Variety (Sep 1935)

48 VARIETY RADIO RADIO SHOWMANSHIP Stunts, Novelties, Tie-Lips Outstanding Stunts CANDID CAMERA TIE-UP - .. .^^^ CRIME CLUa N. W. AVER INSURANCE POLICY^ CHORE WMAQ, CHICAGO Candid Catnera Tie-Up New York City. A special snare to catch amateur candid camera photographers (whose ranks are on the, upheat here) is bielng arranged by N. W. Ayer for Harold P, Ritchie & Co., sponsor of the 'End Crime Clues' over the NBC blue. Idea is to have the Oct. .8 broadcast open only to the candid bugs, and to offer prizes totalling $100 for the best snaps of the pro- erram. To add zest to the business, the Crime Clueis yarn of' that evening Win bo a mystery solved via a- cam- ei^a^ High-powered lights will flood tho studio 90 the bugs can do their shooting under proper conditions. Margaret Bourke-White and Adolf Passbender, outstanding photo- graphic names, and Stewart SterU Ing,. jfiuthor of the Crime Clues, named as Judges. Tickets (b the affair being passed out via canierai clubs and dealers in Metropolitan New York, "iTcYlons" alter "coBSTafeTOtton'* bf^ati- reports and suggeistlons. Another awardi this one something unprece- dented In this .territory, will be award for most valuable playier to his team in Phllad.elphla district. V/FIL sflsuTiaa. ail such. flflJectlveJlsts. aire surie-flre mall getters, particu- larly, ifrom rabid, faiis and disgrun- tled alumni. Staff expects avalanche of Tetters. Prfepal'atlpns this week included purchase of 26 records of songs of principal colleges playing JjiL_thla_.dJatri<jt..Jj}ilng:^j3eago^^^ Se- ries starts October 12, day "of Pinn" Princeton game.. Funny angle Is that none of Wlthycomb-Gosch- Cbnnolly combqi played college foot- ball. STATION PORTRAIT WAPI, BIRMINGHAM WMAQ's Clever Stunt Chicago. In conjunction with a raise in wattage to 60,000, "WMAQ is adver- tising the upplng by sending out lacsimile Insurance policies guaran- teeing that 'advertisers will rec&lve tfoia WMAQ better, reception, bet- ter-coverage, and larger audiences.' •rtie policies are numbered like the teal thing, have all the fancy gin- gerbread decorations, and coihe in ie'gal envelopes sealed with red wax. On the Inside, where the. terms of the In'siiriance are ordinarily de- lineated, in the regular policies, WMAQ has Inserted a rate card and dome boosting for ^tself. The whole business can be opened into a spread contali^Ing candid camera shots of tbe studios and equipment. Qeorfle Bijgr's Stunt ■ New York. CBS' latest promotional release, 'Microphones,, Movie Stars and Sbup;' tell» the success story of dainpbell's' Soup in. radio. It's eight pages,' tab sized, and varji-colored, with the illiiBtrations Ihclu'dirig pic- tures of the programis regular per- sonnel aiid 64 of the film names that have appeared In the photoplay exc6rpts previewed by Hollywood Hotel, Text matter quotes M. F. Jones, adv. mgr.,'of Campbell'^ Soup Co., whdi.in his appraisal of the alr.cam- palgn gives it credit..for boosting the sale of vegetable soiip by 35%, tomato soiip, 30% aiid chicken doup. over 100%. 'Hollywood Hotel's in- creasing popularity,' Jones is.quoted as asserting, 'Is making this pro- gram a selling medium of ever in- creasing • effectiveness.. We regard our radio broadcasting as an ex- tremely successful move—and we expect to use radio . as' a major weapon, In the, sale of Campbell's Soups and other products.' George Bijur credited with stunt. It is commendable. Radio As Riot Aid Cincinnati.; During recent primary election dlsordei's In Harlan, Ky„ mobiliza- tion calls sounded via WCKy>were effective in getting state troops on the scene in due tlme^ Thanks for the courtiesy and ser- vice was acknowledged last week in a letter to L, B. Wilson, station prez, from Lieutenant S. J. Meade of the 123rd Cavalry, Kentucky Na- tional Guard. ' ingles Win Ducats St. Louis. 