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Radio-history documentary · NBC

Recollections at 30

May 15, 1956 – April 24, 1957 · 45 broadcasts

When NBC turned thirty in 1956 -- the network had signed on November 15, 1926 -- it went digging through its own vaults. Recollections at 30 is the result: a weekly half-hour that reaches into NBC's sound library and pulls out the original recordings of radio's first three decades. One week it rebuilds a single event (the Hindenburg crash, Edward VIII's abdication, a 1936 flood); the next it salutes a program (Lights Out, Town Hall Tonight, Information Please) or a performer (a twelve-year-old Judy Garland, Red Skelton's debut, an Irving Berlin tribute). A one-hour audition, "A Salute to Radio," aired in May 1956 with H. V. Kaltenborn hosting; the series proper ran through the spring of 1957, announced by Ed Herlihy. There is no cast to speak of -- the stars you hear are ghosts on transcription discs -- which is exactly what makes it a time capsule. Listeners even wrote in requesting the oldest broadcasts NBC could find; the earliest, from June 11, 1927, captures Lindbergh's homecoming.

Collection status: 41 of 45 held (91% complete)
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Episode Spine

Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.

1956

May 15, 1956 Audition Show Listen (MP3)
The hour-long sales audition, "A Salute to Radio," with H. V. Kaltenborn hosting a tribute to radio's first thirty years of news, music and comedy -- the pilot that launched the series.
June 20, 1956 Premiere Show Listen (MP3)
The opener dips into the vault for a Radio City party, Clara, Lu 'n' Em, Fred Allen, Graham McNamee's call of the Carnera-Baer fight, and a bit of Information Please.
June 27, 1956 NBC Minstrels Listen (MP3)
Minstrel-show nostalgia built around the NBC Minstrels, with Easy Aces, Al Jolson on Shell Chateau, Major Bowes' amateurs, and Leslie Howard in a Barrie sketch.
July 4, 1956 Rudy Vallee, Clark & McCullough, Lum & Abner Listen (MP3)
Rudy Vallee's Fleischmann Hour headlines a reel that catches the radio debuts of Clark & McCullough and Lum & Abner, plus a Town Hall Tonight turn from Fred Allen.
July 11, 1956 Truth or Consequences Listen (MP3)
Ralph Edwards' Truth or Consequences leads off, followed by Bing Crosby and Bob Burns on Kraft Music Hall and a 1936 interview with sprinter Jesse Owens.
July 18, 1956 The Chase and Sanborn Hour Listen (MP3)
Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy spar with W. C. Fields on the Chase and Sanborn Hour, backed by Vox Pop, Al Pearce's gang, and eight-year-old Bobby Breen.
July 25, 1956 Gene & Glen (aka: Jake & Lena) Listen (MP3)
The harmony act Gene & Glenn (Jake & Lena) shares the half-hour with a 1938 Jack Benny broadcast, Fibber McGee, and Ben Bernie's orchestra.
August 1, 1956 The Crash of the Hindenburg Listen (MP3)
Herbert Morrison's shattering 1937 eyewitness account of the Hindenburg disaster, framed by Phil Baker, Frank Crumit, and a Tommy Dorsey remote with a young Sinatra and Jo Stafford.
August 8, 1956 Recreate Highlights of a Single Day - Friday, March 4, 1938 Listen (MP3)
A single day rebuilt from the archive -- the NBC schedule of Friday, March 4, 1938, from Amos 'n' Andy to Frank Munn's Waltz Time and a West Coast flood report.
August 15, 1956 A & P Gypsies, Pick & Pat Listen (MP3)
Early-Thirties variety with the A & P Gypsies, blackface team Pick & Pat, Eddie Cantor, and a teenaged Deanna Durbin.
