Name: Oklahoma City Radio
Brand: Michael Dean
SKU: 9781467103435
Price: 18.74 USD
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Oklahoma City Radio

9781467103435

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From the beginning of commercial radio in 1920, Oklahoma City was on the leading edge of this new enterprise. WKY radio went on the air in January 1920, making it one of the earliest radio stations in America. Soon, the station began broadcasting regular programming and was the third station in America and the first west of the Mississippi to broadcast regular daily programs. In August 1928, E.K. Gaylord, owner of the Daily Oklahoman newspaper, purchased the station, and in December of that year, WKY became affiliated with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Gaylord’s long association with NBC president David Sarnoff resulted in WKY originating programs for NBC out of the Oklahoma City studio from the mid-1930s extending through WKY-TV in the 1970s. WKY and KOMA became the launching pad for several well-known public figures, such as Walter Cronkite, Curt Gowdy, and Todd Storz.

Cover image for Oklahoma City Radio, isbn: 9781467103435

New York City Radio

9780738598093

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New York City's extraordinary radio history, much like the story of the city itself, is a tale of strivers, dreamers, and ingenious risk takers. New York City Radio presents an unprecedented visual history featuring many of these timeless characters, including radio inventors Lee De Forest and Maj. Edwin Armstrong; entrepreneurs and trailblazers David Sarnoff, William Paley, Bernice Judis, and Hal Jackson; beloved heroes Dan Ingram, Frankie Crocker, and Alison Steele; controversial antiheroes Don Imus, Bob Grant, and Howard Stern; and many others. New York City Radio tells the story of the invention and perfection of the art of big-time, big-city radio broadcasting and the life and times of the most competitive, important, and exciting radio market in the country.

Baltimore Radio and Television

9781467103503

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Beginning with Calman Zamoiski’s unlicensed and short-lived “wireless telephone” station in 1921, Baltimore would boast five commercial radio stations within the next 20 years.

Before the 1940s ended, commercial television appeared with the debut of WMAR, Channel 2, in 1947. WMAR was unique in that it had no personnel with television experience and, initially, no studios, broadcasting instead from various remote locations. Over the years, Baltimore radio and television stations served as the launchpad or stopover point of some of the most beloved personalities in the industry. Garry Moore, Arthur Godfrey, and Jim McKay all got their starts here, while Gene Rayburn, Jon Miller, Oprah Winfrey, John Saunders, Nick Charles, Spencer Christian, Bob McAllister, and others passed through en route to national broadcasting prominence. Baltimoreans did not just bond with the people and programs of their local stations. It was a genuine love affair.

Cover image for Baltimore Radio and Television, isbn: 9781467103503

Buffalo Radio

9781467106368

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Since the first broadcasts of Buffalo, New York's pioneer radio stations during the 1920s, the medium has played an important role in the everyday lives of the city's citizens. From snowstorms to Super Bowls, radio and its talented broadcasters have helped to shape the city's identity. Buffalo's longest operating station, WGR, signed on the air in May 1922 and was soon followed by WEBR (1924), WKBW (1926), and WBEN (1930), among others. Over the decades, the city has been home to a number of legendary announcers, including Clint Buehlman and Billy Keaton and sports broadcasters Ralph Hubble, Bill Mazer, Van Miller, and Stan Barron, as well as beloved talk show hosts like John Otto and pioneer rock and roll DJs like George "Hound Dog" Lorenz. Buffalo became a breeding ground for network radio stars, including Howdy Doody's "Buffalo" Bob Smith, comedian Foster Brooks, NBC Tonight Show host Jack Paar, and Fran Striker, the creator of The Lone Ranger. Top 40 personalities like Joey Reynolds, Dick Biondi, Tommy Shannon, and Danny Neaverth ruled the airwaves with excitement and spontaneity during the 1960s.

Theatres of San Francisco

9780738530208

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You read the sad stories in the papers: another ornate, 1920s, single-screen theatre closes, to be demolished and replaced by a strip mall. That's progress, and in this 20-screen multiplex world, it's happening more and more. Only a handful of the 100 or so neighborhood theatres that once graced these streets are left in San Francisco, but they live on in the photographs featured in this book. The heyday of such venues as the Clay, Noe, Metro, New Mission, Alexandria, Coronet, Fox, Uptown, Coliseum, Surf, El Rey, and Royal was a time when San Franciscans thronged to the movies and vaudeville shows, dressed to the hilt, to see and be seen in majestic art deco palaces. Unfortunately, this era has passed into history despite the dedicated efforts of many neighborhood preservation groups.

Location Filming in the Alabama Hills

9781467131315

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Forged from glaciers and sacred to Native Americans, the mountains, boulders, and rocks of the Alabama Hills mirror landscapes found all over the world. A scenic three-hour drive from the Hollywood sign, this location would prove to serve as the place to make movies. Early Hollywood studios sent location scouts to the area after hearing stories shared by travelers, and the rest is movie history. Over 500 films have completed shooting here, including silents, A movies, B Westerns, serials, sci-fi, film noir, television shows, and commercials. Tom Mix, Errol Flynn, John Wayne, William Boyd, Clayton Moore, Lucille Ball, Roy Rogers, Natalie Wood, Humphrey Bogart, Steve McQueen, Russell Crowe, Jamie Foxx, and many more have all scrambled amongst the terrain in the Alabama Hills.

Early Warner Bros. Studios

9780738580913

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Since 1928, Warner Bros. has produced thousands of beloved films and television shows at the studio's magical 110-acre film factory in Burbank. This collection of evocative images concentrates on the Warner Bros. legacy from the 1920s to the 1950s, when timeless classics such as Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, and East of Eden came to life. It also looks at WB's earlier homes along Hollywood's "Poverty Row," the birthplace of Looney Tunes, and the site of WB's pioneering marriage between film and sound in the 1920s. Early Warner Bros. Studios also tells the tale of four brothers--Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner--scions of a Polish Jewish immigrant family who rose from the humblest of origins to become Hollywood moguls of enormous and lasting influence.

Early Poverty Row Studios

9781467132589

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The history of Hollywood is often seen only through the lens of the major studios, forgetting that many of Tinseltown's early creations came from micro-studios stretched along Sunset Boulevard in an area disparagingly known as Poverty Row. Here, the first wave of West Coast moviemakers migrated to the tiny village of Hollywood, where alcohol was illegal, actors were unwelcome, and cattle were herded down the unpaved streets. Most Poverty Row producers survived from film to film, their fortunes tied to the previous week's take from hundreds of nickelodeon tills. They would routinely script movies around an event or disaster, often creating scenarios using sets from more established productions, when the bosses weren't looking, of course. Poverty Row quickly became a generic term for other fly-by-night studios throughout the Los Angeles area. Their struggles to hang on in Hollywood were often more intriguing than the serialized cliffhangers they produced.

Showgirls of Las Vegas

9780738596532

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Little girls all over the world may hope to grow up to become a princess, but few ever realize the dream. For those who grow up to become showgirls, they go far beyond, becoming goddess-like objects of men's desire and the epitome of feminine beauty, elegance, and class. As soon as resort casinos began to dot the dusty Las Vegas landscape, major stars, extravagant show productions, and beautiful women helped promote the city to become the ultimate adult playground. In the early 1950s, when women began to dance and parade on the stages of Las Vegas, the showgirl persona evolved from the seductive burlesque-style performance art to the elegant productions modeled after those staged in France, with women dripping in furs and feathers, or in nothing more than a G-string and rhinestones. The over-the-top Las Vegas productions may have faded into obscurity, leaving but one show, Bally's Jubilee, as the longest running showgirl show on the Las Vegas Strip, but the iconic showgirl will forever represent Las Vegas in all of its glitz and glory.

Early Paramount Studios

9781467130103

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For over 100 years, Paramount Pictures has been captivating movie and television audiences worldwide with its alluring imagery and compelling stories. Arising from the collective genius of Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky, and Cecil B. DeMille during the 1910s, Paramount Pictures is home to such enduring classics as Wings, Sunset Boulevard, The Ten Commandments, Love Story, The Godfather, the Indiana Jones series, Chinatown, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Titanic, and Star Trek. Early Paramount Studios chronicles Paramount's origins, culminating in the creation and expansion of the lot at 5555 Melrose Avenue, the last major motion picture studio still in Hollywood.

Chicago Television

9780738577135

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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 Television

9780738577074

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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.

Syracuse Television

9780738598345

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Syracuse Television features the zaniness of Baron Daemon, lessons from the Magic Toy Shop, and live fun from Jim Deline and the Gang and The Markert Place.

