Lane County Historian

PUBLISHED BY RADIO DOiNGS COMPLETSIND UP-TODPrE OF19CtALU61¼ OF BROADCA8T STAf1014S COMPILO BY U.S. DEPARTMENT

Radio Call Book-1926. Complete official list of Broadcast Stations compiled by U.S. Department of Commerce. Roger Houglum ColIecton

LANE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Vol. XIX, No. 1 Eugene, Oregon Spring, 1974 LANE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mrs. C. A. Huntington, Route 2, Box 277, Eugene, Oregon 97401 President Stuart W. Hurd, Rt. 2, Box 345, Eugene, Oregon 97401 Membership Secretary

LANE COUNTY HISTORIAN lnez Long Fortt (Mrs. James 0. Fortt) Editor 3870 Watkins Lane, Eugene, Oregon 97405 The Lane County Historian is a quarterly publication of the Lane County Historical Society, a non-profit organization. Membership in the Lane County Historical Society includes subscription to the Lane County Historian. Annual dues: $3.00; family membership: $5.00.

CONTENTS RADIO "Early Day Broadcasting in Lane County" MEN by Roger J. Houglum: Consult- Wanted ant on Media, Lane Community College, Eugene; Former Chair- BIG (.4.,, S.4l.ø..,. man, Dept. of Electronics, LCC. PAY! C....l...,,,..C.,.a.,...l..,4 Author: "The History and Development of Radio Broad- 4,nateur easily become commercial e*pert casting," 1971; "World System I of Radio and TV Broadcasting," 0.11 in- nO .pn 1972; "Federal Regulations and . I. Sn - ¶.,b.-. ., 4..fl,I., ...*..- Private Ownership: The Ameri- I, .11 W,,-. sin ,s.....*n. .h.,k,... ps.Mi't (4. ,.n.S,.t5.. can System of Broadcasting," I...5-...s.in .1....,r' -ni...,in T..n4(I., R.4.. I4.a $ r Hn.. 1973. (,_ l.a Sfl.,b..* - ....n. u. r.z,. Founder, KRVM, Pacific N.W. 7 _=J=';?.:: pioneer Educational Broadcast '- Station; Co-Founder, Eu g e n e Nt.Tifl*AI.,flflnr,flcSs. a*D1O SCHOOL ..s.. Broadcasters Inc., which built KERG; Founder, La n e Com- ...... munity College FM Station, KICO. G.*s 4

Radio Schools-1920s. "Big Future" and "Big Pay" stressed in Radio Service Trade. Roger Houglum Collection

