News from Our Archives

In 1938, radio was soaring in popularity. But when St. Louis radio station managers were asked to predict radio’s future in 1938, they got it all wrong.

The nation was on the tail end of the Depression, and 82 percent of households had radios. Television was still being developed. Radio’s programming was part of what is now called its “Golden Age.”

Here in St. Louis in September of 1938, KMOX put local station owners and managers on the air in a roundtable discussion to talk about the business.

Merle Jones of KMOX was quick to note just how much radio contributed to the local economy. Just ten years prior, he noted, the city’s largest station employed 20 people. Ten years later the situation had changed dramatically. The smallest station employed 35 full-time workers and the largest had 120 full-timers and another 50-75 air staff members on call. That station, KMOX, had an annual payroll then of over $400,000.

Local stations were also making a mark nationally. Hundreds of local programs were being run over the four major radio networks, which was seen as a way of promoting St. Louis as a progressive city.

So things were going well. But when they were asked about radio’s future, none could foresee the coming world war and the part Edward R. Murrow and his peers would play in making radio a necessity in every home in the nation. Instead, they focused on a new technical development, radio facsimile.

George Burbach of KSD said his station was ready to begin testing the new system of news delivery within the next 30 days. The system involved using radio waves to sent special facsimile versions of the Post-Dispatch into the homes of subscribers.

Initially, Burbach said, testing would be limited to a few receivers in the city and county. The special radio receiver contained a clock but no frequency dial. Owners would set the clock to turn on the machine at a certain time in the very early morning hours, and the news would begin printing out. It was a slow process, requiring several minutes per page, but radio people and Post management were excited about the possibilities.

For the paper, it meant readers would receive their copy in the morning, which would compete with the Globe-Democrat. For radio stations, it meant respectability that up to that point had been called into question.

That’s because the so-called “Press-Radio War,” which pitted newspapers against radio stations, had shut radio out of many aspects of the news delivery business. Newspaper owners had successfully banned broadcasters from the Congressional press galleries and had forbidden the Associated Press from selling its service to radio stations.

If radio could provide a printed news summary, it could get around many restrictions.

William West, then-manager of WTMV, said his station had already applied for a facsimile license and was planning to apply for a license for television as soon as possible.

Facsimile news officially began in St. Louis December 7, 1938. It that world premier, 15 homes received a special, abbreviated edition of the day’s Post-Dispatch, with the transmission beginning at 2:00 a.m. and usually taking around two hours to complete.

But the “wow factor” of facsimile was limited, and the system never really caught on. The “experiment” died after two years. By that time, all ears were focused on the live reports from Europe, describing a developing war. The U.S. didn’t want to be a part of it, but many citizens still had relatives living in Europe, and live reports on radio trumped newspaper reports. In 1941, 13 million radio receivers were sold in the U.S.

After Pearl Harbor, all technical development in broadcasting was halted, and radio became an even stronger medium in the dissemination of news.

About three years ago, Roy Queen, the Lone Singer, decided that he wasn’t quite satisfied with life in Ironton, Missouri and wanted things to happen. He took a couple of bicycle tires and traded them for a 22 rifle but found that wasn’t quite what he wanted.

Then he traded the rifle for a guitar and his young career began to bud. Of course he didn’t know one string from another nor did he know how to tune it but he did have courage and that of his convictions. He walked three miles to a neighbor’s house through the snow to get him to tune the instrument and then trudged merrily home.

Unfortunately, on the route home, the guitar got out of tune and he was no further along than before. But he set to work to master it and basing his inspiration on his knowledge learned from his mother’s playing an organ when he was a youngster, he learned to play. He learned to sing the songs that his mother had taught him and then he came to KMOX for an audition.

His singing of the plaintive Western laments and hillbilly songs was so effective that he was immediately given a job and he has been there since March 1930. He is now heard on the Early Morning Farm Folks Hour and the weekly County Fair.

Roy has black, curly hair, regular features and is about five feet six inches in height. He is very quiet and apparently unconscious of the fact that he is the object of devotion of feminine admirers. He is twenty years old. His fan mail comes from all over the United States and requests for his favorite song “I Can’t Give Up My Rough and Rowdy Ways” pour in every day. That is the song that he sang for his first audition and that is the primary reason for his preferring it.

(Originally published in Radio and Entertainment 4/1/1933).

By Catherine Snodgrass
“Radio announcers!” What an interesting title. When one hears the suave or peppy voice of a radio announcer, he oft-times wonders just what the owner of the voice is like; so I’m going to give you a little personal insight into the life of WIL’s announcers.

Let us begin with Neil Norman, Program Director. Neil’s full name is Neil Norman Trousdale. He is of medium height, has brown hair, which is inclined to wave, and an every ready smile.

He is the third generation in his family to follow the stage. He not only played leading parts but has enjoyed the privilege of directing his own shows. His mother is still an actress of note on Broadway. He is a talented musician and while conducting an orchestra and acting as Master of Ceremonies in a theatre in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1924, he was offered a job as an announcer, but he turned it down, considering radio a big toy. Four years later he was convinced of the possibilities of radio for entertainment and expressive purposes and accepted a position as announcer at Billings, Montana. He was connected with KSL in Salt Lake City and WMT in Waterloo, Iowa, before coming to WIL.

