on one of
those native, black tobacco cigarettos and
when the announcer mentioned the win-
ning caballo there ensued such a jumble
of asst>rted plain and fancy Castilian ex-
pletives that I was sure I’d have to walk
back to the boat.

The program director described a typi-
cal broadcasting day: half an hour of
Spanish music, some American music,
news and more American music Appar-
ently they enjoy swing as much as Ameri-
cans fancy the rhumba. Then there are the
races, more news and native and Ameri-
can music to fill out the day.

It was surprising to learn that about
two-thirds of all the programs are spon-
sored. Many of the largest American drug
and automobile manufacturers find Porto
Rico a rich market for their products.

Radios, like automobile horns, are
treated like toys on the island. When the
writer later took a stroll through some of
San Juan’s narrow streets, three sounds
contributed to the general din: the parrot-
like Spanish chatter, the powerful auto-
mobile horns, and the radios. . . . Ah, yes,
the radios. Porto Ricans must be hard of
hearing, for the radio in each house can be
heard a block away and there are about
forty or fifty in each block.

— Murray Harris.

NBC TRANSMITTER

KDKA PITTSBURGH

by Kay Barr

KDKA Studio Tour:

KDKA is rapidly becoming one of the
most popular show places in Pittsburgh.
Much of this “vogue” is due to the recent
addition of a page and a guide to the staff
of the “Pioneer Broadcasting Station.”
Since he started working June 19, Roy
Baldwin has escorted a daily average of
211 people through the NBC studios in
the Grant Building. To date the visitors
have represented thirty-seven states of the
Union, as well as Scotland, England, Ire-
land, France, India, Germany, Hungary
and South Africa.

Most of the guests are housewives who
have heard KDKA broadcasts and are
curious to see how they are created. Roy
finds that the two most interesting phases
of his tours are the sound effects demon-
strations and the printer machines with a
description of how news is received and
handled. A frequent question on the
KDKA Studio Tour is, “Where does a
voice travel from the time it leaves tlie
microphone until we hear it at home?”
And Roy traces the program’s journey
from the studio to the Saxonhurg trans-
mitter, thirty-five miles away; thence
through the air to the listener’s home and
receiving set. Visitors al.so ask about the
various personalities identified with
KDKA programs and many request auto-
graphs when any of these “personalities”
are in the studios.

Ordinarily the visitors begin arriving
at the studios about 11 a.m.. and they con-
tinue until late in the evening. Right now
Roy is planning a special party of one
hundred and fifty for the afternoon of
Sunday, August 15. These will be mem-
bers of the Radio Servicemen’s Associa-
tion and their wives. The party will go on
to Saxonhurg after visiting the studios.

Personalities:

Clyde Reed, studio engineer, who han-
dle.s, among other programs, the technical
end of dozens of broadcasts presented
over KDKA by Lois Miller, organist and
vocalist, was told as he started for Atlan-
tic City on his vacation that Lois Miller
was broadcasting from the Steel Pier in
the “Nation’s Playground.”

“Good,” .said Clyde. “Maybe I’ll get to
see a radio program.”

Busman’s holiday!

i i i

Announcer Bill Beal was escorting an
attractive young lady on a personal tour
of the station.

The KDKA page staff has just blossomed
forth in new uniforms, the first for any Pitts-
burgh radio station. Pictured above is Page
Freddie Saviers, left, delivering mail to Guide
Roy Baldwin. Their new uniforms are pat-
terned after those of the New York Page and
Guide staffs. When not receiving fan mail,
Roy is kept busy showing the KDKA studios
to a weekly average of 1,200 people.

When they got to the Press Depart-
ment he presented the writer to his guest.
She hurdled the conventional acknowl-
edgment and asked:

“Can you iron out some of my rela-
tives for me?” Which didn’t seem to
make sense until she explained, “It says
‘Press Relations’ there on your door.”

New Program Idea:

If there’s anything new in the way of
entertainment, radio will find it. And
KDKA will «oon present a new musical
combination on its Home Forum program.

Piano and organ have been used most
effectively many times. Two piano teams
are heard frequently. But for this pro-
gram Musical Director Aneurin Body-
combe is preparing special arrangements
for organ and two pianos. Bernie Arm-
strong will be at the organ and Body-
combe and Russ Merritt will play the
pianos.

Another “first” for the Pioneer broad-
casting station, so far as we know.

Rain or Shine?

Each Tuesday there is a guessing con-
test around KDKA, trying to figure out
whether the fickle weather will interfere
with the Pops Concert and broadcast
scheduled for Victor Saudek’s Little Sym-
phony Orchestra from the band shell in

EINSTEIN VISITS

RADIO CITY STUDIOS

Albert Einstein, the famous physicist,
paid a surprise visit to NBC’s Radio City
Studios on the afternoon of August 6th.

Guide Maxwell Russell was assigned
to escort the Professor and his party
through the studios. Joseph D’Agostino,
of the New York Engineering Division,
W. G. Martin and Paul Rittenhouse of
Guest Relations, accompanied him.

This is Guide Russell’s account of the
tour.

“Einstein arrived with a party of four
friends and I was fortunate enough to be
assigned to the tour.

“The thing that impressed me most was
Einstein’s simplicity. He wore a white
linen suit, no socks, tennis slippers, car-
ried books, and smoked his famous black
pipe.

“Pleasant, polite, affable, he insisted on
an English speaking guide, and listened
carefully, eagerly to everything said. He
expressed wonder and astonishment dur-
ing Mr. D’Agostino’s explanation of the
Master Control Room and even childish
delight at the demonstration of galloping
horses in Sound Effects.

“They say the greater a man is, the
simpler and kindlier he is. Albert Einstein
is a very great man. I shall never forget
the experience.”

Schenley Park. If it rains, the free-open-
air program is cancelled and a half-hour
standby is presented from the KDKA
studios.

So each Tuesday the decision is made
at 5:45 p.m. But John Gihon, program
manager, says there’s no need to wait that
long. He has a pet corn that always begins
to warn him rain is coming at least six
hours before tbe actual precipitation
starts. The trouble is that no one else has
any confidence in Mr. Gihon’s corn as a
weather prophet. However, he doesn’t
intend to visit a chiropodist until after the
Saudek series is over. He says they need
his corn so he’s willing to suffer. Hero!

AUGUST 16, 1937

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

-No. 9— FIELD DIVISION, ENGINEERING DEPT—

A’fiC Photo by Haussler

The Master Control Point at Brenton Point, focal point
of NBC operations at the 1937 America’s Cup Races.
L. to R.— Engineers Alfred E. Jackson and Harold
T. Ashworth, Field Supervisor Max Jacohson, Jack
Hartley of Special Events, and Arthur S. Feldman,
WBZ announcer.

This is the ninth of a series of articles which hope
will give you a better understanding of the many JSBC
units.

A phone suddenly tinkles in the bed-
room of a small neat house in the suburbs
of New York City. It is an hour when all
decent citizens are abed and only the
milkman is about. Outside a steady rain
has been falling for hours. A wind of near
gale proportions blows through moaning
trees. The phone rings again. In the dark-
ness a man sits up in bed, reaches out to
the small table beside it and snaps on a
lamp. Eyes blinking in the sudden light,
he fumbles with the telephone and lifts
the receiver.

“Hello,” he says sleepily.

“Hello, Al?” comes a quick voice at
the other end of the line. Instantly sleep
leaves the man. An inner excitement
floods through him. He is now wide
awake, alert. His scalp tingles.

“Al speaking,” he replies.

“This is Jake . . . Listen . . . Come to
the studios as quickly as you can . . .
You’re going with the Mobile Unit to
Johnstown . . . Been raining there for a
week . . . River’s rising . . . NBC is going
to cover it . . . Hurry up . . .”

The man begins to dress hurriedly. He
doesn’t stop to lace his shoes. He hastily
stuffs his unbuttoned shirt into his trous-
ers. His wife awakens. Now he is strug-

gling into his raincoat. “Going to
Johnstown. Flood there. See you
in a couple of days.” A hasty kiss.

The bedroom door slams. He
dashes into the garage. The doors
bang open. His wife hears the car
starting, its engine races and then
it splashes down the drive. Silence
descends again upon the little
house. Outside the rain is still fall-
ing. One of the garage doors
creaks as it sways in the wind.

Three minutes ago the ’phone
rang.

The man is an NBC field en-
gineer. He is one of a staff of six-
teen in the Field Division of the
Engineering Department, headed
by Max Jacobson, who work
quietly and efficiently “behind the
scenes” to put on programs origi-
nating outside of NBC studios.

Much of their work consists of
routine pick-ups from hotel ball-
rooms, sporting arenas, night
clubs and so on. But often they
are called on short notice to go out
“into the field” so that NBC listeners may
hear special events of national importance.
Such assignments may include presiden-
tial inaugurations, stratosphere flights,
floods, catastrophes like the Hindenburg
disaster. On these occasions they work
along with NBC Special Events
men.

As we write this, interest is at
white heat over the America’s Cup
races. It appears that the Ranger
is going to retain the historic
trophy for America. By the time
you read this the races will be
over and public interest in them
will be waning.

You and I sitting at home,
comfortably ensconced near our
receiving sets, listened to thrill-
ing eye-witness accounts of each
race by NBC announcers and
commentators. So competent are
they and so smoothly are the pro-
grams run that we are inclined
to take them for granted. But
have you ever given thought to
the men who make them possible?
So self-effacing are these field
engineers that we are seldom
aware of them, yet we would in-
stantly miss the programs they
make possible were they to dis-
continue their work.

The America’s Cup race broad-
casts is a typical example of

their work. Working with Abe Schechter
and his Special Events crew. Max
Jacobson and his engineers established
a main control point at Brenton
Point, near Newport, to act as a base for
their operations. Through a specially de-
signed switchboard arranged by the en-
gineers, Jack Hartley of Special Events
was able to give directions on a special
short-wave channel to Bill Stern flying
over the races in a giant TWA airliner,
George Hicks and Kenneth Davison de-
scribing the progress of the Ranger and
Endeavor II from the bridge of the Coast
Guard Cutter Sebago, and Dan Russell
(when he wasn’t under the spell of mal de
mer) aboard the Coast Guard Patrol Boat
172. They in turn were able to talk to him.

These two-way short-wave conversations
went out on the NBC cue channels, sepa-
rate from those used for the regular
broadcasting. The signals were so strong
that delighted short-wave enthusiasts at
Newport were able to listen in on these
“backstage” conversations while the pro-
gram itself was being heard over the
standard network stations.

The Master Control Point was con-
nected by direct wire to the Master Con-
trol Room in Radio City. One of the sleek,
streamlined mobile units, a compact
broadcasting station on wheels, was
brought into action to serve as a contact
{Continued on Page 16)

^ BC Photo by Haussler

The men behind the scenes at a “nemo” broadcast.
Seated from left to right, Field Engineers Carey P.
Sweeney, Andrew R. Thompson, Courtney Snell and
J. Alfred Wies “cover” Army maneuvers at Governor’s
Island, New York, in a typical field assignment.

NBC TRANSMITTER

WCY SCHENECTADY

Breaking ground for the new building for WGY Schenectady. Staff members of WGY look on
as Kolin Hager, station manager (left) and Chester Lang (right), manager of the G. E. publicity
department, break ground for the new NBC studios in Schenectady. In the center, wearing a white
suit, is E. E. Talmadge, head of the General Electric Realty Corp.

FIELD DIVISION

(Continued from Page 15)
between Brenton Point and the roving
field units. The unit can transmit and re-
ceive programs by short-wave.

From there NBC announcers and com-
mentators went out with crews of field en-
gineers in Coast Guard cutters and air-
planes to cover each race. Their descrip-
tions were short-waved to the Mobile
Unit, strengthened, passed through the
main control point over wire to Radio
City. There the Master Control Desk
routed the programs over special wire to
NBC stations from coast to coast. All this
happened before you could say “NBC!”

The portable equipment designed by
NBC develoitment engineers for use in
the field commands high respect in the
radio engineering world. The streamlined
mobile units, the “Top Hat” and “Beer
Mug” transmitters are daily used to bring
unusual and, at one time, inaccessible pro-
grams to the radio audience. With this
equipment NBC has penetrated the strat-
osphere, descended into the murky depths
of the sea in a submarine, described the
maiden voyages of the Normandie and
Queen Mary as they sped across the At-
lantic — a listing of the places the field
crew have covered would put Richard
Halliburton to shame!

In November of 1935 NBC-designed
short-wave equipment soared into the
stratosphere aboard the Explorer II to an
altitude of 13.7 miles, the highest yet
achieved by man! During the flight the
pilots of the balloon participated in a
three-way conversation with William
Burke Miller, night program manager,
who was flying over the Pacific aboard the
China Clipper and a newspaper reporter

Ground has been broken for WGY’s
new building ... at last. The whole staff,
janitors and ushers and all, took a few
minutes off several days ago to watch
Kolin Hager and Chester Lang, manager
of the publicity department of the Gen-

in London, England. Although continents
separated them, they chatted with each
other as easily as they would across a din-
ner table — a remarkable demonstration
of the high efficiency of the NBC field en-
gineers and the faultless operation of
NBC short -wave equipment.

eral Electric Company, turn the first shov-
elsful of earth. It was a gala occasion,
with just about as many people clicking
cameras as there were in the picture.

The studio building is to be erected by
the A. L. Hartridge Co., Inc., New York,
builders of the General Electric Company
Building on Lexington Avenue, New
York. Ultra-modern in design, the build-
ing will incorporate the latest in technical
developments. The structure will sit on a
triangular plot formed by Rice Road and
Washington Avenue, only a few feet from
the International General Electric Com-
pany Building which now houses WGY.
The new NBC studios will be air condi-
tioned, as will the offices, and will in-
clude an auditorium studio, two stories
high, which long has been a great need of

WGY.

It is hoped that the building will be
ready for occupancy about Christmas
time.

f < r

W'GY has a new control man. Paul
Adanti, whose home town is Auburn, N.
Y., comes to us from W'SYR. Syracuse,
where he was employed for one and a half
years. Previously, Paul was handling
gains for WMBO, Auburn. He’s a grad-
uate of Union College, Schenectady, Class
of 1934. After college he taught school in
Auburn for a short time before getting the
radio bug. His amateur radio station
W8AFC, so he says, focused his attention
away from teaching and into radio for a
career.

— 0. J. JUNCCREN.

Kurt Sell, representative of the German broadcasting company, NBC Field Engineer A. R.
Thompson and Announcer Dan Russell heralding the landing of the Hindenburg on her

maiden voyage to America.

NBC TRANSMITTER

VOL. 5 SEI’TEMHEH 1, 10 5 7 NO. 11

NBC CRACKSMEN HOLD
RIFLE AND PISTOL MEETS

With the NBC Athletic Association
branching out into still another activity,
two Rifle and Pistol Shoots have been
held at the Manhattan School of Firearms
at 24 Murray Street. The first was held
August tenth, the second, August seven-
teenth, both having been arranged by
Gordon H. Mills of the Sales Department.