2 Car4 /3roaIcaó1injinJane Coun1, By Roger Houglum

Somehow the legend has per- Lane County's first salaried "disc sisteci through the years that KORE jockey" and chief engineer, both was Lane County's first broadcast at KGEH, and later at KORE, are station, and that its first broadcasts particularly comprehensive and originated from its s t u d I os on complete, and his detailed and per- South Willamette street sometime sonalized account m a k e s mu c h in the mid-thirties more vivid and real this era of There is no question but that early-day broadcasting i n L an e KORE played a dominant and in- County, extending approximately fluential role in early-day broad- from 1919 to about 1942. casting in this area, but just a min- RaleighWildman summarizes imum of research reveals t h at radio developments of this period when it first went on the air in as follows: 1928 from studios over the Metro- "At the time Eugene's second politan Store, at least two officially broadcast station, KFAT, was lic- licensedbroadcaststationshad ensed to Dr. S. T. Donahue in the preceded it; and that "unauthor- Fall of 1922 by the Department of ized," but not illegal, broadcasting Commerce, there was very little of both voice and music had been distinctionbetween an amateur going on in the Eugene area spor- radio station and a broadcast sta- adically since World War I. tion. In my opinion, KFAT, located This was recently revealed in a in the doctor's dental offices on the series of tape-recorded interviews second floor of the Link Building with Raleigh Wildman of Spring- at the Northeast corner of 7th field and "Tommy" Thompson of Avenue and Willamette Street, was Eugene, and in extensive corre- operated more like an amateur sta- spondence with Jerry DeBroekert tion than a true broadcast station. of Bend, all of whom had the good It was on the air when he pleased, fortune to be living and working and shut down when he pleased; in Eugene during the most rapid and there was no regular or fixed period of radio's development in broadcast schedule. I felt that it this area, the 1920s. Additional was purely operated for Dr. Dona- local color and background was hue's enjoyment and pleasure, not contributed by the vivid recollec- that of the comparatively small tions of the early years at station listening audience of that period. KORE as recalled by former staff "The equipment was pretty prim- members, Ted Charles and Dolph itive too. The transmitter had just Janes of Eugene. Regrettably, Eu- two tubes and was limited to 50 gene radio pioneer, Paul Hoppe, watts of power; there was only one died suddenly last summer just be- microphone, and when the staff fore his scheduled interview. Ra- wanted to play phonograph rec- leigh Wildman's recollections as ords, they'd just wheel up a spring- 3 wound Victrola before the mike and pick up the music jn that way. There was quite a lot of story-tell- ing on the air too, principally di- rected towards Donahue's friends and acquaintances. During New Year's Eve of 1922 KFAT was on the air with a special broadcast, and it was rumored that some of the stories told got pretty 'rau- cous,' and that there were many telephone calls and letters of complaint from listeners. This very well could have been a factor in the decision not to renew the KFAT license in the Spring of 1923 when the existing Department of Com- "Tommy" Thompson, built KGEH, Eugene; KIDO, merce license expired. Boise; later founder of KPIR (KPNW). Thompson "Shortly after the decision was brothers operated Thompson's Radio Service, rec- reached not to renew the license of ord and electronic equipment, etc., Eugene. KFAT, two recent graduates of the Roger Houglum Collection University of Oregon, Frank L. the same time I believe they also Hill of Eugene and Curt G. 'Shrimp' purchased the 50 watt broadcast Phillips of California who had be- transmitter of KFEC, licensed to come close friends while attending the Meier and Frank department school, decided to go into the radio store. broadcasting business in Eugene. "Tommy Thompson and P a ul Their first step was to go to Port- Hoppe of Eugene helped bring the land and purchase from Lewis I. equipment to Eugene where it was Thompson both the license and the promptly 'cannibalized' for parts, transmitting equipment of his 10 as it had little value in its existing watt broadcast station, KLIT. At form. The equipment so obtained was minimal; the important thing they were after was the KLIT broadcast license issued by the De- partment of Commerce. "Within a month the station license was amended to specify the call letters KGEH rat her t ha n KLrF; the change was to reflect the sponsorship of the station by the Eugene Hotel where studios and equipment were to be located. The hotel made available to the station a large suite of rooms on the Southwest side of the building for the station's offices, transmitter room, and main studio. The late Paul Hoppe and Louis DuBuy, now Frank I.. Hill, early pioneer in radio broadcasting sound engineer of the Oregon Leg- business, Eugene. Courtesy, Reg5ter-Guard islature, were assigned the responsibility of erecting the antenna on the roof of the building. It was to '.T.r, be a multi-wire 'flat-top' running North and South, and mounted on GlLmnrcRArno 50 foot poles, with a down-lead on Lit .\ i.'!fl)Ilit) ll?.Lflrfl:,.i the South end leading to the trans- role P., mitter below. Somehow, in the proc- ess of putting up the north pole S,n;.,. on the cornice of the roof, the pole broke away from Hoppe and Du- Buy and fell with a resounding crash to the sidewalk on 9th Av- enue. It was a frightening experi- ence, but fortunately no one was injured. "As far as I could tell, no money changed hands between the Eu- GunTiAN BROS. IN gene Hotel and radio station -- i W.a4 S. LX' L.'iSuatCM. KGEH. The radio station was ex- pected to promote and advertise the GILFILLAN RADIO (battery) advertised in 1926 hotel and its activities, while the RADIO CALL BOOK. station was to have the free use Roger Houglum Collection of a suite of rooms in return for and constructed a new 50 watt this publicity. transmitter f o r KGEH using a "By this time there was little Western Electric Type 203-A tube left of the original KLIT and KFEC in the final amplifier, and with transmitting equipment we had an even bigger tube, a Type 212, brought down from Portland; most used to super-impose the voice and of the gear had been pretty well music on the carrier wave. A Gen- dismantled for the c o mp one n t eral Radio crystal-controlled oscil- parts. Meanwhile I had designed lator kept us on our assigned frequency of 1500 kc. This same transmitter was later used when we moved to studios over Hill's Economy Store and became KORE, and was still in service when the move was made to the South Wil- lamette location in the late 1930s. "After about a year of operation at the Eugene Hotel, apparently the original mutual arrangement between the radio station and the hotel's management was termin- ated, and it became necessary to move KGEH to the top floor of the Morning Register building on the J. Raleigh Wildman, Springfield, was Eugene's southeast corner of 9th Avenue first salaried chief engineer and disc jockey. He (near the alley) and Oak. Strange- built, operated original transmitting equipment at KGEH and KORE. ly, we still had permission for our Roger Houglum Collection antenna to remain on the roof of Photo, 1973, by Houglum the Eugene Hotel. So it was my re-

0 sponsibility to design, install, and 1,000 watts of power. Soon this make work a transmission line that permission was granted, and the would carry the power from the station became KIDO. As wit h transmitter in the Register build- KGEH, it was jointly owned by ing to the antenna on the Eugene Frank Hill and Curt Phillips. Hotel, a distance of a fullcity "In 1928 the move was made to block. I remember that I had a the newly remodeled facilities over dickens of a time in getting the Hill's Economy Store, and at the antenna to take power from the same time the Federal Radio Com- transmitter. If I'd only known then mission granted permission to what I know now about antennas change the call letters to KORE. it would have been easy, but then We also purchased some pieces of our understanding of antennas was c o m me rCa 1 transmitting equip- minimal, and everything had to be ment at the time of the move, re- done by cut-and-try. At that time placing a few items that we had we considered ourselves lucky to previously constructed. put out a signal to the Eugene city There was plenty of room at the limits with 50 watts of power; now new location for all KORE facili- we talk to a space satellite 50 mil- ties. Originally there had been per- lion miles away with a fraction of haps 10 or more apartments up- that power. Our knowledge has stairs over the department store. sure changed! Those nearest Willamette Street "The move to the Morning Reg- were remodeled to provide a large ister building was only of short master control room as well as a duration, and was necessary to pro- formal studio. The control room vide time for the construction of was so arranged that the turntables new facilities over Hill's Depart- were waist high and the mike was ment St o r e at 733 Willamette suspended from the ceiling, forcing Street. I'm sure that there was the operator to work standing up. more than coincidence in the fact Actually you were so b u s y an- that this building was at that time nouncing, reading commercial copy, owned by Frank Hill's father. I spinning the heavy shellac records believe I have neglected to point of that day, and changing steel out that KGEH was jointly owned phonograph needles that you were and managed by Frank Hill and too busy to sit down anyway. Curt Phillips. "The main studio, like the con- "About this same time they were trol room, was heavily draped with planning a further expansion of monks cloth to prevent echoes and their activities. This time they pur- reverberation, and was similarly chased KFAU in Boise, Idaho, op- equipped with a double-button car- erated by the Boise Polytechnic bon microphone. These mikes were High School, and then operating energized by a 6 volt storage bat- under an experimental and educa- tery which on occasion would run tional license. Immediately, appli- down in the middle of a broadcast. cation was made to the Federal This made it necessary to shut Radio Commission which had re- down the station for a half hour placed the Department of Com- or so while we re-charged the bat- merce as regulatory authority in tery. No one was particularly con- 1927, for permission to re-license cerned by this loss of air time. the station as a full-time commer- There was also a suite of offices, a cial operation on 1,000 kc. with transmitter room, and a storage "Crystal Set" lay-out of early 1920s. Tuning was accomplished by moving lever across coilof wire (left). Precise adjustment of "catwhisker" on galena crystal also necessary. Earphone plug, lower right. Roger Houglum Collection