Central New Yorkers have been treated to many memorable television moments since December 1, 1948, when WHEN-TV Channel 8 signed on the air for the first time. In a record 16 days after equipment arrived at its 101 Court Street site, the station was miraculously up and running. Syracuse's pioneer broadcasters were eager to explore this bold, new world with programs that would entertain, educate, and inform. Over the years, personalities and programs became familiar to Central New Yorkers. There was news coverage from Fred Hillegas, Ron Curtis, Rod Wood, and Carrie Lazarus and weather forecasts from Stormy Meredith, Big Al Roker, Dave Eichorn, and Wayne Mahar.

The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz

9780738539867

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The Balaban and Katz Theater Corporationperfected the movie palaceconcept in Chicago, creating an extremely popular pastime that contributed greatly to Chicago's cultural identity.

The Balabans started in the movie theater business in 1908 by leasing the 100-seat Kedzie Nickelodeonon Kedzie Avenue. Balaban brothers Barney and A. J. dreamed of operating 5,000-seat movie palaces, so in 1916, they joined family friends Sam and Morris Katz to form the Balaban and Katz Theater Corporation. Their mission was to offer an unrivaled theater-going experience with the finest live performances and service. They built ornate theaters, such as the Chicago, the Uptown, and the Congress Theaters, filling them with fine furnishings, antiques, and artwork.Balaban and Katzproduced live stage shows between the movies with the likes of Bob Hope, Louis Armstrong, and Benny Goodman. Sadly, only a few of these gorgeous theaters still stand today.

Author David Balaban is named after his grandfather, one of the seven Balaban brothers who ran Balaban and Katz. Join him as he shares the stories and images of grandfather and great-uncles movie theaters.

The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz

Boston Radio

9780738574103

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Boston's radio history begins with pioneering station 1XE/WGI, one of America's first radio stations, and includes the first station to receive a commercial license, WBZ; the first FM radio network, W1XOJ and W1XER; and one of the first news networks, the Yankee News Service. Nationally known bandleaders like Joe Rines and Jacques Renard were first heard on Boston radio, as was one of the first weathercasters, E. B. Rideout. The city has been home to a number of legendary announcers, such as Bob and Ray, Arnie Ginsburg, Dick Summer, Dale Dorman, and Charles Laquidara; talk show giants like Jerry Williams and David Brudnoy; and sports talkers like Eddie Andelman and Glenn Ordway. Many Boston radio personalities, such as Curt Gowdy, "Big Brother" Bob Emery, Don Kent, and Louise Morgan, found fame on television but first established themselves on Boston's airwaves. Since 1920, Boston radio has remained vibrant, proving that live and local stations are as important as ever.

Theatres in Los Angeles

9780738555799

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Los Angeles and the movies grew up together, and a natural extension of the picture business was the premium presentation of the product--the biggest, best, and brightest theatres imaginable. The magnificent movie palaces along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles still represent the highest concentration of vintage theatres in the world. With Hollywood and the movies practically synonymous, the theatres in the studios' neighborhood were state-of-the-art for showbiz, whether they were designed for film, vaudeville, or stage productions. From the elegant Orpheum and the exotic Grauman's Chinese to the modest El Rey, this volume celebrates the architecture and social history of Los Angeles's unique collection of historic theatres past and present. The common threads that connect them all, from the grandest movie palace to the smallest neighborhood theatre, are stories and the ghosts of audiences past waiting in the dark for the show to begin.

Cincinnati Theaters

9781467115247

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Theaters have always been the places where memories are made. There, on Saturday afternoons, children could escape the pressures of growing up to live for two hours in a fantasy world of daring heroes, dastardly villains, and dazzling magic. They were the places where awkward teenage boys could nervously, and often clumsily, put their arms around equally nervous girls. In years past, every neighborhood had its own local theater. Downtown was home to the great movie palaces, ornate portals to a world of motion picture thrills. For a unique experience, nothing could beat a hot summer night at the drive-in. Today, in the era of the corporate multiplex, the great movie palaces are just memories. Some neighborhood cinemas are now churches or venues for meetings, wedding receptions, and small concerts. Images of America: Cincinnati Theaters looks back at these marvelous old theaters and the days when they were in their prime.

Cover image for Cincinnati Theaters, isbn: 9781467115247

Historic Movie Houses of Austin

9781467117180

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Motion pictures came to Austin on October 10, 1896, debuting at the Hancock Opera House. Since then, movies have continued to enchant, entertain, and inform the citizens of the capital of Texas. And, the places—the movie houses and theaters—where people saw motion pictures played just as important a role in the moviegoing experience as the movies themselves. As the city's population grew and motion picture technology changed, so too did Austin's movie houses, from the first kinetoscope parlor on Congress Avenue to the city' s first four-plex, the Aquarius 4, in southeast Austin. While most of these places are long gone, some withstood the test of time and are still showing movies or have been repurposed for other uses. Through the rich archival collections of the Austin History Center, Historic Movie Houses of Austin explores the stories of these important historic spaces and of the lives of those who were connected with them.

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Old Tucson Studios

9780738556291

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In 1939, Columbia Pictures based a film on Clarence Kelland's book Arizona, set during the Civil War in Arizona Territory. To accurately portray the novel's landscape, Columbia selected a spot about 10 miles from what is now downtown Tucson in the middle of a large Pima County park for the filming. In 1959, Bob Shelton, a Kansas City developer, purchased the lot, determined to build an active movie studio and tourist attraction. His vision was successful, and Old Tucson Studios has set the stage for over 200 movies and television shows. As Western movies regain their popularity in the box office, the future looks bright for Old Tucson Studios to become a premier filming site in Arizona.

Movie Studios of Culver City

9780738582009

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After watching pioneer filmmaker Thomas Ince film one of his famous Westerns on Ballona Creek, city founder Harry Culver saw the economic base for his city. Culver announced plans for the city in 1913 and attracted three major movie studios to Culver City, along with smaller production companies. "The Heart of Screenland" is fittingly etched across the Culver City seal. These vintage images are a tour through the storied past of this company town on the legendary movie lots bearing the names of Thomas Ince, Hal Roach, Goldwyn, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lorimar, MGM-UA, Columbia, Sony Pictures, DeMille, RKO-Pathe, Selznick, Desilu, Culver City Studios, Laird International, the Culver Studios, and such nearly forgotten mini-factories as the Willat Studios. On these premises, Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial, and other classics were filmed, along with tens of thousands of television shows and commercials featuring Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and many others.

Bay Area Radio

9780738589107

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The San Francisco Bay Area was a key national radio-broadcasting center during the first three decades of commercial radio. In 1909, it was home to the very beginnings of the art and science of broadcasting, when Charles Doc Herrold began sending out weekly voice and music programs from his radio school in San Jose. Dozens of other radio pioneers soon followed. In 1926, big broadcasting came to San Francisco when the newly formed National Broadcasting Company (NBC) established its West Coast headquarters on Sutter Street. Other national and regional networks soon set up their own broadcast production centers, and for the next 20 years, thousands of actors, musicians, announcers, and engineers were creating important programs that were heard on the West Coast as well as nationwide. During World War II, San Francisco became the key collection center for Pacific war news, and bulletins received in San Francisco were quickly relayed to an anxious nation. Conversely, powerful shortwave stations broadcast war news and propaganda back to the Pacific and entertained American troops overseas.

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Boston's Theater District

9781467105897

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Downtown Boston once thrived as a dazzling bohemia of burlesque halls, movie palaces, dime museums, and regal stages. By 1915, more than 20 theaters crowded along a quarter-mile stretch of lower Washington Street. The theater district gave birth to vaudeville and incubated some of America's most darling musicals and daring new dramas en route to Broadway. Theatergoers flocked to Tremont and Boylston Streets to watch the latest tryouts. Some productions flopped; others, like Oklahoma! and Paul Robeson's Othello, were runaway hits. Still others earned the coveted seal of disapproval, "Banned in Boston," from zealous city censors. Overrun by seedy venues in the 1970s, the Combat Zone, as it came to be known, seemed to justify old Puritan fears that the stage would corrupt public morals. Only in recent years has the district rebounded through careful restoration of storied playhouses like the Boston Opera House, the Majestic, and the Colonial--grand vestiges of a booming cultural corridor still vibrant today.

Cincinnati Television

9780738551692

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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.

Cover image for Cincinnati Television, isbn: 9780738551692

Pittsburgh Film and Television

9781467120883

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Celebrated as the home of the first nickelodeon, Pittsburgh operated as a significant part of the film industry for the first 30 years of the 20th century. Unfortunately, the emergence of Hollywood and the evolution of the industry crippled Pittsburgh. Despite hard times, the Steel City avoided extinction and eventually became a cinematic powerhouse with the emergence of television and location filmmaking. Shows such as Chiller Theater and Studio Wrestling and movies like The Silence of the Lambs, The Deer Hunter, Night of the Living Dead, and The Dark Knight Rises are all part of Pittsburgh's rich entertainment history, which began in 1898. Pittsburgh proudly continues to produce film and television for a worldwide audience of all ages.