The first meet was more or less of an
introductory nature, only eleven attend-
ing, four of whom were women. Six alleys
were used, with targets twenty-five yards
away and while the men seemed to display
superior accuracy, the ladies held their
own.

The second meet, held a week later,
found the attendance increased to seven-
teen, also found the women improved a
good deal. In fact, one of them. Miss
Marion Ayer, Treasurer’s, won the prize
for the greatest improvement over her
score of the previous week.

The participants in this second meet
were divided into two teams, the Red and
the Blue. Donald W. Clark, Engineering,
was chosen as captain of the Red team;
Roland Jordan, captain of the Blue. It was
decided also to have one secretary-treas-
urer for both teams and Miss Miriam
Hoffmeir, Program, was chosen for that
office.

Shooting was done at 50 feet using 22
calibre ammunition in 38 calibre frame
revolvers.

The Blues, led by Captain Jordan, were
high scorers for the meet, defeating the
Reds by 4.3 points.

Final Score: Blue: 78.4; Red: 74.1.

Instruction in shooting will be given at
each meet. Mr. Mills, himself a crack shot,
plans to save the targets for comparison
from week to week so that progress can
be recorded.

The following is the lineup for both
teams :

RED TEAM:

Donald H. Castle — Engineering, Captain
Clarkson U. Bundick — Engineering
Robert F. Schuetz — Engineering
Henry M. Gabrielson — Engineering
George 0. Milne — Engineering
Edward R. Cullen — Engineering
Walter B. Davison — Guest Relations
Agnew T. Horine — Sound Effects

NBC Employes View
Demonstrations in
Television

In the afternoon of August 24th NBC
held a series of television demonstrations
for NBC staff members in Radio City who
missed the original demonstration sched-
uled for employes of the Company a few
months back.

The demonstrations given in the NBC
Board Room in the RCA Building were
attended by employes from various depart-
ments. The “show” included a recent news
reel, a film of animated cartoons and an
educational film feature on sailing which
included diagrams, the clarity of which as
seen on the television screen, the Kine-
scope, astounded the spectators. Alois
Havrilla acted as commentator.

Three Pass Auditions

For Announcers' Ciass

Pat Kelly, supervisor of announcers in
Radio City, announced the names of three
members of the Guest Relations uniformed
staff who passed a recent audition con-
ducted to choose qualified applicants to
the NBC training school for announcers
on August 26.

The three men who were chosen from a
group of ten who took the audition were
Jerre Baxter, Daniel Munster and Fred-
erick Johnstone all of whom have been
with the Company less than six months.
These men will be trained under the super-
vision of Dan Russell who has been
conducting the announcing class for over
two years. Other members of the class
who have been taking the training course
several weeks are David Garroway, Jack
O’Reilly and David Adams, all members
of the uniformed staff.

BLUE TEAM:

Roland Jordan — Engineering, Captain
Gordon H. Mills — Sales
W. G. Martin — Guest Relations
Miriam Hoffmeir — Program Analysis
Marion Ayer — Treasurer’s
Elmer F. Mead — Engineering
Willard Butler — Sales Traffic
George McElrath — Engineering
Charles Thurman — Guest Relations

TWO STATIONS ADDED

TO NBC NETWORKS

Station KMED, Medford, Oregon, be-
comes an NBC outlet available to both the
Pacific Coast Blue and Pacific Coast Red
Networks on September 15 and Station
WBRC will replace WAPI, which oper-
ates part-time, as the Red Network’s out-
let in Birmingham, Alabama.

The addition of WBRC, which is owned
by the Birmingham Broadcasting Corpor-
ation, will provide radio listeners in the
Birmingham area with a choice of two
full-time services over separate NBC Red
Network and NBC Blue Network stations.
WSGN which joined the NBC networks
on August 1 will be the Birmingham out-
let of the Blue Network.

WBRC operates on a regional frequen-
cy of 930 kilocycles, with a day power of
5,000 watts and a night power of 1,000
watts.

The addition of KMED, the only station
in the region of Medford, Oregon, brings
the total number of NBC stations to 137.
It has a regional channel frequency of
1410 kilocycles and a power of 250 watts.
The station is owned by Mrs. Blanche
Virgin, the first and now one of the few
women owners and operators of commer-
cial broadcasting stations in the United
States. Lee Bishop is the manager.

KMED serves one of the richest terri-
tories in the Northwest. Medford, where
the studios are located, lies in the heart of
the Rogue River valley, which is noted for
its fine fruit orchards and lumbering and
mining industries. The town has a popu-
lation of 11,007, and Jackson County, in
which it is the principal trading point,
contains 32,918 persons. The valley itself,
which is adequately served by KMED, has
a population of more than 110,000.

The nearest national network stations
to Medford are at Portland. Oregon, 200
miles to the north, and at San Francisco,
300 miles to the south, thus giving KMED
exclusive coverage in its territory.

KMED was established, as a hobby,
with a power of fifty watts in an old flour
mill at Talent, near Medford, in 1922, by
the present owner’s husband, the late
W. J. Virgin. In 1925 the station was
moved to Medford. After his death in
1927, the residents of Medford prevailed
upon Mrs. Virgin to continue the station’s
operation. A year later, KMED was
placed on a full-time schedule and since
then its popularity has steadily increased.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Newcomers:

Before working in Audience Mail. Miss
Charlotte Holden was a high school teach-
er and ERA Social Service worker.

ill

Miss Hazel Wissemann, new stenogra-
pher, is a product of the Katharine Gibbs
School and was formerly secretary to the
vice-president of Metal Products Exhibits
in the International Building, Rockefeller
Center. i i i

Miss Marcella Garvin, new typist, was
formerly with the Prudential Life Insur-
ance Company. Besides her work, she is
interested in music.

i i 1

Miss Doris Gaskill, typist, got her A.B.
at Wilson College in Pennsylvania. She
has been in New York only six weeks and
this is her first steady job.

i i i

Though this is her first stenographic
job at NBC, Miss Lucille Russell is no
stranger to WJZ. As a member of the
Elizabeth Rodman Voorhee’s Chapel
Choir of the New Jersey College for
Women, she sang Christmas carols over
the Blue Network. She was formerly sec-
retary to one of the partners of the firm
of E. W. Lafrentz and Company.

i 1 i

Before coming to NBC as porter, Wil-
liam J. Broderick worked as employment
interviewer in the Jersey State Employ-
ment Service.

i i 1

Nicholas Schroeter, new watchman, at
one time worked as a chauffeur with the
United Baking Company in Schenectady.

i i i

Among the four newcomers to the Page
staff is Harry Berlin of Port-au-Prince,
Haiti. He was born in Wilmington, Dela-
ware, but at the age of nine his family
moved to the West Indies Islands where
his father is treasurer of a sugar company.
He attended Peddie Institute in New Jer-
sey where he became interested in the
school paper, attaining the position of
feature editor in his final year. This fall
he intends to enter Amherst. Harry is
not a complete stranger at NBC, for he
knows several of the men on the page staff
and therefore is looking forward to his
work with pleasure.

Paul Harold Owen, new page, is a Far
Westerner, having lived in Los Angeles
all his life. A month ago he completed a
picture with Warner Brothers. He was in
Fred Waring’s chorus in a new movie
called Varsity Show, not yet released. He
then married Miss Phyla Wood, well-
known west coast singer, the day before
coming east to study singing under Frank
LaForge. Paul has sung in and directed
his own version of a Gilbert and Sullivan
play besides conducting a group of
singers. Although music is his chief inter-
est, he also is interested in flying. At one
time he was the youngest licensed glider
pilot in America. Later he created some
sort of record by soloing in a plane after
forty minutes of instruction. He attended
Pomona College for two years.

i i i

Thomas R. Eldrige is another new
page. He comes to us from Elizabeth, N.
J. He attended Princeton for a year but
left in order to study music at the Insti-
tute of Musical Art here in New York.
He likes to sing and wants eventually to
become an arranger.

i i i

William H. Coles, formerly of Bridge-
port, Connecticut, now living at Westfield,
N. J., is the latest addition to the Mail
Room. Bill attended Westfield High and
the Los Angeles Technical Institute
where he studied radio and electricity.
He plans to continue his studies in the
RCA Institute.

1 i i

The Mail Room also has a Harvard man
in the person of Noel Leslie Jordan, class
of ’37. While at school he spent his
summer vacations in Europe, motoring
through France, England, Germany, Italy,
Spain, Holland, Belgium and Austria. Ex-
penses weren’t very heavy as he had many
friends “over there’’ who helped tide him
over some of the bleak spots. At Harvard
he was on the Advocate, literary maga-
zine, and hopes he will be able to use his
writing ability at NBC.

1 1 i

Hugh Beach, another new Mail Room
employe, is a graduate of Colby Univer-
sity. class of ’36, where he played three
years of varsity football. For a while he
taught French at Northwood Private
School of Lake Placid, but being more
interested in music than teaching, he de-
cided to try NBC. He hopes to work into
our Music Division.

i i i

Miss Marion Wall comes to our PBX
Section with ten years of experience as a
telephone operator. She says NBC is the
most interesting place she has worked in
so far.

Engagements:

Helen A. Fend, of Stenography, be-
came engaged on her birthday, August
1st, to George R. Schleier of the New
York Fire Department.

ill

Priscilla Yasunas, stenographer, be-
came engaged to Richard D. Sheahan of
the U. S. Engineers doing flood control at
Binghampton, N. Y.

i 1 i

Stork News:

Ed Curtin, day editor in Press, is a
proud parent these days, having become
the father of a seven-and-three-quarter-
pound boy. Thomas Paul is the boy’s
name and Tommy and his mother are re-
ported doing right well.

ill

It is now John Romaine, Sr., of the
Music Department. A short while ago he
became the father of an eight-pound baby
boy, John Jr. i i i

Miscellaneous:

A1 Walker, Guest Relations, tops off his
vacation by riding in the steeplechase
event at the Fort Porter Track, just out-
side of Toronto, Canada. This is his first
steeplechase run and he is looking for-
ward to it eagerly. “I hope I don’t pull a
Prince-of-Wales,” was Al’s only observa-
tion.

Before the run he visits his brother and
sister in Buffalo. He will fly back to New
York. i i i

William Haussler and Burke Crotty of
Press are in Hollywood taking pictures of
NBC radio stars. They will be gone about
a month and in that time will take over
one thousand pictures which will be sent
to New York for publicity purposes.

i i i

Pat Cahill, studio set-up man, is back
with us after a seven months’ siege of
illness. Welcome back, Pat.

i i i

Fred Young, of the Music Division,

won six prizes at the Gladiola Flower

held recently on the eleventh floor of the
RCA Building. However, Mr. Young
didn’t do as well this year as in previous
years. In 1935 and 1936 he won the Silver
Medal, signifying first prize in the ama-
teur group.

“I’d have done better this year if it
hadn’t been for a bad storm the night
before the show,” Mr. Young stated.

He raises the flowers at his home in
Preakness, New Jersey. Six years ago he
started with a small garden as a hobby;
today he has over six thousand bulbs to
look after. Evenings and spare time over
week-ends are spent in taking care of his
prize-winners.

SEPTEMBER 1, 1937

WCY SCHENECTADY

by W. T. Meenam

WGY claims the title of piitter-onner of
the “most difficult broadcast.”

In short, here’s what took place when
G.E. and WGY got together to broadcast
ceremonies commemorating the first re-
corded ascent of Mt. Marcy, New York
State’s highest peak.

Five hundred pounds of equipment had
to be gotten to the top of the lofty moun-
tain. It included a 350-pound gasoline-
driven engine, transmitter, mikes and
other paraphernalia. The seven and one-
half miles of narrow trail was anything
but inviting for E. S. Darlington, A1
Knapp, C. D. Wagoner and others who
made the trip.

Despite help from C.C.C. boys, the log-
ging sled used to haul the equipment over
the rocks broke down. The gadgets were
strapped on the horses’ backs, with men
carrying the lighter pieces, and the climb
continued. At 11 a.m., three hours before
broadcast time, the party hadn’t arrived
at the top, and no tests had been made
with Lake Placid Village. They hadn’t
arrived, because they were still trying to
push, haul and shove that engine up a
nearly-perpendicular cliff, half-way up the
trail.

A mere one and one-half hours before
broadcast time, tbe transmitter and engine
arrived. At 12:00 p.m. the signal was re-
ported O.K. by Lake Placid, and the
broadcast went on as scheduled. By the
way, the guys that made the trip report

the descent was just about as bad.

i i i

WGY artists discovered a new face
through the control room windows August
first. It belongs to Paul Adanti, a native
of Auburn, New York, who abandoned a
career as high school instructor in modern
languages, mathematics, and sciences for
radio engineering.

Adanti comes to W'GY via WMBO, Au-
burn, and WSYR, Syracuse. At these sta-
tions he has served as chief engineer,
studio engineer, in charge of production
and sound effects and announcer.

This young man of Italian ancestry was
graduated from Union College, Schenec-
tady, in 1934, after majoring in modern
languages, history and psychology. For
relaxation and income he tooted the clari-
net and the saxophone in orchestras when-
ever an engagement appeared. He applied
himself pretty seriously to languages and
today he speaks and reads French, Span-
ish, German, and Italian.

For two years he was engaged as in-
structor at Auburn High School and in
addition taught English at night school
and English, drawing, mathematics and
English history at Vocational School. One
day he applied for an audition as an-
nouncer at station WMBO in Auburn. He
passed his announcer test — but was made
chief engineer of the station. By the way,
he has been interested in radio as an ama-
teur “ham” operator for several years.

NAVY OFFICER COMMENDS
NBC ECLIPSE WORKERS

Lenox R. Lohr, president of NBC, re-
ceived the following letter from Captain
J. F. Hellweg, U. S. N., commending the
work of Announcer George Hicks and
Engineers Walter R. Brown and M. S.
Adams during the recent Eclipse Expedi-
tion to the South Seas:

Navy Department
U. S. Naval Observatory
Washington, D. C.

My dear Mr. Lohr:

Now that the National Geographic —
U. S. Navy Eclipse Expedition is a matter
of history and we have all returned to our
regular duties, I find on my list of things
to be done a notation to write to you.

It is indeed a pleasure to be able to
write about such a pleasant subject — the
performance of your three representatives,
Mr. Hicks, the announcer, Mr. Brown, the
engineer from New York, and Mr. Adams,
the engineer from your San Francisco
branch.

* * *

In my position as supervisor of prepa-
rations, I kept in close touch with not only
the work of all hands but the manner in
which the work was being performed.

We are accustomed in the Navy to have
things done promptly and efficiently.
Sometimes, of course, individuals are
more efficient and more prompt than
others, but in my entire naval career of
over forty years I have never seen two
men work so conscientiously and labor so
hard as did Mr. Brown and Mr. Adams.

Many times they worked late in the
night, when it was necessary for Mr.
Stewart, the photographer of the National
Geographic Society, to drive our little
rented car down to Pearl Harbor at mid-
night to pick up Brown and Adams and
bring them back to Honolulu. I bave seen
tbe pair of them come into the bungalow
so dead tired that they just threw them-
selves on their beds.