Typical "DX Listener" post (long distance reception) usedin early 1920s. Brandes Headphones (left) Echophone regenerative receiver and 1926 RADIO CALL BOOK. 7 LEADING RADIOPHONE BROADCASTING STATIONS Principal Radio Broadcasting Stations in 1922.Note large areas of the country without service from any station. Roger Houglum Collecflon area. And this time, Paul Hoppe and Washburne's department store. and Louis DuBuy managed to in- I'd shut down the station, return stall the roof-top antenna without the records, pick up an armful of incident! new ones, then probably stop off "Up until I left to work for the for a cup of coffee on the way back. Hickok Meter Company in Cleve- Returning to the studios, I'd put land, Ohio in the mid thirties, the transmitter back on the air things at KGEH and KORE were and resume broadcasting. This pat- pretty informal as far as maintain- tern of operation went on for years ing a regular broadcast schedule with scarcely a complaint from was concerned. I remember that management or listeners. when the station was still operat- "I'd say that for the first 10 ing as KGEH in the Morning Reg- years of the KGEH-KORE opera- ister building that as chief engineer tion, that the station didn't own a and announcer I had the first shift single record; they were all bor- in the morning. I'd put the station rowed from McMorran and Wash- on the air about 7:00 a.m., then burne's which fortunately saw the program from records for perhaps value of radio promotion of their an hour and a half. By that time records, and had the best stocked I'd be out of records which we'd record department in town. All borrowed the day before from the other radio stores refused to co- record department at McMorran operate with us, feeling that radio a laboratory accident at the Uni- versity, operated KORE in a much more relaxed and easy-going manner with the result that both gross income and the station's total audience were disappointingly small by comparison with those of KIDO. It was then amicably agreed to dis- solve the partnership, with Hill in- dividually owning KORE and Phil- lips, KIDO. It's my understanding Cohn Kennedy Type 281. Short Wave Receiver that Phillips died many years ago, manufactured in San Francisco about 1922. "Short Wave" of1920s included much of standard and that his wife, Georgia, now re- broadcast band of today. married, owns and operates one of Roger Houglum Collection Boise's TV stations. "Part of my salary, and that of was a dangerous competitor which other staff members in those de- would be sure to ruin their busi- pression years, came in the form ness. of 'trade - outs' - merchandise or "News came from the wire serv- services offered in payment for ices of United Press (no teletype radio advertising when cash was yet), and from a radio news serv- hard to come by. I recall that I got ice called, I believe, Press Wireless. part of my clothing free from Paul It was sent in International Morse D. Green's Store for Men; and code, and came through on short every month I'd get a free haircut wave at the rate of perhaps 22 words per minute. I recall that there was a war going on in Ethi- :1)r:RAI opia at the time, and it was a real strain to copy those place names ORTHO - SONiC on the typewriter at that speed, R?d)!O and get them spelled right. "By the early 1930s, KORE had joined the Mutual Network briefly, but the network pay for the use of the station's facilities was so much less than local merchants were paying that financial pres- sures forced the station to termin- ate this contract, not to be re- sumed again for a number of years. "During this same time period, Phillips' management at KIDO in Boise was hard-driving and ag- gressive with the result that even ASK A tiJDA O'AI1 TO DLMON1ATh in its first year of operation the - station showed a very substantial YALE RADIO ELECTRIC CO. gross income and a large increase t UWlL r,t. j!.s.. in its listening audience. In Eu- ttills. U, ....._. gene, Frank Hill, who had never Typical radio receiver advertisement in RADIO been in vigorous health following CALL BOOK of 1926. Roger Houglum Collection 9 at Ole's Barber Shop, just around taught jazz piano lessons on the the corner on East 7th Avenue. side. He's the owner and manager "In addition to being KORE's of a profitable local business that chief engineer, I also had the Early makes and distributes pastry shells. Bird program each week-day morn- "And finally, there w a s o u r ing, starting at 6:30 a.m. T h i s flamboyant newsman and sports- would run for a few hours; then caster, Rush Hughes who was the I'd 'sack out' for a while before son of novelist, Rupert Hughes. He starting my daily technical main- was always at his best when work- tenance. I'd usually be followed by ing at something which was color- Tom Hall who was a real character. ful or dramatic. He later held im- Like me, he was a 'combination portant positions with the Mutual man'both an announcer and a Network, even doing audience par- licensed operator. But he really ticipation shows on a coast-to-coast had the knack for getting along basis. well with the people who showed "Would you believe it? The sta- up for our live Western and Coun- tion had its own 'conscience,' too. try music shows. Frequently, he'd This was in the form of Billie Har- wind up as their master of cere- per who served as receptionist, sec- monies as well as the announcer. retary, and Frank Hill's 'Girl Fri- Tom later left KORE to work for day.' Billie took radio broadcast- radio stations in Washington, and ing very seriously, and whenever I believe he was working in Walla we'd get a little out of line, stumble Walla when he was killed in a traf- over our commercials, mispro- fic accident. nounce a word, or use poor taste "We also worked closely with in selecting music, in a day or so chief announcer, Day Foster, who we'd receive a postcard or letter also served as program director. through the mails calling the mat- After many years at KORE, Day ter to our attention. They were al- finally resigned to found a weekly ways s i g ned 'Aunt