301006 - Carmelita

Virginia Gardiner in Glacier Park, August, 1930

The first season of Empire Builders leaned heavily on stories of a historic nature. In the second season, Edward Hale Bierstadt, W.O. Cooper, and a few other regular script writers turned out stories that were more contemporary. Some stories had a railroad theme, others focused on cities and attractions along the Great Northern line. As preparations were made to shift production of the radio series from New York to Chicago, Harold Sims wanted to open his options to a larger pool. The railroad launched a radio script writing contest, they sponsored their former starlet Virginia Gardiner on a trip to the West to gather script material, and they sought out additional professional writers on an ad hoc basis. This night’s story was written by one such person: 35-year-old Elsie V. Baxter.

I’ve been unable to locate much information about her thus far. It seems she was married to Griffeth L. Baxter, advertising manager of a Klamath Falls, Oregon, department store called Moe’s.  One source says Elsie Baxter was from Mt. Shasta, California. The Baxter’s may well have lived in both Klamath Falls and Mt. Shasta at one time or another. I’ve also learned they were both born in Texas.

The program of October 6, 1930, was a romance of the west, featuring a young Spanish-speaking maiden (Carmelita) and her British suitor (Herbert St. John). The Old Timer played a part in uniting the two, with stories of the long-ago mingling with the present day to weave a tale of wild mustangs and the balance of progress and preservation in the wild country of central Oregon.

Announcer Ted Pearson began the segment with a fictional conversation with the conductor of the Empire Builder train, asking if he couldn’t have a couple of minutes to encourage listeners to jump aboard. The conductor pointed out that the Empire Builder couldn’t wait, and would pull out in “… one minute – and – 47 seconds.” Pearson charged into a segue for the night’s presentation by reminding the listeners about the story of the show the previous week:

Remember, we left the Old Timer out in Oregon last Monday night. He was busy starting the dirt flying on the Great Northern Railway’s extension into California. Well, there’s about two thousand men working on the new line right now. When that’s finished you can get on the Empire Builder right here at Chicago and get off at San Francisco. And you’ll see scenery the whole way that’s just – well, just unsurpassed anywhere! Great rivers, lakes, mountains, forests, colorful canyons. And that reminds me – if you’re going to California this fall or winter, use the Great Northern and on your way visit those great cities of the Northwest – Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland. Enjoy the luxury of the finest pair of transcontinental trains in America – the new, fast Empire Builder, and the famous Oriental Limited. Ask to have your ticket to California routed at least one way via Great Northern … Perhaps you’ll want to visit the territory that will be opened up within the next two years by the new line to California – new country, new markets, new opportunities – that’s where we’re going tonight –

With that, the conductor shouted a hearty “All Aboard!” and off the Empire Builder began to chug. A musical bridge landed the listeners in a woodland scene somewhere near Klamath Lake, Oregon. Herbert St. John (his dialog heavily-laden with seemingly British standards such as “I say” and “by Jove”) attempted to woo a lovely young senorita, when all the while she was dismissive of him as a tenderfoot, treating him as incapable of handling himself around horses.

With their conversation shifted to horses, the Old Timer cajoled Carmelita into telling St. John the story of a wild horse the folks in those parts called “Nero.” St. John let on that he had spent some time on a Montana ranch, and therefore was not really a tenderfoot at all (seems he got a lot of cheap mileage out of allowing Carmelita to think he was a novice around horses – she helped him saddle them and so on). Carmelita asked the Old Timer if he wouldn’t lead St. John out among the wild horses and let him see them for himself. St. John then questioned if they were truly wild horses, and not just some domesticated horses that had “turned outlaw.” Carmelita obliged him with an explanation:

Si, Señor, domestic animals do sometimes join the wild herds, but – ah, I see I must tell you. There are two kinds of wild horses, Señor – the Arabian stock brought over by Coronado and his conquistadores, and the mustangs, which are found in all parts of the West.

She said that many of the Arabian horses were lost in the canyons of the South and gradually wandered northward, some being caught and controlled by various Indians of the area. Then came more talk of Nero . . .

It turns out that there were a number of wild horses roaming around that area of south central Oregon, and one horse in particular held the interest and fascination of all the horsemen of the region. Carmelita described Nero as “the noble descendant of a noble sire. Black as the ebon hue of night, with arching neck, slender limbs, and feet that dance over the mesa as though they were winged!” St. John showed his growing excitement with the prospect of chasing down and perhaps capturing Nero, to which Carmelita took great exception. She said Nero represented a vanishing sense of untamed wildness that the region was losing rapidly to expansion and growth, and she did not like it one bit. (cue up the Eagles and their classic lament of change, “The Last Resort”)

Being a radio show put on by a major railroad, this was the time to tread a careful path. St. John seemed to take up the cause of the railroad:

I say, really, I can’t entirely agree with you there, Carmelita! We have to believe in progress, whether we want to or not. Else, we’d still be using the old trails of the trapper and the miner – Oh, I’ll grant they gave California and Oregon a colorful place in history. But, for me, give me the paved roads and railways every time. And look at the productive, irrigated farms that replace the old-time burned-up grazing lands.