In the morning we all had to kick out
early as we had a fifteen-mile run from
the bungalow to Pearl Harbor, and we had
to be there before eight o’clock. So you
see that if they did not reach the bungalow
until two or two-thirty and had to get out
shortly after six, they had very little time
for rest.

I do not believe anybody realizes wbat
a tremendous job Brown and Adams had
to complete in those two weeks. Frankly,
I did not expect them to finish it and my
admiration for their conscientious stick-to-
itiveness cannot be exaggerated.

You are indeed fortunate in having two
(Continued on Page 6)

Apparently dissatisfied with the work that lusty steamshovel is doing in excavating for WGY’s
new building. William T. Meenam, Press Relations, and W'illard J. Purcell, engineer, took
shovels in hand and helped out a bit. A w’ide-awake cameraman caught them tucking in shovel-
fuls of dirt into corners of the shovel. Things are coming right along, incidentally, with the new
building. Of course, the noise outside the present studios hasn’t reached the rat-a-tat riveting
stage yet, but the chug-chug sound of the shovels continues.

NBC TRANSMITTER

»lli

iiisin

DON E. GILMAN

Don E. Gilman
was a successful
_ ™ newspaper and ad-

vertising man when
he resigned from the
fourth estate in 1927
to enter radio as
manager of the
Western Division of
NBC. Two years lat-
er he was appoint-
ed vice-president in
charge of the West-
tern Division and has held that job ever

Don E. Gilman

Born in Indianapolis, the son of a news-
paper man, he was printing his own paper
by hand while he was still in high school.
At twenty-three he was superintendent of
plant on the Indianapolis Sentinel. Then
he went west to become superintendent of
a group of newspapers. When not work-
ing he studied electrical engineering and
business administration.

From publishing he turned to advertis-
ing in which he became nationally known
as president of the Pacific Advertis-
ing Clubs Association and vice-president
of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the
World.

In 1930 Vice-President Gilman was
honored by leading newspapers and uni-
versities by naming him to the 1930 Roll
of Honor as one of the twelve “greatest
Californians.” Today, he is president of
the San Francisco Commercial Club, a di-
rector of the San Francisco Musical Asso-
ciation, and vice-president of the Young
Men’s Christian Association.

Albeit, Mr. Gilman finds time for his
many hobbies — reading books on biogra-
phy, history, economics and sociology;
playing the piano, and golf.

i i

EDNA C OPPER

Ten years ago when the WJZ studios
were in the Aeolian Building on Forty-
second Street in New York City, a very
young lady who had just been graduated
from the Packard Business School joined
the National Broadcasting Company as
secretary to Keith McLeod, musical direc-
tor of the newly formed broadcasting or-
ganization. Today, after having learned
much about the industry by working in

The NBC Transmitter salutes these members of the National Broadcasting Company who, this
month, complete their tenth year of continuous service with the Company.

various departments she is in the Presi-
dent’s office as a secretary.

Her name is Edna C. Opper. She was
born, reared and schooled in Brooklyn,
where she has always lived until she was
married about two years ago and moved to
Jackson Heights, Long Island, where she
now enjoys the independent delight of
keeping her own house.

Back in 1927 when Miss Opper, a young
lady who had had a bit of experience in
various staid business firms, joined NBC
she was a bit startled and amused at the
way they did things in the Aeolian Build-
ing. The office in which she worked was
equipped with a microphone and a crude-
ly-built control booth so that the room
could be used as a studio after office
hours. During office hours it was not un-
usual to have her boss, Keith McLeod,
and three other members of a quartet
break forth into a song and rehearse for
hours in the office while Miss Opper tried
her best to do her secretarial work. When
she entered her
office in the morn-
ings she often had
to dodge bass drums
and music stands,
and clear her desk
of trombones and
violins that were
used on programs
the night before.

Shortly after the
confusion in the
Aeolian Building,

NBC moved into its

new and spacious quarters at 711 Fifth
Avenue, where the WJZ and WEAF
studios and personnel were merged. After
the reorganization. Miss Opper found her-
self working for Leslie W. Joy, then sup-
ervisor of announcers and now general
manager of KYW in Philadelphia. Later
she was made secretary to Program Man-
ager John W. Elwood who subsequently
became an NBC vice-president.

It wasn’t many years before the NBC-
ites who predicted that the company
would never fill its new building at 711
Fifth Avenue, found themselves, in search
of more space for expansions and im-
provements, moving to the RCA Building
in Radio City. To Miss Opper the move
meant from the Program to the Sales De-
partment where she became secretary to
Edgar Kobak, NBC vice-president, who

Edna C. Opper

now holds an executive position with the
Lord and Thomas agency in New York.

When Lenox R. Lohr came to New York
from Chicago in 1936 to become president
of the National Broadcasting Company,
Edna C. Opper, with her wealth of knowl-
edge gathered during her many years with
NBC, became an asset in the President’s
office. ^ y y

HUGH R. McGEACHIE

Hugh R. McGeachie, accounting super-
visor in New York, was born in Patterson,
New Jersey, where he attended public
schools until he entered the Pace Institute
in New York to study accountancy.

His first job was with a coal company
in Patterson. Seeking broader fields he
went to New York City in 1927 and got
a job in the Accounting Department of
the National Broadcasting Company at
195 Broadway. But he kept his residence
in Patterson where he still lives.

Mr. McGeachie’s first job in the Ac-
counting Department, which was then
composed of eleven people compared to
its personnel today of over forty, was in
the Dispersement Section, in charge of
expense distributions and the payment of
supplier’s bills. In those days most of the
work was done by hand, states Mr. Mc-
Geachie, but today modern office machin-
ery has relieved the personnel of a great
deal of mental and manual labor.

The Accounting Department is not
without its share of radio’s attendant ex-
citement. In 1928 when radio was first
used for political presidential campaigns
Mr. McGeachie had quite a time drawing
up new types of contracts and bills for
time on the air used by political parties
during the campaign.

Mr. McGeachie, or “Mac,” as he is
known to his close associates is still at
large — that is, he is unmarried. As Vice-
President of the New Jersey Christian En-
deavor Union, a religious organization
closely allied with
Protestant churches,
much of his spare
time is spent in pro- ,

moting youth activi-
ties in his home
state. He even writes
regularly about his
religious activities
for Patterson news-
papers. H. R. McGeachie

SEPTEMBER 1, 1937

HENRY M. GABRIELSON

Henry M.Gabriel-
son, electrical engi-
neer, grew up with
radio via the “Ham”
route (Ham mean-
ing amateur radio
experience) . His ex-
perience as a radio
operator on various
coast-wise ships
gave him the profes-
sional background
to supplement his
amateur work. All this took place in the
good old days when the old Morse Code
was in use and ships had only two call
letters instead of the three and four they
have today.

During the war he served as Chief
Radio Man, P.A., (Permanent Appoint-
ment) in the U. S. Navy for twenty-nine
months; is proud of his twenty years serv-
ice as Radioman with the New York Naval
Militia.

Finally, in September, 1927, Mr. Cab-
rielson joined NBC as a construction
man. In that capacity he helped install
some of the equipment used in the old
711 Fifth Avenue NBC Studios. He also
worked on the NBC television studio in
the Empire State Building.

When NBC moved into its present loca-
tion, Mr. Cabrielson supervised the wir-
ing and installation of Radio City equip-
ment racks, the Control Room racks and
Master Control Desk. He has just re-
turned from Washington, D. C., where he
and Construction Man Elmer Mead acted
as supervisors in the building of NBC’s
new studios in the Trans Lux Theatre
building.

Engineer Cabrielson is married and has
three sons, aged five, twelve and fifteen.
His home is in Amityville, Long Island.

■t 1 i

GUSTAVE A. BOSLER

Custave A. Bosler, maintenance engi-
neer, literally grew up with NBC and
RCA, having been associated with the
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company in
1911, the company which later grew into
the present Radio Corporation of Ameri-
ca. Before working for the Marconi
Company, he was associated with the In-
dependent Wireless Telegraph Company
of New York City.

Besides growing up with NBC and
RCA, Mr. Bosler grew up with some of

those who later be-
came leading figures
in both organiza-
tions. At the time
that Mr. Bosler was
a struggling machin-
ist, Mr. 0. B. Han-
son, now chief of the
Engineering Depart-
ment of NBC. was a
young engineer, al-
ready beginning to
make a name for
himself.

Mr. Bosler takes care of some of the
building and manufacturing work for
NBC. He and the men under him convert
into wood and steel the plans and graphs
other engineers have plotted out with
paper and ink. Among interesting pro-
jects carried out by these men was the
building of the NBC stratosphere trans-
mitter used by Captains Stevens and An-
derson in their 1935 flight. Also, filling a
rush order, they built the large parabola-
reflector microphone used at the National
Democratic Convention of 1932, held in
Chicago.

Mr. Bosler likes his work at NBC; has
always found a “fine spirit of cooperation”
existing in whatever department with
which his work has brought him into
contact.

i i i

JO ELLETSON

In September, 1927, Jo Elletson joined
the NBC staff in San Francisco as a typist.
Today, she heads the Typing Department,
and is affectionately known as “Jo” to
everybody in the organization.

But well as they know Jo, through her
efficient handling of the mass of material
which pours through typewriters and dup-
licating machines daily, many of her col-
leagues aren’t really acquainted with this
blonde, sprite-like girl at all.

For instance who would ever suspect
from Jo’s calm, busi-
ness-like exterior
that she has a
strange hobby — she
can’t see a new mus-
ical instrument with-
out wanting to learn
to play it? That she
has taught herself
to play virtually
every kind of instru-

Jo Elletson

orchestra-men, and
that although she can’t read music she
could turn to it for a livelihood any time
she wanted? It’s true, although you have
a hard time making Jo admit it. Before she

joined the NBC staff she was a pianist at
the Hotel Bellevue, where she played for
dinner dances, and before that she played
piano and other instruments at Yosemite
Park’s Camp Curry during the summer.

Jo was born in Vallejo, California, but
grew up in San Francisco. Sbe worked
for the telephone company until her un-
usual musical ability was discovered by a
Camp Curry manager frantically seeking
someone to replace a missing pianist. F'ol-
lowing ber summer job as pianist she re-
turned to San Francisco to play at the
Hotel Bellevue.

For several years she was so busy filling
engagements to play for dances and par-
ties that she might never have returned to
the business world if she hadn’t discov-
ered her health was failing . . . now she
still plays, in her spare time, for her
friends, and has discovered she gets more
fun out of music that way . . . still trying
out new instruments, but concentrates
mostly on the piano, ukelele and accord-
ion . . . and .she really isn’t Jo Elletson
any more but Mrs. Jerry Beghetti, wife of
a handsome trouble-shooter for an auto-
mobile firm.

A i A

JOSEPH A. KENT

Joseph A. Kent celebrated his tenth
anniversary with NBC struggling through
and helping to arrange NBC’s income tax
returns, a part of his job in the Account-
ing Department.

“Some people think they have a time
with their income tax,” states Mr. Kent,
who has been preparing the Company’s
income tax returns during the past four
years, “but they haven’t seen anything till
they’ve tried to wrestle with a big com-
pany’s income tax.”

Mr^. Kent is a native New Yorker and is
probably one of the few NBCites to claim
such a distinction. He attended public
schools and Newtown High School on
Long Island. In school “figgers” were his
strong point and his first job of import-
ance was in the ac-
counting depart-
ment of the Wal-
dorf-Astoria Hotel.

He was there for fif-
teen years before he
joined NBC.

He followed NBC
from its old quar-
ters at 195 Broad-
way, New York City,
to 711 Fifth Avenue,
whence the Company
moved to its present headquarters in
Radio City on November 11, 1933.

Mr. Kent today lives on Long Island
with his wife and two children, Jean, four-
teen, and William, ten.

H. M. Cabrielson

Gustave A. Bosler

Joseph A. Kent

NBC TRANSMITTER

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 SEPTEMBER 1, 1937 No. 11

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM DAVIS Editor

ARY R. MOLL Associate Editor

CARL CANNON Features

FRANZ NAESETH Circulation

CHARLES VAN BERGEN Photographs

N. Y. CONTRIBUTORS

FRANK C. LEPORE Press Correspondent

MURRY S. HARRIS Continuity Acceptance

HAROLD HAKLIK Mail and Messenger Section

GERALD VERNON Guest Relations

ROBERT HOROWITZ Guest Relations

Address all correspondence to:
NBC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA Bldg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

Navy Officer Commends

NBC Eclipse Workers

(Continued from Page 3)

men in technical positions who have the
will to win and who will work like dogs
when there is nobody to watch whether
they are working or not. I would trust
either of them in any position in the world
after having lived with them on such inti-
mate terms during those days in Honolulu.
* * *

I did not meet Mr. Hicks until his ar-
rival at Honolulu on the fourth of May.
He had all the engaging qualifications to
ideally fit him for his billet. There were
factors affecting his work on Canton Is-
land which required just what he has and
what lots of other people have not.

In closing this personal letter to you I
wish to congratulate your organization in
having such fine young men as Brown,
Adams and Hicks.

Very sincerely yours,

J. F. Hellweg
Captain U.S.N. (Ret.)

Attention New York employes!
The Athletic Association urges you
to sign and return the question-
naires you received in regard to
the projiosed all-day outing for
NBCites on .September 16.

The books listed below are recommended as pertinent literature on radio and
allied subjects. They will be found in the NBC General Library, New York.

RADIO STARS OF TODAY; or Behind the Scenes in Broadcasting.
By Robert Eichberg. Witl^ forewords by Lenox R. Lohr and William S. Paley.
L. C. Page & Co., 1937. More than fifty radio artists are included in this well
illustrated book. The chapter Behind the Scenes shows by word and picture
the uses of apparatus and studios in broadcasting a program. There are other
chapters on radio and aviation, radio at sea, amateur operators, and brief
accounts of several large broadcasting stations.

MICROPHONE MEMOIRS of the Horse and Buggy Days of Radio.
By Credo F. Harris. Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1937. A most highly entertaining
book on the early days of radio. Mr. Harris gives us in his experiences at
WHAS — “all the wild and woolly things that happened in a pioneer station
during the first two years of radio, all the comedies, ironies and strange
little tragedies . . .” Credo Harris is manager of WHAS, which, as many
remember, took such a prominent part in flood relief work this year.

WRITING FOR THE B. B. C. By Max Kester and Edwin Collier.
Pitman, 1937. Musical comedies, lyrics, sketches, gags, jokes, dialogue are
some of the things touched upon in this book of hints for writing for the
British Broadcasting Corp.

LISTENER REACTIONS

by Ruth Crawford

Correspondent, New York Audience Mail Division.

This is the “open season” for “dumbbell” and “nut” letters:

“The voice you hear belongs to me. Please reply at your earliest convenience.”

i i i

“Stage directions for a religious drama — Hang wall maps all opposite and uniform
180 degrees by 45 uniform. Write for more inquiries or arrange for me over your Radio
Station.”