Polly,' and newspaper, or shopping guide in though we soon found out who was Portland; then joined forces with sending the letters, they kept on Eugene attorney, Erven Kincaid to coming! co-found station KASH in Eugene. "My finalobservationisthat I believe he died before he could how fortunate some of us have take an active role at KASH. been to go through this tremen- "Stan Miller was the third an- dous development of radio, televi- nouncer-technician on our staff. sion, and electronics in less than Stan was friendly, good-humored, the space of one lifetime. As I and well-liked. He was always will- have previously mentioned, when I ing to take any operator or pro- first got started in radio we thought gram shift when someone was ill we were doing wonders by sending or had to be out of town. He left a broadcast signal to the Eugene KORE in the late 1940s to join the city limits with 50 watts of power; staff of KIRO in Seattle where he just recently NASA has been send- died six or seven years ago. ing a radio signal to our space sat- "Ted Charles alternated with me ellite near Jupiter, 50 million miles in the later years at KORE doing away, with a fraction of that power. the Early Bird show. He also had And the satellite then sends back his daily live program from the TV pictures in full color with even main studio, Piano Soliloquy; and less power. It just seems incon- 10 ceivable that we have improved amateur stations in the period im- our technology so much in such a mediately following World War I. relatively short time." He notes that he frequently broad- *** cast both voice and music over his G. M. "Jerry" DeBroekert, now station 7SY on a wavelength of 200 retired and living in Bend, Oregon, meters or less, and received lis- spent many of his early years in tener reports not only from the Eugene attending school and ex- local area but from such locations perimenting with radio reception as Washington, Northern Califor- and transmission at his home which nia, and even Hawaii. This was ac- was located on Mill street near the complished with a single UV-202 site of the present EWEB building. tube which was normally rated at He passed his Department of Com- about 5 watts output power. In merce Amateur Operator exam in 1923 when his license was sub- 1921 at the age of 14, and was as- mitted to the Department of Com- signed the call letters 7SY which merce for renewal, the regulations he stillretains today as W7S'1. had been changed, and amateurs Jerry worked for many years for were prohibited from operating in the State of Oregon in various ca- the standard broadcast band and pacities; just prior to retirement transmitting music in competition he was Chairman of the Board of with licensed broadcast stations. Directors of the Bank of Central Jerry recalls, too, another "un- Oregon in Redmond. official" source of music broadcast- Like Raleigh Wildman, J e r r y ing in the Eugene area which was points out the comparatively small closely followed by those residents distinction between broadcast and lucky enough to have receivers in those days. As Jerry describes it: "In the period 1919, 1920, and 1922 the Army Air Corps flew daily patrols during the forest fire season from the old Eugene Airport which was located in those days east of Chambers street in the southwest portion of the city. A communications unit was stationed at the airport to maintain contact with the patrolling aircraft, and was located in a tent. The communications unit included a transmitter rated at 10 watts power which was capable of broadcasting both voice and music over the frequency range of 200 to 550 meters, covering the complete broadcast band of those days. During the evening hours members of the corn- munications crew would play phono- "Jerry"G. M. DeBroekert, Bend, Oregon. As Eugene schoolboy in early 1920s broadcast voice graph records for the entertain- and musicoverhislicensedamateurradio ment of Eugene listeners, compara- station 7SY, later W7SY. Recalls visits ta early tively few in number at that time. broadcast stations. Most of those who had receivers 11 which could pick up the broadcasts struct a new radio station in Eu- were the radio amateurs of this gene to operate with a power of period, licensed by the Department 100 watts on a frequency of 1090 of Commerce. During the fire pa- kc. The studio location was given trol's last summer in Eugene, that as 681 Willamette, the same as that of 1922, music was broadcast near- of the dental offices, and the new ly every evening f r o m perhaps call letters assigned were KFAT. 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., or so. They "Garrett Lewis was to become seemed to have a good supply of KFAT's chief engineer, and a little records, but Idon't know what later on, was to be assisted by a the source was. The call sign newly licensed Eugenean by the 'nine one' was used as they were name of Paul Hoppe whose ama- the 91st Air Corps Division. teur call was 71W. The two of them "Eugene's firstofficialr a d io apparently rebuilt the KDZJ trans- broadcast station, KDZJ, was li- mitter to meet the higher licensed censed by the Department of Com- power requirement of KFAT by re- merce in 1920, and operated in placing the 5 watt UV-202 tubes 1920 and 1921. It was licensed to originally used by the much larger a University of Oregon student by type UV-203s. A larger motor- the name of Garrett Lewis, and generator power supply was also Was located in his home. To the obtained. best of my recollection, the station "A double-button carbon micro- was located on Villard Street be- phone was also purchased, the first tween 12th and 13th Avenues. I such unit to be placed in service in was present the day Mr. 0. R. Red- Eugene. It was used for both voice fern, the Radio Inspector from the and music pickup. When music was Seattle District, inspected and ap- to be broadcast from records, the proved it, so there is no question mike was positioned for best pick- in my mind but that it was a legal up from a wind-up mechanical operation and Eugene's first offi- phonograph." cial