In the late 1940s, representatives of the American Broadcasting Company came to Johnson City to tape a live radio program from Big Burley Warehouse on Legion Street. The remote was from ABC’s popular “Ladies Be Seated” series that aired weekdays at 3:30 p.m. from Radio City in New York.

In the audience that afternoon was a youthful Merrill Moore who later became anchorman at WCYB-TV in Bristol. According to Moore, “It was a big thing for me to get to attend this show. They constructed a stage in one section of the warehouse and put up seats for an audience.

“It was not unusual during this time frame for network radio stations to set up in remote locales so fans could attend their favorite radio shows and observe their esteemed emcees in person. A sizable crowd showed up for the event. 

“Johnny Olson was emcee and was assisted by his wife, Penny. He later switched to television and hosted several television shows over the years, including working with Bob Barker on ‘The Price Is Right’ as the familiar announcer who repeatedly told participants to ‘Come on down.’”

“‘Ladies Be Seated” was primarily a ladies variety program. “I remember that they went into the audience, interviewed people, told jokes and gave away prizes. The format was similar to ‘Don McNeil’s Breakfast Club’ and ‘Luncheon at Sardi’s’ (1947 broadcast of live audience interviews from Vincent Sardi’s Restaurant in New York).” 

A typical program opened with merriment from the audience, the prompter telling a joke and spectators singing the opening theme, “You Are My Sunshine,” to the accompaniment of an organist. Announcer Walter Herlihy opened with “It’s fun time across the nation. Yes, if you have some chore to do, somewhere to attend to, some job that needs completing, you’ll do it all the better and enjoy it all the more after listening to today’s game edition of ‘Ladies Be Seated.’” He then proclaimed to the audience with drawn-out words: “Ladies … Be … Seated.”

Walter next introduced the show’s host: “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this is Walter Herlihy welcoming you to another of your favorite afternoon parties sent to you each weekday at this time from New York. Yes, it’s time for the ladies to be seated and the gentlemen to join in our festival of fun. And to start our party, we bring you a man of the world, a gentleman who has been on every street but Bradstreet and will never get there because he laughs at money and pays money for laughter. And here he is, Johnny Olson.”

Olson respond, “This is Johnny Olson sending greetings to the men in the street, the housewife at home and advising all our friends everywhere that putting a smile on your face is right up my alley and we are going to try to prove it with today’s edition of ‘Ladies Be Seated.’”

The participants were mostly women. Typical entertainment included a lady alternately answering questions from Olson one moment and singing a verse of  “Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland” the next, a husband and wife acting like love sick dogs while Johnny read a script and contestants awarded prize money for singing as determined by an applause meter, husband and wife blindfold gags and musical quizzes.

The program evolved from a show first heard over NBC’s Blue Network in 1930 as “Sisters of the Skillet,” featuring a parody of household hints. In 1944, the name and format were changed to a weekday 30-minute series. The show, sponsored by Quaker Oats, gave away about $6,000 worth of merchandise each week. “Ladies Be Seated” went off the air in 1950. 

Paul Gill sent me some material from his Weaver family genealogy that offered an insight into early Johnson City. His great grandfather, James David Weaver, was an influential builder in Johnson City. David, as he was known, was born on May 23, 1854 in Kingsport, Tennessee and later became an important businessman in Johnson City.

David attended Princeton School on what is now Princeton Road in North Johnson City. During his life, he became a blacksmith, contractor, architect and restaurateur. A Millard family who owned a farm located at 611 Mountcastle Drive raised him.

Paul recalls seeing the house before it was demolished. He described it as a beautiful two-story mansion consisting of 13 rooms that featured such upscale items as green marble fireplaces, leather wainscoting, covered ceilings and carved cherry woodwork. The red brick edifice featured a colonnaded veranda that was kept cool by several hundred-year-old oaks that surrounded the main house, carriage house and slave quarters. Even when the house fell in disarray a century later, it’s neglected and ruined finery still conveyed the quintessence of ante-bellum prosperity.

According to Weaver family genealogy, David is credited with constructing the Arlington Hotel, Jennings Building, Pardue/Windsor Hotel and the rectory of Munsey Memorial Church.

Weaver’s sons eventually followed in their father’s footsteps. One son, Charlie, built St. Johns Episcopal Church, Mayne Williams Library and Unaka Avenue Baptist Church, which he also helped establish. Another son, Fred, served as Johnson City’s building inspector for many years.