1 i 1

“Can a person with false teeth broadcast?”

i -f i

“Could you tell me some one I could write to for information as to taming a singing
mouse so I could get it to sing when 1 want it to. 1 do not know what to expect from a
singing mouse so don't know if this one is any good or not. It is just a common little
house mouse.”

i i i

“Will you please send me the names of tlie crew on the U.S.S. Pennsylvania.”

i i i

“I like the nice voice of Milton Cross. It is very soothing. Can you tell me how
much it would cost to hire him by the hour to read stories in the magazines to my
mother who cannot see very good?”

i i i

“Is there anything I can do to earn a home? I am willing to go in a barrel over
Niagara Falls — anything to fix up a shack we own in the Ozarks.”

SEPTEMBER 1, 1937

KDKA PITTSBURGH

by Kay Barr

Here is Roy Baldwin, KDKA’s lone guide giving the Radio Servicemen’s Association the lowdown

on studio sound effects.

NBC TENNIS TEAM
BEATS RCA RADIOTRONS

In its second regular match of the year,
NBC’s racketeers demolished the RCA
Radiotrons, winning seven of the nine
matches played at the Community Tennis
Courts at Elmhurst, New York. The two
losses were through default on the part
of NBC doubles teams, one caused by Joe
Merkle’s hand injury, the other by dark-
ness.

His hand injury also caused Merkle,
NBC’s number one man, to lose the first
set of his match, 6-8. However, the next
two were annexed to the tune of 6-0, 6-2
to give him the match over F. Michel,
starting NBC’s clean sweep of the singles.
Paul Rittenhouse (Guest Relations)
routed L. Waller, 6-0, 6-1. J. L. Hatha-
way, (Engineering) defeated J. S. Donal,
Jr., 6-2, 6-3. Bud Faillace (Guest Rela-
tions) won from R. Truell, 6-0, 6-3, with
Ed Kahn (Guest Relations) keeping the
singles record clean by taking over A.
Rose 6-4, 6-2.

In the doubles Hathaway and Ritten-
house had an easy time defeating L. Wal-
ler and Dr. Power — score 6-1, 6-1. Two
doubles teams, Failace-Merkle and Smith-
Swanecamp defaulted after playing one
set each while our fourth doubles com-
bination, Nixon-Wailes, took over A.
Meuselbach and L. L. Libby 6-0, 6-3.
Final score; NBC — 7
RCA—2

Nothing definite is scheduled for the
tennis team in the future. However, nego-
tiations are going on for a match be-
tween NBC and RCA-Manufacturing of
Camden. Should this materialize, NBC
will have stiff competition, as RCA-Cam-
den is reported to have several ranking
New Jersey State players on its team.

NBC HOLIDAY PROPOSED

The NBC Athletic Association is plan-
ning an all-day outing for NBCites on
September 16 pending their reaction to
the proposal. To date plans for the NBC
holiday include sports for everyone —
swimming, boating, tennis, badminton,
bowling, soft ball — and dancing in the
evening.

The cost for each person who goes on
the “mystery trip”, the destination of which
will be disclosed only to those who are
going when they arrive at the point of
departure, will be S2.50 for members of
the A. A., and $3.50 for non-members and
guests. Thl.s fee will include transpor-
tation facilities, lunch and dinner.
i i i

Send your prize photographs to the Photo
Contest. Read the rules on poge 12.

Radio Men Visit KDKA:

Despite the fact that Pittsburgh is
neither a summer resort nor a rendezvous
for tourists, KDKA studios are attracting
more and more visitors each week since
Roy Baldwin was added to the staff to
provide guide service.

Members of the Radio Servicemen’s
Association, their wives and friends, a head
count better than 150, swarmed on the
Pioneer Station Sunday afternoon, August
15. But Guide Roy got wind of their com-
ing and was all set for them. He had
mimeograph sheets all ready for distribu-
tion. These divided the party into five
groups according to the alphabetical index
of their last names and in this way had
units he could escort with the least con-
fusion.

Each trip was definitely scheduled by
the clock. Waiting groups spent the time
visiting the lookout deck on the roof of
the Grant Building. When the tours were
over, the party reassembled for special in-
structions. Ten minutes later they ad-
journed to their personal cars and lined
up behind a motorcycle escort for the 28-
mile drive to the KDKA transmitter at
Saxonburg for further inspection of facili-
ties.

Roy did a great job of organizing this
party and everything moved with clock-
like precision. Consequently a lot of inter-
esting observations and experiences were
crowded into one afternoon and such “a
pleasant time was had by all,” that the
flock passed a vote of thanks to their
youthful major-domo, who told them to
“Step right this way,” and made them
like it.

What A Girl!

Janet Ross, director of the Style and
Shopping, daily programs on KDKA,
proved her endurance and versatility dur-
ing the middle weeks of August.

They added an orchestra and soloist
to her regular programs which made her
mistress of ceremonies ex-officio. Lynn
Morrow was on his vacation so Janet took
his place in handling the sidewalk inter-
view broadcasts two days each week. Eve-
lyn Gardiner was in California on her va-
cation and Janet had to present Evelyn’s
daily KDKA Home Forum programs.

Besides all of which, she entertained
her parents who were in Pittsburgh from
their Florida home for a visit.

1 1 1

Orchids for NBCettes:

And speaking of Evelyn Gardiner, she
received a nice citation in the annual re-
port of the Home-W'elfare Department of
the Congress of Clubs of Western Penn-
sylvania. Their visit to KDKA was rated
as the highlight of the past year and the
report concluded, “If you want a nice time,
plan to go to see Evelyn Gardiner at
KDKA.”

The radio committee of the Congress
also passed out the posies by mentioning
the excellent cooperation they had re-
ceived from “everyone from the office boy
to the manager.” Special reference was
made to Adelaide Lasner of the KDKA
Production Division who had been “very
gracious” in announcing and helping in
the presentation of the regular Congress
programs.

N&e

Qoe4> o*t

VaoatUi*t

Miss Helen Sheriden of the N. Y.
Purchasing Department photographed at
Inverurie, Bermuda, where she went on
her vacation.

Miss Margaret Germano of the Auditing Depart-
ment is shown “yachting” during her vacation at
Lake Maranacook, Maine.

This is Joseph (Scotty) Bolton of the
Service Dept., aboard the ship that took
him home to Scotland for a short vaca-
tion made possible by the hundreds of
nickels he saved during his four years
with NBC.

George McElrath, operating engineer
and president of the NBC Athletic
Association, was presented with this
ten-gallon hat By the Blackhills
Roundup Committee on July 4.

Mrs. Claudine Macdonald of the Women’s Activities Di-
vision of the Program Department is shown dining with
Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada, in the
cook house of the Eldorado Mine, Great Bear Lake,
Northwest Territories where Mrs. Macdonald spent her
vacation.

Below: Military tactics were not the only tactics practiced at
National Guard Camp this summer. Here are three NBCites per-
forming a flank movement on a patch of blue-berries when time
out was called on a field problem at Pine Camp. They are Ary R.
Moll and Charles Jones of Guest Relations and Dick de Raismes
of Script Division.

Left: This is one fish story
you can’t pooh-pooh. The
112-pound tarpon was
caught by Jesse S. Butcher,
center, of Station Relations,
in the Gulf of Mexico, off
the coast of Corpus Christi,
Texas. Looking on with ad-
miration are George Morri-
son, left, program director
of NBC Station KRIS in
Corpus Christi, and Cliff
Tatom, general manager of
KRIS.

SEPTEMBER 1, 1937

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by Noel Corbett

With almost a hundred people milling
around the microphones during the Magic
Key of RCA broadcast from Hollywood,
Hal Bock needed a candid cameraman
who was mike conscious. He wanted no
slip-ups as the layout was already sold to
Radio Guide. The job was done by Page
Gilman of One Mans Family, who knows
his microphones, having been around
them for ten years.

Y Y Y

Ruth Schooler, Manager’s Secretary, is
a pretty tired girl these days.

She has been showing the sights of
Hollywood to her out-of-town sister,
Frances. All the broadcasts were included.
Ruth says that little sister all but swooned
when she saw Tony Martin in person, and
when she spotted Nelson Eddy, she did.

Y Y Y

Let it never be said that NBC Publicity

Man Joe Alvin is lacking in ideas and

ability.

Alvin has been known to take an ob-
scure Shakespearean actor, dress him up
in red pants, glorify his ability on a single
sheet of paper, and a day later receive
transcontinental requests for pictures.

But that’s beside the point. It was seven
a.m. In one hour Alvin was to meet Irene
Rich and get a picture of the NBC star
as she arrived in Hollywood.

But not an ordinary picture. Being Fri-
day the 13th, there should be a black cat
around somewhere. For 24 hours Alvin had
been looking for one. In fact, he also had
NBCites scouring Hollywood alleys and
back fences — to no avail.

Did Alvin admit defeat? No. That after-
noon news sections carried a picture of
Irene Rich beside a streamlined train, and
in her arms, a beautiful jet-black Persian
cat.

Where Alvin got the cat is his secret.
However, now His Persian Highness re-
sides in a Hollywood mansion, surrounded
by things dear to a cat’s heart such as
canary birds and fish ponds. Alvin saw
to that.

Y Y Y

Looks like Marvin Young just won’t
ever become a general.

A captain in the Infantry Reserve, the
production manager was ordered to active
duty at San Luis Obispo last summer.
New programs kept him at his desk. This
year, with even more new programs, he
was detained again.

So now he figures he’ll need a war in
order to catch up.

Y Y Y

Now it develops that our Frank Figgins,
in addition to being an Engineer and
Paleontologist, used to be a cow-puncher.

It all came out when another engineer,
Murdo MacKenzie, invited Frank to go
horse back riding on the Big Tujunga
Ranch. He refused on the grounds that it
would remind him too much of his hard-
riding days back in Colorado.

Come to think of it, Frank has got kind
of a cowboy stride at that.

Y Y Y

Other NBCites who spend their days
off galloping up and down the So. Cal.
foothills are Joe Parker and Ben Gage, an-
nouncers, and Frank Pittman, our gate-
man.

Y Y Y

If Buddy Twiss, who handles the special
events out here needs an assistant, Elma
Cronin should get the job. Elma discov-
ered a talking catfish which she thinks
would be a natural for a special broad-
cast.

Buddy says he will give his okeh if
Elma guarantees the catfish will follow
the script and not ad-lib.

Y Y Y

QUICK PIX . . . Studio Manager John
Swallow and Mrs. Swallow vacationing
aboard Baron Long’s yacht, Norab. Sailed
to Santa Barbara to attend the yearly
Fiesta there. . . . Helen Wendt, Program,
ran out of numbers counting stars at her
first preview the other night. . . . Varsity
Show at Warner’s First National. . . .
Ralph Amato, Maintenance, vacationing
in Lucerne Valley at father-in-law’s ranch.
Fremont Trail runs through middle of
property, but swimming and jack-rabbit
hunting are more interesting to Ralph
than things historic. . . . Elaine Forbes,
Syd Dixon’s secretary, saves pictures of
Charlie McCarthy which she clips from
newspapers and pastes in a big scrapbook.

Other Sales Department activities —
Tracy Moore vacationing at Ocean Park
(Washington) at his home, “Moore Man-
ners.’’ . . . An early morning visitor in our
midst recently was Ken Carney, S. F. Pro-
gram Manager. . . . Honor Holden Tray-
nor. Artists’ Service, held a housewarm-
ing in her new Wilshire District home,
Aug. 22. NBCettes brought gifts of canned
goods. . . . Before Birt Fisher, manager
of KOMO, left Hollywood, he and Mrs.
Fisher invited Nadine Amos, Mr. Gilman’s
secretary, to spend her vacation with

NBC CHICAGO

by William E. Lawrence

Page Jack Simpson, after sending a
recording of his voice to WJDX, NBC
affiliate in Jackson, Mississippi, was hired
as an announcer and production man.

Announcer Charles Lyon is back in
the fold hobbling about, nursing his ankle,
which was injured while he was playing
tennis with co-mikeman Lynn Brandt,
who rushed him to the hospital. From
there, after treatment, he sped to the
studios just in time for his Kaltenmayer’s
Kindergarten broadcast, which he did
from a wheel chair and crutches.

Y Y Y

New Faces: Marvin H. Eichorst has
been promoted to control relief supervis-
or. Robert R. Jensen, new studio-field en-
gineer was formerly control engineer at
KFAB-KFOR in Lincoln, Nebraska, and
KLZ in Denver, Colorado. His hobby is
amateur photography, and he has done
many fine jobs with both still and movie
cameras. Jules W. Hack, former bank
clerk, is a new page replacing Jack Simp-
son. Marge Stockdale, who is retiring as
Mrs. Heidler, is being replaced by Ruby
Downs of Sales, whose place is being
taken by Carolyn Turner from Central
Stenographic. Eunice Anderson was hired
as a new stenographer.

Y Y Y

Minor T. Wilson, new studio engineer,
includes among his eleven years of radio
work, time as chief engineer at XEAW in
Reynose, Mexico, and studio and trans-
mitter man at KPRC in Houston, Texas.
F. C. Shidel, another new studio engineer
comes from WLB in Minneapolis, which is
owned and operated by the University of
Minnesota. Gertrude Schmidt is now a
regular member of Dorothy Frundt’s
corps of beauties in Central Stenographic.
Incidentally, the girls in this department
could easily vie with the famed Radio
City Music Hall Rockettes when it comes
to beauty and precision.

Y Y Y

A. M. Elrod of Mail and Messenger,
who won the NBC Chicago golf tourna-
ment, drove five consecutive balls into a
water hole the other afternoon. Does that
qualify?

them at Totem Nest, their Seattle home.
. . . Alice Brady appeared for a guest spot
the other Sunday in a wheel chair. Our
gallant page, Russ Hudson, carried her to
the second floor studios. At the sound of
the chimes, Russ was upstairs to carry
the movie star back down. Of course we
have an elevator, but that’s only for such
things as bull fiddles.

NBC TRANSMITTER

A Visit To Station WEAF On Long Island

by Robert R. Coveil

Music Research Division, New York

How many times, when you’re listening
to your own radio at home, have you
heard the familiar words, “WEAF, New
York” and never given a thought to what
happens to those sounds from the time
they leave the announcer’s lips in some
one of our New York studios to the time
they reach you through your loudspeaker?
Perhaps the words were so familiar they
went in one ear and out the other, without
your realizing that as far as their trans-
mission to your radio is concerned, those
words really came to you from North Bell-
more, Long Island, where the WEAF
transmitter is located.

A few Sundays ago a friend of mine and
I had an opportunity to visit North Bell-
more. There, after spotting the pair of
tall steel towers some distance away, we
finally found the narrow road leading to
the white one-story building from which,
as we approached, the sounds of one of
the Sunday afternoon programs came to
our ears.

I had expected to find a building of
rough construction, serving no other than
its main purpose of housing the electrical
apparatus. Instead we saw a completely
furnished interior, home-like and attrac-
tive in its modern decorations, one to
which some architect had obviously de-
voted considerable thought.

