Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1943)

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PROOF 0' THE PUDDING Results based on sales, mails, surveys, long runs and the growth of the business itself. Bakeries 1450 CLUB Cooks rolled up their sleeves, really settled down to work when the Storck Baking Co., Parkersburg, W. Va., announced a picnic for members of the 1450 Club heard daily over WPAR. Squeezed were 5,600 lemons which went into 700 gallons of lemonade. There was ice cream to freeze and cakes to bake for the 4,500 people who gathered at City Park. Sponsors reason for making preparations sufficient to feed the multitude: early last January, when the show was only a few months old, a party was held in a local auditorium on a cold, blustery winter day. More than 1,200 people turned out for ice cream, coffee and Storck Baking Co. cakes. To an 87-year-old woman went a prize for being the oldest member present. Other prizes: to the woman coming the farthest, and the one with the most children. October 1, 1941, saw the show's premiere. By Christmas, over 2,500 people had written in for membership cards. Here was a ready-made audience, and Storck Baking Co. came on the scene to bankroll the program. Membership by month's end in July: 10,000! The show had yet to celebrate its first birthday. Each new mem ber receives a free gift package of two dollars worth of baked goods. Ten are given away during the course of each broadcast. While mail averages around 50 letters a' day, a special contest between the announcer and Miss 1450 to see who can get the most new members in a specified time sends membership entry cards zooming. Commercials are made up from letters written by pleased club members. AIR FAX: Spark plug of the show is Miss 1450, alias Paula Carr, who ad libs the program. Her gavel calls the meeting to order, and tirst business of the day is to welcome new members. Non-members are told of the benefits of belonging to the 1450 Club, ate urged to join. Four gift boxes of merchandise are given in jigtime, and about ten minutes after the show is underway, a popular musical selection is played. Ten minutes later, after Miss 1450 has dished up the recipe of the day, other timely items, a hymn is played. Ten gift-aways space out the program. First Broadcast: October 1, 1941. Broadcast Schedule: Monday through Saturday, 2:453:15 P.M. Preceded By: War Commentary. Followed By: Lucky Bell Contest. Sponsor: Storck Baking Co. Station: WPAR, Parkersburg, W. Va. Power: 250 watts. Population: 31,000. COMMENT: That an outstandingly successful show of this kind may be evolved on a small station as well as on a larger one is indicated by the tremendous drawing power of this program. Particularly useful to sponsors whose products appeal to women is a mail-puller of this kind. A recent survey indicates that regardless of income, age and educational background, women are the greatest writers of fan mail. Most of them write either to enter a contest or in response to an offer. Beverages INTERNATIONAL CLUB Not so many years ago Orson Welles played Martian boogey-man to radio listeners. Using a mythical setting to a more constructive purpose, Berghoff Brewing Corp., Fort Wayne, Ind., now plays host to its International Club clientele. Letters flood the WOWO mail bags. 30 RADIO SHOWMANSHIP