broadcast station as well. Its equipment was minimal:j u st a single 202 tube as an oscillator modulated by another 202 tube, and with a power output of perhaps 5 watts on 360 meters wavelength, which would be about 800 kc. Like other broadcast stations that were to follow, its basic prob- lem was that of too few receivers in the hands of listeners, so the audience was very small. "However Lewis soon disposed of the station and its equipment, and to the best of my knowledge, sold it to Dr. S. T. Donahue, a Eugene dentist with officesin the Link building at 7th and Willamette. Dr. Donahue then applied to the De- Double-button carbon microphone similar to those partment of Commerce in the sum- used by Stations KFAT, KGEH, and KORE in the mer of 1922 for authority to con- early 1920s and 1930s. 12 James M. "Jimmie" Morris, radio pioneer, and for nearly 25 years the manager of the State-owned radio station KOAC in Corvallis, recalls in his recent book, "The Remembered Years," a visit he paid to the dental office in the 1920s to witness first-hand a live broadcast featuring a male opera star who had been appearing at the Heilig Theater across the street. With the "studio" equipped with only hard, plaster walls, the reverberation was terrific, and the broadcast endedi n an overpowering howl or squeal. The singer's com- ments were, "My! I've never sung Ted Charles, Eugene announcer and copywriter, in a place like this before!" KORE in early days over Metropolitan store. His At one time Jimmie operated a PIANO SOLILOQUY, a daily feature for years. small radio parts store in Eugene 1931, and remained until 1936 where radio amateurs could buy when I left to manage radio sta- the components n e e d e d for as- tion KAST in Astoria. At first, al- sembling their transmitters and re- most all of KORE's programs, both ceivers. Also, Eugeneans with no recorded and live, originated in the technical bent could h ave their upstairs studio or control room radioreceivers custom-wired to over 733 Willamette. At that time, order. Jimmie admits that the name Frank Hill was the station mana- of the business, Eugene Radio Lab- ger and owner; Tom Hall was a oratories, was a little grandiose in licensed operator who also served terms of the actual cash flow. He as an announcer; Rush Hughes was also seriously considered establish- the principal newscaster, but also ing a broadcast station in Eugene handled sports; Day Foster, the in the early 1920s, but finally de- chief announcer who also served cided againstit. The address of as program director; and, of course, Eugene Radio Laboratories was at Raleigh Wildman who was t h e first at his home at 650 East 12th chief engineer and senior member Avenue; then later moved to 860 of the staff. Willamette Street whereit was "Violet Hill (Mrs. Frank Hill) located "upstairs over a hardware was playing an increasing role in store." the station's operation, particularly its programming, w h e n Ifirst Ted Charles, owner and mana- joined the staff. She would monitor ger of KING CHARLES of Eu- the station's broadcasts at home gene, a firm which manufactures for long periods of time, noting and distributes baked pastry shells mispronounced words, poor choice throughout the United States, also of music selections, and the like. has a vivid recall of his experi- Then she would call the matter to ences while working at K 0 RE our attention with a friendly, in- when it was located over Hill's de- formal note. She was always kind partment store: and considerate. I would say that "I joined the staff of KORE in Violet personally s e 1 e c t e d and 13 purchased every record which was in the KORE library of that time, a n d to ok the responsibility for their cataloguing and filing. "As I have already mentioned, at first almost all of our programs featured 78 rpm shellac records; then we began to be more adven- turous and originate a few programs away from the studios. These were, of course, called 're- motes.' Our first remote broad- KORE Talent Contest, McDonald Theatre stage. cast was from the stage of the Mc- Curtain "teaser" promotes upcoming Lillian Rus- Donald Theatre, and f e a t u red sell film Courtesy, KORE Studio Frank D. C. Alexander at the Wur- became the promotion of amateur litzer pipe organ. Frank Hill, him- talent shows from the stage of the self, was the announcer. Later re- McDonald. He usually asked me to motes featured George Hebert as contact the 'talent' and get the the Man On The Street; and, of show organized. We used to fill the course, there were the wrestling entire first floor of the theater matches broadcast from the Eu- with people who had come to see gene Armory. and hear Eugene's most talented "One of Frank Hill's enthusiasms youngsters perform. Neither KORE nor the McDonald realized as much as a dime from these talent show broadcasts, and this loss of potential station revenue always both- ered me. Finally I called this to Frank's attention. His reply was, 'When you get interest like this, it's always good for the station.' He was right and I was wrong, for the broadcasts were creating an interest in this new medium of radio, yet I was thinking about the money we were losing. "Other remote broadcasts were gradually developed and improved. Day Foster was the sportscaster on a number of remote broadcasts of football games taking place at Hayward Field. Then there was George Hebert's witty and enter- taining Man On The Street broadcasts from the sidewalk in front of the Outdoor Store, almost across Willamette street from the main Left to right, Marge Jackson, Frank Hill's secre- studio. George was very clever and tary and bookkeeper; Don Matter, special events director (later, husband of Violet Hill after death skillful in asking questions of the ofFrank), and FrankHill,KORE owner and passers-by; then 'steering' the con- manager. Roger Houglum Collection versation when it was getting off 14 Valley Radio Club, Eugene (circa1934). Back Row; Dot Dotson, Wally Mull, Carl Thom, Gerry Dc- Broekert, L. L. Brakel, Wink Wintler, Glendon Dotson. Front Row: Vic Watts, Hilt