Movie Houses of Greater Newark

9780738599335

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For decades, Newark and its environs have been lit up by the bright neon lights of grand movie palaces and theaters. In the early 20th century, stages that were originally built for vaudeville acts were turned over to silver screens and the flickering images from motion-picture projectors. This new technology ushered Hollywood movies to the East Coast and made cinema accessible for locals to enjoy. Movie houses and palaces provided moviegoers a new type of viewing experience. With ornate interiors and rich architecture, these institutions offered their patrons a beautiful setting to watch classic films. Over time, these establishments evolved and began hosting burlesque shows and rock concerts. Today, many of these downtown landmarks have been demolished, replaced, or adaptively renovated into the modern multiplexes of today. Images of the Paramount and the Mosque Theater help Movie Houses of Greater Newark tell the story of an era when going to the movies was an event.

Iowa's WHO Radio

9780738576305

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When a Des Moines insurance company started a radio station in 1924, no one imagined it would bring news from a world war home to families desperate for information, carry the exploits of University of Iowa athletics to fans nationwide, draw the ire of a Cuban dictator, and be home to a future president. From the earliest days of "This is W-H-O. Who? Bankers Life, Des Moines" to today's "50,000-watt, clear channel voice of the middle west," one of the most powerful radio stations in America has been part of Iowa life for nearly 90 years. With a signal that reaches "from coast to coast, border to border, and then some," trusted voices such as Jack Shelley, Herb Plambeck, Jim Zabel, Lee Kline, and Duane Ellett have graced the WHO radio airwaves, while Van & Bonnie, Jan Mickelson, Bob Quinn, and others carry on the tradition today. From the Barn Dance Frolic and Phone Forum to Sportsman's Notebook and The Big Show, WHO has consistently reflected the values of Iowans.

Philadelphia Television

9781467122764

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The history of Philadelphia television is the history of television in America. Philo Farnsworth, credited with inventing television, performed some of his earliest experiments at the Franklin Institute and at 1230 Mermaid Lane. Those experiments led to the city's first television station, W3XE. Channel 3 was also the first local station in the country to broadcast in color. WCAU-TV Channel 10 constructed the first building in the world designed specifically as a television station. WFIL created one of the most iconic shows in television history, American Bandstand, as well as Action News, which has helped Channel 6 stay on top of the ratings for most of the last 40 years. Dick Clark, Ed McMahon, Ernie Kovacs, Tom Snyder, David Brenner, Maury Povich, Kelly Ripa, Brian Williams, and others are among those who have worked in Philadelphia television throughout its history.

New Orleans Television

9780738554044

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More than 50 years ago, with the flip of a switch and the turn of a dial, local television became an unforgettable part of New Orleans culture. For many viewers, the memories remain vivid, even if much of what they saw was in black and white. This collection of vintage photographs highlights the history of popular programs and personalities, beginning with the city's first station, WDSU-TV. After signing on the air in 1948, Channel 6 introduced favorites like Mrs. Muffin, The Great MacNutt, and Midday while building a news team that included local icons Mel Leavitt, Nash Roberts, and Alec Gifford. In 1957, WWL-TV took to the airwaves, developing a reputation for quality local programming and dominant news coverage. Channel 4 made household names out of Morgus the Magnificent, Hap Glaudi, John Pela, Phil Johnson, Bill Elder, and Angela Hill.

Theatres of the San Francisco Peninsula

9780738575780

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The San Francisco Peninsula serves as a geographic and transportation link between the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and all points north and south. As commerce increased along its highways and railroad lines from the late 19th century onward, cities and towns flourished along that corridor. Wherever commerce went, entertainment followed. Beginning with early playhouses and storefront nickelodeons, continuing through the movie palace period, the golden age of the drive-in theatre, and into the days of the multiplex, this volume of vintage photographs captures the various eras as they applied to the peninsula.

Detroit Opera House

9781467107778

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Utilizing remarkable images from the Manning Brothers Historical Collection, the Michigan Opera Theatre Archives, and several additional collections, Michael Hauser and Marianne Weldon have captured the excitement of the shared entertainment experience in Detroit Opera House.

The theater known today as the Detroit Opera House has been an integral part of the city's culture and history as well as the live entertainment industry. Its existence has been threatened in the past, but it has survived wars, the Great Depression, civil unrest, economic meltdowns, the abandonment of downtown, and, most recently, a pandemic. Generations of patrons have fond, vivid memories of attending films, stage presentations, or events with family and friends as it transitioned from the Broadway Capitol to the Paramount to the Grand Circus to the Detroit Opera House. The reason for building these "temples of amusement" was to literally transport a guest into another world, and the Detroit Opera House has valiantly fulfilled that task. What began as an idea by David DiChiera, founder of Michigan Opera Theatre, the owner and operator of today's Detroit Opera House, blossomed into a magnificent performing arts center with its formal opening in 1996.

Hauser is marketing manager for the Detroit Opera House, and Weldon is the collections manager for art and artifacts at Bryn Mawr College.

South Jersey Movie Houses

9780738544663

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Since the early 1900s, when the first moving images flickered on the screens of storefront nickelodeons, going to the movies has been an integral part of life across America. By the 1950s, there were over 230 theaters in southern New Jersey, ranging from lavish palaces like the 2,000-seat Stanley in Camden to modest venues like the 350-seat Little in Haddonfield. Today, sadly, less than a dozen remain standing, and most of those are now used for other commercial purposes. Only the Broadway in Pitman continues to operate as the last of the original motion-picture palaces. South Jersey Movie Houses is a pictorial tour of the theaters that once raised their curtains to audiences across the southern part of the state. It offers a nostalgic look at their neon marquees and silver screens, bringing back memories of Saturday matinees, 3-D glasses, and movie date nights.

Fox Theatre

9780738594491

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Even beyond Atlanta, this amazing, Moorish-style icon is known by most not by its legal name, the Fox Theatre, but as the Fabulous Fox.

Constructed in the late 1920s as a temple for the Yaarab Shrine, the imposing yellow-brick building was designed to out Baghdad Baghdad in its elaborate Middle Eastern appearance. But the onion-domed exterior with its faux prayer towers is nothing compared to the elaborate interior. Movie mogul William Fox leased the auditorium from the Shriners in 1929, transforming it into a movie palace like no other. The theater became a place of spectacular premieres and world-class performances until changing times threatened its very existence in the 1970s. The campaign to Save the Fox proved more dramatic than some of the performances that graced Fox's own stage. Today, the Fabulous Fox is one of Atlanta's best-known and most cherished landmarks.

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Phoenix Television

9781467102797

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Immediately following World War II, television burst upon the American scene. Radio had been the popular way of receiving news and entertainment during the war years, but now, television could provide pictures to illustrate radio's programs. It was like having your own personal movie theater in your living room. Although isolated in the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix citizens were not to be denied the wonders of this new communication medium. KPHO-TV, Channel 5, signed on the air on December 4, 1949, with a selection of programs from all four television networks. Channels 12, 10, and 3 were soon to follow, and the lifestyles of the residents of Phoenix would never be the same. The flickering blue light from the Magnavox or RCA receivers danced on the curtains of the darkened living rooms all over town. Now Phoenicians could experience the televised dramas from New York City or view the films of Hollywood with just the flip of a switch—and maybe some careful adjustment of the rabbit ears.

Cover image for Phoenix Television, isbn: 9781467102797

Las Vegas Radio and Television

9781467106443

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George Thomas Apfel brings to life the history of radio and television in Las Vegas from its humble origins in Strip hotels to becoming a thriving broadcasting industry in one of the nation's fastest growing metros.

The history of broadcasting in Las Vegas began with the first radio station, KGIX, to crackle the airwaves in the 1920s, started by J.M. "Jack'? Heaton, who ran the Las Vegas railroad operation. By the 1940s, the railroad was no longer a major factor; instead, legalized gaming and the Strip drove the growth of the city and, consequently, radio and television. Maxwell Kelch, who was responsible for leading the effort to publicize Las Vegas as a tourist destination, launched the second and oldest existing radio station, KENO. Radio and TV personalities such as Coffee Jim Dandy, Red Mcilvaine, Hal Morelli, Hank Thornley, and Walt Reno were household names to Las Vegans in the 1960s and 1970s. From the 1940s and 1950s, when every radio station called a Strip hotel home, to the mega-consolidation of the mid-1990s, when big corporations took control of many of the Las Vegas signals, the world of radio and television in Las Vegas has evolved significantly. Today, Las Vegas is the 30th largest radio market in the United States. George Thomas Apfel worked in Las Vegas radio for 40 years as an on-air host, manager, and engineer. Many of the photographs he has selected are from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas library, along with images from his personal collection and submissions from former coworkers in the radio industry.

