Radio and television mirror (Nov 1939-Apr 1940)

■ Radio Mirror announces the winners of its television contest FINALLY weary, eye-strained editors have laid aside the last of your letters. They have an announcement to make: twelve of you who read Radio Mirror have won in the television contest which so many entered early this fall. To six go beautiful Philco television sets with which to fill the days and evenings with new magic. To the others, those equally magic portable radio sets that play wherever you are. Perhaps you would like to know how most of you voted. Well, for instance, with scarcely a dissenting voice, you have all raised a hand in favor of male television announcers. Now that must come as a rude surprise to those program producers in Radio City and elsewhere, for just about every television program I've ever seen has had a feminine announcer in one capacity or another. Which seemed natural to me. You prefer the male — apparently willing to sacrifice the pulchritude of feminine announcers. Then, you were unanimous in saying that you wanted your television programs in the evening. Proving, I would guess, that listening to the radio during the day doesn't interfere with running a satisfactory household, but that having to sit down to watch the television screen would seriously interrupt the routine of housekeeping. And — while not quite so unanimous, most of you decided that you would continue to go to the movies just as much as you do now. That is important. Because so far, Hollywood has shown such great fear of losing you as a customer, should television become a part of your daily lives, that it has almost flatly refused to cooperate in any way with this new entertainment field. Another surprising (at least to me) outcome of your voting was the preference of so many for news events as a television program. I somehow had thought of this as a masculine field of pleasure. Yet hundreds of women checked this type. As many, however, said that lessons in how to do things — cooking, sewing, etiquette, dancing, makeup— would be welcome. The one thing you all pretty well agreed on was how much you'd enjoy seeing your favorite dramatic program televised. The thrill of seeing the First Nighter broadcasts, or the Lux Radio Theater, obviously captured your imagination. Last on the questionnaire came the thoughtprovoking query: "The radio or movie star I would most like to see in a television program is: " And here everyone of you had her own idea of what star would bring the most television pleasure. Though I noticed a few names cropping up more often than the rest: Don Ameche, Bing Crosby, Kate Smith, Bette Davis, Deanna Durbin were a few. NOW to the really important part of this message of congratulations — the names of those who won Radio Mirror's television contest. The six who won beautiful Philco Television sets: Frances Rountree, Hole Center, Texas Marian W. Lamb, Portland, Oregon Gilson Willets, San Francisco, Calif. Rev. Julian S. Fayme, New York, N. Y. Mrs. Robert McLean, Burlingame, Calif. Lillian Russell, Quincy, Mass. Those whose entries were picked out as the six next most interesting to the judges, and who will be sent portable radios are: Mrs. Harry Steinhart, Maplewood, N. J. Mrs. J. R. Williamson, Memphis, Tenn. Loraine Jarvey, Lakewood, Ohio Mary Schubert, Tacoma, Wash. H. B. Jordan, Cheyenne, Wyoming Mabel Mears Culiinan, Arlington, Vermont Thank you for making this contest such a grand success. And to you who didn't win, my deep appreciation for your interest. Before we meet again next month, may I recommend to you two half hours of very pleasant listening for the winter hours — for music immediately after dinner, Tune-up Time, with Tony Martin who is doing a grand job, Andre Kostelanetz and Kay Thompson, Monday evenings on CBS; and for novelty a little later in the evening, Alec Templeton, who makes me laugh out loud with his musical mimicry, Monday nights on NBCRed. A last word — you may be interested to know that Kate Smith has joined our staff of editors. In future issues, look for her name on our cooking pages where she will bring you her favorite and most successful recipes. I hope that's good news for you who have been wanting to brighten up the dinner table with new dishes. Be sure and look for us with our new issue on sale December 27. We'll be wearing an exquisite Madeleine Carroll portrait on the cover. —FRED R. SAMMIS