By 1935 there were four national and twenty regional networks broadcasting radio programmes across America, twenty-four hours a day. At the fore was NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation), formed in 1926 and operating two networks—NBC Blue (headed by station WJZ) and NBC Red (headed by station WEAF). WEAF and the Red Network were NBC’s flagship network, broadcasting the majority of the established shows (and advertisers), while WZJ and the Blue Network carried the ‘sustaining’ shows (those without regular sponsors).

In Wide Canvas, BB writes of having made several radio broadcasts in America in the mid 1930’s, from both NBC’s Radio City studios in New York and the CBS studios. He even related how he was “very nearly booked for a big commercial series,” but “at the last minute the project fell through.”

RADIO LISTINGS FOR 20TH DECEMBER 1934

This article looks at BB’s broadcasts on the NBC network. Three appearances by him have been traced—and while no actual recordings of any of the programmes has survived, it has been possible to gain a brief idea of their content, from newspaper articles of the period and other archive sources.

BB was first heard over the airwaves on Thursday, 20th December 1934, on WJZ, NBC’s Blue network station in New York city. In a fifteen-minute slot from 6.15pm to 6.30pm, he was interviewed by William Lundell, and commented on the changes in American life and customs since his last visit. The interview was also run by WCKY, WENR and KGO.

Exactly one year later, on Saturday, 21st December 1935, BB was on the air again, as a guest on the weekly ‘Sports Page of the Air’ show hosted by well-known sports journalist, broadcaster—and fellow cartoonist—Thornton Fisher, on WCAE/KFYR.

BB’s appearance on this popular show merited a few lines in the Radio columns of a handful of newspapers, and it was noted that Old Bill would also be appearing with his creator. “Old Bill will discuss cricket and baseball, while Capt. Bairnsfather compares British rugby with the American version, and touch on the habit of British fighters of bouncing on canvas.”

Old Bill’s creator would almost certainly have felt at ease in the company of the Sports Page of the Air host. Thornton Fisher (1888-1975) had made a living as a sports writer and cartoonist before breaking into radio. He worked as an artist for the Cleveland Leader and New York Daily News and a gag cartoonist for the St Louis Republic and Washington Star before becoming successful with comic strips and panel series including Wishing the Wisp (New York Herald, 1913-14), Raising the Family, The Marrying of Mary and Betty’s Brother Bobby. In the 1920’s his sports cartoons, published across America through the World Syndicate, proved very popular. Fisher also sketched many sporting celebrities and other personalities—including a portrait of BB, which although undated, was probably drawn at the time of the abovementioned radio broadcast.

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS,

21ST DECEMBER 1935

RADIO LISTINGS, 21ST DECEMBER 1935

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 21ST DECEMBER 1935

In October 1935, a few weeks before BB’s appearance with Thornton Fisher, NBC had announced the forthcoming debut of a new weekly musical and dramatic series, “Matt Clemens, Melody Master”. The programme would “present enduring melodies against a script background written by Homer Croy, noted author and one of the foremost delineators of American life. Embodying the mood of the family and the home, the programme will have as its setting the home of Matt Clemens, local philosopher and homespun editor of the Willow Heights Journal, who is one of the town’s leading musical lights.”  The half hour show took the form of a weekly gathering at Matt’s home in the fictitious town of Willow Heights, where friends and neighbours would participate in singing and talking, joined each week by a well-known ‘guest.’ Scheduled for the 11pm slot, it was significant in that it would be the first commercial broadcast to air that late on a Sunday evening.

THORNTON FISHER’S PORTRAIT OF BB, ALONGSIDE A SKETCH BY OLD BILL’S CREATOR

LIMA SUNDAY NEWS, 26TH JANUARY 1936

Having Homer Croy as its scriptwriter was a great asset to the new show. Croy (1883-1965) was a very well-known author, most famous for his book and screenplay They Had to See Paris (1926) - the first talkie starring Will Rogers. He went on to write more than half of the films in which Rogers starred, and also wrote a biography of the actor.

Matt Clemens, Melody Master aired for the first time on Sunday, 20th October 1935. Three months later, on Sunday, 26th January 1936, BB added his name to the list of celebrity guests to have ‘dropped in’ to the “mythical” town of Willow Heights. He joined the weekly gathering at the Clemens home, “satirizing broadcasting as it is practised in England, with a burlesque of English “wireless” announcing.”

Several weeks later, on Sunday, 1st March 1936, BB made a second appearance on the Melody Master programme. Shortly after this, NBC published a special “Behind the Scenes with the Melody Master” souvenir booklet highlighting the show and featuring photographs and details of some of the famous guests who had ‘dropped in’ at the Clemens family home in Willow Heights. BB’s appearances were noted, and his favourite musical selections were listed as “On the Road to Mandalay,” and “Without a Song” by Vincent Youmans. The booklet also carried an advertising feature for one of the shows sponsors,  I.E.S. Better Sight Lamps, and BB was one of the guests from the show who was shown using a ‘Better Sight’ lamp.

Old Bill over the Airwaves:

Capt. Bruce Bairnsfather‘s

NBC radio broadcasts 1934-1936

BB’s NBC broadcasts were certainly varied in their content—an interview about the changes he had observed since his last visit to America, a discussion about sport with a fellow cartoonist, and a guest appearance in the mythical town of Willow Heights! The programmes themselves may not have been preserved, but the radio listings and references to the shows which were published in various American newspapers, such as those illustrated with this article, are more likely to have survived, and are yet another variation of printed ephemera for Bairnsfather collectors to look out for.

BB IN BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE ‘MELODY MASTER’ BOOKLET -

(ABOVE): FEATURED GUEST, AND (BELOW) BB USED IN I.E.S. BETTER SIGHT ADVERTISEMENT

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