February 13, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

When radio was king

by Marge Speidel

A "fiery horse with the speed of light, A cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-yo, Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!"

Boys and girls of the 1930s and 1940s thrilled to those opening words, tuning in to another episode of the "Lone Ranger" as he and his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, led the fight for law and order in the early West.

Kids had other air-wave heroes -- Tom Mix, Jack Armstrong, Superman, Captain Midnight, Little Orphan Annie. Early anchormen such as Edward R. Murrow and H.V. Kaltenborn broadcast the news. Comedians Fred Allen and Jack Benny had audiences chuckling. Almost 20 soap operas a day aired.

A tribute to the age of radio in all its glory, "When Radio Was King," opened on Feb. 6 at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto. It will run through May 23.

"It brought first-class entertainment into the homes of those who couldn't afford to go to the theater, and gathered families together," said Art Adams, co-curator of the exhibit and a longtime Palo Alto radio enthusiast. "During the war years it rallied people in support of the nation's war effort. President Roosevelt had the power in his voice to unite the nation. His fireside chats probably drew more listeners than any other event."

Materials from Adams' collection of 140 old radios, and those of his co-curator, John Eckland of Palo Alto, will be shown. It won't be comprehensive, as space is limited, but the two hope for a representative display that mature people can recall and younger people can admire.

"We want to look at radio in the context of three different audiences," Adams said. "Those, like me, who grew up with it and remember it; then a middle-age group who know radio mainly as talk shows, with perhaps a vague recollection of earlier shows; and then the kids. Radio relied on the imagination, and the pictures are in your mind."

To illustrate this, the exhibit includes a drawing of a boy and girl sitting on the floor in front of a large console, with exotic costumed figures flowing out of the radio, as the children envision the unfolding story.

"In one room we're hooking a microphone up to an amplifier, so that kids can hear themselves speak," Adams said. "We have tapes of children's programs of that era -- 'Let's Pretend' and 'Jack Armstrong.' We hope to show that radio was more than talk shows and music. (It was) actually the medium that set the stage for programs today, for instance, the news format developed in the 1930s by Murrow, Kaltenborn and Bob Trout, who were already broadcasting from Europe and the Far East."

Another room is set up like an old broadcast studio. Mannequins pose at microphones, reading from scripts, with a sound-effects technician seated at a table nearby.

"Radio programs were introduced by theme music and the sound man added to the effect by firing pistols, slamming doors and imitating the sound of hoof beats with coconut shells." Adams said. "All of this created images in the listener's mind.

"Arch Oboler produced scary programs like 'Lights Out.' One episode broadcast what they described as the sound of a man's body being turned inside out. They dipped a rubber glove in water and put it over the microphone, peeling it slowly off while another person crushed wicker baskets. The result was horrifying -- hundreds of people called in to complain.

"The most frightening broadcast was Orson Welles' 1938 'War of the Worlds,' a fictional account of Martians invading the U.S., which created panic across the nation."

How politicians used radio to influence the listening public is also part of the exhibit. According to Adams, Republicans of the time were told to read President Roosevelt's speeches, rather than listen to them, because he was such a powerful speaker.

"Churchill was an effective speaker, too, even though he had a dull voice," Adams said. "His presentation captured the whole British public. You could listen to Hitler's speeches even if you didn't understand German and be swayed by him, he was such an incredibly powerful speaker."

Brand-name radios manufactured on the West Coast will be featured: Gilfillan Co., Remler, Sargent-Rayment, Magnavox and Packard-Bell. More than just displaying radio receivers of the era before television, the exhibit seeks to recreate the golden age of radio, from about 1930 to 1950. By 1930, vacuum tube-based equipment had displaced the early crystal sets and the entertainment lineup grew quickly. Innovation in technology and programming quickly led to a huge listening audience.

Co-curator Eckland, a longtime friend of Adams, shares his interest in the era. Walk into Eckland's home and it's easy to see what his passion is. Old-time radios line benches in his garage, fill his living room and spill over into hallways and spare rooms. He hasn't even counted the ones in the attic.

Table models, stately consoles with elaborate doors, cabinets of inlaid wood -- even a small giveaway radio the Stanford Theater offered patrons in the 1930s -- are some of the many items in his collection.

"I've been taking radios apart since the age of 6," Eckland said. "At Palo Alto High I fixed my teachers' television sets. At some point I decided to start having one or two nice examples of radios around. I liked the sound of the larger consoles and meeting the interesting people who sold them or needed to have them fixed."

He and Adams hit garage sales each Saturday. Eckland restores and repairs the sets in his collection, leaving the refinishing to a Redwood City expert. He also maintains the juke boxes at the Peninsula Fountain and Grill restaurants in Palo Alto and the Stanford Shopping Center.

Showing off some of his collection, he pointed out a 1937 Scott Philharmonic, which he nicknames "The Gatsby." It boasts 30 vacuum tubes, each one covered with a brightly shined chromium shield which can be lifted to expose the tube. When he turned the set on, three speakers blasted out sound rivaling a modern stereo.

A large console of inlaid wood stands at one end of the living room.

"This is a 1934 Zenith Stratosphere, selling for $750 in its day. That was as expensive as an automobile," Eckland said.

Asked who could afford it during the Depression years, he explained, "Big hotels were the main customers. They played them 24 hours a day in the lobby."

A 1949 Capehart that came out of a Woodside home flips 78 rpm records over, so an entire opera can be played. A 1937 Capehart from Sacramento is of lustrous solid walnut with veneer.

"The year it came out it won the grand prize at the Paris International Exposition for the radio-phonograph category," Eckland said. "Some wealthy Peninsula residents owned models like this."

A metal radio strong enough to ship overseas to entertain troops during World War II is also in the exhibit, courtesy of Adams. A sleek table model is the creation of noted U. S. industrial designer Raymond Loewy. And there is a version of the cathedral-shaped table model popular in homes of the 1930s.

Every radio in Eckland's enormous collection is tuned to KABL, the 960 AM station that plays big band, show tunes and popular music of the years 1930 to 1950.

"It's a sad commentary that only one station plays the music I grew up with," he said.

What: "When Radio Was King," featuring classic radio receivers and radio memorabilia

Where: Museum of American Heritage, 351 Homer Ave. in Palo Alto.

When: Through May 23. Regular exhibit hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Info: Please call (650) 321-1004 or visit www.moah.org.

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