Milwaukee Movie Theaters

9780738584454

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Prior to World War II, there were 90 single-screen movie theaters in Milwaukee. By 1960, that number had been reduced by half. With the arrival of television for the home market, the golden age of the movie theater in Milwaukee was dead. Yet their ghosts continue to haunt the old neighborhoods. Churches, warehouses, stores, nightspots, and other businesses now occupy the former Tivoli, Paris, Roosevelt, and Savoy Buildings. Others are simply vacant hulks, decaying from the inside out. The Elite, Regent, Lincoln, and Warner are but a few of the many silent sentinels from the days when Milwaukee was in love with the movies.

Detroit's Downtown Movie Palaces

9780738541020

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The spokelike grid of wide grand avenues radiating out from downtown Detroit allowed for a concentration of theaters initially along Monroe Street near Campus Martius and, after the second decade of the 20th century, clustered around Grand Circus Park, all easily accessible by a vast network of streetcars. In its heyday, Grand Circus Park boasted a dozen palatial movie palaces containing an astonishing total of 26,000 seats. Of these theaters, five remain today, fully restored and operational for live entertainment. Detroit, more so than any other North American city, illustrates how demographic and economic forces dramatically changed the landscape of film exhibition in an urban setting.

Historic Dance Halls of East Central Texas

9781467131506

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Texas dance halls are iconic structures that have played a prominent role in the state's culture from its earliest stages. They became central institutions in the earliest European settlements and provided these immigrant communities with a common, central space in which to build new ways of life in a new land. The settlement patterns of the mostly German, Czech, Polish, and other central European migrants of this period gave East Central Texas the state's greatest concentration of dance halls. Thousands of these halls were built throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, but at present, their numbers have dwindled considerably, and many are at risk.

Historic Dance Halls of East Central Texas

William S. Hart Park

9781467107440

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Nickelodeon cowboy star William S. Hart thrilled millions of fans in over 70 shoot-'em-ups in the early days of silent cinema. After completing his film career in 1925, Hart retired to Horseshoe Ranch in Newhall, California, where he lived until his death in 1946. Hart willed the property to the County of Los Angeles, requesting that it become a park and museum, stating: "When I was making pictures, the people gave me their nickels, dimes, and quarters. When I am gone, I want them to have my home." William S. Hart Park stands as a fitting testament to Hart's life and generosity. On its 265 acres, visitors can tour his 22-room retirement mansion and ranch house, picnic on the park's spacious tree-shaded lawns, wander miles of trails, feed animals at the barnyard, and admire the herd of American bison, descendants of those gifted to the park by Walt Disney. The park is also home to Heritage Junction, which houses many of Santa Clarita's most historic buildings and serves as headquarters for the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.

New Orleans Radio

9781467112420

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From humble beginnings in a physics lab on the campus of Loyola University came the sounds of the first radio station in the lower Mississippi River Valley when WWL Radio signed on in 1922. The little station would grow into a national powerhouse, with its morning Dawnbusters show and nightly broadcasts from the Blue Room of the Roosevelt Hotel. The city's second oldest station, WSMB, with studios in the Maison Blanche Building, developed its own cast of favorites, including "Nut and Jeff." Later, in the city known as the birthplace of jazz, radio played a key role in popularizing early rock and roll. Disc jockeys at leading stations WTIX and WNOE helped develop the Crescent City sound, along with local personalities with colorful names like "Poppa Stoppa," "Jack the Cat," and "Dr. Daddy-O."

Location Filming in Los Angeles

9780738581323

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Los Angeles has reigned for more than a century as the world capital of the film industry, a unique and ever-changing city that has been molded and recast thousands of times through the artistic visions and cinematic dreams of Hollywood's elite. As early as 1907, filmmakers migrated west to avoid lengthy eastern winters. In Los Angeles, they discovered an ideal world of abundant and diverse locales blessed with a mild and sunny climate ideal for filming. Location Filming in Los Angeles provides a historic view of the diversity of locations that provided the backdrop for Hollywood's greatest films, from the silent era to the modern age.

Cleveland's Playhouse Square

9780738540139

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Cleveland's Playhouse Square documents the fascinating history of the five theatres which boomed, beginning in the 1920s.

In the early 1920s, five opulent theaters--the Allen, the Ohio, the State, the Palace, and the Hanna--opened on a stretch of Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. They offered legitimate theater, vaudeville, name bands and entertainers, and films for the affluent and hardworking citizens of this booming industrial city. Unfortunately, the introduction of television and the flight to the suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s turned the theaters into ghost palaces destined for the wrecking ball. In 1970, a bold group of planners led by Raymond K. Shepardson formed the Playhouse Square Association, a nonprofit group dedicated to saving the theaters. A 25-year restoration endeavor emerged that raised $53 million, culminating in the largest theater restoration project in the world. Today Playhouse Square Center ranks second only to New York's Lincoln Center as North America's largest performing arts complex.

Rhode Island Radio

9780738576695

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Never overwhelming anyone with its geographical size, Rhode Island has always managed to find a niche in the broadcasting industry. From the birth of radio through the start of the department store "wars" in the 1920s, Rhode Island radio became a national trendsetter. The Shepard brothers created the Yankee Network, which launched the concept of sharing programming with affiliated stations. Several formats became standard-bearers for listening concepts throughout the country, from the Top 40 format of the 1950s and 1960s to present-day adult contemporary and sports talk radio. Rhode Island personalities and stations have played a large part in overall industry concepts and growth. Salty Brine, Sherm Strickhouser, Jack Comley, Ed Pearson, Ernie Anderson, and Don Pardo are all names and voices familiar to audiences in the Ocean State and beyond.

Capital Region Radio

9780738598468

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The General Electric Company, with one of its main plants in Schenectady, began experimental broadcasts in conjunction with Union College in the early 1900s. When WGY officially began broadcasting in February 1922, General Electric started a long and storied history of pioneering radio technology and programming that set the pace for worldwide broadcast development. Capital Region Radio pioneer WGY provided entertainment and news nationally during World War II, WTRY kept listeners updated during the blackout of 1965, and WOKO introduced rock and roll to the area. Thousands of schoolchildren from Utica and Pittsfield woke on snowy winter mornings to hear WGY's Bill Edwardsen read the school closing announcements, and listeners enjoyed entertainment from Boom Boom Brannigan and Don Weeks. Capital Region Radio: 1920-2011 offers a glimpse into the programs and personalities of local radio from its early days to recent years.

Theatres of Hawai'i

9780738581606

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Famous for its lush beauty and inviting beaches, Hawai‘i also boasts a rich theatrical history dating back to the mid-19th century and spanning its years as a kingdom, U.S. territory, and a state. Its warm, tropical climate and social, cultural, and ethnic diversity contributed to the variety of theatres unique to the islands—from simple, rural plantation theatres on the neighbor islands, to neighborhood movie houses in exotic styles, to an incomparable tropical moderne jewel near the beach at Waikiki. Most of these theatres are now just a memory, except for those few saved by dedicated individuals and restored for another life. This book celebrates the rich history of these theatrical venues through rare archival photographs and little-known details.

Cover image for Theatres of Hawai'i, isbn: 9780738581606

Michigan's Drive-In Theaters

9781467112338

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Few American phenomena are more evocative of time, place, and culture than the drive-in theater. From its origins in the Great Depression, through its peak in the 1950s and 1960s and ultimately its slow demise in the 1980s, the drive-in holds a unique place in the country's collective past. Michigan's drive-ins were a reflection of this time and place, ranging from tiny rural 200-car "ozoners" to sprawling 2,500-car behemoths that were masterpieces of showmanship, boasting not only movies and food, but playgrounds, pony rides, merry-go-rounds, and even roving window washers.

Cover image for Michigan's Drive-In Theaters, isbn: 9781467112338

Stand-Up Comedy in Chicago

9781467111843

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Ten years after Chicago saw its first full-time comedy club open, the landscape was decidedly different. "Stand-up comedy has exploded in the last couple of years," a club owner told the Chicago Tribune in 1985, "that's the only way to describe it: exploded." It was truly a comedy boom, with as many as 16 clubs operating at once, and it lasted nearly a decade before fading, taking with it some of Chicago's oldest comedy stages, including the Comedy Cottage, Comedy Womb, and Who's on First. Still, stalwarts like Barrel of Laughs (south) and Zanies (north) persevered. That part of the story is known; overlooked is the fact there was a comedy boom, period. To hear the story, it is as if stand-up comedy innately morphed from a dated nightclub scene to what one Chicago Sun-Times writer called "Chicago's atomic comedy blast."

