Art

At the height of America's Arts and Crafts movement, Detroit neighbors Horace J. Caulkins and Mary Chase Perry pooled their talents together to found Pewabic Pottery.

With modest beginnings in 1903, Pewabic transformed from a rented stable in Brush Park to an English Tudor building on East Jefferson Avenue, where it has operated since 1907. Today, the iconic enterprise continues Perry's dedication to handcrafted ceramics and remains known for its iridescent glaze on everything from vessels and architectural tiles to ecclesiastical installations in churches across the country, including the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Author Cara Catallo illuminates the story behind one of the oldest American handcrafted pottery traditions.

Take a seat in the front for a journey through the first 50 years of TV in Chicago. Many of the pioneering stations there defined the early years with innovation, personaility and programming.

The history of television in Chicago begins with the birth of the medium and is defined by the city's pioneering stations. WBKB (now WLS-TV) was the principal innovator of the Chicago School of Television, an improvisational production style that combined small budgets, personable talent, and the creative use of scenery and props. WNBQ (now WMAQ-TV) expanded the innovative concept to a wider audience via the NBC network. WGN-TV scored with sports and kids. Strong personalities drove the success of WBBM-TV. A noncommercial educational station, WTTW, and the city's first UHF station, WCIU, added diversity and ethnic programming. The airwaves in Chicago have been home to a wealth of talented performers and iconic programs that have made the city one of the country's greatest television towns. Chicago Television, featuring photographs from the archives of the Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) and the collections of local stations and historians, gives readers a front-row seat on a journey through the fi rst 50 years of Chicago television, 1940-1990. Founded in 1982 by broadcaster Bruce DuMont, the MBC Web site offers over 10,000 digital assets.

Detroit broadcasting history is rich with character . . . and characters.

It began atop the Penobscot Building on October 23, 1946, when WWDT shot a signal to the convention center, part of a ""New Postwar Products Exposition."" WWJ-TV offered scheduled programming in June 1947, and WXYZ-TV and WJBK-TV jumped in a year later. The medium has influenced the city's personality and social agenda ever since. Soupy Sales turned getting a pie in the face into an art form. Mort Neff celebrated the state's outdoor charms. George Pierrot showed Detroiters the world. Other beloved personalities include: Milky the Clown, Ed McKenzie, Sonny Eliot, John Kelly, Marilyn Turner, Robin Seymour, Bill Bonds, Dick Westerkamp, Jingles, Bill Kennedy, Lou Gordon, Captain Jolly, Johnny Ginger, Auntie Dee, and many more.

Cincinnati Television provides an informative entertaining look at Cincinnati's broadcast history through the images and stories of its participants.

Cincinnati has a distinguished television history. Beginning before WLW-T signed on the air in February 1948, its experimental station W8XCT broadcast from the 46th floor of the Carew Tower. WKRC-TV and WCPO-TV signed on in 1949, WCET in 1954, and WXIX-TV in 1968. Since then, television has become part of the family.

Uncle Al, Skipper Ryle, Batty Hattie from Cincinnati, the Cool Ghoul, Peter Grant, Al Schottelkotte, Nick Clooney, Ruth Lyons, Paul Baby, Bob Braun, and Jerry Springer visited Cincinnati living rooms on television. Remember Midwestern Hayride, TV Dance Party, PM Magazine, Juvenile Court, Young People's Specials, Lilias, Dotty Mack, Bob Shreve, Mr. Hop, Bean's Clubhouse, The Last Prom, and Ira Joe? They are part of the collective Cincinnati history, part of the Cincinnati culture, and part of the Cincinnati family.

Jim Friedman is a Cincinnati native and resident wordsmith who has created television shows since 1979. He has won 56 regional Emmy Awards for writing, directing, and producing television shows for WCPO-TV, WKRC-TV, WLWT, WXIX, and WCET. He created The Celebrate Series, The Dooley Show, Everyday Freedom Heroes, and the Dreambuilder movies. In Cincinnati Television, he shares memories from in front of the camera, behind the scenes, and all over town.

Founded in 1881, the Cincinnati Art Museum is one of the oldest art museums in the United States. Public art museums were still rare, especially as far west as Cincinnati. But the city had emerged as a thriving cultural center and calls for an art museum grew, led by the passionate and determined members of the Women's Art Museum Association. Thanks largely to their efforts, a public subscription attracted the contributions required for construction to begin. Eden Park, which overlooked downtown Cincinnati and the Ohio River valley, was chosen as the site for the museum. When it finally opened in May 1886, the museum was described as a gift of the people for the people, acknowledging the crucial role Cincinnatians had played in its establishment. The original building now has eight additional wings; the collection boasts 66,000 works of art, which span 6,000 years of human history; and the museum has inspired and educated generations.

In 1949, when the first television station in Indianapolis was about to go on the air, R.K. Shull, the venerated television columnist for the Indianapolis Times and Indianapolis News, said, "Channel 6 has laid plans for the biggest possible attention-grabbing debut a TV station could make in Indianapolis . . . live coverage of the Indianapolis 500-mile race." Only three cameras covered the entire track, but the audience at the time was not very discriminating. Before networks had full-time programming, casts and crews experimented with the new medium in full view of the audience. Even after the networks began to monopolize programming, a number of local personalities became viewer favorites. David Letterman decided to have fun with the weather. Jane Pauley refused to cut her long locks, so her entire face was seldom seen on location in windy weather. George Willeford made fun of the movies he was introducing. Frank Edwards had his dog sitting on his desk during his newscast. Debbie Drake started her own daily exercise show, which was later nationally syndicated.