Carmelita turned to the Old Timer for support, but he said he had to disappoint her (he knew which side of his bread was buttered!):

Why, scatter my chipmunks, these mountains look just about the same to me as they did the first time I saw them – nearly forty years ago! Why, even this lake – it hasn’t lost any of its romance. The sunsets haven’t lost any of their beauty. The air has the same feelin’ of newness to it! Why, I feel almost forty years younger every time I get into this country. Shucks, the romance of the old west is still here – even though there has been progress.

See. Our sponsor knows best. With us you get it all: wilderness, romance, history, progress, commerce. Okay, now on with the story.

After a bit more bantering about the pros and cons of progress and its impact on wilderness, Carmelita simply declared that regardless of any good that might come of changes, Nero would never submit to capture. She then compared herself, in some measure, to the wild spirit of Nero the horse: “He is supreme in the desert – and so he will remain, just as my own spirit, within me, is free and will ever be, regardless.” Rather than see this as a final word on the subject, the indefatigable (if not slightly annoying) St. John took Carmelita’s words as a challenge. He proclaimed he’d start on Nero first, to test his valor, then switch to winning over the determined Carmelita. Seeing that St. John was serious about chasing after Nero, the Spanish señorita started to let St. John have an earful about what a horrible thing it was he was about to set off to do. St. John tried to calm her down by insisting that he would turn Nero loose immediately after roping him. Carmelita only grew more agitated. She became downright distraught when St. John said there could be no harm in roping the horse and then turning him loose, the only other outcome being that he might merely fail.

The wise Old Timer began to see what was eating Carmelita. He encouraged Carmelita to tell St. John the story that had her so worked up. Oh goody, another story.

As Carmelita began to tell about her grandmother, a “daughter of the ancient Zuni pueblo, of those proud Indians who trace their ancestry back to the Aztec civilization of old,” the sound effects boys and the orchestra rolled in with some transitional music and effects to carry us all back in time…

(FADE IN STEADY BEAT OF INDIAN DRUMS. UP, THEN FADE TO HOOFBEATS WHICH COME UP QUICKLY, THEN STOP ABRUPTLY.)

INDIAN WOMAN:  (LAUGHS HAPPILY)  Of course I trusted you, my brave señor! You see – not one inch did I move! And your horsemanship! The Señor is in truth one noble chieftain when astride his charging stallion!

SPANIARD:                Merely a caballero in love, dear child. But permit that rainbow of love to obscure your vision forever, Carissima. Is your priest ready for the ceremony?

And so we were introduced to Carmelita’s grandmother, Carissima, who was in the process of being courted by a Spaniard who would become her husband. But just then, a Zuni medicine man appeared, making an awful racket with gourds filled with pebbles. The Spaniard asked him what it was the medicine of his gourds informed him about. The medicine man revealed his insights:

MED. MAN:              (IN SING SONG CHANT)  You take daughter of Zuni to wife … but sorrow follow … to those you love … long trail wind … lead to sorrow … Horses … You love horses … but horses bring sorrow … Death …

Yikes! Doesn’t sound like the medicine man ought to raise the first toast at the wedding reception. But now the story came back to the present-day, and Carmelita explained more of what happened next:

CARMELITA:       And so, my good friends, despite the warnings of the Zuni medicine man, my grandmother became the wife of a Spanish caballero, first with the Zuni ceremony, then with the nuptial mass at the old Mission San Miguel. Ah, one can in fancy still behold them, riding away upon the great black stallion, forgetting the prophecy when the sun rose hotly over the Sierra happy in their romance … Then, Señors, since my grandfather had wealthy relatives in Santa Barbara, the last stronghold of the padres, they came to sunny California. At the Santa Barbara Mission, she was christened, in time of fiesta –

I think the script left a little something out at this juncture – I believe the one being christened at Santa Barbara was Carmelita’s mother, but they didn’t quite say so. In any event, the story shifted back to the past once more, back to the mission at Santa Barbara, and to the screams of a frightened mother when confronted with a terribly ill baby. Carissima raced desperately about the mission looking for the Zuni medicine man to treat her suffering baby, but a Spanish man admonished her to leave the medicine man alone, and encouraged her to instead summon the padre to aid the child. Carissima was not to be dissuaded so easily – she located the medicine man and enlisted his help. Thankfully, the old Zuni still had his trusty gourds filled with pebbles, which he proceeded to shake with great enthusiasm and intent. Once more he fell into his own peculiar method of communicating his revelations:

MED. MAN:         (SING SONG CHANT)  Galloping! Danger! Sorrow! Blood! Those you love always – a horse – and Death!

(SHAKING OF GOURDS WITH PEBBLES IS RESUMED)

This news of course rattled Carissima just as jarringly as the medicine man was getting on with those pebble-filled gourds. Another segue, brought to us through music and sound effects, was meant to convey the following development:

(TRANSITIONAL MUSIC. ENSUING SCENE IS AT GATE OF MISSION. THE MONKS PASS NEARBY, CHANTING, AS THEY MARCH TO CHAPEL. VESPER DOORS ARE CLOSED. A HORSE, GALLOPING, APPROACHES QUICKLY. A WOMAN RIDER DISMOUNTS, BREATHING HEAVILY AND SOBBING. RINGS BELL AT MISSION GATE FRANTICALLY. THE CHANTING SWELLS MOMENTARILY AS THE PADRE OPENS AND CLOSES CHAPEL DOOR TO ANSWER THE ALARM.)

It’s one thing to read the preceding direction for the sound effects, but it would have been very interesting to hear how effectively they went about conveying all of that through sound alone, without utilizing any dialog or narrative.