'HoUywod on Parade' is new pro- gram for Levey Shoe Stores of St. Louis, heard over KMOX every Sunday at 5:30 p.m., with Ruth Brlnp as iHollywood commentator. The Levey Shoe Stores have ar- ranged, with Shubert-Rialto and Orpheum Theatres (Warner Bros, houses) to have Miss Brlno preview cinema feature at one of two the- atres. During the program music from the picture Is presented; • A: Jingle contest is being used, built on the Levey products and the flrst- 26 winners will receive a pair of tickets to see the picture. Each contestant in the contest will re- ceive-a photo of their favorite movie star. Miss Brlno, who recently Joined the KMOX staff,.spent many ^■nonths In Hollywood 'and has a fund of news and gossip froni the west coast studios. rc Appreciation' New York City. For the eighth consecutive- sea- son-, of NBC' Music. Appreciation Hours,, the network Is again issuing a manual- and some student note- books. Idea Of the Appreciation iSeries is that It provides symphony niuslc under the direction'of'Walter .PatnrQsch to whidh groups of school and college, rtudents can listen en masse as a regular curricular course. Time of the series Is Friday morn- ^Ings, and the manual and notebooks are provided to make everything In- telligible to the unitlated. Until three yearfe ago, the printed helps were supplied to students free ,by the web. Now there's a price on them.- Manuals: cost students 20 ; cents apiece, but non-students must lay .out two bits.: Notebooks are a dimo apiece.. Last year NBC. sold 130,000. notebooks and 20,000 man- :ual3, a.rls? of 30% in sales over the previous year. This year the sale is expected to go still higher. 1_,NBC considers the series a natural 'prestige.builder, and has a special advisory board of scholastic big shots to give the Appreciation Hou a high, front. ' .Time' Signal , . ' ' Toronto. Canadian ^JEV^it,d.lo Commission's coaBt-tOnCo^t; .jjietworlc inaugurates a new; <iit&a'~ signal service when, comm^nisfng. Sunday (29),. the gong will be' replaced by the first four musical, notes of 'O Canada.' . Notes will come from an electrical oscil- lator in the CRC standard frequency laboratory, actuated by automatic time, switches attached to the lab clocks. Fourth note designates the hour; WFIL's Football Specials Philadelphia; Figuring to catch entire listening grid public at hour when there's .j^little competlsh, WPIL plans series ' Of Saturday night halfnhour drama- tized resumes of dixy's principal col- lege football games. Idea Is to have Joe Tumulty, local sports scribe doing weekly commercial over sta- tion, cover biggest local game and three or four other staff members cover other local and- important nearby Intersectlonal contests. All theso reports will be coni^idered with INS wire coverage and sug- gestions, from listeners who atten- ded games. • Weekly award, based on combined tabulation, will be made to player getting most votes...Then at end of aeason station will pick first and seOohd all-American tslevpna, with fitatlon manager Don Withycomb And. publicity staff members. iSfarty j^ffio'^ch and Joe Connolly making se- Politicians Will Be—^ . Dayton, O. WHIO aired a public auction held In the auditorium of the Wurlltzer Co., after the merchandise had been displayed in the store windows a week, with everything numbered. Bids were received over 12 tele- phones-installed at the auction. Event took a pollticar turn when a friend of the auctioneer slipped over to the mike and put on a bally- hoo for re-election to the city com- mission. The contrOlroom engineers didn't let him finish. station operates "under" sevefaT handicaps. Principal one is having to share time with KVOP, Tulsa, Okla. Latter station comes on just' about , the., .time, the ace NBC pro- grams come through' and' WAPI has to sign off. Another handicap is the background with the station' being the property of the state's cojlegesj^ Alabama U, Alabama P'ofy- ' techttic~Instltute~.(-wherje-: :tha_ call letters are originated) ahd the Woman's College. it is also a station that kicked back on a publisher 0^. a newspaper. Back In 1922 ■Victor Hanson^ publisher of the 'News,' made a donation. tO Alabama Polytechnic Insti- tute of funds with which to biilld a small tooter at: Auburn fOr the students to tinker with; This station was WMA'V. Then In 1924 the Alabama Power> Company donated ad- ditional equipment for another experimenter, this one being Called WSY. WAPI the offspring of Jjoth. In Feb.