To celebrate its first four decades, WTIC Radio in Hartford, Connecticut
presented four episodes of "The Broadcaster at Forty", written and
produced by David Wilkinson, as special editions of Dick Bertel's daily
"Americana" program.
Part 1 covers the years between 1924 and 1934, and was broadcast on Monday, February 8, 1965.
Highlights include:
The Travelers Insurance Company's 1924 application for WTIC's license.
Upgrading the power from 500 to 50,000 watts, changing frequencies, sharing time with WBAL in Baltimore, and moving the transmitter to Avon Mountain.
Descriptions of the original studios and transmitting facilities at the Travelers building at 26 Grove Street (Bob Steele Street since 2013).
The development of commercial advertising.
Fred Wade remembering the popularity of Norman Cloutier and the Merry Madcaps as well as how "The Wrightsville Clarion", a comedic serial, was produced.
The 1925 inauguration of President Calvin Coolidge.
Engineer Al Jackson recalling how WTIC conducted an intense schedule of remote broadcasts.
Affiliating with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and carrying its inaugural broadcast.
Bill Hennessey interviewing singer, actor, and bandleader Rudy Vallée.
Bob Steele interviewing A.B. "Art" McGinley, the former host of "Speaking of Sports".
Dick Bertel interviewing Leonard J. Patricelli, WTIC vice president and general manager, and Paul W. Morency, president of Broadcast Plaza Inc., both hired in 1929.
Wire services protecting newspapers from radio competition.
Oscar-winning actor Ed Begley telling George Bowe about performing on "WTIC Playhouse".
Part 2: WTIC Radio 1935-1944
Part 2, which covers the years between 1935 and 1944, was broadcast on Tuesday, February 9, 1965.
Highlights include:
"History in the Headlines" hosted by Dr. Andre Schenker
"Hull's Hour of Cheer" sponsored by Hull Brewing Company, featuring the Four Royal Waiters, Fred Wade, and Rudy Martin and his orchestra.
Broadcast Plaza president Paul W. Morency and engineering supervisor Al Jackson recalling how WTIC managed the Great Flood of 1936 and the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.
"Stories in Song" sponsored by Malleable Iron Fittings, "the maker of the famous Branford Oil Burner".
First application for a TV license, the launch of WTIC-FM as experimental station W1XSO, fixing WTIC's frequency at 1080 kHz, and the introduction of the "V for Victory" time tone.
"Noontime Varieties" featuring "Bateese himself from Canada," played by comic Harold Crimi.
The "Gene and Glenn" show starring Gene Carroll and Glenn Rowell with Carroll's characters Jake and Lena.
"Quiz of Two Cities" sponsored by Listerine Toothpaste with anchor Bruce Kern and hosts George Bowe in Hartford and Turner Cook at the Hotel Sheraton in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Mile o' Dimes campaign for polio research in conjunction with "The Hartford Courant" newspaper.
Ed Anderson reporting on the end of trolley service.
Bob Steele reporting on the collapse of the Charter Oak Bridge.
1942 "Sign Up for Victory" show at the State Theatre to promote the U.S. Treasury pledge campaign to purchase war bonds, featuring Frank Sinatra singing with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
Bernard Mullins and George Bowe reporting on the 1944 Hartford circus fire which killed 167 people and injured more than 700 others.
Coverage of the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane.
Part 3 WTIC Radio 1945-1954
Part 3, which covers the years between 1945 and 1954, was broadcast on Thursday, February 11, 1965.
Highlights include:
Hartford mayor William Mortenson on World War II Allies' victory in Europe.
Dr. Andre Schenker, host of "History in the Headlines", interviewing chemical engineer Conrad G. Bacon, a Middletown, Conn. native who worked on the Manhattan Project at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
Bernard Mullins, Bob Steele, Floyd Richards, and Ross Miller reporting from the Old State House on people reacting to the Japanese surrender; V-J Day address by Governor Raymond E. Baldwin.
Staff pianist Laura C. Gaudet playing Franz Schubert's "Rosamunde" on "Songs of Acadia".
1947 recording of assistant general manager Walter Johnson and plant manager Herman Taylor recalling WTIC's 1924 test broadcast and Marie S. Patterson's program "Shopping with Susan" for Betty Pattee, "Radio Bazaar" host, and her husband Floyd Pattee, a WTIC writer and producer.
Rudy Martin and his orchestra playing "Do You Ever Think of Me?"
Bob Tyrol and Floyd Richards hosting "Cinderella Weekend" from the Orchid Room in Ryan's Restaurant.
"Mind Your Manners," an NBC program conducted in Hartford by WTIC announcer Allen Ludden who later hosted the CBS and ABC TV gameshow "Password" from 1961 to 1975.
Farm director Frank Atwood explaining how the WTIC Farm Youth loan program helps boys and girls purchase heifers to establish a herd.
WTIC Radio vice president and general manager Leonard J. Patricelli reminiscing about producing "Songs from New England Colleges".
Ed Anderson reporting on the National Guard 43rd Infantry Division boarding a train to begin its deployment during the Korean War.
Interview of a survivor of an F4 tornado that struck Worcester, Massachusetts on June 9, 1953, killing 94 people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
First lady Mamie Eisenhower christening the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the world's first nuclear submarine, at the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Conn.
Part 4: WTIC Radio 1955-1965
This hour, which covers the years between 1955 and 1965, was broadcast on Friday, February 12, 1965.
Highlights include:
Introduction of weather probabilities, the 1957 launch of Channel 3 as WTIC-TV (WFSB since 1974), and the 1964 formation of Broadcast Plaza Inc.
Captain Edward G. Polanski of the air section of the 43rd Infantry Division of the National Guard relating his effort to rescue people from a Farmington Valley house that collapsed during the Great Flood of 1955; Major Charles A. Hadfield of the Air National Guard passing along reports of the flood's devastation; WTIC Flood Bank campaign on behalf of the American Red Cross.
Ed Anderson reporting on the fire that destroyed Hartford's Cathedral of St. Joseph on New years's Eve 1956
Gladden W. Baker, the chairman of the Urban Development Committee of the Greater Hartford Chamber of Commerce (and the Travelers Insurance Company's Finance Committee), speaking on how Constitution Plaza will replace Front Street.
Senator John F. Kennedy addressing a crowd from The Hartford Times Building as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States on November 7, 1960, the eve of Election Day.
Paul W. Morency, president of the Travelers Broadcasting Service, speaking at the 1961 dedication ceremony for Broadcast House on Constitution Plaza.
Dick Bertel and Dick O'Brien reporting on the 1961 Hartford Hospital fire.
News bulletins about the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy interrupting "Mikeline", hosted that day by Floyd Richards and Bob Ellsworth.
You can hear the full first hour of coverage just before the shooting here, and the second hour after the shooting is here on our website.
Striking the bell of the USS Hartford (1858) at the May 11, 1964 dedication of Constitution Plaza with master of ceremonies Herbert J. Kramer, Travelers Insurance vice president.
The Broadcasters Foundation presenting the fifth annual Golden Mike Award to WTIC vice president and general manager Leonard J. Patricelli at The Pierre hotel in New York; Metropolitan Opera coloratura soprano Gianna D'Angelo singing with a 40-piece orchestra conducted by Moshe Paranov, co-founder of the Hartt School of Music and formerly WTIC's musical director.