The engineer on duty welcomed us and
we were soon involved in a long conversa-
tion about the technical side of putting the
programs on the air. He dispelled the
false notion that the changes in the length
of the antenna resulting from variations
in the outdoor temperature have to be
compensated by tuning it every morning

to the transmitter. He demonstrated how
a transmitting tube gives ample warning
before it burns out, one of the things I
had always wondered about.

As we drove in we noticed a pretty
fountain playing outside the building, and
I had supposed this was the water used to
cool the big tubes you have all seen in one
of the exhibit rooms on the ninth floor of
the studios in Radio City. This proved to
be false, however, for we were told that
the pool into which the watei flows col-
lects so many frogs, twigs, and bugs of all
sorts, that it would keep clogging the cir-
culatory system. Instead, this water,
cooled in the air, is used to cool the dis-
tilled water, which circulates in the tubes.

The two big towers, our host explained,
are placed on a line running due north
and south, with the counter-poise buried
in the ground directly below. WEAF, we
learned, runs on a twenty-four hour day,
regardless of the number of hours it’s on
the air. Every night after the power is shut
off another engineer checks the entire
transmitter, replacing any tubes or other
parts that have burned out during the day
and making any other necessary adjust-
ments.

At this point we discovered we had
stayed twice as long as we had planned,
and still had to take pictures. In spite of
the fact that when we went to drive off
we found a brand new tire flat, I recom-
mend to each and every member of NBC
who ever happens to be in the vicinity of
North Bellmore to drop in and learn as
much as I did during the brief hour
passed there so quickly.

1 .

KYW PHILADELPHIA

by J. A. Aull

We were sorry to lose Peggy McHale,
Sales Manager Jack Hammann’s secre-
tary, who decided she wanted to return to
her home in New York and is now pinch-
hitting in the Central Stenographic Sec-
tion until she gets back to her old love.
Sales. Marie Dixon, secretary to our for-
mer sales manager, has taken over Miss
McHale’s duties.

i i i

We are all very excited to note the
rapid rise of our new building, which in-
cidentally can be seen from our present
quarters; we want to report that the six
stories of steel work was completed on
August ninth, right on schedule.

i 1 i

Announcer Alan Kennedy became the
proud father of a little girl on August sec-
ond and could scarcely keep himself
under control until he was off duty to
make the dash to New York, where his
wife and new daughter are doing very
nicely.

i i -f

Bob Thatcher of the New York Engi-
neering Department has settled in Phila-
delphia for some months to supervise the
construction of the new KYW studios and
has made many friends in his short stay.
i i i

Manager Leslie Joy returned from a
vacation in Maine on August ninth, and
Westinghouse Plant Manager Ernest
Gager came back the same day from a
fishing trip off the coast of Florida. J. F.
M. Proul, our auditor and office manager,
who pinch-hitted for Mr. Joy, is leaving
on August fourteenth for a motor trip
through New England and Canada.

i i 1 '

We also have a new addition in the
Sales Department in the person of Anna
Anderson who will act as secretary to our
salesmen. Previous to her employment by
KYW she worked for Curtis Publishing
Company for seven years.

ill

Leslie Schumann and Walton Wilson
are two new studio control men and Wil-
liam J. Flett and W. S. Gilbert are new-
comers to the transmitter’s engineering
staff.

i i 1

George Jaspert, Sales, was rushed to a
hospital on August 4 for an appendec-
tomy. He is doing very well and is ex-
pected back in his office during the first
week in September.

■ ■I!

The home-like structure that houses the transmitting equipment of Station WEAF in Bellmore,
Long Island. The picture was taken by Robert Covell of the N. Y. Music Research Division
during a recent visit to the station.

SEPTEMBER 1, 1937

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

by Louise Landis

Double Play:

That post-vacation look, so prevalent
around here, was strangely lacking from
the happy countenance of John Wagner of
the Accounting Department as he breezed
in after his two weeks’ holiday. ... In
fact, John looked and acted so gay that
suspicions of colleagues were aroused.
Finally he ’fessed up.

He hadn’t been away on just an ordi-
nary vacation, but a honeymoon. On July
seventeenth he and the former Miss Jean
McCracken of West Englewood, New Jer-
sey, were married in the First Presbyte-
rian Church in that city, and so congratu-
lations instead of commiserations, were in
order, and he got them from all sides.

1 i i

Yoder's Junket:

Other NBC vacationers who traveled
across the continent include Lloyd E.
Yoder, manager of the Western Press
Division, who spent his vacation in Salem,
Ohio, with his mother, and George Fuerst
of the Traffic Department, who visited
Radio City, the new studios in Washing-
ton, and sundry other places including
Phoenix, Arizona.

1 i 1

Coming UP, Singapore!

The NBC Artists’ Service covers the
world! One of the most unique requests
so far received by Larry Allen, San Fran-
cisco manager, came tbe other day from
the Tanglin Club, in Singapore. It seems
that the club has an orchestra but no di-
rector so would the Artists’ Service kind-
ly send them an orchestra leader who
could also play the piano? Artists’ Service
not only could but did, and Walter Sheets,
young San Francisco pianist, will soon be
on his way to Singapore.

i 1 i

Sun-tanned Moustache

Members of the San Francisco staff are
asking themselves just what the strange
influence is that Hollywood seems to exert
on NBCites. . . . Wally Ruggles, sound
man, returned from the cinema city with a
hair-line moustache which, although
Wally’s eyebrows and hair are opal-black,
is a very ruddy red.

ANITA BOLTON

Meet Anita Bolton, Assistant Director of
Agriculture in NBC’s Western Division, who
pinch-hit for Jennings Pierce when Director
Pierce was on vacation. You’d never think it,
but Anita knows all about legumes, weather
reports, cotton prices and other items which
the W estern Farm and Home Hour brings to
listeners. She’s the daughter of a physician;
grew up in California’s mining country, where
she used to ride on night calls with her father
and often had to hold a candle to supply light
for an emergency operation.

Wally makes no excuse for growing the
moustache, but offers the sheepish sugges-
tion that its unusual color must be the
result of all the sun baths he took on
Southern California beaches.

1 i i

Vacations:

Jennings Pierce, Director of Agricul-
ture for NBC’s Western Division, has re-
turned from a vacation in the Feather
River country with a long-time lease on
some property there where they will erect
a cabin in time for next summer’s vaca-
tion.

i i 1

Dorothy Dumerais, secretary in the
(Toman’s Magazine of the Air offices, is
off on one of those vacations you dream
about . . . she and a group of friends are
on their way to Grand Teton, then to Yel-
lowstone Park and from there to Glacier
Park. On the way back to San Francisco
they will drive down the Redwood High-

way, stopping at Klamath for some fish-
ing.

i i 1

Other NBC vacationers: Jane Burns,
chief hostess, who plans to spend most
of hers settling in the new studio she has
rented for the large group of singing
pupils who keep her busy in her free
time; Larry Allen, Artists’ Service Mana-
ger, who goes to Corvallis, Oregon, his
home town, to fish five streams in the
vicinity; Jerry McGee, producer, who is
spending his in Colorado; Ruth Miller,
hostess, who spent hers catching up with
all the dance and dinner dates she has to
forego during the working months; and
Program Manager Ken Carney, who flitted
as far as Hollywood for a bus-man’s holi-
day.

i i 1

Transferred to Hollywood are L. D.
Cully, studio engineer and S. C. Hobart,
control room supervisor, both of whom
will officiate as supervisors in the Engi-
neering Department there, according to
Western Division Engineer, A. H. Saxton.

P. A. Sugg, formerly studio engineer,
takes Steve Hobart’s place here, and T. B.
Palmer becomes relief supervisor.

New faces in the plant include three
new studio engineers: J. E. “Burrell, for-
merly with a radio equipment installing
company; H. N. Jacobs, University of
California graduate, and F. L. Fullaway,
former Navy man.

Added to the KGO transmitter staff are
R. T. Parks, former radio operator with
the Pan American Airways, and M. D.
Case, formerly of the RCA Communica-
tions station at Bolinas. To the KPO trans-
mitter staff: R. B. Barnes, formerly of
Mackay Radio, and M. S. Brewer, form-
erly of Globe Wireless.

i 1 i

Astronomer:

Whenever John Ribbe, who produces the
Standard Symphony Hour and other musi-
cal programs arrives at the office looking
sleepy, you can be sure it was a dear,
moonlit night that did it. . . . Ribbe is an
astronomy enthusiast and authority, and
he spends all clear nights gazing at stars
and the moon through a telescope whose
ten-inch lens he made with his own hands,
polishing it for months with jewelers’
rouge before it was ready to be used.

WINNERS IN SEPTEMBER PHOTO CONTEST

RULES FOR PHOTO CONTEST

1. Prints must be no smaller than 2%"
X 4" (the larger the better). Nega-
tives cannot be accepted.

2. Captions are desirable.

3. Name, stations and department must
appear bn the back of photograph.

Pictures will be judged on composi-
tion and subject matter. Judges are
NBC Photographers Ray Lee Jackson
and William Haussler. Decisions are
final. All entries will be returned but
the NBC TRANSMITTER will not be
responsible for those which are lost.

Entries for October contest must be
in by September 17.

“DYREHAVEN”

While at Klampenborg, Denmark, Clay Morgan,
Director of Promotion, made this beautiful study
of its Dyrehaven or Deer Park. He was awarded the
first prize — two tickets to the newly opened musical
spectacle, VIRGINIA, at the Center Theatre in
Radio City.

Honorable mention; “EXCURSION STEAMER”
submitted by Barbara Buck, New York Sales
Department.

“WEAF, NEW YORK”
Second Prize goes to this
picture of one of the trans-
mitting towers of the Red
Network’s key station in
Bellmore, Long Island.
Robert R. Covell of the New
York Music Research Divi-
sion who took this picture
from the bottom of the
tower receives two tickets
to the Radio City Music
Hall for his entry.

Special Mention was made by the judges of Warren Cerz’s (N. Y. Press) photograph
taken in Vermont during his vacation. They particularly appreciated the clear detail
of the grassy bank in the foreground and the cloud pattern reflected in the water.

NBC

VOL, o

ALMONTE MADE AN

ASSISTANT TO LOHR

Jl'AN DE J. ALMONTE
Ten Tears With NBC

Juan de Jara Almonte, former evening
general manager, was appointed an assist-
ant to President Lenox R. Lohr on Sep-
tember 1, to represent NBC at such events
and functions as may be directed by the
president. Famed as NBC’s host and am-
bassador of good will, Mr. Almonte also
will handle arrangements for the recep-
tion of distinguished guests.

The office of evening general manager
vacated by the appointment of Mr. Al-
monte to the president’s office has been
abolished.

When Mr. Almonte joined NBC ten
years ago he brought with him an inter-
national background and broad experience
as a journalist and advertising man. He
was born in Paris and educated in Eng-
land where his father was a Spanish dip-
lomat stationed in London.

During a visit to America a newspaper-
man friend of his persuaded him to stay in
New York to work for the old Daily News.
Dressed in a frock coat and top hat young
Mr. Almonte went to the offices of the
Daily News to meet the city editor. Fol-
lowing the hubbub among the office per-
sonnel caused by his entry and the inter-
view with the city editor, he was offered a
job as ship news reporter at fifteen dol-
lars a week. He took it and. following the
advice of his new boss, he replaced his
formal morning outfit with an ordinary
American business suit before reporting
for work the following day.

After two years as a ship news reporter,
during which he made the acquaintance
of many celebrities who are now his close
friends, he turned columnist for the Globe
(Continued on Page lit

TRANSMITTEB

SETTEMliEK I r,, I ()r,7 INO. I i

Appointed Manager

Of NBC San Francisco

NBC, San Francisco, has a new mana-
ger in the person of an old friend. He is
Lloyd E. Yoder, manager for almost ten
years of the Western Press Division,
whose promotion to the post of manager
of the San Erancisco offices, with jurisdic-
tion over KPO and KGO, was announced
August 31 by Vice President Don E.
Gilman.

The new KPO-KGO head, in point of
service, is one of the oldest NBC execu-
tives in the West . . . and one of the
youngest in years. He started his radio
career as an NBC announcer in 1927, then
became press representative, and shortly
after that manager of the Press Division.

Well-known throughout the West for his
connections with football as a Pacific
Coast Conference official, as well as for
his work with NBC. Mr. Yoder was born
in Salem, Ohio, and is a graduate of the
Carnegie Institute of Technology. He also
attended San Francisco Law School.

In 1926. Mr. Yoder was captain of the
Carnegie Tech football team, and was
named on Rockne, Warner, Jones and
other All-America teams. He came to San
Francisco to play in the Shrine East-West
game, and after his graduation returned
to join the National Broadcasting Com-
pany.

Mr. Yoder is president of the Intercol-
legiate Alumni Association of San Eran-
cisco. He is a member of the Sigma Delta
Kappa (legal) and of the Sigma Alpha
Epsilon (social) fraternity, and of the
Olympic, Commonwealth, Press and Army
and Navy Clubs. He is an officer in the
United States Naval Reserve and a former
director of the Junior Chamber of Com-
merce.

LLOYD E. YODER
Manager oj KPO-KGO San Francisco

A. E. NELSON APPOINTED
MANAGER OF KDKA

A. E. NELSON
From KOA to KDKA

A. E. Nelson, manager of Station KOA
in Denver, was appointed to succeed
Harry A. Woodman as general manager
of KDKA, Pittsburgh, effective Septem-
ber 1.

Mr. Nelson’s appointment to the man-
agership of the Pioneer Broadcasting Sta-
tion climaxes a brilliant record of three
years during which he raised the prestige
and popularity of KOA, making it one of
the most important and well-equipped sta-
tions on the NBC networks.

KDKA’s new general manager became
associated with the National Broadcast-
ing Company in 1934 after WIBO, which
he managed and directed for four years,
was closed by the Federal Cummunica-
tions Commission on the grounds that it
was in an over-quota state.

Mr. Nelson’s business career started a
year after he graduated from high school
in his native Chicago. He started in an
insurance company where he worked for
a year and then organized his own com-
pany which represented several insurance
companies in Chicago. Later he helped
to organize the Nelson Brothers Automo-
bile Finance Company which in 1925 de-
veloped into the Nelson Brothers Bond
and Mortgage Company.

In 1929 he resigned as president and
manager of the Nelson Brothers Bond
and Mortgage Company to become gen-
eral manager of Station WIBO which was
owned by his company.

(Turn to page 8 for new alignment of
KOA executives.)

NBC TRANSMITTER

NAMES IN
THE NEWS

NEW YORK

Newcomers:

Charles H. Pease comes from NBC
Chicago to join the New York staff of
studio engineers. He was a member of the
engineering staff of Station WMAQ when
that station was purchased from the
Chicago Daily News by the National
Broadcasting Company in 1932.

Mr. Pease started his career in broad-
casting in 1921. At one time he wrote a
technical radio column for the Chicago
Daily News. One of his newspaper col-
leagues, William S. Hedges, ex-NBC exec-
utive and now manager of WLW, Cincin-
nati, also wrote a radio column (non-
technical) for the same paper during that
period. Another prominent radio person
who also wrote for the Daily News in
those days is Clem McCarthy.

i i i

Recent replacements in the Central
Stenographic Section are as follows:

Miss Eleanor Cunningham, formerly
with the National Association for Travel-
ers Aid, is a graduate of the New Jersey
College for Women.