Koupal, Henry Leaders, Earl Lyons, Vance Clark and Raleigh Wildman. Dotson Photo the track ori n to controversial nouncing, of course, and I had sev- issues. eral program shifts a day. The first "Staff salaries when Ijoined one was real early in the morn- KORE reflected the fact that during, and I was given this shift being this period of time the station cause Day Foster and I both liked was largely a sustaining rather to get up early. And then I'd fill than a commercial operation. It's in at various times through the my recollection that the chief en- day as needed. Every afternoon I'd gineer, Raleigh Wildman, and later, present my Piano Soliloquy live Harold Gander were paid about from the main studio. When I had $125 per month; Day Foster as any spare time during the day, I chief annoimcer was getting $80 was supposed to be writing 'con- per month; while Tom Hall and tinuity,' or 'commercials,' for spon- Stan Miller as announcer-techni- sors, an assignment which I cian were receiving $55 per learned to enjoy. month. As the newest addition to "Specifically written into my con- the staff, my monthly salary was tract was the understanding that I exactly $30 per month! But there was to be responsible at all times were some f r i n g e benefits that for maintaining the supply of wood made it possible to survive. Mr. for the station's pot-bellied stove. Hill gave me the use of one of the This required frequent trips to the adjacent apartments which I fixed woodpile on Park street, then back up as a piano studio where I could up a long flight of stairs with an give lessons in jazz piano to supple- armload of slab wood. Somehow, in ment my income, and this kept me between these activities I managed going. to give a few piano lessons a day; "My specific duties at the sta- then my final assignment for the tion were spelled out in detail. An- day would be a late evening an- 15 flouncing shift. All of this added up listed as 'sustaining' and compara- to a long, long working day, yet I tively little as 'commercial.' Not found it to be both interesting and until quite late in the thirties was enjoyable. the station's sales staff able to sell "Some of the air shows that I as much as half of its available still recall vividly included the daily commercial time. request program which was on the "During my 5 years at KORE, air each afternoon for several the entire West Coast was going hours. Known at first as simply through/ a severe depression, mak- 'Request Program,'itstitle was ing it very difficult for us to sell later changed to At Your Com- our radio spots, or commercials. mand, which continued for many We'd make up these one dollar ads years. It took two girls every after- which weren't too professional at noon to handle the telephone re- first, but the best we could do. We quests and dedications, and even were supposed to use a maximum then the lines were overloaded. of 60 words for a dollar announce- KORE's telephone number in those ment, but if it took 200 words to days was the single digit '3,' very get the idea across, we'd use 200 easy to remember. wordsand still for a dollar! You "And then there was the Early never knew wether the station was Bird program which continued for to be paid for these spots in money man y ye a r s, and was mostly or in 'trade-outs' of merchandise sprightly, up-beat music to make or services. It might take the form it a little easier for the listener to of a cord of wood or a free haircut. get under way in the mornings. We "I'm proud of the fact that I all took turns doing it, but Rush wrote and sold the very first radio Hughes finally drew it as his as- spots ever used by Springfield busi- signment. Rush was the colorful, nessmen. Up to this time the sales dramatic type, and was always at staff had concentrated on the Eu- his best when doing a program gene market. T h i s was natural which offered a similar challenge. since Eugene's population at this He was also good at news and time was around 20,000; Spring- sports. field at the most was about 4,000. "Since daytime reception from But I was fired with ambition in Portland was usually poor on the those days, and was determined to comparatively insensitive radios of sell some radio advertising in that period, the chances were very Springfield. So I contacted several good thatif you lived in Lane potential accounts there, wrote a County and your radio was turned series of spots for these Spring- on, it would be tuned to KORE. field merchants. They liked them, Since there were no other local and they were used on the air. stations at that time, there was "I think that this moderate suc- no other alternative. cess was the turning point in my "Although KORE was scheduled career, one that led me to move to be on the air up to 16 hours a into sales as a profession, a field day, quite frequently we'd be off I've followed ever since. the air for various reasons, usually "Record shows from t h e old transmitter trouble. This was less KORE control room were always of a financial loss than it might at tiring since you had to handle so first seem since much of the time many of those heavy shellac rec- shown in the program 10 g w a s ords that only played 3 minutes 16 KORE Building, former Eugene Country Club buildingat 26th and Willamette (circa 1936). Courtesy, KORE Studio per side. Also the control desk and tween Frank Hill and Managing microphone were so high you had Editor Bill Tugman was q u i t e to stand while you worked. Really, strained at times. you were so busy that there wasn't "During my employment at time to sit down anyway. KORE, in addition to the people "For news, we cut stories out of I've already mentioned, I also the Morning Register and the Eu- worked with Marjorie Jackson who gene Guard. Later when the papers was the station's bookkeeper and consolidated to form the Eugene traffic manager; Stan Miller and Register-Guard we had to be quite Tom Hall who 'doubled' as an- careful what stories from thepaper nouncers and technicians; and with we'd use since the relationship be- both Raleigh Wildman, the chief