At this point, the story took a dramatic turn indeed. It seems a “woman servant” came to be looking after the baby girl, and the listeners were to understand that she took the child to the good padre for assistance. The padre asked the woman to explain what was going on, why she had brought the baby he had christened only the day before, and without the child’s mother.

WOMAN              There is no one else, good padre! Both the father and the mother of the child

SERVANT:            were killed but yesterday. The father thrown from his horse – and, oh --- … The mother, when she stooped to lift his body, herself trampled to death under the heels of the great brute.

Back to the present, and Carmelita explained what transpired from there:

CARMELITA:       And so, dear friends, my mother was reared by the padres, while her faithful nurse did in truth dedicate her life to the orphan. Years later, my mother was known all over the countryside as a fearless horse-woman and – a beautiful maiden. Then she was wooed and won by an American who brought her here to Southern Oregon as his wife … But, alas, while I was still a tiny child, my father rode away one day, across a deep arroyo, slippery after the rains. Somehow, just out of sight, his horse stumbled, and threw him to his death!

Carmelita’s widowed mother was offered, and accepted, a home in Mexico City by her father’s Castilian relatives. Carmelita now explained more fully that it was for fear of the lives of St. John and the Old Timer – due to this dreadful litany of equine misery – that she dreaded certain calamity if the two of them went chasing about after the wild stallion Nero. And yet, she confessed that she was so drawn to that spirited creature that she had, some years before, tracked him down herself:

Often had I seen this Nero and his herd from a distance. But at last came a day when I longed to place my hand along his glossy neck, to see him champ a silver bit, to know him as mine … We made our camp at sunset, beside a low butte, near where a tiny brook trickled away and lost itself in the sage. We had trailed Nero throughout long days, so that fatigue caused him, too, to halt for rest. Wandering away from the campfire, I stood watching the moon lift itself from behind a great butte when, beside me, I heard a rustle. Startled, I turned. It was Nero! –

With another hearty “By Jove!” from St. John, Carmelita finished her tale by describing that fleeting moment when she sensed that she and Nero were sharing a great bond of kinship for one another – she gently reached out her hand and stroked his neck, and in a flash he was gone.

The scene shifted once more to a camp where St. John, Carmelita, the Old Timer, and an assistant to Carmelita named Dolores all set up to pursue Nero.

It was early morning, and an eager St. John set out before sunrise to chase the stallion. After a bracing cup of hot coffee, the remaining trio strained to see across a valley to where they thought they heard the movement of a small band of wild horses. The Old Timer handed Carmelita a pair of binoculars to see better, and asked her to describe what she saw (lucky for us – with only sound to work with, Carmelita’s description of the scene served as narrative to advance the story).

CARMELITA:       Nero – Nero – at the head of his band – there he flies! Ah, a night’s rest has been his. Yet a night spent without water! Oh, his fury will know no bounds when he finds St. John there to block his way …. Ah, St. John, can you take him? Your skill pitted against his speed and endurance!

(TRANSITIONAL MUSIC, THROUGH WHICH FLYING HOOFBEATS AT FULL GALLOP COME UP FROM DISTANCE, THEN FADE. SPIRITED MUSIC FADES TO BACKGROUND.)

What ensued was another couple minutes of Carmelita’s description of what she was watching through the binoculars. Tension mounted as she told Dolores and the Old Timer about St. John’s exploits in chasing Nero and attempting to rope him. A crescendo of dramatic emotion welled up until Carmelita cried out “Ah, Dios, the prophecy!”

A cloud of dust obscured Carmelita’s view of the distant scene. There was no telling whether Nero had trampled poor St. John or not. Carmelita was overcome, and the Old Timer told Dolores to fetch water. The sound effects boys and the orchestra provided an answer to that tremulous question …

(MUSIC UP, AND THROUGH IT FLYING HOOFBEATS COME UP AND FADE. MUSIC FADES AND CHANGES TEMPO AND MOTIF. FADES AS ST. JOHN COMES LOPING UP.)

DOLORES:           (IN SPANISH)  Carmelita! Old Timer! St. John is coming – with Nero.

CARMELITA:       Oh, thank God!

OLD TIMER:        (CHUCKLES)  St. John – an’ with Nero! Well, I reckon that’s the end of the Medicine man’s prophecy!

CARMELITA:       Oh, how shall I greet him – what shall I say? Yet, I cannot doubt the omen – now!

St. John joined the others triumphantly, showing them all his prize – Nero. Carmelita lamented how thin and haggard Nero looked, but before she could castigate St. John for defeating a weakened foe, St. John released Nero. The horse trotted away a short distance and then stopped, looking back at the small band of friends – and at St. John in particular. The Old Timer exclaimed “Well, dog my cats, if he isn’t standing there a-watchin’ you!”

St. John explained that he had led Nero to a water hole and fed him alfalfa. Carmelita recognized that, far from treating Nero as a simple trophy or a challenge to be overcome,  St. John truly respected and cared for Nero. Carmelita compared this to herself and to St. John’s courting of her, and she finally decided St. John was not trying to conquer her too, but instead was simply trying to woo her and win over her sincere and unbridled affections. It worked, of course. The Old Timer added his pithy comment to the scene: “Well, all I’ve got to say is, don’t you go and turn her loose.”