Miss Ruth Gould, a graduate of Bar-
nard College, class of ’37, is here for her
first job. In college she majored in Eng-
lish Literature and is interested in adver-
tising and copywriting. Her hobby is

music and she’s had some experience on
the radio as accompanist for a friend who
sings occasionally over Station WFAS in
White Plains.

Mrs. Natalie B. Baker of Passaic, New
Jersey, a graduate of Radcliffe College,
’32, worked as a secretary for the HOLC
in New York City before coming to Radio
City. In college she majored in Fine Arts
and some of her paintings have been ex-
hibited in the Harvard Fogg Museum.
She is married to a member of the H. M.
Kiesewetter Advertising Agency, and they
live in New York.

i i i

Duane Stewart, a new member of the
page staff, comes to NBC from Carleton
College in Northfield, Minnesota. As a
member of the Northfield College Orches-
tra he and other members of the orchestra
visited several European countries by
playing on ships plying the Atlantic. He
is interested in announcing and would
like to get into an NBC orchestra.

i i i

Herluf Provensen, formerly ot the
NBC Washington studios, has joined the
announcing staff in New York, filling the
place vacated by the resignation of Frank
Cody who quits NBC to go into his fath-
er’s furniture business in Milwaukee. An-
nouncer Provensen is a brother of Mar-
tin Provensen, ex-NBC mikeman.

i i i

Richard Roe comes to our page staff
from Greenwich, Connecticut, and Peddie
School. His name, he says, has caused
him much embarrassment when cashing

checks because Richard Roe is commonly
used as a fictitious name for a party to a
legal action. However, now he hopes that
his NBC employe’s card will facilitate
check-cashing in the future.

i i 1

Hy Duckworth came all the way from
Salt Lake City to get a job on NBC’s
page force. He’s an engineer with some
experience in Utah’s copper mines and he
hopes to work into our Engineering De-
partment.

i i i

William Eddy, formerly with the Farns-
worth Television Company in Philadel-
phia has joined the Engineering Depart-
ment as a television engineer. He joined
the Navy after graduating from the Naval
Academy in 1926 aqd retired in 1934 with
the rank of lieutenant, senior grade.

1 i i

Fred M. Weade who has spent many
years in the engine rooms of steamships
has joined the Engineering Department
as an engineer’s helper in the air-con-
ditioning plant.

■f i i

Transfers:

Miss Marjorie Worth, formerly of

Sustaining Traffic is now secretary to

George 0. Milne, Eastern Division Engi-
neer. She replaces Miss Jeanette Holzer
who resigned September 1 to take the
veil at a convent of the Sisters of Charity.

The position vacated by Miss Worth in
Sustaining Traffic will be filled by Miss
Winifred Meehan of Stenographic. Miss
Meehan joined NBC last October.

■f -t i

Miss Bernadette Bautz, a graduate of
the Catherine Gibbs Secretarial School,
who joined the Stenographic Section in
July is now in the Station Relations De-
partment.

■* i i

Miss Elizabeth Scott of Station Rela-
tions has been appointed to replace Miss
Beatrice Ackling as secretary to Keith
Kiggins in the same department. Miss
Ackling is resigning from the Company,
effective September 15.

ill

Miss Catherine Merrill goes with her
boss, Juan de J. Almonte, to their new
office up on the sixth floor.

1 i 1

Miss Lucile Russell who was mentioned
as a newcomer to the Stenographic Sec-
tion in the last issue of the NBC Trans-
mitter is now in the International Divi-
sion of the Program Dept.

(Continued on Next Page)

NBC Photo by Sydney Desfor

Lewis H. Titterton, head of the N. Y. Script Division, was given a farewell party by members
of his staff in the Rainbow Room before he sailed on the Normandie on September 1 to spend his
vacation in his mother country, England, whence he has been absent for eleven years. Mr. Titterton
is shown in the center, seated, smoking a pipe, and holding up one of the many bon-voyage presents
he received from members of his division.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1937

Resignations;

Miss Marion Turrcntinc. Accounting,
resigned Sejjtember 8 to go to California
w'liere she expects to make her home. Miss
Tiirrenline wiio liad been with the Com-
pany six years recpiested tliat lier re-
gards he conveyed throiigli these columns
to all her friends in NBC whom she was-
n’t able to see before her sudden depar-
ture.

i i i

Don Lowe, announcer, resigned from
the Company September 1. However, he
will continue his work as a freelance an-
nouncer on commercial programs.

i i i

Robert R. Egan. Sales, resigned from
the Company on September 7 to join the
sales department of the magazine. This
W eek. Mr. Egan who was a newspaper-
man before coming to NBC had been with
the Company one year and a half.

i i i

Palmer Wentworth, messenger in the
Telegraph Room who joined the Com-
pany as a page in May. is resigning effec-
tive September 15 to go to California
where he will work for a hotel in Palm
Springs.

i i i

Walter Duncan. Sales, is resigning
September 15 to accept a position as sales
manager of Station WNEW New York.

i i i

John Bell, a supervisor in Guest Re-
lations, resigns effective September 15 to
accept an executive position with a fur-
niture company in Dunkirk, N. Y. Mr.
Bell came to NBC as a page in February
1936 and subsequently became a guide,
set-up man and assistant supervisor be-
fore he was made a supervisor a year
after he joined tlie Company.

i i i

Marriages:

E. A. Hungerford of the Television
Division was married to Miss Helen
Savery of Hoosick, N. Y., on September
4. The wedding took place in All Saints
Church in Hoosick and was followed by
a reception at the home of the bride’s
parents.

The newlyweds went to the Adirondacks
for their honeymoon.

i i 1

Sheldon B. Hickox, Jr. of Station Re-
lations kept it a secret for many days but
the Transmitter finally found out that on
July 31 he promised to “love, honor and
obey” Miss Evelyn Speidell of Mt. Ver-
non, N. Y. The wedding took place in
Mr. Hickox’s home town, Groveland,
Massachusetts. It was a small, informal
affair attended only by close relatives of
the bride and bridegroom.

Mr. and Mrs. Hickox are now residing
at Forest Hills. Long Island.

f f /

Miss Antoinette Force of the .Statistical
De|)artment became .Mrs. Alfred F. Tull.
Jr., on .Saturday. September 4. The mar-
riage. |)erformed by tbe bride’s uncle.
Rev. F. G. Urbano. took place in St.
John’s Church, Far Rockaway. Long
Island.

The newlyweds are going on a honey-
moon trip during their vacation periods
the latter part of this month. They are
making their residence in East Orange,
N. J.

i i i

Joseph Spagnola, Duplicating Room,
was married to Miss Angela Bellino at
St. Agnes Church in Brooklyn. September
11. Mr. and Mrs. Spagnola are honey-
mooning in Bermuda.

i i i

Stork News;

Crawford D. Baton. Statistical, became
tbe father of a seven-and-a-half pound
baby boy op August 21.

i i i

Miscellaneous:

Howard Claney. announcer, returned
from a month’s vacation in Europe aboard
the Aquitania on August 31.

i i i

John F. Royal, vice president in charge
of programs, returned from Europe on
September 2.

i i i

Roy C. Witmer. vice president in charge
of sales, returned from his vacation Sep-
tember 8.

Judge and Mrs. .\. L. .\shby and their
son. John, and daughter. Marjory, have
just returned from an extended trip
abroad. Judge Asbby who is vice president
and general counsel of NBC visited Eng-
land. France. Italy. Germany. Belgium.
Holland, .\ustria and Hungary in behalf
of the Company and made studies of the
broadcasting systems of those countries.
He also was in conference in Switzerland
with officials of the International Broad-
casting Union and with numerous foreign
copyright societies controlling the per-
forming rights here of musical composi-
tions written abroad.

i i i

Siegmund Strauss, prominent radio in-
ventor from .\ustria. was a recent visitor
to the Radio City studios. Representing
the Company, Engineer Joseph D’.Agos-
tino with the assistance of German-speak-
ing Guide Ray Feuerstein took Dr. Strauss
on a tour of our headquarters.

i 1 i

Daniel .Munster, page, who is a lieuten-
ant in the 258th Field .\rtillery was per-
sonally commended by Col. Hanford for
getting twelve out of thirteen hits with a
75 mm. gun during target practice at Pine
Camp in Great Bend. N. Y.. where Lt.
Munster vacationed with his company.

i i i

Dr. James R. .\ngell, retired president

of \ale University, who accepted the post
of NBC educational counselor last June
assumed his duties with the Company
September 7. Dr. .\ngell’s office is on the
sixth floor of the RC.\ Building.

ySC Photo by Sx'dney Dcs/or

This is the reception that Miss Antoinette Force (seated at the desk) of the N. Y. Statistical
Department received when she returned to her desk after the Labor Day weekend with a new
platinum ring and a new name — Mrs. Alfred F. Tull, Jr.

NBC TRANSMITTER

NBC HOLLYWOOD

by Noel Corbett

College education proved itself 100%,
when, on September 1st, the page boy sys-
tem, as worked in Radio City, was put
into effect in the Hollywood Studios, and
every lad chosen was a college graduate.

The increasingly busy switchboard now
claims the full time of former reception-
ists.

The newcomers’ schools are about as
well scattered around the country as NBC
network stations. Hyde Clayton, who will
be assistant to head page Bob Edwards,
came from Utah and Pittsburgh Univer-
sities. James Hartzell is a Yale man. Le-
land Bridgman hails from Washington
State; Adolph Lefler is from the U. of
South Dakota, and George McMenamin’s
alma mater is Santa Clara.

No doubt there will be big doings in the
page boys’ sanctuary when football sea-
son rolls around.

i i i

Now that Don E. Gilman has become
a Hollywood native, he is plunging into
civic affairs as much as he was in San
Francisco.

Recently he was made chairman of the
Radio Department of the Pacific Adver-
tising Clubs Association Convention, and
radio head of the Community Chest Drive
in L. A.

i i i

NBCer’s at the Bergen-McCarthy gar-
den party in Beverly Hills were Frances
Scully, Hal Bock, Joe Alvin and Sid

Goodwin, producer. Milton Samuel and

Marie Elbs of the S. F. Press flew down
for the affair, and we spotted Burke
Crotty of the N. Y. Photo Section and
Bill Haussler getting a photographic
record of little Charlie’s antics.

1 i i

Fred Leuschner, NBC attorney in Hol-
lywood, and Syd Dixon, Sales, took a
hunting trip to Fresno.

Being open season for doves, the idea
was to shoot the limit.

However, Leuschner apparently mis-
took 230-pound Syd for one of the doves
and loaded him full of buckshot.

i i i

We now have a new night manager.
He’s Big Bill Andrews, who always an-
nounced One Man’s Family when it was
heard from San Francisco where he was
chief announcer.

Bill started in radio when he still wore
short pants, and at one time was one of
the youngest operators in the West. He is
married to Helen Musselman, who plays
Ann Waite in One Man’s Family.

Bill is 6 foot 2 inches, and well over
200 pounds — so he should have no diffi-
culty handling those large studio audi-
ences.

1 i i

Because Esther Baxter could sight an
“NBC” in the daily papers she clipped
part-time in the Press Department quicker
than most girls can spot a fall suit bar-
gain, Hal Bock gave her a full time sec-
retarial position.

i i 1

Mort Smith, Engineering, was handing
out cigars on September 2nd. The new-
comer is Richard Sewell Smith, who, at
this writing has almost reached ten
pounds.

i i i

Karel Pearson, Traffic, and Russ Hud-
son, his new assistant, were horseback
riding the other day.

They reached the middle of a stream,
when Karel’s nag balked. He called for
help from Russ who had reached the
bank.

Russ did his best, but wasn’t much help,
as he was laughing too hard — at the boss,
not the boss.

i i i

Fred Dick’s Mimeo Department has
two new additions — Margaret Kent and
Max Hutto. For the past three years Hutto
has been working for the express com-
pany, and everytime he brought a pack-
age into Walter Baker’s office, he’d say
such nice things about NBC that Walter
finally put him to work.

■f i -f

Dema Harshbarger, Artists’ Service,
really went places on her vacation. Lake
Tahoe in the high Sierras, Carmel-by-the-
Sea, and finally to Mexican waters in a
friend’s 85-foot schooner. The boat for-
merly was owned by Phil Lord.

i i i

Milton Samuel, S. F. Press, is a lad
who’s glad he learned at an early age to
cart around all his credentials.

Vacationing with Bob Hall, radio ed of
the S. F. Call-Bulletin, Bob attempted to
record a sleeping Mexican military copper
with his Brownie No. 2. This led to Bob’s
incarceration in the local bastille.

Milt dug deep into his hip pocket to
produce a U. S. Deputy Sheriff’s card.
This impressive gesture led to Hall’s re-
lease — despite the fact that the card was
two years out-dated.

i i i

Marvin Young, production manager, is
ready for the fall rush of programs. He

8,296 VISIT NBC

STUDIOS IN ONE DAY

Establishing a new record for a single
day, exactly 8,296 persons visiting New
York City during the week-end of Labor
Day made the famous tour through the
NBC studios in Radio City Sunday, Sep-
tember 5, according to an announcement
by the Guest Relations Division. The
number of people who visited the studios
during the three days of the week-end
totalled 17,476.

The previous record was made on Sun-
day of the 1936 Labor Day holidays when
8,209 visitors toured the studios. Although
people were turned away on both days,
the record was increased this year because
a larger staff of NBC guides handled the
crowds with a new efficiency learned from
experience.

Fifty NBC guides led the groups of visi-
tors through the mile-long tour of studios
and exhibition galleries, leaving the large
reception foyer at three-minute intervals.

has a new assistant in Walter Bunker, and
Ted Hediger, whom NBCer’s in Chicago
knew back in 1930, is now on the pro-
duction staff.

ill

Walter Baker has a gloomy look about
him these days. And the reason is, his
secretary, Virginia Elliott, is leaving NBC.
Virginia’s husband has been appointed
SRA head in El Centro, Cal., and she
wants to give her full time to being a
housewife.

However, Walter won’t lack for effi-
ciency in his office. Maryalice Moynihan,
who more than one time good-naturedly
straightened us out on those intricate bud-
get numbers up in San Francisco, will
take her place.