Observers' Lounge, KORE Building, 26th and Willamette (circa 1936). Courtesy. Norman I-till 17 Dolph Jones (right) KORE News Director, MCs KORE SKI FAIR EVENT. Courtesy, KORE Studio engineer, and Harold Gander who vertising agency, and was paid by replaced him when 'Hal' moved to them, not KORE. Some of Doiph's Cleveland, Ohio. other recollections follow: "When I left KORE for Astoria "Day Foster was the production in 1936 to manage KAST in that manager at KORE at the time I city, plans were already underway went to work there in 1938. Day in preparation for the move to the was a real 'pro' in every sense of new site at the old Eugene Country the word, and gave me, a college Club building at 26th and Willam- freshman, a great deal of help and ette, but I wasn't around long encouragement. His job was much enough to participate in that move. the same as that of a program di- Returning from Astoria sever a 1 rector today. It was his responsi- years later, I decided that with my bility to plan and title the various successful background in selling program formats, then to check and promotion, I would move per- manently into that field, a decision I've never regretted. I've never returned to radio broadcasting, but I have continued to have a lively interest in both it and television." Dolph Janes, currently Director of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Southwestern Re- gion, went to work at KORE in 1938 as a part-time newscaster for what was considered a handsome sum in that depression year, ten dollars a week! He points out that Dolph Janes, KORE, interviews industrialist and at the time he was a contest win- crusader, Vivian Kellems. ner for the Lord and Thomas Ad- Courtesy, KORE Studio 18 with Marjorie Jackson, the traffic a control room, a suite of offices, manager and secretary, to see that and a combined transmitter room they actually got on the air.I and record library w h i c h also understand that Marge is retired housed limited news facilities. The now, and living with her niece in basement provided an apartment Ashland. for the caretaker, some storage fa- "Other members of the KORE cilities, and a number of tiny offices, staff when I first joined the sta- mostly for the sales staff. The 175 tion were Harold Gander who was foot antenna tower stood just to chief engineer; Vern Sahnow and northwest of the building. Stan Miller who were 'combina- "An interesting sidelight was tion men'; and Jack McCarty who that chief engineer Harold Gander, could do almost everything: be a although he sounded fine on the disc jockey, read the n e w s, o r air, detested announcing. So every broadcast a football game. He even Saturday morning when he had a did a Man on the Street broadcast regular program shift, he'd swing from in front of the old Tiffany- by the fraternity house and pick Davis drug store at 8th and Wil- me up to do the announcing for lamette. him. He paid me for this extra an- "Jack's principal program was nouncing out of his own pocket! the request show, 'At Your Com- "I continued as a part-time news- mand,' which came on the air at caster on the KORE staff but on about 2:00 p.m. six days a week, the Lord and Thomas payroll until and probably h a d t h e greatest 1939 when I was officially made a audience of any KORE program. KORE employee, but still on a Frequently it ran until 4:00 o'clock part-time basis. Needing full-time or so in order to handle the great employment, I left KORE for a volume of requests from listeners. full - time job at KBND. Duke I always looked forward to Jack's Young, present owner and mana- vacations since it gave me a chance ger of KFMY-FM of this city took to take over temporarily this my place at KORE. A year later glamor spot as the announcer on Glenn McCormick, KORE's sales 'At Your Command.' manager, called and offered me a "Harold Gander had p 1 a n ned full-time opening at KORE which I the move of KORE from its loca- immediately accepted. tion over the Metropolitan store "I found that Lionel Trommlitz on Willamette street to its new had become KORE manager while location at 26th and Willamette I was away.He was quiet, re- where the former Eugene Country served, and not at all the flamboy- Club building had been remodeled ant type of person one usually as- to accommodate all of the station's sociates with radio station manage- operations. Gander had also con- ment. Tromm had made his home structeci a new 250 watt transmit- off and on in Eugene for 30 years, ter in his spare time, and it was but had been working also at Gen- placed in service at the time of the eral Motors in Seattle and for a move. To help you identify the credit association in Salem. At the location, the present Music West same time, Glenn McCormick, later store is on approximately the same to become owner and manager of site. KSLM in Salem, was moving to "There was a large studio on the Baker, Oregon, to go into radio main floor, an observation lounge, broadcasting there. 19 Laura Plank) and Bruce Nidever, both of whom became very active in commercial radio in Eugene. Laura specialized in interview shows and programs for women on b o t h KORE and KASH. Bruce was a staff announcer at KORE for years, later becoming involved in the production of'spots' for other radio stations, and in the narrating of sound tracks for commercial films. As a matter of fact, he's still doing that. "I also recall that KOAC, the State station in Corvallis, was beginning to o r i g i n a t e broadcasts from a studio constructed in a Lionel Trommhtz, manager at KORE. practice room in the University's "During these early years of School of Music. Marvin Krenk, World War II the amount of com- now a salesman for KVAL-TV, di- mercial announcements and spon- rected a number of programs there sored programs had shown a tre- which I observed. mendous increase. The Eugene- "The final personnel change I Springfield area was growing rapid- can recall at KORE before I was ly, and at the same time the news- drafted was Floyd Viken taking print shortage was restricting Harold Gander's place as chief en- newspaper advertising. Then, busi- gineer w h en Harold decided to nessmen w h o h a d always used move to Seattle. Every morning newspaper advertising exclusively, Floyd would be warming up the were willing to turn to radio as an technical equipment before broad- alternative. Soon the demand for casting began at 6:00 a.m., mean- commercial time on KORE had while selecting records fo r h is reached the point where there was early-morning show which lasted always a waiting list of prospec- until about 9:00 o'clock. With his tive advertisers. And whenever an friendly, folksy approach, he soon air availability occurred,it was developed a loyal following of lis- only necessary for someone from teners that was with him every the sales staff to go into town and week-day morning for years. When 'write up the business.' No selling his shift was over, he was soon was necessary, only order-taking. busy with his job of technical main- Actually, it was after 1945 and the tenance and equipment construc- end of the war before it was neces- tion. Floyd was a real genius at sary for KORE to develop an ag- designing and building electronic gressive sales staff. equipment, and preferred to build "But I've gotten a little ahead of everything from 'scratch' rather my story. In the late thirties, the than buying it ready-made. University of Oregon started offer- "Programs were showing rapid ing courses in broadcast techniques improvement, especially those from through its Speech Department. I the Mutual Network which was was in the same beginning class of again affiliated with the station. 1937-38 as Laura Bryant (n ow Then there were programs, too, 20 on'electricaltranscriptions,'16 "I was inducted into the Army inch discs that revolved at331/3 in 1942, and after a long tour of rpm. Those from C. P. McGregor duty and extensive hospitalization, were especially good. I particularly remember with fondness such pro- I returned to KORE in 1948 as grams as Jack Bailey and Queen full-time news director. But it was for a Day; Bill Cunningham; Crimes never quite the same again; 1942 of Carelessness; and House of Mys- was the end of an era, and what tery. In the news field, Glenn Hardy followed after 1945well that's with the Alka Seltzer News was another period of history and an- outstanding. other story." ***