David Weaver co-owned and operated the Windsor Restaurant located at the intersection of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad depot and Market Street. This site was likely situated where Idol Inn Café and later Byrd’s Restaurant stood. His business partner was James Wesley Scalf, an ancestor of Gladys Ledford Weaver.

David sold the eatery on Nov. 17, 1890. The deed read in part: “Know all men by these presents, that we, J.D. Weaver and Company of the town of Johnson City, Washington County, Tennessee, parties of the first part, of and in consideration of the sum of seven hundred two dollars and ninety eight cents, paid and to be paid as hereinafter stated, by L.O. Strain and W.H. Hallum, parties of the second part, of said sum, two hundred dollars in this day paid, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged and the remainder to be paid in eight equal monthly installments …

The deed contained a surprisingly detailed listing of all property included in the transfer: “four sauce pans, one colander, nine pudding pans, six fry pans, two cake turners, one fryer, two flesh forks, two 14 quart beating bowls, one bed, one spring, one mattress, one pair blankets, one pair pillows, four comforts, one mirror, two washstands, one round table, two shades, three 10-foot extension tables, 46 chairs, two tables, two shades, one galvanized iron flue, one gasoline stove and three burners, one coffee boiler, one sauce pan, one dipper, one frying pan, …

“one large spoon, one cake turner, one dishpan, one six-quart bucket, one tea pot, one half-gallon cup, one large flesh fork, one potato masher, one half-gallon oil can, one rolling pin, one biscuit cutter, one meal sifter, five large spoons, one tin bucket, one bread pan, four joints of stove pipe, one heating stove and eight joints of pipe, one zinc stove board, two six foot show cases, 112 yards of carpet, seven dozen seven-inch plates, six dozen seven-inch deep plates, seven dozen fine hotel cups and saucers, seven dozen three-inch flat dishes, four dozen cream dishes, …

“one dozen sugar dishes, six dozen butter dishes, seven dozen five-inch plates, one-third dozen ice pitchers, seven dozen band tumblers, six dozen 26-inch trays, one crumb brush and tray, half-dozen cracker bowls, one-fourth dozen of mustards, two dozen peppers, two dozen salts, five-sixths dozen vinegars, five-sixth dozen syrups, one dozen pickles, half dozen celery stands, one dozen preserve stands, half dozen fruit stands, one-third dozen cake stands, two dozen egg cups, one dozen pat meals, six dozen ice creams, two 18-inch sq.meats and one half-dozen tooth pick holders.   

The deed concluded with the words: “In witness whereof the said parties of the first part have hereunto set their hands this the 17^thday of November 1890.” Weaver died on March 3, 1924 and was buried in Johnson City’s Monte Vista Memorial Gardens. Paul Gill is proud of his Weaver family and has reason to be so. 

Lynn Williams, former WBEJ chief engineer, recently reminisced about local radio stations in the 1930s and 1940s, including his affiliation with the Elizabethton station.

According to Lynn, “The first broadcast in the East Tennessee area was WOPI in Bristol on June 15, 1929. My family didn’t have a radio, electricity, or other things considered essential today. I first heard the station’s programming at a neighbor’s house in 1932, but it wasn’t until 1938 that my dad purchased a used Philco battery-powered floor model, exposing me to the world of radio.”

Lynn sent me a list of 248 radio affiliates that were transmitting about 1940. Seven cities and eleven stations in Tennessee were shown: Johnson City (WJHL), Bristol (WOPI), Kingsport (WKPT), Knoxville (WNOX, WBIR, WROL), Nashville (WSM), Chattanooga (WAPO) and Memphis (WREC, WMC, WMPS).

Many radio broadcasts in that era featured live programming. “Hillbilly” music became the rage with the populace after XERA, a powerful station located in Mexico just across the border from Laredo, began playing this musical genre all across the country by such old-time music groups as The Carter Family.

WBEJ entered the expanding market on the evening of July 18, 1946 with a special remote broadcast from the Franklin Club. A young Bill Hale was control board operator that night. Those present were station owners, Mr. R.W. Rounsavilleand George Clark, staffmembers and several well-known personalities from Elizabethton and adjoining areas. A new era for Northeast Tennessee dawned with that broadcast. Frank White (“The Old Guide”) and Bill Marrs (“Professor Kingfish”) proclaimed a decade later over WBEJ: “It was like a ten dollar rug; you couldn’t beat it.”