And so another pleasing episode of Empire Builders drew to a close, with these helpful words from our sponsor (and the announcer, Ted Pearson):

You have been listening to another of the Old Timer’s tales of the West. When you plan your next Western trip, whether to California or to the Pacific Northwest, have your ticket routed “via Great Northern.” The Great Northern maintains travel bureaus in almost all of the cities from which this program is broadcast. Its representatives will be glad to assist you with your plans. You will find the address in your telephone directory, under Great Northern Railway. Information about the territory to be opened by the Great Northern’s extension into California, can be obtained by writing the Agricultural Development Department, Great Northern Railway, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

 

Until next time, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!

 

 

300929 - The Hill Trail



Advertisement from the Spokane Spokesman-Review, September 29, 1930


On Monday night, September 29, 1930, Empire Builders came on the air from NBC’s Studio D in Chicago, near the top of the 18-story Merchandise Mart (that’s not counting the building’s tower section, which rises to 25 stories). Regrettably, I have neither a recording of this broadcast nor a continuity. However, since this broadcast introduced a cast and crew that was almost totally retooled compared to the earlier New York production, I will use this occasion to introduce most of those new players.

As Empire Builders returned to the air for their final season on radio, the GN issued another (and possibly final) flyer advertising the programs and their content over about a 6-week span. I have not come across any later flyers for the radio programs, so this may be the last one they published. Here is the write-up for the September 29 broadcast:

(L-R): Harvey Hays is welcomed to Chicago
 by Don Bernard, Bernardine Flynn,
 and Don Ameche.

Dirt begins to fly on the Great Northern’s extension into California! Central Oregon is rejoicing! The first shovelful of dirt has been scooped and the Old Timer tells a story of central Oregon before the coming of the Iron Horse – a romance of the Old West in which cattle rustlers, courageous homesteaders, James J. Hill and the coming of the railway play a part. Klamath Falls and Bend, two fast growing little cities on the Great Northern’s new route to San Francisco, are locales for “The Hill Trail,” the name of this story. It was written especially for Empire Builders and is an entertaining combination of fact and fiction.

This same little flyer also provided some background about the practical advantages to relocating production of the series to Chicago:

Empire Builders this year will be broadcast from Chicago – from the largest and most modern broadcasting studios in the world, which, incidentally, are located in the world’s largest building, the Merchandise Mart. The facilities of this broadcasting plant, together with the closer supervision made possible through the moving of the programs to Chicago, will enable us, it is believed, to offer our radio friends an even better half hour of entertainment each week. Also it seems particularly fitting to originate a program such as Empire Builders at the threshold of the country with which these programs deal, and from the city which is the eastern terminus of the Great Northern’s luxurious transcontinental trains – the Empire Builder and the Oriental Limited.

With the relocation of the Empire Builders broadcasts to Chicago, wholesale changes took place among many of the various contributors to the production. Allow me to introduce some of them to you.

Bernard Schweitzer, a.k.a. Don Bernard - Program Director, Empire Builders. Author's collection.

Don Bernard, program director  (1902-1958)

NBC’s production manager in Chicago was Don Bernard. He was assigned to personally direct the Empire Builders productions for the new season. Born Bernard Schweitzer on August 19, 1902, in Delaware, Ohio, he entered Ohio Wesleyan in the fall of 1918, majoring in Music. Bernard sang and played violin, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1922. He also attended the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, acting on his childhood ambition of becoming a professional singer. He became a tenor soloist and performed in theater and on radio station KYW, but was lured away from theater by the burgeoning world of broadcasting. One of his stage appearances led to his adapting the professional name of Don Bernard. He was in a Chicago production of “The Bad Man,” a story set near the border with Mexico. Schweitzer played one of the Mexican characters, but the play’s producer complained that his name didn’t fit the role, and started calling him “Don Bernard.” He liked it, and the name stuck.

Bernard started his radio career in earnest by filling a variety of roles at a small radio station in Ohio (WAIU in Columbus), but soon became associated with NBC. In fact, Don Bernard was recruited to join NBC by John Elwood in the earliest days of the new radio corporation, reporting to NBC in New York in the fall of 1926. Bernard was assigned in 1927 to oversee development of NBC’s new broadcasting studios at the Merchandise Mart.

Josef Koestner, Musical Director, Empire Builders. Author's collection.

Josef Koestner, musical director  (1901-1990)



Koestner became Musical Director of

the Union Pacific Railroad's radio

series "Your America" in January, 1944.

This was said to be the first weekly radio program

put on the air by a railroad since Great Northern's

Empire Builders.                     Author's collection.

It was in the Bavarian town of Willersdorf that Josef Koestner was born and raised, and was said to have begun his musical education at the age of four, continuing his studies with some of the finest masters of Europe. He coached at the Leipzig Opera House for two years, after which he came to America (in the early 20’s) to accompany a noted opera singer named Claire Dux. An article in the Great Northern Goat magazine (January, 1931) stated that Koestner had:

… a thorough knowledge of modern American dance music. He has served as conductor in many of the leading theaters of the country, where he was called upon to interpret all types of music and also has done some recording for sound pictures. He is also known as a concert pianist of unusual ability and as a composer of classical compositions.