August 29, 1956 Labor Day Listen (MP3)
A Labor Day package that opens with Al Jolson introducing Bing Crosby at the 1935 dedication of NBC's Hollywood studios, plus Ed Wynn, Nelson Eddy, and President Roosevelt.
September 5, 1956 Bon Voyage to King George VI Listen (MP3)
Excerpts from NBC's June 1939 broadcast saluting the King and Queen of England on their visit to the United States.
September 12, 1956 Mary Martin's First Major Radio Appearance Listen (MP3)
Mary Martin's first radio appearance on Rudy Vallee's 1939 variety hour, alongside a young Milton Berle, Eleanor Powell, John Barrymore's Shakespeare, and Fats Waller.
September 19, 1956 Abdication of King Edward VIII Listen (MP3)
Edward VIII's December 1936 abdication address anchors a reel with Ruth Etting, the Revelers, and an Eddie Cantor courtroom spoof.
September 26, 1956 Lights Out Listen (MP3)
The Boris Karloff horror classic "Cat Wife" from Lights Out headlines, with Vincent Lopez, Buddy Clark, and Graham McNamee reporting the Normandie disaster.
October 3, 1956 Pickens Sisters, Joe Cook Listen (MP3)
The Pickens Sisters harmonize on The Magic Key and Joe Cook clowns for Rudy Vallee, with Jeanette MacDonald and Allan Jones from "The Firefly."
October 10, 1956 The Big Bands Listen (MP3)
A big-band night -- Glenn Miller live from Carnegie Hall (1939), Kay Kyser, Benny Goodman, and Bing Crosby -- with Fred Parsons subbing for Ed Herlihy.
October 17, 1956 Judy Garland at 12-Years-Old Listen (MP3)
A twelve-year-old Judy Garland's 1935 radio bow on Shell Chateau, amid Fanny Brice's Baby Snooks, Joe Penner, Ginger Rogers, and Mickey Rooney.
October 24, 1956 Sophie Tucker, Vic & Sade, Al Jolson Listen (MP3)
Sophie Tucker's "Lady in Red," a Vic and Sade sketch, and Al Jolson's Shell Chateau songs, with the 1935 dedication of NBC's Hollywood studios and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's "Tiger Rag."
October 31, 1956 Songwriters Tribute Listen (MP3)
A songwriters' salute to Irving Berlin and George M. Cohan.
November 7, 1956 Veterans Day - Wars from the Past Listen (MP3)
A Veterans Day program -- Tallulah Bankhead reading a Lincoln letter, Cohan's "Over There," the Armistice bugler, and Schumann-Heink on radio and war.
November 14, 1956 Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Debut Listen (MP3)
Rudy Vallee introduces Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy to radio for the first time (1936), with Judy Garland, Jean Sablon, and John McCormack's "Danny Boy."
November 21, 1956 Town Hall Tonight Listen (MP3)
The Jack Benny-Fred Allen feud in full cry on Town Hall Tonight (1937), with Helen Kane and Rodgers songs from "Jumbo."
November 28, 1956 (untitled)
December 5, 1956 Children's Programs Listen (MP3)
Kids' radio remembered -- Professor Kaltenmeyer's Kindergarten, Baby Snooks, the Singing Lady, and Walter Damrosch's Music Appreciation Hour.
December 12, 1956 Connecticut River Valley Flood of 1936 Listen (MP3)
Floyd Gibbons narrates the 1936 Connecticut River Valley flood, framed by Lanny Ross, Carmen Miranda, Art Tatum, and Bergen and McCarthy.
December 19, 1956 Red Skelton Debut Listen (MP3)
Red Skelton's 1937 radio debut on Rudy Vallee's show, with Cliff Edwards' "Paper Moon," Gloria Swanson, and Walter Huston's "September Song."
December 26, 1956 June 11, 1927 Broadcast Day Listen (MP3)
The oldest recordings NBC could find -- Graham McNamee introducing Lindbergh's 1927 return from Paris and Coolidge's Flying Cross, with the Clicquot Club Eskimos.