“For many years,” said Lynn, “groups of local musicians gathered at various places to “pick and grin.” My musical cousins and I performed locally that included performances on WJHL’s popular ‘Barrel of Fun’ program, initially broadcast from Kingsport and later at Elizabethton’s Bonnie Kate Theatre.”

Lynn recalled an important day in his life in 1946. He and a cousin were playing music on the front porch of his home at the corner and S. Main and Third streets. A young man whose name he cannot recall came walking across the Covered Bridge and stopped to listen to their music. He asked them if they would be interested in playing music for the new radio station being built in town when it became operational. They sent him back to the station with a resounding “yes” reply and promptly received an invitation for an audition. Someone suggested that they invite Paul Buckles to play with them and he too was receptive to the offer.

Buckles; his wife Aileen; T.N. Garland, a rayon plant coworker; Lynn’s cousin, Howard “Doc” Williams; the mystery lad; and Lynn assembled at Paul’s house on Elm Street to work up some numbers for their try-out. 

Lynn further wrote, “We went to the WBEJ studio and ran through several numbers. Bill Lowery, the station director, was very impressed and asked us to come back in another week. Regrettably, the young lad was excluded from the invitation, but he accepted the news okay. We used the extra time by meeting several more occasions for practice. It was then that another person, Norman ‘Curley’ White, joined our band. He had been performing on the ‘Barrel of Fun’ show since it first aired.

“We went for our second WBEJ audition and this time the control room was crowded with people who were there to listen to us. When we finished, they rushed enthusiastically into one of two front studios. Lowery offered us the 6-7 a.m. weekday slot, but I told him that an hour was too much for one band to perform and that we would be repeating songs. I suggested that 15 minutes would be the desired length. He agreed. Although we received no pay from the new station, we were permitted to advertise our show dates.

“Bill asked us if we had a name. Some of us had been calling ourselves, The Green Valley Mountaineers, a name I thought of earlier. We changed it to The Green Valley Boys, although Aileen was obviously not a boy. We went on the air Friday morning, July 19, 1946 at 6:15 a.m. for 15-minutes.

“A WBEJ script detailed our introduction: ‘It’s the Green Valley Boys. (Theme). Good morning, good morning. It’s time for some friends of yours to drop over for a quarter hour visit. It’s Paul Buckles and the Green Valley Boys, featuring the Williams Brothers, Little Dolly and all the Green Valley Boys.’ (Theme). ‘And now, here he is, that man of the morning, Paul Buckles. Paul, good morning. (The announcer handles the show from here until conclusion with the exception of the spots. The band plays five selections.) (Theme). ‘Well, there they go, Paul Buckles and all the Green Valley Boys. They’ll all be back tomorrow, same time, same station and we hope you’ll be listening.’”

Three additional bands played that morning: Conley Smith and the Blue Springs Ramblers, Rondald ‘Runt’ Collins and the Stringtown Ramblers and Don Smith and the Melody Boys with Betty Hazlewood. Our announcer was usually Bill Huddleston. Curley White often featured songs made popular by Bob Wills and Tex Ritter.

“Eventually, a fifth group, Uncle ‘Dud’ and the Mountaineers, joined our early morning gang. They were very professional, having been a part of J.E. Mainer’s Mountaineers performing on radio for several months prior. Before WBEJ’s signing them on the air, they were working at WJHL. Their popular program could be heard in town by merely standing on Elk Avenue and listening to automobile radios as they passed by.

“On Saturday mornings, the WBEJ musical groups and others that were not on the radio assembled at the studio for a jamboree-type get-together that was hosted by Bill Lowery. There was also a Saturday night show that was broadcast for a while from the Tennessee Theatre in Johnson City. For orchestra music lovers, WBEJ provided a weekly program from the ballroom in the Lynnwood Hotel in Elizabethton across the street from the studio.”

Lynn’s experience playing old-time music for WBEJ led to a long and colorful career with the station beginning in 1948 when he was hired as a transmitter operator engineer. He left the station in 1983 when it changed ownership. Paul and Curley became announcers; Curley also became a well-known country deejay. 