Fred G. Ibbett, sound effects engineer (1893-1956)   -- sorry, I do not have a photo of Fred Ibbett at this time

With a radio career that began in his native England with the BBC, Ibbett went on to have a lengthy and successful career in radio in the United States. Although his tenure with Empire Builders was specifically in the arena of sound effects, his later work in radio branched out into opportunities to direct radio productions. One such production, with which Ibbett was associated not long after Empire Builders went off the air, was a very popular radio series called “Fu Manchu.” Ibbett served as director of this weekly series from the fall of 1932 to the spring of 1933. In the small world of radio performers of that day, the leading actor (playing the part of evil Dr. Fu Manchu) was John C. Daly, who also performed on Empire Builders in supporting roles. Joining Ibbett and Daly on Fu Manchu was Empire Builders veteran Bob White, who performed as Dr. James Petrie. White’s wife, Betty – also a featured performer on Empire Builders – is said to have had a few uncredited appearances on Fu Manchu.

 

Lucille Husting, ingénue of Empire Builders in the show's final season. 
Author's collection.

Lucille Husting, actress  (1898-1972)

Max and Anna Husting of Fargo, North Dakota, were married in 1896. They had an only child, Lucille, born in 1898. Lucille’s father Max (1868-1950) was in the newspaper business, and was the third son of Jean Pierre and Marie Juneau Husting. Lucille’s great-grandfather (her grandmother’s father) was Solomon Juneau, a French trader who is credited with founding the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Lucille became interested in acting while still just a school girl in Fargo. She progressed to acting opportunities in Minneapolis and by the mid-1920s was performing on Broadway in New York City. As I’ve written previously, Lucille Husting actually crossed paths in New York with both Virginia Gardiner and Harvey Hays. This probably had some influence in her relocation to Chicago and addition to the Empire Builders troupe of players. While still in New York, however, Husting appeared on the Collier’s Hour radio program. Husting and Bernardine Flynn alternately took on leading or supporting female roles on Empire Builders during the final ten months of its run.

 

Bernardine Flynn, featured actress on Empire Builders.

Bernardine Flynn, actress  (1904-1977)

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and a native of the college town of Madison, Bernardine Flynn left her home state soon after graduating and was off to the proverbial “bright lights of Broadway.” This talented actress did indeed find initial success in New York, but with the Great Depression waging havoc on the economy, she found herself to be a mighty small fish in a very large pond. Acting opportunities were exceptionally hard to come by, with many veteran actors and actresses out of work. Someone suggested opportunities in radio, and so she went back west and tried her luck in Chicago. It was the summer of 1930, and the McJunkin Advertising Agency had put out an open call for auditions for the upcoming season of Empire Builders. Flynn was selected in favor of dozens of other talented prospects. The attractive young actress was also endowed with a pleasant singing voice, which certainly enhanced her versatility over the airwaves. After her run with Empire Builders, Bernardine Flynn found radio stardom in her role as Sade Gook on “Vic and Sade.” But one of her other, less-heralded legacies to the world of popular entertainment came in the form of a suggestion. It was at the urging of Bernardine Flynn that a friend and fellow actor from her days at the University of Wisconsin likewise left his acting struggles in New York behind, and followed her lead by coming back to Chicago to audition for Empire Builders. Her old college chum was Don Ameche.

 

Don Ameche, whose career took off when he gained notoriety
on the Great Northern Railway's Empire Builders radio series.
Author's collection.

Don Ameche, actor  (1908-1993)

Born Dominic Felix Amici in 1908, Ameche went to college in the mid-1920s to study law. He caught the acting bug, however, and poured his energies into developing his skills as a thespian. Much like his friend Bernardine Flynn, Ameche travelled to New York City, filled with grand hopes of breaking into the acting business. Also like Flynn, Ameche found initial success, performing in “Jerry For Short” and in vaudeville with Texas Guinan.  But times in the Big Apple were hard. Ameche scraped by for much of the time by appealing to an old professor in Madison, who obliged with occasional letters of encouragement, sometimes accompanied by a five dollar bill. There were times, Ameche later related, when he survived on a single can of beans a day. But Bernardine Flynn knew of Ameche’s struggles, and she encouraged him to come back to Chicago and try his hand at radio. He won out against a large pool of other hopefuls, and on September 29, 1930, Don Ameche’s voice went out over the air for the first time, on Empire Builders. His later career was arguably the most successful and longest-lasting of any of the Empire Builders alumni. His radio endeavors included a featured role on First Nighter. He also starred on Rin-Tin-Tin and the Chase and Sanborn Hour. In Hollywood, Ameche appeared on film beginning in 1935. One of his most impactful roles was that of Alexander Graham Bell. For decades after this film role, the word “ameche” was used as a synonym for telephone (as in “you’re wanted on the ameche”). He remained a Hollywood fixture throughout the 1940s and 1950s, although his stardom receded somewhat in the 1960s and 1970s. Then, at a time when many Hollywood veterans seem to disappear from the public’s collective consciousness, Ameche enjoyed a professional resurgence when he was cast in 1983 alongside fellow acting veteran Ralph Bellamy in Trading Places. Ameche was once again in demand, starring with several other aging Hollywood icons in Cocoon (for which he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). Ameche succumbed to prostate cancer and passed away in 1993.