1957

January 2, 1957 Ladies Night Listen (MP3)
A showcase of women singers -- Ethel Merman, a young Judy Holliday with the Revuers, Bea Wain, Grace Moore, and Judy Canova with her siblings.
January 9, 1957 Speed Reading Contest Listen (MP3)
Al Kelly's double-talk NBC promo and a fast-talking contest among announcers Ben Grauer, Graham McNamee and Milton Cross, plus Gene Autry and the debut of Tommy Riggs and Betty Lou.
January 16, 1957 (untitled)
January 23, 1957 (untitled)
January 30, 1957 Irene Dunne, Joan Davis, Ben Blue, Wrong Way Corrigan Listen (MP3)
Irene Dunne sings and Joan Davis clowns with Ben Blue, around the 1938 "Wrong Way" Corrigan flight and Ed Herlihy introducing his younger self.
February 6, 1957 American Album of Familiar Music Listen (MP3)
Frank Munn and the American Album of Familiar Music lead a genteel hour with Ethel Barrymore, Barry Wood, and Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians.
February 13, 1957 Abraham Lincoln Listen (MP3)
A Lincoln program -- Raymond Massey closing "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" and Alexander Woollcott on the Gettysburg Address.
February 20, 1957 Jessica Dragonette, Helen Hayes, Perry Como, the Stroud Twins Listen (MP3)
Jessica Dragonette sings, Helen Hayes and Vincent Price play a scene from "Victoria Regina," a young Perry Como croons with Ted Weems, and the Stroud Twins make their network bow.
February 27, 1957 Harriet Hilliard, Bob Burns, Bunny Berigan Listen (MP3)
Harriet Hilliard and Bob Burns on mid-Thirties Shell Chateau and Rudy Vallee, with Bunny Berigan's orchestra and Elsie Janis.
March 6, 1957 Dinah Shore's Debut Listen (MP3)
Dinah Shore's radio debut on Eddie Cantor's show (c. 1940), with Charles Laughton broadcasting from London and an interview with athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
March 13, 1957 Happy St. Patrick's Day Listen (MP3)
An Irish-flavored hour -- Rudy Vallee introducing John McCormack, Beatrice Lillie, the Silver Masked Tenor, Paderewski's radio debut, and Morton Downey.
March 20, 1957 1933 Listen (MP3)
An all-1933 program -- FDR's inaugural address, Richard Crooks on Voice of Firestone, Showboat's Mary Lou, and Ed Wynn with Graham McNamee; the first in the half-hour format.
March 27, 1957 Pending Attack by Japan, 12-1-1935 Listen (MP3)
Edwin C. Hill's ominous 1935 warning of a coming Japanese attack, amid Arthur Tracy, Deems Taylor, and a Jack Benny broadcast marking Kenny Baker's debut.
April 3, 1957 Tribute to H.V. Kaltenborn Listen (MP3)
A tribute to news commentator H. V. Kaltenborn, with Mary Margaret McBride, Chet Huntley, and Eddie Cantor.
April 10, 1957 Information Please Listen (MP3)
The 1938 first broadcast of Information Please with Clifton Fadiman, plus Marian Anderson's radio debut, Garbo and Lionel Barrymore in "Camille," and Shirley Temple.
April 17, 1957 Irving Berlin Tribute Listen (MP3)
An Irving Berlin salute -- Mayor Jimmy Walker introducing Berlin singing "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "God Bless America," with Al Jolson, Ethel Waters, and Morton Downey.
April 24, 1957 (untitled)
The Story

When NBC turned thirty in 1956 -- the network had signed on November 15, 1926 -- it went digging through its own vaults. Recollections at 30 is the result: a weekly half-hour that reaches into NBC's sound library and pulls out the original recordings of radio's first three decades. One week it rebuilds a single event (the Hindenburg crash, Edward VIII's abdication, a 1936 flood); the next it salutes a program (Lights Out, Town Hall Tonight, Information Please) or a performer (a twelve-year-old Judy Garland, Red Skelton's debut, an Irving Berlin tribute). A one-hour audition, "A Salute to Radio," aired in May 1956 with H. V. Kaltenborn hosting; the series proper ran through the spring of 1957, announced by Ed Herlihy. There is no cast to speak of -- the stars you hear are ghosts on transcription discs -- which is exactly what makes it a time capsule. Listeners even wrote in requesting the oldest broadcasts NBC could find; the earliest, from June 11, 1927, captures Lindbergh's homecoming.

Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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