A 1952 Buccaneer, East Tennessee State University’s annual, contains a photo showing “America’s Town Meeting of the Air,” a remote radio broadcast from the college’s Memorial Gymnasium.

The show was broadcast live first on NBC then ABC radio from May 30, 1935 until 1956. It originated from New York City's Town Hall. When the program debuted for a six-week trial run, there were only 18 NBC affiliates carrying it. That soon changed and the show ran another 21 years.

The subject of the first show was: “Which Way America: Fascism, Communism, Socialism or Democracy?” George Denny Jr., Executive Director of the organization that produced the show, served as moderator for 17 years.

The producers desired to create a series that would replicate the successful town meetings from the early days of the country. Denny believed the program would attract the public’s attention, stimulate their interest and involve them in complex issues of the day.

By broadcasting at remote locations across the country, the program made it possible for listeners to attend and participate in the discussions. Interesting invited guests, both controversial and incontrovertiblebecame regular guests on the show. People outwardly expressed their feelings on heated subjects by applauding and cheering when they agreed and hissing and booing when they were in disagreement. The offering proved very successful.

The gym photo of the one-time event in Johnson City shows eight people on the stage with one person positioned behind a podium displaying a sign that declares, “WJHL – America’s Town Meeting.” Two additional signs with the letters “WJHL” hang on the side of the stage.

The floor is crammed with an equal mix of men and women sitting in folding metal chairs with not an empty seat to be found. Also filled are the side bleachers plus a few people overflowing into the seats above them. The crowd is well attired with men in suits and ladies in dresses.

Two elevated speakers are positioned on the floor at each side of the stage, which is adorned with seven large bouquets of flowers. A “Press” sign can also be seen on the floor at the far right.

A massive banner hanging at the rear of the stage reads, “Tolerance, Reason, Justice; America’s Town Meeting of the Air, Presented by Town Hall and the American Broadcasting Company, Dedicated to the Advancement of an Honestly Informed Public Opinion.

I contacted Herb Howard, early WJHL radio and television announcer whose senior picture was also in the annual, to see if he recalled the program. He responded, “I do remember very well ‘America's Town Meeting of the Air,’ which was a weekly public affairs program produced and broadcast by ABC Radio.

“The government forced NBC to sell its Blue Network in 1943. It became known simply as ‘The Blue Network’ until it acquired the name ABC. WJHL invited the American Broadcasting Company to do one of its weekly debate-like programs in Johnson City, becoming the first performance of any kind in the “new” gymnasium on ETSC's campus. WJHL provided the announcers.

“Ed Cowell opened the program by ringing a hand-held bell and shouting out, ‘Town Meeting Tonight, Town Meeting Tonight.’  I was asked to do the straight intros and two or three public service announcements. This was my first experience on a national radio network. They sent me a $25 check for services.”

In its waning days, Denny struggled to keep the program’s focus on openness and objectivity after it became a heated grievance session. The show was dropped in 1956.   

On July 3, 1945, the Daily News of New York City sold only 106,000 papers instead of its usual 3 million copies because it and 13 other dailies were at odds with the Mail Deliverers Union. This caused 1,700 people to go on strike.

Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, sympathetic with children and adults who missed their daily comic strips, began reading them over radio station WNYC. On one broadcast, he said: “Now children, I know you are all disappointed today that you didn’t get the funnies, so gather around. Ah, here’s Dick Tracy. Let’s see what Dick Tracy is doing. …”

In 1948, WETB-AM 790, owned by Johnson City Press-Chronicle, broadcast its version of radio comics with a program titled, “Follow the Funnies.” The concept was to bring newspaper comic characters to life through the medium of radio. Seven people figured into the early offering: Ray Moore, Patty Smithdeal Fulton, Lee Archer, Newbill “Will” Williamson (copy editor for the Johnson City Press), Bill Snitger (known as Bill Dunn), Merrill Moore and Jim Pendergast.

I contacted Merrill and Patty to see what they remembered about the show that featured such comic strips as ‘Blondie,’ ‘Captain Easy,’ ‘Little Orphan Annie,’ ‘Lucille Sweeney,’ “Joe Palooka,’ ‘Dick Tracy’ and others.