Bob White, in costume with Lucille Husting for a press photo.
Author's collection

Bob White, actor  (1903-1984) – dates not confirmed

Robert Grubb (“Bob”) White, Jr., was born in Pennsylvania. He was first exposed to acting in his school days. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, White joined a Chautauqua performing company (tent show circuit) in the early 1920s. He left the circuit and joined a stock company, then went on to perform in stage productions, including “Three Wise Fools,” “Companionate Marriage,” and “Journey’s End.”

White met his future bride, Betty Reynolds, while they were both performing in "Three Wise Fools." After knowing each other for only a month and a half, the two were married on stage one evening, between rehearsal and the main performance. Bob and Betty each took parts in various theatrical performances over the next six months, but reunited on the Redpath Chautauqua circuit in Chicago when they both appeared in "Shepherd of the Hills." White had off-and-on theatrical roles in Evanston. Betty went back to her hometown of Grinnell, Iowa, to give birth to their first son, Robert White, III. This was New Year's Eve, 1928. Bob White was performing in "Companionate Marriage" in Evanston, when he was announced from stage as a new father.

White continued to bounce around from one acting role to another, going back and forth between the Chicago area and Michigan. In the summer of 1930, Bob and Betty White landed jobs as cast members of Empire Builders - all the while continuing to perform in various other theatrical plays and radio performances. Their ties to Empire Builders were not exclusive.

After Empire Builders went off the air in June, 1931, Bob White continued working in radio for many years. He was Dr. Petrie on “Fu Manchu,” and he teamed up with Don Ameche on “Milligan and Mulligan.” He served as director on “The Adventures of Dick Tracy.”

Petite Betty Reynolds White, Empire Builders actress who specialized in children's voices.
Author's collection.

Betty White, actress  (1904-1988)

Born Elizabeth Myrtle Reynolds in Grinnell, Iowa, Betty was the third eldest of four sisters whose parents both died when their girls were young. Betty’s mother died in 1911, and her father passed away in 1918. After their father’s death, Betty’s oldest sister Odessa (nicknamed “Dessa”) looked after her younger siblings as the de facto head of household. With the kindly assistance of Dr. Evan Evans and his wife, who lived nearby, Dessa helped raise her sisters as best she and the girls could collectively manage. Betty Reynolds left home after high school, and attended Grinnell College. She became a school teacher for a couple of years. Ironically, Betty Reynolds went to Chicago largely to see a young Ralph Bellamy on stage. She had an enormous crush on Bellamy. It would have been interesting to know her reaction to seeing her old pal Don Ameche acting alongside Bellamy decades later in Trading Places.

Bob and Betty White counted Don Ameche and his wife Honore (“Nora”) among their closest friends. In fact, Betty White served as Matron of Honor when the Ameches were married on November 26, 1932.

A petite 4 feet, 11 inches tall, Betty White specialized in portraying the voices of children. There were times in commercial radio, even in those early years, when youngsters did appear on radio (some gaining significant notoriety). Even on Empire Builders, there was at least one occasion when a young boy took a significant role on air. But Betty White’s talents were utilized several times to portray a young girl or boy.

In the Empire Builders program of November 24, 1930, Betty White played the part of a little girl. When listeners wrote in to the Great Northern asking about the remarkable work of the young girl, the railroad responded by saying it was Betty White who was heard on the air, although “she has a daughter old enough to fill the part visually that she took vocally.” This comment is utter misinformation, pure puffery, or possibly an intriguing mystery.

Bob and Betty White had three sons, two of whom I’ve interviewed. The oldest of the three boys, Robert G. White, III, was born in 1928.  Their second son, Bradley Reynolds White, was born on March 30, 1931 – right in the midst of the last season of Empire Builders. The youngest brother, Evan, described his mother as a real dynamo, saying he was not in the least surprised that his energetic mother would have continued working while pregnant, and returned to work shortly after the birth of her son. Both Robert and Evan insist they never had a sister – at least not one they ever knew about.

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So…. This odd reference to a heretofore unknown daughter of Bob and Betty White notwithstanding (who to the best of my ability to track down to this point, simply does not and never did exist), let’s get something straight here. Elizabeth Myrtle Reynolds, later known as Betty Reynolds White, was an actress on Empire Builders for multiple broadcasts between September, 1930, and June, 1931. The woman known to many Americans as Sue Ann Nivens on the Mary Tyler Moore Show; Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls; and Elka Ostrovsky on Hot in Cleveland – the woman named Betty Marion White, who was born January 17, 1922, near Chicago but moved with her parents to California when she was only 2 years old – THAT Betty White NEVER appeared on Empire Builders. Ever. That’s my story, and I stand by it. Unless of course someone comes along with documented proof to the contrary. I’m not holding my breath.

 

Obed "Dad" Pickard serenades Harvey Hays (the Old Timer) and his hound dog, January.
Author's collection.