(Typical KORE Schedule) KORE PROGRAM SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY, AUG. 23, 1938 Morning 3:30 Mr. Mergenthwirker's 7:00 Early Bird Lobblies 7:45 Morning Devotional 4:00 News 8:00 Variety Program 4:15 Christian Science Program 8:30 Haven of Rest 4:30 Radio Campus 9:00 News and Music 4:45 Playground Program 9:15 Between the Bookends 5:00 Reveries 9:30 Denver Darling 5:15 Frank Ferneau's Orchestra 9:45 Joyce Trio 5:30 Howie Wing 10:00 News and Music 5:45 Club Cabana 10:15 Pinky Hunter Evening 10:30 Roundup 6:00 Streamline Swing 10:45 Jimmy Shields 6:15 Phantom Pilot 11:00 Hollywood Charm Counselor 6:30 Frank Bull 11:15 Let's Dance 6:45 News 11:30 Hawaii Calls 7:00 Chico and Orchestra 11:45 Paul Lamkoff 7:15 Meet Your Neighbor 12:00 Peacock Court 7:30 Green Hornet 8:00 Let's Dance Afternoon 8:15 Don't You Believe It 12:15 News 8:30 Our Quartet 12:30 Agricultural Daily 8:54 Roundup 12:45 What Lane County Thinks 9:00 News 1:00 Voice of the Farm 9:15 House of McGregor 1:15 Charley Eckel's Orchestra 9:30 Say It With Words 1:45 Works Progress Administra- 10:00 Dance Music tion 11:30 The Playboys 2:00 At Your Command 11:45 Dream Time 3:00 Feminine Fancies 12:00 Sign Off

21 RE

Cover used on KORE program guide for many years Photo by Jack Lamb

FORMS FOR TESTAMENTARY GIFTS Language to be used for bequests designating the Lane County Historical Society (a tax exempt organization) as a beneficiary of your Will: "I devise to the Lane County Historical Society, a cor- poration existing under the laws of the State of Oregon, $ to be used for the benefit of the Lane County Historical Society in such manner as its Board of Directors may direct." "I devise to the Lane County Historical Society, a cor- poration existing under the laws of the State of Oregon, $ to constitute a permanent endowment fund to be known as the Fund. Such fund shall be kept invested by the Board of Directors of the Lane County Historical Society, and the annual income therefrom shall be used for the benfit of the Lane County Historical Society in such a manner as its Board of Directors may direct." 22 QUEEN FOR A NIGHT broadcast from McDonald Theatre stage. Left, Dan Gayle. Courtesy, KORE Studio

George Hebert and His Gang broadcasting outside Eugene's Outdoor Store, 7th and Willamette. Courtesy, KORE Studio

23 LANE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 740 West 13th Ave., Eugene, Oregon Organization Non-Profit U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 96 Eugene, Oregon

George Hebeit's MAN ON THE STREET broadcast (Billboard Promotion) Courtesy, KORE Studio