According to Merrill, “It was a taped half-hour show that came on every Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m., about the time people would be reading their morning newspapers. Ray Moore instigated the program. He and Patty were initially the main voices behind the show. I was happy to join them because this was the first time I had been on radio. We said to our listening audience: ‘Ok kids, go get your Johnson City Press-Chronicle and put it on your bed or on the floor and let’s follow the funnies this morning.’”

“We used the same story line from the newspaper, except we acted the dialogue rather than reading it. We added sound effects everywhere we could. Ray provided music intros and closures for each comic strip. His transcriptions and music for each funny were probably the most professional part of the show. We experimented with our voices and changed the pitch to achieve certain comic strip characters.

“Those were the days when there was little thought to saving shows for the future so we routinely taped over previous ones. Another problem was that we used acetate film, which was easily breakable. About the only sounds salvaged were Ray’s comic strip openings and closures.

 Patty added her memories of the show: “We taped the program on Saturday afternoons before Sunday airtime. We often broke into laughter while doing the show and had to redo it. It took us from one to two hours to tape each show, depending on how much fun we were having. We used a tape recorder, which was an improvement over what we had when I majored in radio at Stephens College in 1947. We cut discs at 33.3-rpm speed.

My office was in the Johnson City Press-Chronicle building on W. Main Street where I was copywriter and Director of Women’s Programs. I did a morning show from a broom closet.”

Patty recalled when Ray thrilled a young Merrill Moore by permitting him to come into the control room, cue a record for a sound effect and start it when prompted. At the time, Bud Kelsey, future station manager, was in college on the GI bill and working at the station in sales.

“When Ray Moore left WETB,” said Patty, “he got a job with WSB-AM in Atlanta and later moved to WSB-TV. He was offered a job with NBC but elected to remain at the station in Atlanta. In 1985, he was inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.”

“Follow the Funnies” entertained its listeners for about a year and a half before it was cancelled.   

Lynn Williams wrote me a letter saying, “Bob … At long last, I find time to comment on your column about the Dutch Maid Drive-In that operated in Elizabethton between about 1956 and 1964. The remote broadcast was heard on Monday through Saturday nights, 7 p.m. until station sign-off at midnight.”

WBEJ's #2 Transmitter

In that column, I noted that the announcers then were Curley White; Jim Berry; Ed Howze; E. Lee “Leaping Lee” Brown; Larry Hinkle; and “Hap” Harold Henley Ziggy Ziggy Higgenbottom, host of the very popular radio show, “Hap’s House.”

“I received telephone calls from Billy Hale and Bob Coffman,” said Lynn. “Billy, son of Bill Hale, former WBEJ Program Director and eventually Station Manager, remembered the remote broadcast. Billy was appreciative of the comments made about his father.

“Bob Coffman was one of the kids who was at the WBEJ studio frequently during many of the musical penthouse broadcasts. His sister told him of your article. At the time and for many years afterward, Bob’s uncle ran the Southern Restaurant in downtown Elizabethton, a popular eatery where I ate many good dinners.”

Lynn relayed to me an interesting tidbit of area history that he obtained from Bob’s aunt’s mom: “She once operated a boarding house at Whitetop, Virginia for construction workers. Lynn believed his dad had been one of her renters. He said that workers from Stoney Creek would on Friday or Saturday evenings walk through the mountain to where the railroad ended, get a lever car and ride down the railroad track to their homes for the weekend. They would then return to the car on Sunday afternoons, ‘lever’ it back up the track, walk through the mountain to Whitetop and be ready to go to work early on Monday morning.”

Lynn sketched a floor plan of the first WBEJ studio that was located at 626.5 Elk Avenue as it appeared from 1946 to about 1950. It was situated upstairs facing north over Childress Hatchery, a farm supply business.

Entrance to the radio station was obtained by climbing steps along the east side of the building and entering a large room used as a hallway and audience room. Lynn recalled that on special occasions about 50people would cram into it.Upon entry, an office attendant on your right greeted visitors. Directly behind her was the sales office staff.

A noisy United Press News Machine that constantly printed paper from the news wire was in a small room directly ahead. Down the hallway that ran to the right of the news machine were the offices of Station Manager Bob Woods and Program Director Bill Lowery.

Two studios were used to air live broadcasts. The large Main Studio containing a piano was located diagonally to the left of the entrance door. The Small Studio about half the size of the main one was farther left in the corner of the building. Both had soundproof glass windows that permitted guests to watch performances without being heard.

