Variety (Jul 1946)

32 RADIO Wednesday, July 17, 1946 Laugh, Gown, Laugh Motif Hit Show Mends Broken Hearts on Okinawa Manila. July 5: Gelling jilted by your best gal back home isn't particularly funny but Cl-gob ex-lovers on Greater Okinawa are pooling their broken hearts in a "Dear John Assn." with the idea ot getting laujrh!-. It's an exclusive organization sponsored by Radio Kinawa. WXLH, comprising men serving on the Jap island who have received kiss-oft* letters trom fiancees saying they found somebody else. WXLH has built it's "Dear John" program out of such tragic ro- mances on the theory that if the world laughs, you'll laugh too. GI's in this area, it's unofficially claimed, are finding more laughs in the sta- tion's letter-reading sessions than in Red Skelton. Bob Hope, and Jack Benny combined. Here are a few samples: "Dear John, Remember that cute sailor you introduced me to when you both were on leave? Well, he has been here ever since . . . Mother thinks he's wonderful and so do I. A few weeks ago he proposed to me and mother accepted him. You know how mother is. Hurry home, John, the wedding Is in June." Another one, on a sour note: "Dear John, 1 have met and married a fellow who was in the infantry for 31 months. I remember well the dreams we shared . . .however, I decided you lacked initiative and intelligence to get a decent job and provide for my future^ P. S. I am keeping the ring and camera for remembrances." A girl from Harlan, Ky.. wrote: "Dear John, Please do not be angry at me but I have just married. Re- member your /riend Joe whom you introduced to me on your last fur- lough? He is now my husband. Joe may have to go in the army soon and I am very worried since he. is susceptible to colds and nervous ... He often says you are lucky having traveled around . . . And now that the war is over, all you have to do is occupy for a. while and Okinawa is such a hysterical (crossed out) historical place." In the background, while the notes are being read, are heard the strains of "O Promise Me," sung by a GI. And without exception, the letters end with the equally ironic, "Your Friend Always." AH Hobbled Elman, Now He Rides Old'Hobby' Anchor Hocking's bowing out of sponsorship of Dave Elman's "Hobby Lobby," with Elman stepping info major domo the show on .its List four weeks, has brought, the dis- ■ closure that the AH sponsorship con- junct specified that Elman was not permitted to emcee the program. ! Clause is reported to have created j plenty of ill feeling between Elman, j who owns the package, and the [bnnkroller. ; Anchor Hocking has just boujjht ( the CBS-built "Crime Photographer" Uhow' af a replacement. Meanwhile, | Elman has moved in on his show j feeling that he can give it the I necessary hypo to wrap up a new I client. Toledo — Miller Associates. Inc., Toledo, has asked the FCC for authority to operate a new stand- ard radio station in Youngstown, O. Sony, we'd Ilk* t« hov* ftttty Oarrtt. en- iwtriirg our teUphorM*, but th*'ft featured fn th« Broadway thaw "Cad Me MMtr." Th»bl fl radioftfrtvro In Phifad^h'ta H WIT. Want Hm fearviwt about our 14#M tqvar* mil* fhtonlna aroa comprising | mHNon prosporovt pooplo? Call mo « « , \\ 1 f f WCP0*S HOME CHAT Cincinnati, July 16. For a warm-weather refresher WCPQ comes up with a chat series, "Sunday Evening, at tKe Reillys," a 25-minute stint originating in the apartment of Arthur Reilly, the sta- tion's ace news commentator. Sans commercials, the program has Reilly and his wife -as hosts to several ex-GI Joes and Janes who are selected from mail responses to aired invitations. Dick Laser produces. 'Queens' tsss Continued from pate 21 -^^J and courage enough to insist that the New York "home office" give those shows network tryouts! "When these men left for bigger jobs elsewhere, NBC was lucky. It fell heir to another good program man. The same was true of a few— but not all of the other studios. A glance at the calibre and number of broadcasts now originated here shows some studios could profit from another kind of audition—a hearing for a new program manager. "Such men could bring back part of Chicago's radio talent." Those 'Glf(B' Miss Hoskins' blast was headed "Radio and Free Gifts," and de- tailed the "thrills" experienced by two 'Chi gals chosen as "Queens." Miss Hopkins wrote:. "Mrs. Macel Britton was to re- ceive a new refrigerator. 'But it was six months ago last Friday,' she re- lated, 'and I've never heard boo about it. I have no certificate to show that it will ever come, and I've been told by the manufacturers, whom I called, that they had never heard of the show.' "Among other clothing and acces- sories, Mrs. Britton was also prom- ised a black suit and dress which were modeled for her. 'It was won- derful,' she said, 'because I've al- ways worn remodeled clothes be- longing to two sisters. But they didn't come either. '"After three months ot corre- spondence, I received a letter saying that due to shortages a check to cover the cost was enclosed. It was tor $35. But $35 won't buy or.e of those outfits today. "'I've been given lesser substitu- tions in several instances. My only question is, 'If they couldn't pro- duce, or shortages preventc ! such, why were .those things promised?' "The fact that the program was recorded here," Miss Hoskins con- tinued, "when the Mutual staff was grounded, but not used when they reached Hollywood in time to put the show on there, shouldn't have in- fluenced the gifts, Mrs. Britton rea- sons. But evidently she would not the only 'Queen' to have had dif- ficulty. "Mrs. Irene Bartholmey, a 'Queen* on Dec. 27 last, has had copious cor- respondence with the agency and Hollywood over her gifts. 'I wouldn't have cared if they hadn't shown everything to us on the stage,' she said, 'but immediately af- terward we were ignored. '"I received my perfume six months later. It, was a one-ounce substitute for the two-ounce per- fume retailing for $37.50, which I had been promised, Yet all the Chicago department stores had the perfume on sale. I checked. The gloves came in the wrong size. So did the hose. Why did they take all our sizes and then pay no attention to them? I didn't get the same dress and suit I was shown either.' 