290311 - Topic: California

 

The Empire Builders broadcast of March 11, 1929, kicked off another trilogy of sorts. For three consecutive weeks, the program featured historical stories of various regions of the Northwest. Some radio logs published in newspapers of the day even listed the show content as simply “The Northwest.”

The first of these three “Northwest” stories featured three vignettes of its own. The program was comprised of three sketches of California: one about the San Carlos Mission (1770); another telling the tale of the famed Gold Rush of 1849; and finally a presentation about modern-day California.

The March 9 edition of the Havre (Montana) Daily News gave this preview of the broadcast:

Three episodes in the history of California will be the home of the "Empire Builders" program to be broadcast Monday evening, March 11 over the NBC chain. The events will be dramatized with a background of appropriate music.

The first scene will be laid in San Carlos Mission, Monterey, founded 1770, by Gaspar Portola, of the Franciscan Order. It will portray the life of that time and the work of these Spanish missionaries among the Indians of California.

The second scene will bring the Americans on the scene. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill brought the gold rush of '49, and Americans by thousands were coming to the new "El Dorado."

 

The mission at Monterey was first known as the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo. Later, it was called Mission Carmel. Gaspar de Portolá de Rovira (1716–1784) was the governor of Baja, and founding governor of Alta California (an area that encompassed what was to become the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, the western portion of Colorado, and part of southwestern Wyoming). After its beginnings near Monterey in 1770, the mission was relocated about a year later to its present site at Carmel.

 

 

Old postcard image of Mission Carmel.

To this day, the Mission Carmel is still standing. Likewise, the legacy of Don Portola lives on, as his impact on the early development of California is reflected in many place names. One of these, of course, is the California city of Portola, home to the Western Pacific Railway Museum. This makes for an intriguingly circular relationship between Mission Carmel, Don Portola, the WP Railway museum, and the general preservation of history – railroad related and otherwise.

The story of Sutter’s Mill always garners the wistful attention of anyone wanting to envision a chance to gain great riches. Many miners did strike it rich in the California Gold Rush – others failed miserably. Either way, it was a notable milestone in the historical evolution of the state of California. The press release issued by the Great Northern Railway for this broadcast described the juxtaposition of their story of mission days with the 1849 gold rush. The presser said: “care-free indolence of the Spanish dons gave way to the tempestuous driving force of the Argonauts.”

 

Uhm… Okay.

The press release concluded with this tempting teaser: “lastly will come California, with its thriving cities, picturesque beaches, forest monarchs and lofty mountains, and with this episode the radio audience will hear a short message from one of the state’s leading citizens.” The presser did not name said leading citizen, which makes me think they weren’t exactly sure who they would be able to put in front of a microphone for this.

Many researchers and chroniclers of old time radio acknowledge that Empire Builders was a very early example of a weekly dramatic program. It played a key role in ushering in a wave of popular entertainment that enjoyed a remarkable new entrée into the homes of millions of Americans. However, there seem to be mixed feelings as to whether the show enjoyed excellent, adequate, or abysmal sound effects and presentation. It is difficult to understand how any of these authors – at least the ones I’ve come across so far – could come to the conclusions that they’ve offered. With only nine recordings of the show currently available to us, our ability to assess the show’s quality is very limited. One must also bear in mind these are at least 3^rd or 4^th generation sound recordings we’re working with. In the 1929-31 timeframe, good sound recording technology (to record a live radio broadcast) just wasn’t very advanced. Whatever form of recording device was used at the time most likely picked up the broadcast off a receiver and then transcribed it onto a platter of some kind. I’m no expert on this topic, but I know there were different types of discs used at different times, and they had a variety of both strengths and weaknesses. But whatever kind they used, apparently they survived long enough for someone to locate copies of them in the 1980s, from which it appears reel-to-reel tapes were probably made, and finally from these we now have digital copies. Sounds to me like these recordings were rode hard and put away wet, as a Montana cowboy might describe his tired old horse.

What we do still have are some of the continuities, some press releases, and some contemporary write-ups. Those write-ups are in the form of inter-office letters, telegrams and other correspondence from GN offices along the line, unsolicited listener feedback in the way of letters written and mailed in to the GN offices in St. Paul, and the occasional newspaper review.

Listener feedback was naturally sporadic and uncontrolled. It was generated by the urge of a particular person who, for whatever reason, felt compelled to share their thoughts. The GN did not take a very scientific or well-organized approach to collecting this kind of critical review, but they did archive some of the feedback. Typically, positive feedback told them little that was actionable. If people keep telling you the program is great, that can be some nice, positive affirmation. It might suggest the value of just continuing whatever is being done (don’t fix what ain’t broke), but negative criticism usually offers food for thought regarding possible improvements. After the March 11, 1929, broadcast, the feedback collected and retained by the GN was negative, although the existing GN corporate records only contain one source for comments.

That source was a telegram sent by Carl “C.A.” Gerken to Bob Mills, head of the GN’s advertising department. Gerken represented the GN in San Francisco and possibly Los Angeles, so it is likely that St. Paul gave due consideration to any feedback he passed along concerning the California episode. Gerken reported there was very little reaction to the show in the papers but he wrote in his telegram: COMMENTS HEARD ON STREET WERE LARGELY UNFAVORABLE DUE TO SUCCESSION OF BLOODY EPISODES FRANKLY WAS VERY MUCH DISAPPOINTED

 

The content of the program might not have appealed to some listeners, but it strikes me the presentation was at least adequate. You can’t really “hear” blood. Seems to me the person complaining must have at least been successful in visualizing what they were hearing, and that’s good radio.