Obed “Dad” Pickard, musician/singer  (1874-1954)

Obediah Pickard was the patriarch of an exceptionally talented family who made music together for their own entertainment and relaxation. Dad was a travelling salesman. One day in the mid-1920s, one of his daughters accidently killed his son Charlie. Dad was out on the road somewhere, so with no other means of contacting him, an urgent call went out for him on the radio to return home at once.  George Hay was the man who made the radio announcement to get Dad back home. Hay and Pickard became friends, and eventually Hay invited Dad and his musical family to appear on a radio program out of Nashville called the WSM Barn Dance. By 1928, this radio program was known as the Grand Ole Opry. The musical Pickard Family later travelled to Chicago to perform on National Barn Dance, on WLS. Known as the “one-man band,” Dad Pickard was performing with virtually every conceivable instrument – except the clarinet. He didn’t like the sound of it. He also earned a reputation for being talented on the Jews Harp and the harmonica. During the last Empire Builders show of Season 2, Pickard wowed the audience with his rendition of a locomotive – on the “mouth organ.” He performed “Little Red Caboose Behind the Train” during the Empire Builders special on June 10, 1929, during which the new Empire Builder train was introduced to the country.   In his lengthy tenure in the entertainment business, Dad Pickard also appeared on film. In 1940, he played “Rocky” in the western “Frontier Vengence” and then himself (along with the entire “Pickard Family” ensemble) in “Tickled Pinky.”

Marcus "Marc" Williams, the Cowboy Crooner.

Marc Williams, musician/singer  (1903-1974)

Born Marcus Dumont Williams, the “Cowboy Crooner” made his first appearance on radio with Empire Builders in March, 1931, on the Charlie Russell episode. Oddly, it seems an interest in the law was a common theme among eventual performers on Empire Builders. Not unlike Bob MacGimsey and Don Ameche, Marc Williams initially set out to study law - in his case, at the University of Texas. As a young man he also worked as a cowboy in his native Texas, before turning up on Dallas radio station KRLD in the late 1920s. Williams recorded a number of records from 1928 to 1930 for Brunswick and later Decca records. After several years of professional performances, Williams returned to his interest in the law. He attended Wayne State University in Detroit and then went into the law practice. Williams appeared on several Monday night broadcasts of Empire Builders, and accompanied Harvey Hays (the Old Timer) in escorting a special tour of Empire Builders enthusiasts through Glacier National Park in July, 1931.

 

Ted Pearson, NBC Announcer for Empire Builders.

Ted Pearson, announcer  (1902-1961)

Ted Pearson served as announcer for Empire Builders for the final 39 broadcasts of the series. He typically provided the opening and closing credits, which sometimes included some light banter with the Old Timer. After Empire Builders, Pearson appeared on The Adventures of the Thin Man and Cavalcade of America. Pearson later appeared in several Hollywood movies. In the 1930’s, he took roles in “Dick Tracy’s G-Men” (1939), “You’re Only Young Once” (1937), and “Test Pilot” (1938). Late in his career he played a Colonel in the sci-fi classic, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951).

 Until next time, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!

The third and final season of Empire Builders

Summer has transitioned to Fall, and much like the cast and crew of the Empire Builders radio production team, I’m coming off my summer hiatus and returning to an effort of weekly blogging on this topic. It was another busy and satisfying summer for me, which included an overdue study trip to the acme of all things Great Northern – St. Paul and the Minnesota Historical Society. MHS has the most extensive collection anywhere of business documentation of the Great Northern Railway. I spent the better part of a ten-day trip to the Twin Cities at MHS. I returned home with 4,500 digital copies (photos) of documents, the majority of which have some sort of connection to the Empire Builders story. Much of this material relates to aspects of the first two seasons of the radio program, and is therefore a bit late to the party with regard to the serial nature of my blog posts. On the other hand, I also located a good deal of new material pertaining to the third and final season, much of which will come in handy as I write about the series over the next several months.

NBC's original New York office building and broadcast studios at 711 5th Avenue. The first two seasons of Empire Builders were aired from this location.

As I’ve written about in earlier blog posts, the Empire Builders radio series was only on the air for three seasons: January to June, 1929; September, 1929, to June, 1930; and September, 1930, to June, 1931. This blog post kicks off the beginning of the end, with respect to memorializing all 103 of the Monday evening broadcasts on the occasion of each one’s 85^th anniversary: the third and final season of Empire Builders. I’ll try to share insights about existing recordings of episodes, significant changes to the cast and crew, the location of the broadcasts, broadcast content, and what is known about the eventual demise of the series. I will also report on an Empire Builders promotional tour of Glacier National Park that occurred in July, 1931 – after the series had come to an end.

Most people who have any interest in this topic are keen to know which broadcasts were recorded, and more to the point, which ones are still available to be enjoyed today. The opening and dedication of the Great Northern Railway’s Cascade Tunnel was recorded, and is available from one or two sources on the internet. This was the one-hour broadcast of January 12, 1929. That broadcast ushered in the 103 regular Monday evening programs which comprised the Empire Builders radio series. Of those 103 Monday shows, only 9 are available on the internet. But it turns out the railroad had several more broadcasts recorded – all of them in the final season of the program.

By accessing accounting records of the Great Northern Railway, which are part of a massive collection of GN records at the Minnesota Historical Society, I’ve assembled the following list of dates on which the programs were arranged to be recorded (see below).