1 i i

QUICK FIX . . . Marvin Young, Walter
Bunker and their wives were recent guests
of Ben Alexander at his Malibu Beach
house. . . . Before Virginia Elliott left
NBC, Karel Pearson, Russ Hudson and
Frank Pittman lunched her at Sardi’s on
Hollywood Blvd. . . . Ruth Schooler left
her two turtles. Red and Blue Networks,
in care of Walter Baker when she vaca-
tioned. . . . Frances Scully motored to
S. F. over Labor Day . . . Syd Dixon,
Sales, has been made chairman of the
Ways and Means Committee of the L. A.
Advertising Club for the June, 1938,
P.A.C.A. Convention. . . . Ray Ferguson
has gone in for ice skating. . . . Fred
Dick’s days off are spent in Claude Fer-
rel’s carpentry shop knocking together
household doodads for his bride.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1937

NBC CHICAGO

by William E. Lawrence

Ray Is Now Press Chief

The resignation of Albert R. Williamson
as manager of the Press Information and
Service Division and the appointment of
William B. Ray to succeed him took effect
September 13th. Mr. Williamson, who had
been manager of the Press Division for
nine years, resigned to become assistant
to the publisher of the Miniteapolis Star.
He was in the newspaper field for twelve
years before coming to NBC,

-Mr. Ray has been a member of the
Press Department for the past four years,
and for the last year has been news edi-
tor. He was born in Arkansas and at-
tended Louisville, Kentucky, public
schools, the University of Louisville and
the University of Chicago Law School. He
has worked on the sports staff of the
Louisville Courier Journal and on the
Chicago Evening Post. During the Chi-
cago World’s Fair he was in the promo-
tion department, and from there came di-
rectly to NBC. He was married in 1934
and now resides in the North Shore

suburb of Evanston.

i i -f

Resignations:

Park G. Parker, assistant manager of
the NBC Central Division, resigned to
join the Blackett-Sample-Hummert Ad-

vertising Agency as vice president.

i r i

A surpri.se farewell dinner party was

given to Luella Law-
rence on August 26th
by the NBC-Chicago
ladies with “pitchers”
being took ’n’ every-
thing (see cut). Chi-
cago’s Bismarck
Hotel was the scene
of the big party and
Luella was presented
with a very swell fall
purse, and an anony-
mous surprise contri-
bution. Mrs. Lawrence
is going with Mr.

Parker to the Black-
ett - Sample - Hum-
mert agency to con-
tinue as his secretary.

> > >

Don A. Marcotte.

Music Library Suj)er-
visor, recently an-
nounced his affiliation
with tlie Warner Bro-
thers Music Corpora-
tion in a similar ca-

pacity. This terminated an eleven-year re-
lationship with NBC.

i 1 i

Wynthrop Orr. production director,
with us only a few months, was just be-
coming acquainted with everybody here
when we discovered he had also resigned
and was headed for the Stack-Goble Ad-
vertising Agency as head radio man.

■t i i

Social News:

Martha Linn, our only woman announc-
er in the Chicago staff, celebrated her first
year on the air the other day and the fea-
tured attraction during the festivities was
a huge birthday cake sporting one lonely
candle. The announcer’s room where the
party was held, was the gathering place
for all of our better cake-eaters.

i 1 i

Sound Effects Man Harry Bubeck has
announced his engagement to Miss Alice
Rogers. The wedding is planned for this
winter.

i -f

Marion Cooper, one of our charming
stenographers, was married August 28th
to George Edwards, and after their exten-
sive California honeymoon will take up
a residence on the North Shore.

Studio Afloat:

Louis Roen, announcer on the Today's
Children program, lent a novel touch to a
recent broadcast by furnishing his 37-foot
sailboat. The Owl, to be used as a studio.
The entire show was picked up from the
deck of the boat which was anchored on
Lake Michigan. The script for the broad-
cast called for a storm in the sound ef-
fects, and the sound man was uncertain
whether artificial sound devices would be
needed or whether Mother Nature would
do the trick. As it turned out. Mother
Nature wouldn’t cooperate so the boys
had to make their own storm.

i i i

Personnel Changes:

Page-Captain Russell Sparks did a little
personal sales promoting and was re-
warded by being assigned to the Sales
Promotion Division. His uniform is being
filled by Page Bill Weaver who, by the
way, in addition to filling another singing
engagement on the Club Matinee pro-
gram, placed third in the Chicago Music
Festival held in Soldiers Field recently.

i i i

The recent addition of Ralph Maddox
to our production staff puts one in mind
of a baseball club’s player trade. Page
Jack Simpson who went to Station WJDX
in Jackson. Mississippi, as announcer, re-
placed Maddox, who came here as pro-
^ duction director. I
suppose we could say
no cash was involved,
and Ralph batted .367
this year, but then,
this is not a sports
column.

Mr. Maddox is a
native Mississippian
and received his ele-
mentary education in
this state. He holds a
Bachelor’s degree in
Dramatic Art from
Bush Conservatory in
Chicago. He entered
radio in 1931 as an-
nouncer for Station
W’QBC at Vicksburg,
Mississippi, joining
the staff of WJDX in
1932.

i 1 i

Send your prize pic-
tures to the NBC Trans-
mitter Photo Contest and
win two theatre tickets.

Picture snapped at farewell dinner party given by NBC Chicago ladies for Luella Lawrence
who leaves to go with Park Parker to Blackett-Sample-Hummert agency.

First row, left to right: Marcelle Mitchell, Dorothy Frundt, Luella Lawrence and Florence
Moeller. Second row: Loretta Dwyer, Lauretta Cooney, Lillian Wack, Bertha Curran, Martha
Reinecker, Rubye Downs, Adele Crawford and Esther Ludwig. Third row: Helen Kellie, Alice
Dinkeloo, Helen .Shervey, Frances Dixon, Dorothy Masters, Ruth O’Connor, Dorothy Horton
and Evelyn Partridge. Fourth row: Esther Nilsen, Maline Cooper, Helene Heinz, Irene Shields

and Agnes Seward.

NBC TRANSMITTER

F0(^

WBC TRANSMITTER.

. READERS • .

\ '

KHO,NBG-Red
OUTLET IN <5^>0KANC,
Wasmi(\)gton,has the

HIGHEST SELF-SUP-
PORTING UERTICAL
amtewna \nthe0.3.-
828 feet.

RADIO CITV
JTUDIO TC»JR

broadcast

THE FIRST COMMER-
CIAL RADIO PROGRAM
ON Sept. 7,i922.

NUMBER OF '

PEOPLE UHO HAVE
TAKEN THE RADIO CiTV

_ Studio Tour, from r^-

EHEER. 1933 THROUGH
OF 1937 WOULD FORM AN) ARMV
TVELVE TIMES GREATER THAN IHE^^
REGULAR 0NITED-^TATE;6 ARMV/

J'37

Nile TIIANSMITTER

Published for and by the employes
of the National Broadcasting Company
from coast to coast.

VOL. 3 SEPTEMBER 15. 1937 No. 12

EDITORIAL BOARD

DOM D.WIS Editor

ARY R. MOLL Associate Editor

CARL CANNON Features

FRANZ NAESETH Circulation

CHARLES VAN BERGEN Photographs

N. Y. CONTRIBUTORS

FKANK C. LEPORE Press Corresponder}t

ROBERT HOROWITZ Guest Relntions

Address all correspondence to:
NBC TRANSMITTER
Room 284, RCA Bldg., New York
Circle 7-8300, Ext. 220

NBC NINE PLACES
THIRD IN MOVIE LEAGUE

Closing its season officially, Friday. Au-
gust 27. the NBC Baseball Team split a
double-header, nosing out Apeda Film. 6
to 5, in the first game but losing the sec-
ond to MGM. 2 to 1, in games played at
Washington Field. 192nd Street at Audo-
bon Avenue.

Losing the second game automatically
excludes the NBCites from taking part in
the playoffs. However, on the basis of its
performance for the season, the NBC nine
ended up in third place in the Motion
Picture Athletic Association League.

While the season is officially over, the
team may participate in a special post-
season night game with the Daniel Reeves
baseball team. Manager Jack Wahlstrom
lias been invited by Reeves to play them
in a night game at Dyckman Oval. Plans
are still tentative, liowever.

Since the season was not as successful
as those of past summers, the hoys are
anxiously awaiting the coming of another
spring and another baseball season when
they hope to wind up in first jdace instead
of third.

Following is the lineup of players
which prevailed during most of tiie sea-
son :

1st l)ase

Bonardi

2nd base

Williams

Short-stop

Flood

3rd l)ase

Gayek

Left field

Schulman

Center field

Wahlstrom

Riglit field

Crowley

Catcher

Albert

Pitchers

Von Frank
Henderson

Steady Attendance

At Shooting Meets

NBC rifle and pistol experts held their
third and fourth meetings on August 24
and 31. respectively, at the usual place.
Manhattan School of Firearms. 24 Murray
Street.

In the last meeting Miss Agnes Loch-
erer of Legal showed up the other “gun
toters” with a high score of 96. Miss
Claire Conway of Program took the prize
for showing the greatest improvement.
Her score was 80 as compared with 66 in
tlie previous meeting.

If the attendance continues to increase,
Gordon H. Mills who is in charge of the
group expects to organize permanent Red
and Blue teams, second and third teams,
and a ladies’ team. The shooting group
meets every Tuesday evening at six
o’clock at the place mentioned above. The
cost per person including bullets is sel-
dom more than a dollar.

Tlie following is the lineup for both
teams tliat met August 31:

RED TEAM:

Donald Castle — Engineering
Clarkson Bundick — Engineering
Robert Schuetz — Engineering
Alice Cook — Sales
Max Jacobson — Engineering

Theodore Van Cott — Engineering
Theodore Kruse — Engineering
Agnes Locherer — Legal
Clare Conway — Program

BLUE TEAM:

Gordon Mills— Sales
Marion Ayer — Treasurer
George McElrath — Engineering
Jeanette Ferreira — Artist Service
Edward Boeder — Guest
Beverly Fredendall — Engineering
Elmer Mead — Engineering
Willard Butler — Sales Traffic
Evelyn Costel — Legal

The Reds won by ten points with a
score of 765. High scorer for the Red
Team was Miss Agnes Locherer with 96
and Gordon Mills topped the Blues with
96.

Have you seen the greatest musi-
cal show in New York City this sea-
son — VIRGINIA — at the Radio
City Center Theatre? You can win
two tickets for orchestra seats to
this beautiful American production
by sending your prize photographs
to the NBC Transmitter Photo
Contest.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1937

KDKA PITTSBURGH

by Kay Barr

SEEN AND NOT HEARD --many
folks found a brief respite from the heat
last month hy drop|)ing into the air-con-
ditioned (adv. ) Gateway Restaurant
after work. Sipping their coca colas and
lemonades (?) we spied Gordon Mills.
Virginia Blachly, Dwight Herrick, Ted
Church and a friend; Abe Schechter,
Jerry Wolke, Ben Grauer, Welbourn
Kelly. Doris Steen and her husband ;• Jack
Costello and his Mrs., Don Goddard, Ary
Moll, Margaret O’Connor, Phoebe Mink,
Nelson Case, Milt Berg, Bill Neubeck, Bill
Ray — new Chicago Press Manager — with
Ed Curtin; Alan Kent. Arthur Coombs-
Johnson, and Dorothy Allred. Quite a
popular place, that Gateway (another
adv. ) .

* * *

The switchboard operator reported 200
calls prior to the Louis-Farr fite last
month, and 30 calls during the fite. 15 of
these latter can be chalked up to one
over-enthusiastic lady who called at the
end of each round, merely to crow “Hur-
rah for Farr”. That was the extent of her
conversation.

* * *

All the folks who took their vacations
August 23 to 28 sure ran into bad weather
around New York. But of them all. Tom
Tart’s vacation was probably the saddest.
After wasting a week watching the skies
for a clearing day. Monday (in the second
week) was bright and shiny, so Tom hied
himself off to a handball court for a bit
of workout in the sun. Playing barefooted
for five hours raised a beautiful big blister
on his foot, so for the balance of his vaca-
tion, including the Labor Day weekend,
Tom sat with his foot propped up on a
chair swathed in bandages (the foot-was
swathed — not the chair). Our heartfelt
sympathy, Tom — if we’d known it sooner
we’d have sent a wreath — or a set of cross-
word puzzles.

Thanks Charlie Nobles, Boston an-
nouncer, for your nice visit. And best
wishes to Ruth Eisner, who is recuperat-
ing from an operation in the Mt. Sinai
Hospital in Cleveland.

* * *

In case you didn’t know. Fashion Editor
Betty Goodwin and Announcer Nelson
Case are two latest NBCites to be screen
tested.

— Walter Moore

Harry A. Woodman, who has been
general manager of KDKA for the past
three years and who was transferred to
the New York offices of the National
Broadcasting Company for executive as-
signment September 1, received a unani-
mous expression of high regard from the
entire station personnel.

In order that he may have a perma-
nent record of this tribute, it was inscribed
on a large sheet of parchment paper and
bore the signatures of every member of
the KDKA organization. This impressive
document was presented to Mr. Woodman
during the annual KDKA Corn Roast,
which was held at the Hill Top Farm of
Program Manager John Gihon, on the
afternoon and evening of August 28. It
was in the form of a resolution, and read
as follows:

“Whereas. Harry Andrews Woodman is
General Manager of Radio Station
KDKA, and during his three years resi-
dence among us has demonstrated that
unswerving loyalty to his adopted com-
munity — that unflagging zeal in the fur-
therance of those ideals and traditions
which so enrich the life of this station,
and that sincere and faithful devotion to
the Staff of KDKA which inspires affec-
tionate regard in all who know him as
intimately as we, and

“Whereas, We are soon to be left on
the shore behind him as he departs for a
greater port of call, and

“Whereas, this day has been duly set
aside for the Celebration of the Annual
KDKA Corn Roast, at the Hill Top Farm,
Now be it

“RESOLVED, that the said Harry An-
drews Woodman is appointed to the Su-
preme Office of Guest of Honor and Chief
Butter and Salt Man of the Corn Roast,
enjoying all the rights, privileges and

ADELAIDE LASNER, KDKA Transcription
Librarian, looks admiringly at the farewell
scroll presented by members of the KDKA
staff to their retiring general manager, Harry
A. Woodman.

Introducing NANCY BROOKE who joined the
staff of KDKA September 1 as music librarian.
Miss Brooke has been secretary to Marjorie
Stewart, head of Microphone Playhouse, for
several years, so is no stranger to radio. She
succeeds Jean Moore.

immunities appurtenant thereto, and that
he bear with him to his new duties the
warm and sincere wishes of this staff for
success and happiness.”

The date and seventy-nine signatures
followed.

/ / <

Announcer Bill Sutherland. KDKA. has
just returned from his vacation at Madi-
son, Ohio, on Lake Erie.

i i i

Announcer Bill Beal has returned from
his vacation trip to James Bay in north-
ern Ontario. Bill broadcasts messages to
the Far North every Saturday night.
Mounties, members of the Hudson’s Bay
Company staff, government men and
others at the outposts always listen to the
broadcasts. And appreciate them. They
wanted to see Beal. So they invited him to
spend a month visiting their “outposts of
civilization”. He had a grand time.

i 1 i

Evelyn Gardiner, KDKA Home Forum,
is back from California.

■t i i

And Bob Saudek, head of Continuity,
“went down to the sea,” in the neighbor-
hood of Martha’s Vineyard.

i i i

Sidney Adams, a cotton mill executive
of Rock Hill, South Carolina, was a re-
cent visitor to KDKA studios.

On his return home. Adams wrote back
to thank the station for its hospitality and
1 most interesting trip through the studios.
He has been a KDKA listener since the
days when the identification was like this:
"This is KDKA. the radio telephone

broadcasting station of the Westinghouse
Electric and Manufacturing Company at
East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.”