Seattle Radio

9781467130578

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Seattle's first radio broadcast aired in 1919, and over the next 90 years, the city drew national attention for its collection of flamboyant and sometimes quirky broadcast impresarios and performers. The parade of people that passed in front of and behind the Puget Sound microphones included a big-time bootlegger and his wife, two embezzling bank managers, a political campaign manager, and a lumber mill baron's daughter. Two local radio men started with practically nothing and built their own successful Northwest station groups. An underpaid novice Seattle radio announcer went on to become the dean of the country's television newscasters. A 1950s disc jockey used acrobatic publicity stunts to draw an audience for his station. A guitar-strumming radio singer capitalized on his fame to build a chain of restaurants. And the founder of a Seattle "free form" FM radio station went on to build a network of community FM stations around the country, making him "The Johnny Appleseed of Community Radio."

Cincinnati Radio

9780738588643

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Capturing the first 50 years of Cincinnati's radio broadcasting golden era with both words and rare and often unpublished images.

Like radio listeners in many other cities its size, Greater Cincinnatians have kept their ears tuned to their local radio stations for music, news, and entertainment for nearly a century. However, unlike those cities, Cincinnati enjoyed several unique broadcast stories ranging from some of the earliest forays into radio dramatics to the country's first 500,000-watt superpower radio station. The listeners were treated to several up-and-coming celebrities like Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Andy Williams, and ""Fats"" Waller; the rise of three major communications corporations; and ultimately, an amazing array of nationally broadcast network shows and talents that, for a brief period, placed the city's broadcasters behind only New York and Chicago in terms of importance.

WNAX 570 Radio

9780738540191

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Life on the northern plains was lonely in the early 20th century. Farmers and ranchers went for weeks without hearing any voices other than those of their families. Then, in 1922, Al Madson, proprietor of a Yankton radio parts shop, made a radio transmitter. He formed a broadcasting company, and on November 25, 1922, WNAX broadcast its first program. People of the northern plains now had a daily "visitor." Gurney Seed and Nursery Company owned the station for its first 16 years, adding distinctive innovations to its programming. In its constant commitment to agriculture, the station has influenced the history of the five-state area it covers. Lawrence Welk got his start there. Wynn Speece, known as the Neighbor Lady, still broadcasts daily after starting at WNAX in 1941.

Indianapolis Television

9780738593555

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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.

The Keswick Theatre

9780738535616

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The Keswick Theatre, located just outside Philadelphia, opened in 1928 in an era when four thousand similar structures were in various stages of design and construction across the country. Vaudeville was in its final days and film was just being born. Designed by acclaimed architect Horace Trumbauer, the theater evolved into the area's premier movie house. When the theater was threatened with demolition in the early 1980s, the Glenside Landmarks Society was formed with the hopes of restoring the building to its former grandeur. Today, operating as a commercial venture, it is one of the most acclaimed concert halls in the Philadelphia area. The Keswick Theatre celebrates this historic landmark through vintage images and recognizes the dedicated community members who have kept its doors open.

Chattanooga Radio and Television

9780738586854

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Chattanooga Radio and Televisionprovides an informative entertaining look at Chattanooga's broadcast history through the images and stories of its participants.

To those born and raised in Chattanooga, certain names bring a smile to their faces: Miss Marcia, Bob Brandy, Mort Lloyd, Dr. Shock, and, of course, Luther.

These are among the icons of Chattanooga broadcasting. They are the faces and voices that awakened Chattanoogans each morning, delivered the news, or made them laugh. Ever since two high school pals put the city's first radio station on the air in 1925, Chattanooga has been blessed with an abundance of memorable personalities. Some passed through on their way to national fame, while others have made Chattanooga their home for more than half a century.

Author David Carroll, a Chattanooga radio and television personality since 1975, utilizes his friendships with hundreds of local radio and television personalities to bring their stories to life.

Hartford Radio

9780738576664

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Hartford Radio offers a glimpse into the history of the area's broadcast stations and the people who ran them.

Radio broadcasting has been an integral part of the history of Hartford since the early part of the 20th century. WDRC was the state's first station (1923), and they helped pioneer FM radio technology in the early 1940s. Many Hartford residents learned about the end of World War II via radio, and the medium played a key role in keeping people informed during the floods of 1938 and 1955, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the great Northeast Blackout of 1965. Surprisingly, Hartford, the capital of ""the land of steady habits,"" saw two stations break from the pack to help bring the British Invasion to the state in the early 1960s. And thousands of schoolchildren eagerly listened to WTIC's legendary Bob Steele on wintery mornings as they excitedly awaited school closing announcements.

Silent-Era Filmmaking in Santa Barbara

9780738547305

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Between 1910 and 1921, the American Film Company was one of the fledgling movie industry's most successful studios, with production facilities in Santa Barbara and business offices in Chicago. Nicknamed for its distinctive winged "A" logo, the "Flying A" produced nearly 1,200 films, starring such favorites of the day as Mary Miles Minter, J. Warren Kerrigan, Wallace Reid, and King Baggot. The company's rather patriotic motto invited patrons to "See Americans first." The studio's films also documented the picturesque and developing Pacific seaside community of Santa Barbara and served as a training ground for some of Hollywood's greatest directors, including Allan Dwan, Henry King, Victor Fleming, Frank Borzage, George Marshall, William Desmond Taylor, and Marshall Neilan.

Tucson Radio

9781467131407

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Tucson's radio history began in the 1920s with two stations that became KTUC and KVOA. Today, there are 16 AM and 23 FM stations serving Tucson, with several other AM signals from Phoenix penetrating the local airwaves. Talk radio and music radio personalities have been companions for listeners at home or on the road. Mornings have been the most listened-to time period of the day, from the days of George and Square Deal, Chris Borden, and Jerry Stowe to Mojo and Betsy, Bobby Rich, Sunny Jim Arnold, and Cactus Dave. Frank Kalil on KTKT in the afternoons was the star who kept the audience laughing all the way home.

Cover image for Tucson Radio, isbn: 9781467131407

Indianapolis Rhythm and Blues

9781467129473

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Indiana Avenue was traditionally the host to some of America's premier, world-renown entertainment icons in various genres. Along this winding, brightly lit thoroughfare were nightclubs, lounges, supper clubs, taverns, juke joints, and holes-in-the-wall that celebrated the best of the best in entertainment that America had to offer, from the 1920s on into the 1970s. On the bandstand at Denver Ferguson's Sunset Terrace Ballroom, the elegantly attired crooner Nat King Cole, in a sparkling blue silk suit, delivered his signature song Mona Lisa. Nearby, B.B. King sang his 1973 down-home blues classic To Know You is to Love You. At Tuffy Mitchell's Pink Poodle nightclub, Moms Mabley made the audience roar with laughter during her sidesplitting comedy routine. Indiana Avenue truly was the place to be for the best in entertainment.

Cover image for Indianapolis Rhythm and Blues, isbn: 9781467129473

The Italian-American Immigrant Theatre of New York City

9780738500973

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Italian-American theatre sprang to life in New York City shortly after waves of Italian immigrants poured into this country in the 1870's. The mass migration brought both the performers and the audiences necessary for theatrical entertainment. Hungry for recognition, support, and social exchange, the men and women from Italy formed amateur theatrical clubs as one way of satisfying emotional needs. By 1900, the community had produced the major forces that created the Italian-American theatre of the ensuing decades. In The Italian-American Immigrant Theatre of New York City, author Emelise Aleandri regenerates the excitement of the stage through striking photographs, programs, and other memorabilia generously loaned by families of the theatre community. She follows the fortunes of the earliest nineteenth-century companies and introduces those that arose in the twentieth-century. Within these pages are scenes of comedy, tragedy, vaudeville, and radio, featuring stars such as Mimi Cecchini, Guglielmo Ricciardi, Concetta Arcamone, Antonio Maiori, Rita Berti, Farfariello, and Olga Barbato.

The Italian-American Immigrant Theatre of New York City

Knoxville's WIVK

9780738567037

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WIVK was established in 1953 and quickly became one of Knoxville's most popular radio stations, featuring programs that would become part of broadcasting lore in both the city and East Tennessee. The station went much further than anyone ever expected. It climbed through the ranks of broadcasting to become regarded as one of the United States' premier full-service country music radio stations. Its unique style of music, news, weather, and information has been a part of daily life in East Tennessee for more than 50 years. This is the story of a real Knoxville landmark and the people who made WIVK the broadcast legend it is today.