The Control Room, adjacent to both studios, also had soundproof glass windows. An additional floor of about eight inches was specifically built for the control console and announcer. It served two primary purposes; it elevated the announcer allowing him to see well into the studios and it provided space for the many wires that ran to and from the console.

Lynn concluded by saying that there was no air conditioning in the building until about 1953 when two electric fans were installed. The studio often got very warm with 15-20 musicians in there at one time.

Thanks Lynn, Billy and Bob for giving us a quick look back to Elizabethton history of about 50 years ago. 

My recent Yesteryear column on The Three Stooges from Robert Gardner and William Brown brought quick responses from Lou Thornberry and Don Sluder.

Lou, a retired history teacher who initially taught at Unicoi County High School and later University High School, currently hosts a 3-4 minute Wednesday radio history broadcast titled, “WEMB Looks Back,” (www.wemb.com/inside/looksback.asp). The series began in 2002 and has aired nearly 400 episodes. Lou published a book bearing the same name that contains 250 of his stories. 

The Unicoi County native recalls a chance meeting with The Three Stooges at the age of six in downtown Johnson City on Oct. 25, 1947. The encounter was not at the Tennessee Theatre where the Stooges were performing, but instead at a downtown restaurant on the south side of E. Main Street where his mother had taken him.

According to Thornberry: “My family was in Johnson City that evening and I remember crying about something so my mother took me into the restaurant. The Three Stooges were sitting at the lunch counter and my screaming either touched a nerve or caused concern with them. It was either Moe or Shemp who purchased a Coke for me and brought it over to my mother.

“I knew who The Three Stooges were, but I don't recall the conversation between my mother and them or even if I drank the Coke. The three of them finished their meal uninterrupted and left. I do not think there we any fans around the Stooges at the time nor have I found any interviews with them in the newspaper documenting their appearance in town. It wasn't until the television reruns of the 1950s and 60s that I knew of Curly Howard, an earlier member of the Stooges, whom Shemp replaced in 1946.

“Johnson City was a booming city after World War II with city streets packed with cars and people day and night. At this young age, I was already a veteran of Saturday morning westerns at the Capitol Theatre in Erwin and I thoroughly enjoyed the comedy shorts that accompanied the westerns.

 “Research reveals that The Three Stooges made more movies than any other comedy team in history. I agree that those goofy men were the ‘kings of comedy.’ We didn't know which comedy short would play at the theatre on any given Saturday. I can still hear the shouts of approval and applause from the packed theater crowd when the picture of The Three Stooges introduced their 15 minutes of laughter. The Little Rascals and Edgar Kennedy brought a similar reaction, but for my generation, The Three Stooges won the Academy Award for humor.”

Don Sluder (shown above with his heroes) next replied saying that he attended the Stooges’ stage show at the Tennessee Theatre on that Oct. 1947 afternoon when he was ten years old. Afterward, he had his picture taken with the eccentric entertainers. “It's amazing,” said Don, “how many different views of the same event come forth after 60 years or so. Although I don't remember much about the stage performance, I do recall the picture-taking portion of it. Photos, using natural light and very poor processing, were taken outside on the sidewalk. My picture is fading fast and now looks sepia. I was glad to know the date of their visit because I didn't remember it.”

Don recalls the Stooges telling him a yarn about Curly not being there, saying that he had been attacked by a lion while he was filming a movie. That was likely their way of acknowledging his ill-fated absence without revealing the major stroke he suffered several months prior.

Thanks, Lou and Don, for sharing your Stooge memories. 

Bob Gardner, a math professor at ETSU, wrote to say that he is a zealous Three Stooges fan. He developed a website for his favorite merry madcaps: www.etsu.edu/math/gardner/stooges/stooges.htm. The professor shared with me a newspaper ad from the Johnson City-Press Chronicle showing that the tumultuous trio made a personal appearance on Saturday, Oct. 25, 1947 on the stage of the Tennessee Theatre (146 W. Main).

Bob further referenced a photo in Sonya Haskins’ book, Johnson City, TN, Images of America (Arcadia Publishing, 2005) showing Weldon Nelson of Boones Creek posing with the teasing threesome.

In 1947, the Stooges were comprised of Moe Howard (Moses Horwitz), Shemp Howard (Samuel Horwitz, an original Stooge who left the act but returned when his brother Curly (Jerome Horwitz) who replaced him suffered a major stroke) and Larry Fine (Louis Feinberg).