 

DATE of broadcast	Title or [Topic]	Broadcast number
11/10/1930	Armistice Day Reunion	301110
11/24/1930	Bellingham or Broadway	301124
12/8/1930	The Marriage Tree	301208
12/15/1930	A Montana Christmas	301215
12/22/1930	Attar of Roses	301222
12/29/1930	New Year's Story	301229
1/5/1931	Prosperity Baby	310105
1/12/1931	A Long Distance Call	310112
1/19/1931	Nan o' the Northwest	310119
1/26/1931	La Mariposa	310126
2/2/1931	James J Hill - Background of Empire	310202
2/9/1931	Chief Black Hawk	310209
2/16/1931	Glacier Park Dance Hall	310216
2/23/1931	[James J. Hill]	310223
3/2/1931	Nine Spot	310302
3/9/1931	Indian Names	310309
3/16/1931	[Irish story]	310316
3/23/1931	Charles Russell	310323
3/30/1931	Mountain of Dreams (unconfirmed)	310330
4/6/1931	Shoes of Eloquence	310406
4/13/1931	Mushy of Hell's Gate Mine	310413
4/20/1931	Scenes of Montana Campfires	310420
4/27/1931	[Canadian Rebellion]	310427
5/4/1931	Legend of the Wild Rose	310504
5/11/1931	Missing	310511
5/18/1931	The Billion Dollar Baby	310518
5/25/1931	On Time Hank	310525
6/1/1931	The Belled Bridge	310601
6/8/1931	Room 20	310608
6/15/1931	The Silk Special	310615
6/22/1931	The Seal of the Great Spirit	310622

 

The dates listed in the table above represent the dates that the GN appears to have paid to have the live broadcast recorded. These were probably meant only as sound checks, a simple form of quality control. There was never any intention to rebroadcast these presentations, and the quality of the existing copies of these recordings makes it clear they would not have been suitable for such use.

Some of the broadcasts remain available to listen to, but to my knowledge they exist only on 3^rd or 4^th generation re-recordings. The McJunkin Advertising Agency in Chicago was paid to have the live broadcasts picked up over the air at the local NBC affiliate and record them on aluminum transcription discs. Most of those discs seem to have survived to a point in time when they were accessed by someone who then recorded them onto reel-to-reel tapes, and/or cassette tapes. Of those recordings, a number of them have been digitized, and a select few are accessible on the internet in MP3 or WAV format. Their quality is a mixed bag – some are quite good, others contain a lot of clicks, hissing, and volume drops. They are, however, among the earliest existing recordings of any American commercial radio serial, and as such, are true historical treasures.

The Merchandise Mart in Chicago, site of NBC's new broadcast studios beginning in 1930, and home to Empire Builders for its final season on the air.

The broadcast of September 29, 1930, was the first of the Empire Builders series to be broadcast out of the new NBC studios at Chicago’s massive Merchandise Mart, the largest building in the world when it opened for business that year. With the move from New York to Chicago, significant changes occurred in the cast and crew of Empire Builders. Two of the most crucial people in the life of the series remained: the GN’s Harold Sims, and the Old Timer (actor Harvey Hays). Some of the men with NBC and the McJunkin Advertising Agency were unchanged, including writers Edward Hale Bierstadt and W.O. Cooper. Many other names familiar to followers of Empire Builders parted ways with the show. These included: band leader Andy Sannella; actress Virginia Gardiner; sound effects engineer Harry Edison; announcer John S. Young, and harmony whistler Bob MacGimsey.

A number of radio performers new to Empire Builders shared top billing (or had recurring supporting roles) when the program resumed production in Chicago. The new band leader was Josef Koestner, a Bavarian by birth who made a name for himself conducting for operas, but in the U.S. found opportunities leading ensembles performing popular music for dances and theatrical productions (including motion pictures). The crew of sound effects technicians was led by Fred Ibbett, a Brit who had some radio experience with the BBC, but now found himself in the U.S. The new studio director was Don Bernard, and Ted Pearson took on the announcer role in place of John S. Young. Obed “Dad” Pickard appeared on the June 10, 1929, broadcast inaugurating the new Empire Builder train. During the third and final season of Empire Builders, Dad Pickard made several appearances on the broadcasts at the Chicago studio. Another musician who was featured heavily during the final season was Marc Williams, the “Cowboy Crooner.” Williams was also a featured host of the “Old Timer’s Tour” of Glacier National Park that was conducted in July, 1931, after the series had come to an end.

Publicity photo taken at the Chicago NBC studios. Seated: Director Don Bernard. Standing (L-R): Obed "Dad" Pickard, Harvey Hays (the "Old Timer"), Don Ameche, Bernardine Flynn, unknown man, unknown woman, Bob White, unknown man.

Several new radio actors also joined Empire Builders for the final season. I plan to provide additional insights into some of these folks in the coming weeks, but here is a brief list of them: Lucille Husting, Bernardine Flynn, Don Ameche, and the married couple of Bob and Betty White (no, not that Betty White…. more on her later).

Another feature unique to the third season of Empire Builders was the utilization of several radio stories submitted by winners of the GN’s continuity contests. I’ll do my best in future postings to document which stories those were and who wrote them.

Largely because the radio program was relocated to NBC’s new Chicago studios, the GN departed from their initial strategy and put a great deal of money and effort into promoting the series. This was a true “paradigm shift” for the railroad. Up to this point, the railroad incurred only minimal expense advertising the Empire Builders radio series. As I’ve stated in prior blog posts, the radio show was itself an advertising program of the railroad. They saw little point in advertising their advertising, to put it simply. But during this season of the program, the Great Northern Railway did record 31 of that season’s 39 broadcasts. I have digital copies of several. They also paid a company called “Theatrical Chicago” to produce a large number of publicity photos for them – many of which I have collected over the years. The result of all this is that I will have noticeably more material to work with for this final series of broadcasts, so my blog posts going down the home stretch promise to be a bit more engaging (I hope).