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Radios & Radio Stations
Behind The Scenes

For a small taste of this great DVD,
watch the preview below.

Back before TV became the most popular entertainment medium, radio was king. This DVD, the first in a series on radio gives a great accounting of the behind the scenes magic that brought all those wonderful Old Time Radio Shows to life.

Enjoy almost 75 minutes of fascinating radio history.

Independent Radio Station (1951)

This is a wonderfully entertaining film showing a New York radio station, WMCA, owned by the Nathan Straus family. You'll get a good look at a radio station and of radio in the era when most stations were locally owned and operated.

This is an excellent film showing how small, independent radio stations worked in the transition from the Golden Age of Radio of the 1930s and 1940s into the more mechanized process that would arise starting in the 1960s. One of the things which makes this film so great is that it provides information on how the business of radio operates, emphasizing that it is a business and requires advertisers.

As a bonus, the film also has some great footage of scenes in and around the radio station and early 50s New York life.

Behind Your Radio Dial: The Story of NBC (1947)

A very interesting behind the scenes tour of NBC's radio and television broadcasting facilities at Rockefeller Center, New York City. This film was made at the end of radio's golden era. This RKO Pathe documentary entertains and informs the viewer how the NBC radio network functioned. There is also a glimpse of the new television network that would eventually eclipse radio. With a brief look at Howdy Doody, and didn't we all love him when we were kids.

I love old-time radio, so I found this very interesting. You get to see radio stars such as Fred Allen, Fibber McGee and Molly performing, musical performances by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians and the NBC orchestra, and the news being announced by H.P. Kaltenborn.

Kaltenborn’s section on radio news is particularly fun to watch. His narration style is very bombastic. He also tells us that all news broadcasts were permanently recorded for posterity on wax transcription discs. As an aside, we'll be putting up many of the early newsreels in DVD format and many more in the Old Time Radio section for those interested in history.

This is a fascinating historic look at an entertainment medium that doesn’t exist in this format anymore and it's fun to watch as well.

Back of the Mike (1938)

This film gives you an insider's view of the 1930s radio studio showing the production of dramatic sound effects. I thought this film was excellent. It really shows how your imagination comes into play when listening to a radio show.

As a reviewer said, "Outstanding narrative that pleased our radio crowd. The radio lead actor is a ringer for "Prairie Home Companion" host Garrison Keillor. The sound effects are fascinating and amusing to watch in action."

The film shows the production of a live radio western. Seeing how they produced sound effects in the era before computer generated effects is a real eye opener. We get to see such things as one individual doing both voices in a conversation, an adult doing a very convincing impersonation of a child's voice, guys playing cowboys impersonating the sound of conversing while riding by playing "horse" while reading their lines, and all the paraphernalia used to make sound effects. It's all quite interesting, especially from a historical perspective.

On the Air (1937)

This film is a wonderful look back at how radio broadcasting works. The film opens with an orchestra performing in the radio studio dressed in formal attire as if the radio audience was watching. It then proceeds to an explanation of the electronics complete with accompanying illustrations. While this sounds boring in the telling, it is a fascinating look at the behind the scenes workings of radio.

It's hard to imagine the effort that was needed back then to produce an entertaining show. In fact, we've gotten our hands on some excellent musical radio shows. Look for them in the near future in the Old Time Radio section.

In the mean time, sit back and enjoy the look at a radio station On The Air.

Largest Radio Transmitter Is Dedicated From The Universal-International Newsreel (1950s)

This short clip shows the U.S. Navy opening a 1 megawatt transmitter in Cascade Mountains of Washington, known as 'Radio Jim Creek. Jim Creek, is located north of Darrington, WA in Snohomish County (north east of Seattle). The Navy still owns the land that "Radio Jim Creek" stands on, but the radio broadcast towers have been long decommissioned. Now, the area is run as a recreation area for the many Naval families stationed at Whidbey Island NAS and Everett.

This is a pretty standard period newsreel, as such it is full of shots of dignitaries and officials, and some very nice highlights of the towers and power lines themselves, which were really impressive for that time period.

And as a bonus, Communication: A Film Lesson in General Science / Development of Communication (1927)

Venerable educational film showing technologies of communication, circa 1920s.

This early, silent educational film from the 20s shows us various forms of communication technology and how they work. It starts with a simple electric bell and goes on to cover the telegraph, the telephone, and radio. This is actually quite well done and interesting. The visual images have a striking vintage look and the explanations are clear and understandable.

This extremely unique film, made in 1927, may be one of the oldest industrial/educational film you'll ever see. It was originally made with the intent of educating people on the wonders of sound, the film is more then a how to course, it's a great snapshot of how they made industrial films in 1927.

It's amazing how a silent film can portray more information then many talkies I've been forced to sit through over the years.

For a small taste of this great DVD, watch the preview below. This is reduced both in size and quality to make it easier to view on line. Enjoy!

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Thank you,

Chuck & Sue