The hilarious humorists gave five performances in Johnson City: 12:50, 3:00, 5:00, 7:10 and 9:15. The flyer shows “The Three Stooges in Their Own Hollywood Fun Review”; a Johnny Mack Brown western flick titled, “The Rogue of the Range”; Chapter 5 of the 12-episode serial, “Crimson Ghost”; The Rodeo Ramblers, Top O’ the West’s Music Stars of Juke Box Fame”; and a cartoon. The cost was $.30 for children and $.60 for adults.   

Dr. Gardner put me in contact with William Brown, a person who attended the Stooge performance that day and offered his remembrances: “The presentation lasted about an hour. To me, the boys were funnier in person than on film, probably because I felt I was part of the scene. No Stooge impressed me any more than the others; I viewed them as a unit.

“My favorite has always been Curly, but he wasn’t in this performance. It didn't cross my mind that they would still be revered decades later. I went backstage after the performance where they were taking pictures, but I didn't have the money to buy a photo.”

Brown recalled the Stooges’ unforgettable zany verbal scenarios – Moe’s ripping off part of Larry Fine’s hair, forehand slap, double cheek slap, triple slap, backhand slap, nose tweak and poke in the eyes. Who could forget the lovable lunatics?

The titles of the Stooge “shorts” were equally amusing: “Brideless Groom,” “Goof on the Roof,” “Restless Knights,” “Half-Shot Shooters,” “Disorder in the Court,” “Sing a Song of Six Pants” and “Squareheads of the Round Table.”

The Stooges incorporated many unique expressions and sounds into their acts – Moe: “I’ll murder you”; “Remind me to kill you later”; and “You bone head.” Curly: “Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk”; “Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo,…”; “Hi, Che, Che, Che, Che, Che”; “Soitenly” (certainly); and “I’m trying to think, but nothing happens.” Shemp: “Hee, Bee, Bee, Bee, Bee, Bee” and “Ah, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.” Larry: “Hey, what’s the big idea” and “I’m Sorry, Moe. It was an accident.”

The boys often spoke in pig Latin to communicate with each other and keep others from understanding what they were saying, such as Curley saying, “Moe, Larry, it’s the opca, it’s the opca,” meaning, “it’s the cop, it’s the cop.”

And finally … Robert “Moe-Bob” Gardner and Robert “Puddin' Head” Davidson cunningly designed an introductory probability and statistics” course that integrates The Three Stooge films as data: www.etsu.edu/math/gardner/stooges/stooges-statistics.htm.

What great memories, guys. “Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.” 

I occasionally receive correspondence from Dr. Herb Howard who was the subject of a feature story I did in August 2006 titled, “Early WJHL-TV Pioneer Recalls 1953 Debut of Station.” It was Howard, a former program director at the station, who uttered the first words heard over the new television venture.

Herb Howard as He appeared in 1952

“Several friends,” said Herb, “continue to send me clippings of your “Yesteryear” columns. These are special people who like to remember the good things that have happened there. Now that Elizabethton and Bristol radio and TV station themes have been included in your column, that has prompted me to offer a few additional subjects that I don't think you have done.”

Dr. Howard noted that the most famous of all former announcers in the Tri-Cities area was “the old pea picker” Tennessee Ernie Ford (Ernest J. Ford) who started his career at WOPI, Bristol in the 1930s. He also worked at WROL, Knoxville, and was at that station the morning of December 7, 1941, where he read the attack on Pearl Harbor bulletin over the airways.

 “Of the stations still in existence,” said Howard, “the third Tri-Cities station was WKPT in Kingsport (1940). Its slogan was ‘the nation's model station.’ I think the most remarkable thing about WKPT was its organized plan of developing young announcers, usually high school guys who would be given weekend air shifts as they developed skills.”

This unique training program was run by the station's program director, Martin Karant who became identified by his signoff line, “”It's time for me to go for today. But, good Lord willin' and the creeks don't rise, I'll be back with you in the morning after the seven o'clock news.”

According to Herb… “There are several well-known WKPT “alums” who got their careers started in this organized training program: George Sells, who has anchored in several large markets; John Palmer, who became a newsman at NBC; and George DeVault, who stayed with WKPT and for many years now has been the company president and general manager. 

