Golden age of broadcast radio event Feb. 23
Date: 02/24/2012
(Feb. 14, 2012) – The Center will host “Nostalgia Theater,” a trip back to the golden age of network radio, at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 23 in the activity room. Admission will be free.
Don Miller and Larry Fuller will reminisce about and share their memories of classic network radio shows, reaching back to an era that began in 1926 when National Broadcasting Co. opened. Visitors will be invited to recall their favorite old-time radio programs and personalities.
“Old-time radio programs conveyed noble myths, like crime does not pay, goodness is always rewarded and evil will not go unpunished,” says Miller, a longtime Siouxland radio newsman. “Radio produced shows that entertained millions of at-home listeners, such as ‘Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,’ ‘The Lone Ranger,’ ‘Lux Radio Theater,’ ‘Sam Spade Private Eye’ and many more.”
On Sunday afternoons during radio’s heyday, Siouxlanders could tune into “The Shadow” on KTRI, now KWSL; and KCOM, now KMNS. The popular serial drama premiered in 1937 over the Mutual Broadcasting Network.
Radio began giving way to TV in the post-World War II Baby Boom. The last two radio dramas, “Suspense” and “Yours Truly Johnny Dollar,” were canceled by Columbia Broadcasting System on Sept. 30, 1962.
Miller’s interest in broadcast radio history began in January 1976 when the former KBCM (now KG95) aired hour-long, old-time radio shows on Sunday afternoons. Immediately popular, the programs expanded to two hours. Fuller, a fan of the show and a pharmaceutical sales representative, was a frequent winner of the show’s trivia quizzes. The show ran until the station was sold in May 1983.
In 2002, KSCJ asked Miller to host six hours of old-time radio for the station’s 75th birthday. Fuller provided shows from his collection of some 12,000 recordings for the program. Later that year, Miller and Fuller teamed up to host a Saturday morning nostalgia show for the station. They’ve been an old-time radio team ever since, playing radio classics for two hours each Saturday morning.
The Betty Strong Encounter Center and adjoining Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center comprise a private, non-profit cultural complex built and sustained by Missouri River Historical Development, Inc. (MRHD). The Center is located on Sioux City’s riverfront, exit 149 off I-29. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.siouxcitylcic.com or call 712-224-5242.