St. Louis Radio and Television

9780738590578

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St. Louis sits near the center of the United States in an area sometimes termed flyover territory by those who live on the coasts. Although this city in the middle of the country is not generally known as the birthplace of broadcasting, it is in fact where Nikola Tesla demonstrated the first true broadcast in March 1893. Later, in 1920, two St. Louis men began a radio broadcast announcing the results of the Harding-Cox presidential election on the same night as KDKA in Pittsburgh, but the Pennsylvania event received all of the national recognition. Wireless broadcasts (in Morse code) of weather information were emanating from the campus of St. Louis University in 1912; that station, 9YK, became WEW in 1922. Television was introduced to St. Louisans in 1947, although at least one forward-thinking local broadcaster was experimenting with the medium as early as 1928.

Cover image for St. Louis Radio and Television, isbn: 9780738590578

Boston's Downtown Movie Palaces

9780738576312

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Since the late 1800s, Boston has been a trendsetter in the development of the movie business. It was here that many of the earliest public showings of moving images took place and the name nickelodeon first appeared on a storefront theater. In 1896, B.F. Keith added film to his Washington Street theater, then throughout his national chain of vaudeville houses. In 1914, Boston's Modern became the country's first theater with an installed sound projection system. Several years later, the city had its first movie palace: Marcus Loew's Orpheum. A magnet for theater architects, Boston became a center for elegant movie houses, including the Metropolitan, Keith Memorial, and Paramount. Thanks to civic leaders and academic institutions, many of Boston's theaters have been preserved and restored and are alive and well today.

Gershwin in Pittsburgh

9781467106498

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The great American composer George Gershwin was a product of the energetic Jazz Age city of New York. Yet Pittsburgh may have been his adopted town, through road tours of his Broadway shows, his appearances as a concert pianist, and his myriad associates with ties to the Steel City. Meticulously researched, Gershwin in Pittsburgh chronicles these surprisingly consequential connections. Theatrical venues such as the Nixon and Alvin Theatres and colleagues like Ned Wayburn, Oscar Levant, George S. Kaufman, Dolores Costello, Fritz Reiner, and Pandro S. Berman are all spotlighted. Most revealing are the visits Gershwin personally made to the city--as accompanist to vaudeville star Nora Bayes, during his Rhapsody in Blue tours with the Paul Whiteman and Leo Reisman orchestras, and for his 1933 guest appearance with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Davenport's WOC AM-FM-TV

9780738577807

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Beginning in 1922, Davenport's WOC has charted an impressive list of broadcasting firsts: the first licensed commercial radio station west of the Mississippi River; first station to establish logging, the practice of recording program schedules down to the minute and second; the use of time signals at the beginning of programs; first to build and use audio mixing controls that allowed multiple microphone usage; first to broadcast from a state legislature; and first to broadcast programming meant specifically for children. WOC-TV was the first television station in Iowa on the air when it began regular programming in 1949. This volume of images presents an overview to the history, facilities, programming, and technology of the WOC stations and provides a glimpse at the stations today, as new ownership carries on an outstanding tradition in Quad City broadcasting.

Chicago Entertainment

9780738523309

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Chicago has historically been a place of great energy and a showcase of modernity. Determined to wash away the recent memories of World War I, Chicagoans in the 1920s and into the 1930s set out to enjoy themselves, creating a Golden Age of popular entertainment envied throughout the world. Chicago Entertainment Between the Wars, 1919-1939 explores in detail the various old and new playing fields of entertainment that blossomed during this time period, such as dance halls, radio studios, rodeos, theaters, public mechanical musical machines, and movie palaces.

Philadelphia Radio

9780738575087

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Philadelphia radio broadcasting began in 1922, when the city's first officially licensed stations went on the air. Within a few years, what had begun as a small, experimental medium became a full-fledged craze as families listened to live news, sports, and entertainment for the first time. In 1932, the first building designed for radio broadcasting opened on Chestnut Street, coinciding with the golden age of radio that featured live orchestras, soap operas, and imaginative dramas. In the 1950s, a few stations began playing rock and roll, and Philadelphia became known as a city that not only produced hit music but also consistently broke new acts. By the 1970s, FM radio began to grab the majority of listeners, and once again Philadelphia stations were responsible for breaking new artists, such as Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen.

Maryland's Motion Picture Theaters

9780738553849

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Since movies were first exhibited in the late 19th century, Maryland has been home to hundreds of theaters. Some of these theaters were built for movies, but others were traditional theaters, academies of music, lodge halls, and even town halls. This volume illustrates the development of movie theaters throughout Maryland with historic photographs from the author's extensive collection as well as from the collections of several historical societies, libraries, and individuals. Contemporary theaters have not been neglected; as the average life span of a movie theater is 25 years or fewer, these theaters may vanish almost overnight. This has been the fate of almost all of the theaters built in the 1960s and the multiplexes built between 1964 and 1990. Readers can relive the nostalgia of past trips to the movies as they explore the pages of this book.

Movie Theaters of Washington, DC

9781467129480

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Movie Theaters of Washington, DC charts the storied history of motion picture exhibition in the nation's capital. In 1894, entertainment venues were repurposed to show newfangled moving images and continued to do so through the downtown heyday of such 1920s baroque movie palaces as the 3,400-seat Fox. In the late 20th century, shoebox theaters dotted the nearby suburbs. In a landscape that has transformed over the decades, majestic landmarks, such as the Uptown, which opened in 1936, remain and are still going strong, and theaters like the Warner survived the dark days of downtown's commercial decline to be repurposed as thriving stage venues. While certain favorites have fallen to the wrecking ball, the Washington area has seen, along with a rejuvenated downtown, a vibrant movie scene for both mainstream blockbusters and art house fare with the Regal Gallery Place multiplex and more new theaters to come.

The Jamboree in Wheeling

9781467105682

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Beginning in the mid-1920s, radio stations that catered to rural audiences sponsored programs featuring country music, generically termed "barn dances." Ranking second in terms of longevity and perhaps in significance to the Grand Ole Opry from WSM Nashville came the Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia. It became the springboard for such country stars as Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, Hawkshaw Hawkins, the Osborne Brothers, Doc and Chickie Williams, Lee Moore, Big Slim the Lone Cowboy, and most recently, Brad Paisley. Under slightly varying names, the Jamboree flourished from 1933 through 2005 over the airwaves of 50,000-watt WWVA 1170 AM and now airs on WWOV 101.1 FM.

Willowbrook Ballroom

9780738583990

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The Willowbrook Ballroom was originally built as an outdoor dance pavilion named Oh Henry Park by Austrian immigrant John Verderbar. Wildly successful, it was enlarged and fully enclosed in 1923, and a 10¢-a-dance policy was implemented. Destroyed by fire in 1930, a determined Verderbar hired a crew of 200 carpenters, and a new facility was built to the tune of a then-staggering $100,000. In 1959, it was renamed the Willowbrook Ballroom, and dancers have since enjoyed the big band sounds of Count Basie, Teddy Lee, Harry James, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. As record crowds flocked to the 6,000-square-foot dance floor, the Willowbrook also became a favorite setting for weddings, proms, and other once-in-a-lifetime events. Today, at the height of its popularity, the Willowbrook is one of only five ballrooms of its magnitude in the United States and the only one remaining in the greater Chicagoland area.

Historic Dallas Theatres

9781467131285

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Dallas was the show business capital of Texas and much of the South throughout the 20th century. More than 100 theatres served the city's neighborhoods, and Elm Street once boasted more than 15 vaudeville and movie theatres--second in number to Broadway. The quality of the show houses in Dallas were surpassed by few cities and all major, and most minor, Hollywood studios maintained Dallas offices. Notable names figuring in this history include Margo Jones, "Blind" Lemon Jefferson, Karl Hoblitzelle, Baruch Lumet, Bob Hope, Greer Garson, Linda Darnell, Howard Hughes, Clyde Barrow, Gene Autry, Oliver Stone, Pappy Dolson, Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald, Nicola Rescigno, Don Henley, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Birmingham Broadcasting

9780738542713

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Birmingham, Alabama, has enjoyed a long and distinguished broadcasting history. The city's first radio station aired in 1922, and television arrived in 1949. Both media produced personalities who became household names in the city. Audiences came to know Joe Rumore, Tommy Charles, Country Boy Eddy, Cousin Cliff Holman, Rosemary, Pat Gray, Tom York, and many others as if they were members of their own families. Even the commercials became as memorable as the news, entertainment, talk, and children's shows they interrupted.

Oklahoma City

9780738583815

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Located in downtown Oklahoma City, Film Row once flourished as a sales hub for theater owners needing films, posters, and concessions for their Midwest venues. The film exchange offices along this three-square-block area and across the cityscape housed major film production studios like Paramount Pictures, MGM, Universal, Fox, and Warner Brothers from 1907 until the 1980s. But changes in demographics, economy, and technology nearly wiped their memory from the city landscape. Now these decades-old structures and their nearly forgotten history are being rediscovered and utilized once again for business. This book tells their story through rare images discovered in shoeboxes, back rooms, and the Oklahoma Historical Society's archives. Most of the images within these pages are shared here for the very first time.