“Of course, local guys broke into radio at practically every local radio station. I did it at WJHL as Merrill Moore did at WETB, but WKPT had a well-organized training program.” 

Howard mentioned Kathryn Setzer Willis of Johnson City, a woman who broke into pre-war radio at WKPT. She worked as a mailroom messenger at NBC during World War II and was later given her own show playing records over the air for overseas military personnel. Her pleasant voice coupled with her selections of jazz and swing music made her a favorite with servicemen. Later, she did women's programs for WJHL-TV and near the end of her life did some radio programming again for WKPT and its Jonesborough-Johnson City station, WKTP.

 “If you want to do something on women in broadcasting in the area,” said Herb, “the expert is Patty Smithdeal Fulton.” In Patty’s superb book titled, I Wouldn’t Live Nowhere I Couldn’t Grow Corn (The Overmountain Press, 1998), she recalled when Hal Youngblood once produced a Saturday night stage show at the Majestic Theatre on E. Main Street. She tap-danced on stage and recalls seeing Kathryn Willis there dressed in a white and silver top hat and tailcoat, carrying a sparkling silver cane and dancing on the stairs.

Thanks to ongoing contributions from people like Dr. Howard, the cherished memories of local radio and television continue to be captured and preserved for future generations.  

Several months ago, I wrote a column about a delightful early Saturday morning children’s program over WJHL radio from about 1951 to 1953 titled, “The Adventures of Princess Pet.” The sponsor of the 111 episode series was Pet Dairy Products.

The company also published two 36-page color and black and white booklets with the same name. The main characters were the lovely young ruler, her Royal Highness Princess Pet, Pet Brown Mule and Pet Brown Bear. They lived in the yummy Land of the Ice Cream Star. I asked my readers to drop me a note if they remembered this long-ago juvenile series. I received four e-mails.

The first respondent was Carolyn Wilcox who wrote “I fondly remember Princess Pet, Pet Brown Mule, and Pet Brown Bear from the old radio show.  In fact, my mother ordered me one of the storybooks, which I think was called ‘Princess Pet and the Ice Cream Mountain.’ I can still visualize Princess Pet, Pet Brown Mule, and Pet Brown Bear looking at that ice cream mountain, and me wishing that I was there too. I believe Princess Pet lost a gold bracelet in this story.” 

Another reply came from Linda Morgan who indicated she still owned her Princess Pet storybook, saying it looked just like the one shown in the newspaper: “I don't remember listening to the show but I must have since I have the book.  I would have been four years old when it started in 1951. I called my cousin to see if she remembered it; her memory was of the Foremost Dairy show on WJHL-TV. If you saved labels from Foremost Milk products, you could get a secret code card and then receive secret messages through the show.”

“Sonny” Garland added his remembrances of the program: “Princess Pet brings back some of the fondest memories I had as a child. In 1950 when our family visited my sister who was 16 years my senior in Pennsylvania, my brother-in-law, “Uncle Charlie,” gave me a small portable AC/DC radio. It had a battery almost as big as the radio itself. To my horror I left the radio in the train station in Harrisburg. But to my good fortune the radio was found and mailed back to Tennessee.

“On Saturday mornings mom would let me stay in bed and listen to the kids’ shows that were on WJHL. If my memory is correct Princess Pet was on early; then my favorite “Big John and Sparky” came on. Seems like I could “see” every move they made in the radio. Years later I always watched for them to come on TV, but they never did.

“My Saturdays would be perfect if, later that day, I could go with a friend to the Capital Theater in Erwin to see an action packed adventure of cowboy star Allan “Rocky” Lane.” The icing on the cake would be if the Three Stooges were showing that same day, all for the admission price of nine cents. It never entered our minds that these would become the good old days. Take care and keep up the good work.”  

Finally, Dora Wheeler expressed her pleasure at finding the Princess Pet article on the Heritage/History page:“What a nice surprise to read in the Monday morning paper about something I listened to when I was 10 and 11 years old. I remember the program very well. I also have both volumes of the books you mentioned in your column. By the looks of them now, you can tell I read them a lot back then. That’s been 56 years ago since I enjoyed every program. I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the article. It brought back many memories.”

Thanks to Carolyn, Linda, Sonny and Dora for sharing some cherished reflections of yesteryear.