- 1926 the station was moVed to Brimingham and leaded, the schools realizing they could not make, ends meet financially. Bill Pape, "who now Operates WALA, Mo- bile, was the early lessor, but sold out to Bascomb Hopson, the present operator. Hopson has a lease and right now would like very much to know whether it is going tO be re- newed or what. He wants to Increase the power and put In a vertical antenna tO get, around KVOO. But unless he can get a new lease there's no sense In that. Having to give up the best time to.KVOO and at the same time losing the big chain pro- grams this means a lot of local stuff and lots - of. spot an- nouncements must be acquired In order to , make ends meet Station hlr'es little professional talent because of mobs of cqffo hillbillies ava,llable; Now. operating on. 6,Q00 watts and located on'* top floor Protective Life Building. Aas good possibilities If It can set full time. proniotton: period the proceeds will bo distributed to those who par ticipated In the project. These Nobby KTSA Boya San Antonio. Jim Crocker and Nell Fletcher who conduct KTSA's man on the street _prOgram thrice weekly for a 'lurhirurV ¥f6re "fi^CVS" t<een-Troire*'in-!' blue trench coats with red piping. Figured to attract more attention for the boVs who work on a down^ town street <5orner. Added angle to the interview pr/jcram ;i;9j.ft..tMfttro A^cket for each person Interviewed. Interviewee must go to the furniture store to collect ducat. Interstate theatres tied In on the ticket angl*-<-l!*. ex.. chanige for mention on the air. version lay In the description,of the seat's, location and the 'notice and agreement', clause. -Bulck card- board gave, the section as a 'fire- side s6at' and, explained - In small type that 'thls'~ticket Is Issued for the sole purpose, of -providing an evening's entertainment, with the icompllments of Bulck and Bulck idealers.' No obligation Is thus cre- Vated;''but those receiving it can show their appreciation and ienjoy a thrill by visiting-any Bulck. show- room on Sept. '28, and viewing, the sensational new 1-936 Bulcks. ; ,A line under 'Flriesldd Seat' read: 'Radio broadcast red and blue net- work NBC 'Star-Spangled' Sign ■ Cincinnati. starting Constitution Day, WLW adopted tho national anthem as its regular sign-off. The 500,000 watt- es worId'.s most powerful trans- mitte:', thus carrlies 'The Star- Spnngled Banner' to all corners ol tho globe. .loe.Ries, educational director of th9 Crosley staff, suggested the permanent patriotic finale, j ick Fireside Tickets ■ , , New York City. Bulck Motors used, novel mer- chandising stunt in calling the at- tention of 250,000 fight fans through- out the country to its broadcast of the Max Baer-Joe Louis bout. Ac- count printed 600,000 replicas of the tickets being sold by the fight manogement and had the local dcale-.-s mail them with a letter en- closed Inviting the receiver to at- tend the fight as a gusst of Bulck. Recipient had to give the en- closed ducats close scrutiny before he realized that what he had was a gag. Only dlfterence between the McCoy pasteboard and the Bulck Idea for Politicians Philadelphia. Neat way of turning commercial Into exploitation stunt was worked election. day (today. 17)—by WIP with political talk by Will B-. Had- ley, candidate for .Republican may- oralty nomlnation,-from-front porch of his home. Station, with stump speech booked, saw chance of cashing, in on usual public and newspaper interest in candidates day of election. Moved talk outside and Induced candidate to spiel for nel hbors and curious, onlookers. After inner Speeches Philadelphia. WIP going in heavily for after- dinner speeches this fall. Among groups whose speakers will bend listeners' ears are Chamber of Com- merce and Rotary (nionthly), Penn Athletic Club and Shrine Gliib (weekly) and several local Inci- dental groups;. Construction Industry Tie-In ■TTT^^^ . ' c Atlanta. WGST has put Out a novel piece of promotion telling about the cam- Pu ^? It-purposes to stage durins the building of a hou.se In Collier Woods, Atlanta. Broadcasts will describe the. delivery of building materials and the progress of con- struction, with all concerned com- ing in for gratis plugs. Station win , operate from a temporary studio built on thie^site of the co- operative home. Architects, . material men and contractors ha-Ve undertaken the project . On spec, with the deed to the lot held by the Atlanta Title & Trust Co. and a local mortgage firm furnishing' the payroll, • .When the house is sold at the end of the .