Birmingham's Theater and Retail District

9780738517773

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From the 1890s to the 1970s, the thriving area of Birmingham between Eighteenth and Twenty-first Streets along First, Second, and Third Avenues was the bustling heart of this quickly growing city. Before the age of the shopping mall, the downtown was the center of retail and entertainment in Birmingham. Along these streets, entrepreneurial immigrants built department stores--including Pizitz and Loveman, Joseph, and Loeb--while the marquees of the Alabama, Ritz, and Lyric theaters, among others, shined over the busy downtown sidewalks.

Birmingham's Theater and Retail District

Washington, D.C., Film and Television

9781467120685

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For generations, movies and television have been sources of entertainment that have shaped the country's consciousness. Washington, DC, Film and Television chronicles popular and obscure films and television programs that feature Washington, DC. Sharing the sites, neighborhoods, institutions, and monuments that filmmakers used as their settings, this exciting title takes readers behind the scenes of classic movies, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Houseboat, and The Exorcist. Familiar television programs that transmitted local news and information are featured alongside photographs of some of Hollywood's greatest stars. With the nation's capital as a backdrop, the landscape, architecture, and history of Washington have always and will continue to make it an aesthetically exciting and authentic locale for the many story lines of Hollywood.

Theatres of Oakland

9780738546810

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Oakland has a rich theatre history, from the amusements of a gas-lit downtown light opera and vaudeville stage in the 1870s to the ornate cinematic escape portals of the Great Depression. Dozens of neighborhood theatres, once the site of family outings and first dates, remain cherished memories in the lives of Oaklanders. The city can still boast three fabulous movie palaces from the golden age of cinema: the incomparable art deco Paramount, which now offers live performances and films; the stately Grand Lake gracing the sinuous shores of Lake Merritt; and the magnificently eccentric Fox Oakland, with its imposing Hindu gods flanking the stage. The Paramount and Grand Lake still stir the heartstrings of patrons with showings preceded by interludes on their mighty Wurlitzer organs.

Kearney's World Theatre

9780738583259

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The World Theatre in Kearney, Nebraska, opened in 1927 and was welcomed by an excited public. Much more than just a movie house, it soon proved to be a social center, where people of all professions, ages, and income levels would frequently gather, because it was modern and new and there were considered few equally attractive alternatives. Some went because it was a sanctuary or where they earned a living, while others nurtured the seeds of attachments there or sought out temporary distractions such as bits of humor, drama, mystery, or adventure. For still more, it was an important venue for staying informed or even escaping the heat of the day. Slowly over time, the entertainment and economic landscapes in the country changed, affecting The World's profitability as well as others like it.

The Sunnybrook Ballroom

9780738550305

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As one of the last major ballrooms located in this great nation, the Sunnybrook Ballroom is a historical and intricate part of Pennsylvania's past. Since 1926, the Sunnybrook Ballroom has been an established landmark in its community and is recognized nationwide. Opening its doors in 1931, the grand ballroom was built as an addition to the swim club and dance pavilion. For years, Sunnybrook has served as a viable piece of Americana and has seen many big-name performers upon its stage, including Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Lawrence Welk, Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Checker, and even Bill Haley and the Comets. Using vintage photographs, The Sunnybrook Ballroom traces the history of this cherished haven for big band fans, rock and rollers, and music lovers alike.

Harrisburg Broadcasting

9780738575070

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In 1922, the first radio station in Harrisburg, WBAK, was owned by the Pennsylvania State Police. By 1925, three more stations were added to the local lineup. By 1953, Harrisburg had two television stations within the city limits--WHP-TV and WTPA. WKBO was the city's Top 40 leader in the 1970s. In 1985, album rocker FM104 became WINK 104, skyrocketing almost overnight into one of the highest-rated stations in Harrisburg history. Throughout the decades, names like Dick Redmond, Ed K. Smith, Ron Drake, Mac McCauley, Pete Wambach, Mike Ross, and countless others have emerged as part of Harrisburg's long, unique broadcasting history.

Columbus Radio

9781467124409

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Two professors and a preacher invented Columbus radio. It began with science experiments in classrooms and a minister's desire to expand beyond his churchgoing audience. By 1922, government licenses had been issued for WEAO at Ohio State University and WJD at Denison University. At this same time, a Baptist minister went on the air for an hour each Sunday morning using a 10-watt transmitter licensed as WMAN. In this story of Columbus radio, the work of the professors and the preacher will evolve into radio with advertiser-supported programs of information and entertainment. Three important radio stations will serve a growing Columbus radio audience in different ways: WEAO becomes WOSU, a national pioneer in using radio for teaching; WMAN becomes WCOL and in the 1960s is number one in audience size; and CBS affiliate WBNS becomes the class act of Columbus radio, retaining the major share of local listeners for many decades. Including many other stations of lesser influence, the illustrated stories of Columbus radio are told in this book.

The Elks Opera House

9780738585420

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For over 100 years, the Elks Opera House has been a landmark of the cultural scene in Prescott, Arizona, and the western United States. In 1904, the people of Prescott raised $15,000 toward a performance hall to be included in the Elks Building. The original structure featured opera boxes that were later removed to adapt to the demands of motion pictures, and the entire proscenium arch was covered with wood paneling. In 2010, the Elks Opera House Foundation completed major renovations to restore the original 1905 grandeur of the theater and the 1928 marquee, which was paid for by grants from local charitable foundations, Arizona historic preservation funds, and generous participation by businesses and individuals. The Elks Building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Milwaukee's Live Theater

9780738560595

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Milwaukee's live theater scene is the sum of several exciting parts. For many, Milwaukee live theater means world-class productions done by resident actors at one of the nation's leading regional theaters. For others, it has been defined by the machinations of a respected experimental theater troupe that traveled throughout Europe in the 1980s and was once honored with an Obie Award. There was a time when Milwaukee live theater meant a big top arena where some of the biggest stars of American musical theater frolicked and played for local audiences. Audiences in Milwaukee have enjoyed the classics, new plays, and contemporary hits performed by never-say-die producers who boast personalities larger than the stages their companies play upon. The Milwaukee theater style is not fussy or overblown. It is informed by a thrilling past, buoyant future, unsurpassed community support, and unfailing devotion to solid midwestern work ethics channeled into artistic innovation. Simply put, Milwaukee's live theater scene is the best-kept artistic secret in the United States.

KIDO

9780738595115

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The origins of KIDO date back to 1920 and the experimental radio station 7YA at Boise High School. In 1922, chemistry teacher Harry Redeker was granted a limited-commercial license and the call letters KFAU. Redeker left the school in 1927, and in 1928, the Boise Independent School District sold KFAU to Frank L. Hill and C.G. Phillips, who changed the station's call letters to KIDO. Over the next 30 years, "Kiddo" Phillips and his wife, Georgia, achieved many "firsts" in Idaho broadcasting, including securing NBC as the state's first network affiliation. In 1942, Curt G. Phillips suddenly passed away. Georgia remarried and became Georgia Davidson, going on to build KIDO-FM and KIDO-TV, which were both among the first in the state. In 1959, she sold KIDO Radio to William E. Boeing Jr. of Seattle, who owned KIDO for the next 17 years. It is this period of KIDO's rich history, from 1920 to 1976, that this book will cover.

Tacoma's Theater District

9781467134026

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The history of Tacoma's Theater District is nearly as long as that of the city of Tacoma itself, spanning from the opening of the Tacoma Theater in 1890 to the present day, with restored historical facilities anchoring a renewed cultural district. This telling of the district's history reflects a range of engaging topics, including the boundless enthusiasm of the initial residents of Tacoma (the City of Destiny), the changing ways in which culture was shared and experienced over the decades of the 20th century, and a community working together through difficult times to save and restore historical buildings as gathering spaces for the benefit of future generations. The story is told through historical photographs of the theater venues themselves, as well as images capturing a myriad of cultural and community events taking place in those facilities and in the surrounding district.

Thalian Hall

9781467121224

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Thalian Hall is one of the oldest and most beautiful theaters in America. Forming the east wing of Wilmington's iconic city hall, this dual-purpose building has been at the center of the community's cultural and political life since it first opened in 1858. Thalian Hall is the only surviving theater designed by John Montague Trimble, one of America's foremost 19th-century theater architects. It was built at a time when Wilmington was the largest city in North Carolina. Thalian Hall is the embodiment of a tradition of performance that stretches back for over two centuries. It has hosted Shakespearean tragedies, musical concerts, and even boxing and wrestling events. For generations, Wilmington audiences have witnessed touring stars, local actors, musicians, dancers, and movies in a parade of performances and celebratory events. The story of Thalian Hall is an embroidered tapestry reflecting the history of the American theater and the community that built it.