NBC TRANSMITTER

ROBERT H. OWEN
New Manager oj KOA Denver

The departure of Manager A. E. Nelson
from KOA to go to the head of KDKA
Pittsburgh brought about the following
realignment of NBC executives in this
station.

i i i

Robert H. Owen, Station Manager

Readers of the local newspaper in the
town of Canandaigua, New York, on Octo-
ber 19, 1898 knew that Robert H. Owen
was the newest addition to the Owen
family. What they didn’t know then was
that on September 1, 1937 the news-
papers in many cities were to carry the
news that he had been appointed manager
of NBC station K.OA.

The technical requirements as to
whether Mr. Owen is a home-town prod-
uct of Canandaigua. New York, or Den-
ver, Colorado, are open to discussion be-
cause at the age of twelve his family
moved to Denver and it was here that he
received his public school education. To
help Colorado’s claim to his development
we add that he attended the University of
Colorado and -was graduated with a de-
gree in Electrical Engineering in 1923. As
an outstanding student in this field of
technica,! work he was chosen from a
large group of graduates to attend the
“Test” course at General Electric’s head-
quarters in Schenectady, N. Y.

Before relating what happened there to
bring about his appearance again in Den-
ver we must go back again to his college
days and state that he pioneered in radio
at the University of Colorado. Long be-
fore the establishment of the present
Federal Communications Commission, li-
censes were granted by the Department
of Commerce. One of the first ten licenses

KOA DENVER

by Charles Anderson

A. E. NELSON who goes from the managership of Station
KOA, Denver, to that of KDKA, Pittsburgh, was the guest of
honor at this farewell dinner party given by members of
the KOA staff in Studio A in Denver.

Insert. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson photographed at the party given
in their honor.

granted went to tlie University. Among
the most interested students to help with
the operation of this station was our pres-
ent station manager, Robert H. Owen.
\^'ith this experience as an inspiration it
is small wonder that when he happened
to meet an old friend back at the G.E.
plant who suggested he join the company
station, WGY. he readily agreed. This
meant entering the publicity department
of tlie company as that was the heading
under which the radio work was listed.
Shortly after this transfer came the real
transfer that has resulted in his present
promotion. The General Electric Com-
[)any decided to build a super-station in
the Rockies at Denver.

With his previous experience in radio
and his desire to again live in Colorado
Mr. Owen jumped at the chance to help
with the installation of the equipment in
this new station. In the Fall of 1924 he
returned to Denver for the job and re-
mained as chief control room operator.
In 1927. just ten years ago, his faithful
work was rewarded with an appointment
as chief engineer of Station KOA. In this
position he saw KOA grow to its present
peak. That he played a very important
part in its development is evidenced by
the smooth running of every technical de-
tail of the station’s daily operation. Along
with this electrical and otherwise technical
ability went a constant study of every
“angle” of the broadcasting business.
Thus was he properly prepared to as-
sume the responsibility of managing not
only the engineering end, but also the
“business” end of KOA, for as he saw

C. A. PEREGRINE
Chief Engineer of KOA

Station KOA grow, his friends saw him
grow to be a level-headed business man
ready for any job that was assigned him.

i 1

C. A. Peregrine, Chief Engineer

Mr. Owen’s former place as chief en-
gineer is to be taken by C. A. Peregrine
who has been studio control supervisor
since 1927. He was born in Oakland, Cali-
fornia. April 26, 1896. Pioneer radio work
in 1915 as radio operator with the old
Marconi Company serves as foundation
for his start in the business. During the
War he served with the Signal Corps with
enough foreign service and military ex-
perience to make him a First Lieutenant
of the Signal Corps at the close of the
War. He was a member of the famous
Sorbonne Detachment.

(Continued on Next Page)

SEPTEMBER 15, 1937

WTAM CLEVELAND

by Bob Dailey

KOA DENVER

{Continued from Page 8)

Returning to the States, he ran tlie
Marconi Institute for some time and then
spent three or four years in the account-
ing business. Radio called again and he
went to work with KGO in Oakland.
Transferred to Denver in October 1924 to
help with the installation of KOA he re-
mained as did Mr. Owen to help in its
growth. As one of the “foster fathers” of
KOA he can be relied upon to run it with
the smoothness for which it’s famed.

i i i

James MacPherson,

Merchandising Director

As merchandising director, we have
our genial Scotchman, James MacPherson,
a man with many years experience in the
science of successful promotion of every-
thing concerned with radio. “Mac” came
to our station in 1934 and is a real Booster
for Colorado and it’s business develop-
ment.

i i i

A. W. Crapsey, Commercial Manager
KOA’s commercial manager, is A. W.
Crapsey, salesman with the station since
1933. Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado,
on December 3, 1904. Educated in Colo-
rado Springs and Denver public schools.
Graduated from Columbia University,
New York City, in 1926 with B.S. Degree
in Business Administration, specializing
in advertising and selling.

He joined the Edison Lamp works of
the General Electric Company in a sell-
ing and advertising capacity as soon as
he finished college. Also edited the Edi-
son Sales Builder and did sales promotion
work in New York and New Jersey for
Edison Mazda Lamps. After leaving the
Edison Lamp Works, he returned to Den-
ver and joined the sales staff of Station
KOA.

i 1 i

Walter L. Morrissey,

Studio Control Supervisor
Walter L. Morrissey is promoted to
studio control supervisor. Born and raised
in Saratoga, New York, he studied Radio
Engineering at M.I.T. Then began a
world-covering job of six years as super-
cargo and radio operator with the United
States Shipping Board.

He joined KOA’s staff in January, 1925
just six weeks after the station went on
the air. After serving in control trans-
mitter and field work he was appointed
assistant control supervisor in January
1936.

Mr. Morrissey’s successor has not yet
been chosen.

Hal Metzger’s recent red face is just
now returning to a normal shade. And the
brilliant complexion wasn’t caused by
vacation sunburn, either.

Metzger is WTA.M’s program director.
Receiving aTWX wire from the NewYork
special events division reading. “Can you
participate in a broadcast on trucking”
and signed Goddard, he ran his fingers
through his well-known head of pre-
maturely grey hair and reflected. Was this
another “stunt” idea? Was this another
“singing mice” publicity idea?

Finally, after due consideration, Metz-
ger made several telephone calls, then
wrote the following wire: “Sorry, but
dance craze of truckin’ failed to register
here. Dance halls report it practically
nil.” Then he went to lunch.

But on his return, another wire was
waiting. It was from Goddard and in-
cluded but five words: “Trucking on
wheels, not feet.”

However, those few words caused Metz-
ger the loss of his composure for several
days.

i i i

WTAM Flashes . . . Pianist Doc
Whipple planning a well-earned vacation
at conclusion of Great Lakes Exposition
where he was featured. ... A popular,
fast-moving program has been constructed
around the rather prosaic subject of
“Flower Gardening” by Announcer Bob
Arthur. . . . Broadcaster Jane Weaver sub-
stituting for Mildred Funnell, during the

Farewell Party

On Friday, August 27th, NBCites in
Denver gave a farewell party to Manager
.A. E. Nelson who is leaving for Pittsburgh
where he will take over the managership
of KDKA.

A painting depicting a western scene
by Lilly White, well known artist, was
presented to Mr. Nelson by Clarence
Moore as a “remembrance from the en-
tire gang.” Jay Burnette wrote an original
song for the occasion, bidding Mr. Nelson
Godspeed and good luck.

During the party KOA artists provided
musical entertainment and a unique fare-
well message was recorded on the spot
with every member of KOA “signing”
the testimonial by speaking his name into
the microphone of the recording machine.

i i 1

KOAgrams

Well, the cigars showed up along with
a box of chocolates for those who don’t
go for Havanas. Stan Beal is now married

latter’s vacation, as secretary to Manager
Vernon H. Pribhle.

1 i i

The National Air Races, major aero-
nautical parade of the year, again fur-
nished plenty of work for the WTAM
staff, from Manager Pribble down through
the ranks of engineers and announcers
to the station’s stenographers and tele-
phone operators.

Graham McNamee took a holiday from
New York to see the races and work with
Tom Manning in describing events for
listeners to both WTAM and the NBC-
Red Network.

Jane Weaver — easy on both the eye and
ear — turned in an enviable broadcasting
score card in her interviews with women
fliers entered in the Amelia Earhart
Memorial race. She also had a part in the
actual race description. Fourth announcer
on the scene was Bob Arthur, whose other
hobby besides flower gardening is
aviation. f r /

MORE FLASHES . . .Northern Lights
off the NBC-Red Network while Writer
and Producer Waldo Pooler vacations in
the East. . . . Gene and Glenn back on
WTAM for a series of two-hour late eve-
ning shows. . . . Two babies have joined
the WTAM family. One is Gail Patricia
Arthur, daughter born to Announcer Bob
and Mrs. Arthur. The other is also a girl.
She is Edith Andra Whittam. And her
parents are Engineer Frank and Mrs.
Whittam.

to Louise B. Winslow, who is president
of the Junior Women’s Club.

i i 1

Derby Sproul, Continuity, goes to Pitts-
burgh with A. E. Nelson to be a writer
and producer of KDKA.

i i 1

Recent additions to the KOA engineer-
ing staff are:

Reuben Isberg, studio engineer, grad-
uate of Colorado State Teachers College
where he majored in Physics. He gained
radio experience at KFKA in Greeley
while attending college and has since
been engaged in field and laboratory work
on geo-physical equipment. He is married
and has an eleven-months-old baby.

Garland Dutton, transmitter engineer,
formerly of WHO, Des Moines, and W'MT,
Waterloo, Iowa. Much of his work pre-
vious to coming to KOA has been in en-
gineering for the Telephone Company.
He is married and has two children.

NBC TRAN^SMITTER

NBC SAN FRANCISCO

by Louise Landis

Wedding bells echoed three times this
month in the ears of NBCites.and brought
a surprise every time.

First was the news that Elizabeth (Pat )
Sullivan of the Continuity Acceptance De-
partment has been Mrs. Norman Gatzert
for two years. The eagle-eye of Lew
Frost, assistant to Vice President Don E.
Gilman, espied a small, shining band on
Pat’s fourth finger . . . and unveiled the
secret.

Pat hlushingly admitted that she and
Attorney Gatzert were married at Reno
in 1935, during a vacation. Not until re-
cently did she decide to let her associates
know — and then she openly flourished the
ring for several days without notice until
Mr. Frost came by and spotted it.

i i 1

Next day came the news that Announcer
James (jimmy to you and met Matthews
was a groom-of-the-month. True to his
profession he used close timing on his
Big Romance. So when he persuaded
Miss Monty Margetts, charming Seattle
actress, to say “yes” he wasted no time
doing something about it. On August 20th.
at four o’clock in the afternoon, the two
were standing with clasped hands before
a clergyman, saying “I do.” At four-fifteen
Jimmy was hack on the air. announcing,
of all things, the United States Army
band.

The marriage, which the two managed
to keep a secret for almost a week, cli-
maxed a whirlwind courtship. Jimmy and
his bride met less than two weeks before
their marriage at the home of mutual
friends.

Both grew up in Seattle, where they
attended Roosevelt High School although

they did not know each other there. The
bride is well-known in the Northwest for
her work in the Washington State Thea-
tre, a Rockefeller-endowed group. She
was to play Katherine in The Taming of
the Shrew at the Seattle Repertory Thea-
tre next month, but wired her resignation
with the news that she had already been
“tamed.”

Jimmy has been a member of the NBC
announcing staff in San Francisco for a
year. Previously he was connected with
stations in the Northwest.

i i i

Second groom of the month provided
the biggest surprise of all, for even his
best friends wouldn’t believe it when they
heard that Field Engineer George B. Mc-
Elwain had fallen out of the Bachelor
Parade.

The woman who worked the miracle is
the former Miss Violet Evelyn Weaver, a
slender, pretty brunette who owns a
beauty shop on San Francisco’s Geary
Street.

Dave Kennedy, studio engineer, and
Mrs. Kennedy accompanied the couple to
Reno where they were married August
29th, in the Congregational Church. ‘Mac’
was on his vacation, and like the strong,
silent man he is, told no one except the
Kennedys of his plans. So it wasn’t until
Dave got back to the studios that the
happy news was broken.

Happy it is, too, for ‘.Mac’ is affection-
ately known to the entire NBC staff for
the fury of his bark and tbe mildness of
bis bite, and lots of good wishes are piled
up waiting for his return from the honey-
moon.

Still another NBC
romance is on the
horizon. . . . Made-
line Attabit, of the
Traffic Department
goes on her vacation
October 15, and ber
boneymoon, too. Sbe
and Harry Lip
schultz of the Gil-
more Steel Company
will be married in
Reno.

i i i

Browsing through
the P Oman’s Mag-
azine of the Air:
Dorothy Dumerais is
as brown as that

All these happy faces look like that because George B. McEIwain of
the San Francisco Field Group has shed bachelor ways forever. Left
to right. Studio Engineer Dave Kennedy; Mac himself; Mrs.
McEIwain, the former Violet Evelyn Weaver, and Mrs. Kennedy.

JAMES (Jimmy)
MATTHEWS,
NBC announcer,
introduces an old
pal of his named
“Mike,” to his
bride, Monty
Margetts, well-
known Seattle ac-
tress. They were
married, after a
whirlwind court-
ship, on Aug. 20.

proverbial berry . . . she traveled more
than 4.000 miles on her vacation and
managed to get in some salmon-fishing
at Klamath, hence the tan. . . . Memory
Roberts, wbo recently acquired an un-
usually fine electric phonograph, has the
pleasant custom of inviting NBC folks to
her house now and then for a home con-
cert made up of the recordings she
collects.

i i i

Two new faces in the Sales Depart-
ment: Raymond A. Smart and William
Bernard Ryan. The latter is a well-known
advertising man who is having his first
fling at this thing called radio, having
specialized for the last few years in out-
door advertising. Mr. Ryan, a graduate of
the University of California, has been di-
rector of the College of Business Admin-
istration at Santa Clara University, and
an instructor in marketing, advertising
and business administration at the Uni-
versity of San Francisco. He has been
with Foster and KleiSer. outdoor adver-
tising operators for the last nine years.

Mr. Smart, who will have charge of
local sales, is a recent University of Wash-
ington graduate who managed to accum-
ulate much sales experience along with
his university career.

■f 1 i

Promotions:

William J. Andrews, for several years
supervisor of announcers in San Fran-
cisco, has been transferred to Hollywood
and appointed to the new position of
night manager there.

Richard Ellers who has been a member
of the announcing staff since 1931, and
who for several months has been in charge
of night operations in San Francisco,
succeeds Andrews as supervisor of an-
nouncers in San Francisco.

(Continued on Next Page)

SEPTEMBER 15, 1937

ATTENTION EQUESTRIANS!

Now that Fall is here the NBC Athletic
Association’s riding groups which have
been active during the entire summer are
planning more frequent rides in the morn-
ing and evening of different days of the
week in order to accommodate the