Neil is very versatile and has a keen sense of fitting the right program at the right hour. He also has a pleasing personality which enables him to handle auditions with the greatest of ease. Neil’s favorite diversion is golf. His chief reason for not playing the game is, “I can’t find a punk enough player to make the game interesting.”

When I asked George Wood about himself, his answer was, “Oh, I am just WIL’s oldest announcer.” Don’t be misled by that statement. George wasn’t referring to his age. He was referring to his length of service at the station. He was with WIL for three years serving as announcer and program director. Then he was seized with a case of wanderlust and nothing would do buy George must see the radio world in other cities, so he left the staff and traveled through Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kansas and Washington, D.C., inspecting radio stations and doing announcing. He returned to WIL last Fall as announcer.

Before being seized by the radio bug, George saw service in France in the World War. He entered the business field as a newspaper reporter, then editor. Later ambition made him a newspaper owner. This meant he sold advertising, was reporter, printer, distributor and owner all in one – some job.

George came into the radio fold as a singer on KGFJ, then went to KOIL as publicity director and just dropped in on the announcing game. He continued with KOIL until he came to St Louis and finally to WIL.

And now for WIL’s Junior Announcers:
Some three years ago a tall blond boy answering to the name of Russ Walker ambled into the studios of KMOX to listen to a friend broadcast. After the program, in which the friend had acted as announcer for the “Lions’ Club of St. Louis” the visitor exclaimed “Gee, you sounded great. I’d be scared to death if I had to do that!” Subsequent events proved that he was right. He did announce the program the following day and was quite properly scared. It all happened when his friend, Homer Combs, had to drop his announcing duties to accept a teaching position at a county high school and named Russ as his substitute. Russ was allowed to finish the series of broadcasts for the Lions’ Club, and following this was offered a place on the staff at KMOX.

After four months as a staff announcer he heard the call of the great open spaces of Illinois and went to Springfield, Illinois, as Chief Announcer of WCBS. From there he jumped to the windy city as announcer and jack of all studio trades at WBBM, a Columbia outlet, Chicago. He has had the honor of announcing both Paul Whiteman and Ben Bernie’s Orchestra on the network.

Russ returned to St. Louis and was associated with WIL in 1931 but decided to take a whirl at selling for a while, and acted as district representative for a manufacturing concern. He’s now back in the fold at WIL.

His diversion from the hectic atmosphere of radio is tennis. He and his partner won the doubles championship at one of the CMTC Camps once upon a time! Enjoys all sports and is an admirer of C. C. Petersen, the billiard wizard, but would rather be caught watching the ball pass down the sideline than anything else. Russ grinned when asked his age and tossed his hair back from his forehead with “Oh I’m twenty five but no fair asking any more questions and the size of my shoes is an absolute secret.” Well, that’s all the info I could get from him, but I do know he’s a six foot one and one-half athlete and not married.

Hugh Howard, the latest addition to the WIL staff of announcers is still in his early twenties. Until coming to the station, Howard was a radio columnist for RAE and his pert criticisms caused considerable comment.

The Wolverine State, Michigan, was the scene of his first radio work. The show-world also attracted him while a resident of that state and he found himself for some time a unit manager for the Butterfield Michigan Theatres, Inc., who operate over 100 theatres in that district. Hugh was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, March 13, 19—but that would be telling.

Baseball and canoeing monopolize his sport enthusiasm and his pet passions are program production and Walter Winchelling.

Howard took an active part in the Radio Players’ Guild of this city and portrayed important roles in many of the Guild’s productions. He is an earnest worker with a good voice and really enjoys his hours of broadcasting.

Now for that announcer extraordinary – Dave Parks, who is known to the radio audience as “The Old Reporter.” His real name is David Pasternak. It used to be that only girls changed their names but now radio announcers have that privilege. Dave was born in St. Louis slightly less than twenty-five years ago, and attended public schools of this city and Washington University. After leaving school and up to the time he joined the staff of WIL last August, Dave was engaged in the advertising business. He entered radio as the first “Inquiring Reporter” on any radio station.

For the past four months he has been handling sports at WIL, and in doing so has returned to a “first love” for sports writing. He thoroughly enjoys every sport and enjoys discussing the merits of the players.

While in the advertising business, Dave used his evenings in writing and producing musical shows for private organizations.. He did considerable writing of lyrics for Milton Slosser at the Ambassador. He possesses a keen sense of rhythm and a fondness for good music. He was a member of a college dance band for five years and also worked one season in Vaudeville. Dave says his chief enthusiasms are writing lyrics and eating at night. The last “sport” seems to be the universal failing of all. When asked about girls Dave blushed to the roots of his very curly hair and said, “Oh, I am a confirmed bachelor,” and he really doesn’t like girls unless they are blondes, redheads or brunettes.

His favorite sport to play or watch is basketball. His chief ambition in life is to write something that other people will enjoy reading. Here’s trusting that  someday we’ll see “Dave Parks’” name on a popular seller.

Now that I have given you the so-called lowdown on WIL’s announcers, I am sure you will agree with me that they are human, likeable young men with high ideals, enjoying their work and endeavoring to furnish high class entertainment and joy to their listening audience.

(Originally published in Radio and Entertainment 7/8/1933).