Cover image for Thalian Hall, isbn: 9781467121224

Madam Walker Theatre Center

9781467110877

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As they watched construction of the block-long flatiron building brick by brick throughout 1927, African American residents of Indianapolis could scarcely contain their pride.

This new headquarters of the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company, with its terra-cotta trimmed facade, was to be more than corporate offices and a factory for what then was one of America's most successful black businesses. In fact, it was designed as "a city within a city," with an African Art Deco theater, ballroom, restaurant, drugstore, beauty salon, beauty school, and medical offices. Generations of African American families met for Sunday dinner at the Coffee Pot, enjoyed first-run movies and live performances in the Walker Theatre, and hosted dances in the Casino. Today, this National Historic Landmark is an arts center anchoring the Indiana Avenue Cultural District.

Walnut Street Theatre

9780738557700

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The Walnut Street Theatre, located at the corner of Ninth and Walnut Streets, is America's oldest theater, a national historic landmark, and the state theater of Pennsylvania. Since its opening in 1809, world-famous stars, such as Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, and Marlon Brando, have performed on its stage. Many of the greatest works in American theater premiered there, including A Streetcar Named Desire, A Raisin in the Sun, and Neil Simon's first Broadway play, Come Blow Your Horn. In 1982, under the direction of Bernard Havard, the Walnut became a not-for-profit producing theater company. Today, with over 56,000 subscribers annually, it is the most subscribed theater company in the world. Through vintage images from the theater's archives and the Free Library of Philadelphia's Theatre Collection, Walnut Street Theatre rediscovers the Walnut's rich past.

Louisville Television

9780738586526

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T-Bar-V Ranch went off the air in 1970, but ask any Louisville baby boomer to sing the theme song and you'll instantly hear, "Brush your teeth each morning / Get lots of sleep at night / Mind your mom and daddy / Cause they know what is right." Such is the power of homegrown television. This book is a look at Louisville television history over the last 50 years, from T-Bar-V to Tom Wills's retirement. Along the way, you will catch a glimpse of Diane Sawyer (as the WLKY "weather girl") and dozens of images of locally produced musical shows, game shows, talk shows, children's shows, and newscasts--not to mention all the lyrics to the T-Bar-V Ranch opening and closing theme song.

Lakewood Theatre

9781467125949

$29.99 $22.49 Save 25%

Beginning as a humble vaudeville hall in the Skowhegan-Madison trolley park, Lakewood Theatre has graced the southwestern shore of Lake Wesserunsett in Madison, Maine, since the turn of the 20th century. Under the masterful guidance of Herbert L. Swett, a Bangor native and Bowdoin graduate, Lakewood eventually developed into a nationally renowned playhouse that was called the Broadway in Maine by the New York Times in its heyday, from 1925 until World War II. In the years following the war, Lakewood was operated by Swett's heirs and became a virtual who's who of both Broadway and Hollywood, until it nearly went dark in the early 1980s. Operating today as a nonprofit community theater, Lakewood is the official state theater of Maine and the oldest continually running summer theater in the country.

Cover image for Lakewood Theatre, isbn: 9781467125949

Memphis Movie Theatres

9781467110419

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Memphis has always been a theatrical town--a crossroads in the center of America for entertainment as well as commerce. Movies are among the many things that travel through the city, both for distribution and exhibition. Thousands of people who have lived here or just passed through, especially during and after World War II, found their way to the movie theatres. From the vaudeville palaces on Main Street to the nickelodeons on Beale Street, these theatres helped shape the culture of the city. Kemmons Wilson operated movie houses before he built the first Holiday Inn. Several movie theatres played roles in the life of Elvis Presley. W.C. Handy attended the opening of a theatre named for him. Local censorship practices influenced decisions in Hollywood, and the first multiplex in the region was built in Memphis.

Lakewood Theatre Company

9781467108362

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Discover through historic photographs how a little theater that traveled from pillar to post with costumes, props, and flats became the Lakewood Theatre Company at Lakewood Center for the Arts.

In 1952, a small group gathered at the home of Dorothy Peetz in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and thought it would be fun for the community to have a little theater. They began to organize what was then known as the Oswego Players. Today, the nonprofit theater attracts 40,000 patrons annually. Lakewood Center for the Arts, home of the city's annual Festival of the Arts, coordinates a large multi-exhibit arts education event to inspire and awe 25,000 visitors every year. Generations of people have made the Lakewood Center for the Arts a part of their daily lives through volunteerism or by attending classes, everything from ancestry to Zumba. Young actors that performed on Lakewood Theatre Company's stage later returned to direct their own productions.

Jen Avila-Langford created visual presentations for the Lakewood Theatre Company. In an attempt to make the workshops more engaging, she delved into Lakewood's archives and local history. Photographs, never before published, of the theater founders, the original playwrights, and the classics are brought to light from 70 years of archives.

The Canepa School of Dance

9780738540832

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This popular dance school was formed in 1955 in Baraboo after local appliance and tire store owner Tony Canepa tap-danced at the Sauk County Fairgrounds as the "Mystery Merchant." Upon learning his identity, friends and neighbors begged him to give their children dance lessons. The handsome Canepa was a dancer at the University of Wisconsin. His svelte wife, Alberta, had taken dancing lessons from the third grade through high school. Eventually the dancing duo had 11 children of their own, and as the dancing school grew, so did the "dancing Canepa family." Over 3,500 students have learned to dance from the Canepa family. This volume depicts the yearly dance recitals that were staged to benefit St. Mary's Ringling Hospital, the Circus World Museum, and Camp Wawbeek, an Easter Seal Society camp for handicapped children located in Wisconsin Dells. There are also many photographs of the Canepa family, who as a troupe performed professionally for over 25 years.

Ithaca Radio

9781467121866

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From Long Island to Fiji, college students flocked to the sleepy little town of Ithaca to learn the how-tos and how-not-tos of broadcasting. From that influx came some of the future leaders and celebrities of the broadcasting industry. Television stars were born here, and some of radio's future stars were nurtured to succeed in an industry that impacts the daily lives of Americans. Ithaca's rich broadcasting history includes two college radio stations and several locally owned and operated stations. From the Greaseman to Keith Olbermann, Ithaca was the launch pad for numerous successful careers in music, talk, news, business, and satellite radio. Through vintage photographs, Ithaca Radio shares a history of local radio and some of the great voices that have called Ithaca home.

Naptown Rock Radio Wars

9780738598512

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It was a fight to the death . . . well, maybe not to the death, but it was definitely a battle that would change not only the listening habits of tens of thousands of Hoosiers but also the entire culture of the Indiana state capital city.

It had repercussions throughout the nation as the first major war of AM radio versus FM radio. It was Forty-fives versus album cuts and the "good guys" versus the "bad boys"--and Naptown would never be the same. Two brilliant and fierce broadcasting competitors went head to head: Richard Fairbanks, who for almost two decades owned WIBC-AM 1070, the 50,000-watt radio behemoth, versus Don Burden, the young upstart broadcasting impresario who swaggered into town and launched the glitzy, promotion-oriented though relatively low-powered WIFE-AM 1310. How was the war fought? What were the strategies? Who were the personalities both in the limelight and behind the scenes? And who, in the end, would win Naptown's rock radio wars?

Fort Lee

9780738545011

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A favorite locale of such film pioneers as D. W. Griffith and Mary Pickford, the historic borough of Fort Lee was the first center of the American motion picture industry. Studios lined both sides of Main Street, and enormous film laboratories fed the nickelodeon market with thousands of reels of comedies and cliffhangers. Broadway stars and producers came here to make many of their first feature-length films; but by the 1920s, Theda Bara, Fatty Arbuckle, and Douglas Fairbanks were gone. Yet even after the studios closed down, the film industry was still the backbone of the local economy, with hundreds working behind the scenes in the printing, storage, and distribution of movies being made in Hollywood.

The University of Pennsylvania Band

9780738545578

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The University of Pennsylvania Band, among the first collegiate marching bands in the country, was founded in 1897. Ever since, it has been a cornerstone of student life on campus, serving as a guardian of musical traditions and all things red and blue. The University of Pennsylvania Band is a distinctive photographic collection tracing the evolution of the student-led organization from its start as the prototype for the modern collegiate marching band, through the dramatic social changes during the middle of the 20th century, to the comedic Ivy League-style "scramble" band it became towards the end of its first 100 years. By following the evolution of the band, this pictorial collection traces the changes that occurred within the student body over the decades, including times of war and social inequality.