'Two other 'Queens' reported they were well satisfied," Miss Hoskins concluded, "though there had been minor substitutions for merchandise and ona still awaited three items. Their attitude was, 'We got it through luck; why say anything?'" Nets Eye SmaD Fry, As Indies Remain Beehives of Activity in Genl Slump Chicago, July 16, Like the networks/ small stations throughout the country are going through a state of turmoil currently but despite the curtailment of beer auto and suchlike advertising there are enough tyro radio bankrollers to keep them hopping, low budget ad vertisers being naturally in greater abundance than the heavy, network spenders. It's these small spenders that bear watching, however, be cause occasionally they grow up to be network bait. Activity among the smaller sta- tions is so lively, in fact, that tran- scription producers, script offices, syndicate services and radio produc tion outfits are hard put to fill or ders for shows for the newcomers with which station owners are flood ing them, What's happening to two of the old standby buyers, of time from these stations—beer and autos—is the same thing that's happening to others of their type, and, coinciden tally, it's responsible in part for new bankrollers anxious to get. on the air. As far as beer is concerned the agencies have retained a sem blance of their former munificence in the bigger cities where the brew eries are located, a typical example being the Chi agency , which is keep ing its beer account on the air here apparently for no other reason than to satisfy its client that his name is kept before the public in the home bailiwick, if nowhere else. Auto dealers, too, are still staying away—with the exception of Ford Buick and Plymouth dealers in cer- tain parts of the country to which cars are being rushed by manufac lurers. Latter have economic rea- sons for favoring one section more than another, which' won't be gone into here. Local Bli Solid The small station owners squawk- ed plenty loud about being by- passed at first—but not now, with all the other business they have on hand. In fact, certain types of lo cat business on small stations arc becoming so solid that the others that are off or pulling off may find themselves in an awful spot trying to get back on when business con ditions clear up. An odd angle, with reference to wheat products,- is that while na tional cereal accounts are chopping all the way down the line, with a number of cancellations still to come in daytime. network program ming that will surprise the indus- try, bread accounts are holding on for dear life. This may be because in the bread business there are so many small accounts nationwide that arc not handled by large agencies. In. other words, it only takes one call to a big agency to cancel one big show, but the little guys in the business are out to protect their brand names come high water or whatnot with plenty of plugging, despite wheat shortages. The big guys want that, too, but they have stockholders more often than not who can't agree with their ideas on bigtlme radio opera- tions at this time, what with taxes V stuff. Small-Town Spenders Here, for what it's worth, is a list of the current spenders in small towns who are in there pitching for all they're worth: bakeries, dept. stores, public utility outfits, drug stores, undertakers, theatres, super- markets, clothing stores, insurance agencies, tire recappers, florists, res- taurants, indie flve-and-dime stores, and used machinery, auto parts and refrigerator repair outfits. Some of these are definitely sur- prising to production guys who get calls from stations all over the coun- try for shows' that'll fit in with the general scheme of things. Those supermarkets, for instance: how did they get in there? Well, maybe they're in the same boat as the druggists, who never went out for radio postwar. The re- tailer,; however, has seen how the chains (Walgreen, Rexall anc' Whelan) have cleaned up, and fig- ures if they can do it he can, too; on a local basis. This feeling has been heightened, of course, by the con- tinued rationing of newsprint, with druggists and supermarkets alike finding it difficult to get all the ad space they want in local papers. There are also increasing calls for shows that would prove suitable for public utility outfits, such as gas. Tight and trolley companies—also from undertakers, who want re- ligious music programs mostly. That latter dsmand, incidentally, tics in very well with the fact that sta- tion ops are getting more and more calls from the public itself for re- ligious music on the air, explained by them as the result of the wave of religious feeling that always sweeps a country after a war. Ergo, the public wants solace; undertakers want time; church music fills both needs. Another peculiar trend in small towns is the increase in advertising outlays by clothing stores, which have, conversely, been cut down in big cities. That's because the big city guy opens his stores and the ex-Crs walk in and buy everything he has. Not so in the sticks, how- ever, where the local haberdasher uses radio to send out his news bul- letin of the day: "We got a shipment of white shirts this morning!" Insuranoe Badto-wise Like the druggists, . insurance agents in the rural areas are getting hep radiowise, too, apparently tak- ing their lead from network oper- ators like Mutual Benefit, Pruden- tial, etc. And the tire-recapping guy, who was forced into the busi- ness by the war, has now become a stable business man, his customers having found out that, recapped tires wear well; They like 'em— so much, in fact, that In a short while it's expected that the big rub- (Continued on page 37) JOHN LEWIS presents A Radio Program Of the Same Name WHAT'S NEW?... IN . . SCIENCE... BUSINESS... MEDICINE... HOME... MUSIC... ART... THEATRE... Etc., Etc. A one-voice, two-voice or dramatic quickie for- mat suitable for tingle or participating spon- sorship. C«?yrrfa» 1»4* by JOHN LEWIS 854 Seventh Ave. New York, N. Y. CI. 7-4317 LL 2-1100 WHO NEEDS A WRITER? El-Marine with aervU-e record ait writer of mainline and newn re- leanea. and radio allow.. AIM an radio producer uhd newaru.ter. Good radio voice and presence. Frown r background Included .ornraer Mock, minor appearance on Broadway, - year* teaching college drama depart- ment. Age 30, married, t children. Top character reference*, now la Hollywood writing book abort »torlen at publlahrr'a auggeatlon. Will ac- cept freelance .lint hnt preferably permant pot It Ion . . • Writ* BOX 607, VARIETY M« N. Michigan, ChlcHgo. III.