Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1946)

bales are Child's Play/ 19 Years on the Air, Still Goir)g Strong Under Same^'^Sponsor, Kiddie Hour Builds Sales for Erickson Bakers, La Crosse, Wis, FOR over 60 years the Erickson BakF.RS has served the La Crosse, Wis., public with fine quaUty breads and pastries. It was founded in 1883 by Martin Erickson, father of the present owners, and today it has a personnel of over 60 people. A fleet of 15 trucks delivers fresh bread and bakery products daily to the independent grocers in La Crosse and trading area. Throughout the years, the M. Erickson Bakery Company has kept in step with progress in the baking industry, and it has many firsts to its credit in its market: the first bakery to adopt brand names for breads; the first to wrap bread, which insured sanitation and freshness; the first to recognize convenience of sliced bread to the housewife, and the first to use radio advertising, of which WKBH, La Crosse, Wis., has played an important part. iHE Erickson Bakery enjoys the distinction of sponsoring the Kiddie Hour, one of the oldest programs of its kind on the air. It was originally produced in 1926, and from the first broadcast, it has been sponsored by the bakery. Today, the Kiddie Hour is the most familiar landmaik on ihc XVKBH airlanes. lis listeners make up a loyal family of thousands ol children and adults who daily tune in this wcll-loNcd program. judical i\e of its p()j)ularity is the fad that more than 250, 000 song recjuests have been acknowledged on the air. Kiddie Hour listeners have received free some 216,000 copies of Kiddie Hour songs. Every community within a radius of 50 miles has at some time been represented on the program, and more than 100,000 children have made up the passing parade to the Kiddie Hour microphone during the time the program has been on the air from AVKBH. Now in its nineteenth year, the original program pattern is still retained. It's completely unrehearsed, yet from the tiniest tot to the every day regulars, each child is a veteran at the microphone. In addition to offering entertainment to WKBH listeners, the series has served as an able public servant on many occasions. From the Kiddie Hour microphones have come countless courtesy announcements for religious, civic and patriotic organizations of every kind. It has been an effective instrtmient in assisting in public health and safety drives. Hundreds of pets have been placed in homes through the medium of the Kiddie Hour. Time without number the program has served as an effective Lost and Found column. During (he war, the Kiddie Hour aided the War clloi t with daily ainiounccmeiUs for War Bonds, Waste I*aper. Scraj) and Salvage I)ri\es and appeals lor Blood Donors. Almost as famous as the program itself are the annual picnics and Christ 14 RADIO SHOWMANSHIP