Top of page
Posted by: Matthew Barton
“Arch Oboler, a restlessly intelligent man…utilized two of radio’s great strengths: the first in the mind’s innate obedience, its willingness to try to see whatever someone suggests it see, no matter how absurd: the second is the fact that fear and horror are blinding emotions that knock our adult pins from beneath us and …
Posted in: NBC Radio Collection, Radio, Recorded Sound
Posted by: Karen Fishman
This guest post was written by Michelle Dubert-Bellrichard, Archivist, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. Phillips H. Lord was a pioneer in radio during its golden age. He produced radio and, eventually, television shows that captured real, American characters, but he would dramatize ordinary people — treating them like heroes. For example, Lord’s radio programs like Sky …
Posted in: National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, NBC Radio Collection, Radio
Posted by: Karen Fishman
This post was written by Matt Barton, curator of the Recorded Sound Section. The Big Band era and the Golden Age of Old Time Radio were long past in the summer of 1956, when NBC Bandstand hit the airwaves. Live performances by the great dance orchestras had been a staple of network radio in the 1930s …
Posted in: Mary Pickford Theater, Radio, Recorded Sound
Posted by: Karen Fishman
Today’s post is by Harrison Behl, Reference Librarian at the Recorded Sound Research Center. Shortly after the formation of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division in 1978, one of our first reference librarians, James Smart, compiled a listing of the radio broadcast recordings the Library had acquired to that point. Covering the years …
Posted in: NBC Radio Collection, Radio, Recorded Sound
Posted by: Karen Fishman
This is a guest post was written by Harrison Behl, reference librarian in the Recorded Sound Section. As we celebrate and commemorate the achievements of the US space program in bringing a human to the moon with the successful mission of Apollo 11, a curious turn of events in recording provides an interesting way of …
Posted in: NBC Radio Collection, Radio, Recorded Sound
Posted by: Karen Fishman
In addition to celebrating jazz music, April is also designated National Poetry Month! This month-long celebration has been organized by the Academy of American Poets since 1996 to spread awareness about and encourage appreciation of poetry. National Poetry Month has grown into a worldwide event that encourages reading, writing, and sharing poetry, as well as recognizing …
Posted in: American Archive of Public Broadcasting, Jukebox, Radio, Recorded Sound, Spoken Word
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus. Thursday, April 4 (7:30 p.m.) Pre-Code Double Feature Finishing School (RKO, 1934) The scandalous goings-on in an upper-crust private school for young women is the setting for this pre-Code school girl dramedy, co-directed (with George Nichols Jr.) by screenwriter Wanda Tuchock (Hallelujah!, …
Posted in: National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, National Recording Registry, Packard Campus Theater, Radio, Recorded Sound
Posted by: Amanda Jenkins
At the start of Women’s History Month, we featured a post about long-time radio host and producer Mary Margaret McBride. Today’s post features another interesting figure in women’s broadcasting history—the fictional advertising persona Betty Crocker—and the woman who portrayed her on radio and television in the 1950s and 1960s. Betty Crocker is the iconic figure …
Posted in: Advertising, Radio, Television
Posted by: Amanda Jenkins
Baseball season is upon us, even if many parts of the country are still in the throes of winter! With the Nationals’ home opener against the Mets this afternoon, here are some baseball-related items in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division to whet your appetite and gear up for Major League Baseball’s 2019 …
Posted in: Film/Video, Jukebox, Motion Pictures, Radio, Recorded Sound