The Curtain Time Radio Program

Background

Chicagoland radio station WENR was created by E. N. Rauland, founder of the All-American Radio Corporation. Rauland was a Norwegian immigrant, inventor and early radio enthusiast who built most of his radio equipment from his own designs and specifications. He founded the Rauland Manufacturing Company, manufacturing the All-American brand of audio transformers as early as 1920. His Rauland-Lyric Transformer, "the secret of tone perfection," became a key component of the All-American Radio Corporation's receivers.

All-American Radio Corporation's flagship receiver unit was the Rauland Sovereign, a Spanish Renaissance cabinet and seven-tube chassis, selling for $435.00 in 1925. By way of comparison, $435 in 1925 compares to over $5,600 in today's dollars.

A widely celebrated and successful Midwestern entrepreneur for his day, E. N. Rauland found himself 'adopted' by several Native American tribes on February 11th 1925. Representatives of the Iroquois, Sioux, Cherokee, Chippewa, Winnebago, and Ute tribes gave Rauland the Indian name "Ka-Wa-Na-Ka-Ta-Te," which they said translated to "Voice of The Air." Rauland was also presented with an elaborate 'Chief's Headdress' befitting Rauland's elevated station among the Indian tribes represented at the presentation, which appropriately enough, aired over local radio--WBCN.

WENR is 'born'

As was the practice of many of the radio manufacturers of the era, E. N. Rauland built his own commercial tranmitting station in 1924--a 10-Watt station, transmitting over 1030 kHz. The then Federal Radio Commission (FRC) authorized Rauland to increase his station's transmitting power to 100 Watts on March 19th 1925, under the call letters WENR, representing Rauland's own initials--W E. N. R.auland.

WENR first operated from an office building at 2650 Coyne Street in Chicago. WENR's 100 Watts transmitted throughout Chicago, northern Illinois and parts of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. WENR began publicly transmitting on March 20th 1925. Later that year, in September of 1925, WENR moved to 4201 West Belmont on the northwest side of Chicago--the headquarters of the All-American Radio Corporation. Rauland increased WENR's power to 1000 Watts using a transmitter of his own design built by the Western Electric Company of Chicago. WENR's one-room studio was converted from an office in the All-American Radio Corporation factory. During evening hours, WENR could then be heard as far as 1,000 miles away, and indeed WENR received correspondence from most of the continental U.S. with strong reception spanning Pennsylvania to Colorado.

In 1926, WENR moved again to The Kimball Building at at Jackson and Wabash in the heart of the Chicago Loop. And one year later, WENR moved yet again to The Strauss Building at 310 South Michigan Avenue, also in downtown Chicago. The Strauss Building with its "Spanish Garden" studio, audience seating and Wurlitzer organ helped to finally establish WENR as a major player in Chicago Radio.

"Everything I have is for sale if the price is right." --- E. N. Rauland

WENR, having established itself as a going concern, soon attracted the attention of Samuel Insull's newly formed Great Lakes Broadcasting Company. A deal was struck by between the principals and on April 17th 1928 Great Lakes Broadcasting agreed to purchase WENR for a reported $1.5 Million. Great Lakes Broadcasting Company had also acquired Chicago station, WBCN during the same period. WBCN had first broadcast in December 1924. Great Lakes Broadcasting subsequently consolidated its two Chicago stations, dropping the call letters WBCN.

Following his purchase of both WENR and WBCN, Sam Insull's newly acquired WENR dramatically expanded its talent roster. Then, in 1928, Great Lakes Broadcasting erected a 50,000 watt transmitter near Downers Grove, Illinois, some 50 miles from Chicago's loop. The new transmitter was said to be one of the most powerful and efficient for its day, its broadcasts having been heard from as far away as New Zealand. WENR's 870-kHz, clear-channel frequency was accompanied with a time-share arrangement with WLS, a Prairie Farmer station owned and operated by the Agricultural Broadcasting Corporation. Construction of the new 50,000-watt transmitter facility--to be used by both WENR and WLS--was completed at a 40-acre site just south of Downers Grove.