\._L<tc.ate8 Miislnfl ^draoh . Han'Siiitffiiro; "' Less than an hour after WOAI broadcast appeal for Thomas R. Andrews of London, Eng., to com- municate with his sister in Canada, Andrews was located in Texas. Sis- ter had not heard from him since 1926, Ken McClure who broadcasts Transradlo news for WOAI ran In announcement on 'morning stint. Such announcements a regular sta- tion courtesy but results usually zero. ift for Local Sports Hero Cincinnati. Harry Hartman, sport blaster fOr WFBE, engineered the money-rais- ing campaign for the presentation of a ?1,600 auto to Chiick Dressen, manager :of the Reds. Gift was testimonial frOm rabid fans in cele- bration of Dressen's achievements. Presentation of cat- was added feature, of a Sunday double header between the Reds and the Braves, new cellar champs, arid steam of ballyhoo in the dailies and oh WFBE and other local stations pulled a crowd of 13,500. Without the stunt, the gate figured 3,500 paid customers at best. Promotion upped Hartman's bat- ting average with CIncy rooters, oven though he Is still riding street cars. All-Night Station Vs. Noise N jw York City. Storm of protests from listeners has changed Stanley Shaw's plan to use a minute of pllence on his 'Milkman's Matinee' programs via WNEW. Announcer Shaw, who handles the 2 a.m. to dawn parade of dance tunes, attempted Alienee $tunt Ih. deference to Mayor La-: Ouardia'is. new antl-nolse campaign. I Instead of ; using, the 60-secon'd lapse.;.. Sh&w': now co-Operates by asking radio audience tO 'turn sets down'low' In the wee isniall hours. ister» of the Skillet' C)ick New York. . ; 'Sisters of the Skillet' (East and Dumke) •idi'ew over TiOOO- letters on .th«ir first broadcast. (15) for the CHaris Corp. over CBS. ' It's a rec- ord figure for even mOney give-' aways over, the space of a year. • Contest is offering $160 In prizes. Program Is cleared from New York early Sunday afternoon. rof. Harold. Again Schenectady, N. Y. General Mills Is stimulating sales of Its Soft-as-Silk-Cake Flour through a limerick contest, with cash prizes totaling. $2i500, on the 'Betty and Bob"disced serial; heard dally over various stations. There are 508-awards, the top one of which is $1,500.- Contestants asked to write the last, line of a 'Mary's> cakes .filled her heart, with distress,' until she tried-'the Soft-as-Silk way'; etc. Accompanying the rhymer must •be a S-S - box top, with grocer's name and address. Competition closes- September 30. Prof. Lloyd D. Harold, of Northwestern University, tabbed In connection with previous contests sponsored by General Mills, is handling this onie, assisted by a committee of judges. .^Opening spiel heralds a- 'personal gift from Betty Crocker, GM's food and baking expert, for ail entrants. Ou slgn-pff, it Is disclosed that the present is a booklet containing three new cake recipes.. About five min- utes consumed in plugging contest; McCoy Rehearsal on Air , , Lincoln. • Milt Overman Has pulled a neat stunt with hjs Varsity stage show people, when without them knowing It he puts fifteen minutes of the opening da.y's rehearsal out over KFOR here. Even if the boys swear, the notes are sour or an act gets temperamental, the listening neigh- bors set An earful. It's surprising how in a short week's, time a marked talking re- action has been heard. KRNT Woos Farmers Des Moines. Tie-up between the Iowa Broad- casting system's KRNT and WMt stations , and the Iowa State Col- lege, and Des Moines Register & Tribune has been arranged by the IBS program department. It's a IZO-minuto show known as 'Tall Corn Time' which Is loaded-with farm info besides carrying a flock of rural type talent such as Tommy Tomsfln and his Punkin Dusters, Dalton Norman, Mississippi Maids. Corn Tossers, Orville Foster and Dave Kohonomoku and his Hawal- lans. Pfoigram carries commercial copy for the newspapers, which are try- ing a circulation-boost In the rural sections of the state. Now handled by Hank Richards, show will short- ly bo turned over to Rariney Daly, new farm program director for IBS. Talented Pan«l man Baltimore; WCBM last week snagged series of spots advertising Catspaw rub- ber heels. Agency .wanted recorded a good imitash of the McCoy cat's W60W to UB 'tiaett td - prBfacs-each' spot aired. But station saved the cos^ of having a recording made When It wag. discovered that,^. Sam Houston, contrOlmah at WCIBM, could flawlessly iiriitate a feline's snarl, even down to, injecting a ^Imultaneous.blss^wltb-eachscreechr- which gives an ultra lifelike sem- blance. 