NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1942)

f 11 FOUNDATIONS FOR VICTORY Here's a partial result of the "Great Girdle Round-up" at IJf , Gincinriati. Kit Fox (extreme right). If Llf coordinator of defense broadcasts, conceived the idea for Gol. Cumquatt — a comic character heard on the station three mornings each week — to appeal to ivomen listeners for girdles to boost the Government's saltage drive. Bashful listeners who were too embarrassed to take the girdles to a public collection point were requested to mail them to Col. Cumquatt — in real life AnnouncerActor Ken Peters — and undergarments of all sizes and shapes soon arrived at the station's offices. Miss Fox is shown inspecting a small part of the collection held by (left to right) Myrtle Watson, Ethel Mohr, Ellen Rowe, .4gnes Maloney and Jane Timberrnan. AUGUST 1942 Davis Award Again Offered Announcers # The word is out, the search is on. Once again the nation will be scoured to find a top-ranking announcer in the annual H. P. Davis National Memorial Announcers’ Award Competition. To the announcer who wins first prize will go $300 and a gold medal, and sectional winners, chosen from the four national time zones, will receive engraved signet rings. All NBC stations — owned, operated or affiliated — may enter one candidate for the award, by making an off-the-air recording, without the announcer knowing it. The transcriptions should be preceded by a letter of notification, and the entry must include a photograph and biography of the candidate. Entries, addressed to Marjory Stewart, Director, Microphone Playhouse, 151 North Craig Street, Pittsburgh, will be accepted up to October 1. Awards will be made about November 2, on a nationwide NBC hook-up. The award was established in 1933 by Mrs. H. P. Davis, of Pittsburgh, in memory of her husband, “father of radio broadcasting” identified with the founding of KDKA in 1920. Judges base decisions on personality, diction, adaptability, voice and versatility. Last year’s contest was outstandingly successful, entries coming from stations in every section of the country. I ! Double Service j • For two days a woman listener tele ' phoned the WLW (Cincinnati) newsroom at regular intervals asking that the latest ! news developments be summarized for |i her. S She said her radio was out of order, j Naturally, the WLW newsroom com ( plied. Not only that, but they looked up a neighborhood repair man for her set. First Radio "WAAC" • Katharine Gaston Vernon, 25-year old script writer and women’s program commentator for WROL (Knoxville. Tennessee) has reported for duty with the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, in Des Moines, Iowa. She is believed to be the first woman in radio to join the nation’s Armed Forces. Soldiers' Letters Add Color to KSD Series • “Our Buddies” is the title of a new KSD (St. Louis) weekly half-hour featuring letters listeners have received from men in the Armed Forces. The series has some novel twists and is proving an excellent attention-getting patriotic offering. Letters from soldiers, sailors and marines are read by Harold Grams and the narration is embellished by interviews with their friends and relatives. The program. which has a musical background, is further enhanced by the sending of “Buddy Boxes” to each service man represented among the letter-writers on each show. The gift boxes contain such utility items as cigarettes, shaving cream, razors, blades, stationery, pencils, etc., gathered at “Buddy Booths” at the stores of the programs’ sponsors — the Food Center and Jim Remlev Super Stores. KVOO on the Map • When KVOO (Tulsa. Oklahoma) decided to offer listeners a war map of the world, the staff was assembled to submit estimates as to the number of maps the station should order. Estimates, based on a single Sunday afternoon announcement, ran from 500 to 1,600, and the station ordered 2,000 maps. However, within three days of the broadcast, 7.200 requests had streamed in and the map publishers heeded a rush order to comply with the demand that proved K\ 00 is most certainly “on the map”! Service Flag Offer • In twelve weeks, Vi TMJ (Milwaukee) has distributed over 7.000 service flags. The offer applied only to those having relatives in the service, the flags being distributed free of charge to listeners asking for them in writing.