'Big Moments from Big Plays' New "York City. School of Professional Theatre In Greenwich 'VlllagQ has formed a radio division to nresent 'Big Mo- ments from Big Plays' over WNEW for a period of 13 weeks. 'Camllle' is the first one. scheduled for air- ing Sept. 20 at 8 p. m. Later on short squibd from 'Little Wo len,' 'Taming of the Shrew,'. 'The Braf Vand 'Within .These Gates' are to be given. Lee Marlon Is managing director of th ■ jgroup, which lis really art amateur body. WTAQ's kid Stunt Worcester, Mass. More than 3,200 youngsters (600 more than tbe seating capacity) Jammed Plymouth theatre Saturday morning for Uncle Ray party, spon- sored by WTAG and Telegram anU Gazette. Party was aired for half hour, with house band and per- formers contributing their bit. Largest kazoo band ever on air yelled 'Good-Ship Lollypop' through tho horns with tissue piapfer rattle.. Oh the air it. sounded like recent Cleveland air races. Stunt, announced on one of Uncle., Ray's (George Grim) programs or reading Tel-Gazette funnies nightly, brought in requests for more than 4,000 Invitations In four days—and Uncle Ray couldn't turn off the re- quests. Tieup between radlo-newspaper- theatre interests was . first arranged for season by Grl- i. ickbacks on Quiz San Antonio. Use of political- queries . barred by sponsor of KTiSA's man on street program. Action laid to recent pro- gram when Interviews were- asked what they thought of the Huey LOng assassination. Boys picked too ilQany anti-Long subjiects and. soon the studio wires were burning with Indignant'. pro-Long listeners -who threatened all kinds,of action. Also >vanted to know the addresses of some of the interviewees, Intent be- ing to make It warm for them. Church as Radio Studio Buffalol Receiver for plane-to-ground broadcast stunt here set up in West- minster Presbyterian Church as be- ing Ideal spot for least interference. Karl Hoffmann, WGR chief engineer, picked the church; • Pickups from plane relayed to studios over same remote used for Sunday sermons. , Stunt was the "bean" flying exhi- bition sponsored by the General Tiro & Rubber Co., including Buffalo and nine other cities. Was sched- uled here for the 7th to tie in with Buffalo Air Races but stormy weather caused postponement to 14th. Quarantined Kids Program Lynchburg, "Va.. An entire, two-hour film show was broadcast over WLVA from the Trenton theatre, for the benefit of children prevented from seeing the picture because of the Infantile paralysis ban; Film was Joe E. Brown's 'Bright Lights,' and it went on the air in- tact. Management had hoped to persuade health authorities to lift the ban one day ahead of schedule so kids could see the show. When officials declined, the broadcast was arranged, the radio station side- tracking all other programs for two hours. • . First time ever tried In Virginia, so far as known, arid management was afraid It might keep audience away. It actually had the opposite effect. After the broadcast had been on less than hour, adults left the kids beside the radio and rushed down to the theatre for the last show. They poured out of street cars, taxicabs and private auto- mobiles, to the complete astonish- ,ment of Manager Charles K. Eagle. Letters of appreciation piled up at •he theatre n^xt day, nearly all ask- ing for more broadcasts. ing In tho Oil . _ Shi-eveport, La. Coming In of a giant 50,000 barrell oil welMn the riew-Rodessa area 40 miles north of here, was niade the subject of a scoop by KWKH. Station sent Jack Keasler to the •site with a short-wave set, and re- broadcast his signals from its Shreveport plant. •