The WENR studios were moved--once again--to Samuel Insull's new headquarters in the Civic Opera Building in Chcago's Loop. WENR's programming consisted of local performers, symphony and jazz orchestras, pianists, organists, singers, actors, commentators, minstrels, and announcers, many of whom came from Insull's previously owned KYW. Among the many performers that WENR catapulted to national success were the husband-and-wife comedy team of Jim and Marion Jordan (as "Fibber McGee and Molly"), Everett Mitchell, who became the announcer for NBC's long-running "National Farm and Home Hour," Irma Glen, the attractive, multitalented organist and co-host of the popular "Air Juniors" program and future radio star Betty Lou Gerson, among many others.

Insull's Radio Empire succumbs to the Wall Street Crash of 1929

Samuel Insull's highly leveraged Utilities and Broadcasting empire crashed along with the fortunes of hundreds of thousands of Wall Street investors with the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Insull was ultimately implicated in a series of fraudulent and illegal activities and, by 1934, was deemed a Federal fugitive. David Sarnoff and his rapidly expanding National Broadcasting Company (NBC) stepped up to acquire both the ailing WENR and Chicago's WMAQ (then transmitting with 5,000 Watts). NBC's intent was to establish two major midwest outlets for NBC's "Red" and "Blue" networks. The acquistions were finalized in 1931.

One of the underlying issues in transferring control of WENR to NBC's "Blue" network was WENR's 'time-sharing' arrangement with WLS. Subject to approval of the Federal Radio Commission, the Prairie Farmer station owned and operated by the Agricultural Broadcasting Corporation would transmit with a power increase from 5,000 to 50,000 watts. WLS programming would be broadcast from the Downers Grove 50,000 watt transmitter of station WENR and the WLS operating plant in Crete, Illinois, would be closed.

NBC's end of the deal would result in acquiring the evening programming of WLS with the exception of Saturday nights. WLS would broadcast from 6 to 10:15 a.m and from 11:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., weekdays except Saturday. On Saturdays WLS would broadcast from 7:30 p.m. to midnight. And on Sundays WLS would broadcast from 6 to 8 a.m., and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Given the time-sharing arrangement, WLS had already successfully applied to the Federal Radio Commission for an increase in its own power from 5,000 to 50,000 watts, so as to share WENR's transmitter.

WENR launches romantic ensemble drama series, Curtain Time

Drawing upon its already deep bench of Chicago drama talent, WENR mounted what would become a long-running, popular series of romantic dramas in a half-hour format. WENR, having become Chicago's new key station for NBC-Blue, began airing Curtain Time on December 9th 1934. Its late afternoon Sunday timeslot was targeted to appeal primarily to the Midwest's homemakers, as they prepared the Sunday evening meal. A combination of light comedy, straight drama and the occasional mystery, Curtain Time provided a variety of dramatic formats for its regional audiences.

NBC-Blue was the National Broadcasting Company's predominately 'local interest,' public affairs and non-commerical network of the era. As such, Curtain Time aired sustained or locally sponsored over WENR through May 5th 1935.

Curtain Time moves from WENR to WMAQ for 1935's Fall Season

The respectable success of Curtain Time encouraged NBC to move the series from its NBC-Blue Network to its "Red" network key station--and oldest Chicago station--WMAQ, Chicago. Curtain Time aired sustained and locally sponsored over WMAQ for twenty-six episodes until February 23rd 1936, with Metropolitan Opera Auditions taking over its timeslot. Having failed to find a national sponsor during that time, Curtain Time lanquished for another fourteen months.

General Mills sponsors Curtain Time over W-G-N Chicago

Just over a year later, the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) relaunched the Curtain Time production from its studios in Chicago's Tribune Building over W-G-N, the Mutual key station owned by The Chicago Tribune at the time. It was a year into the W-G-N run that General Mills' Kix cereal began sponsoring Curtain Time over most of Mutual's network until April 7th 1939.

General Mills was one of the top twenty most prolific sponsors of Golden Age Radio thoughout the era. Promoting its Gold Medal Flour, Kix, Softasilk, Calox, Wheaties, Cheerios, Bisquick, Betty Crocker, Sperry Flour and Pyequick product lines, its offerings over the years spanned the gamut of popular Radio genres.

General Mills rolled out its new "Kix" brand of toasted, puffed corn cereal in the Fall of 1937 and almost immediately began promoting it over Radio and for over twenty years beyond:

1937 Arnold Grimm’s Daughter
1938 Curtain Time
1938 Those Happy Gilmans
1939 Billy and Betty
1939 The Grouch Club
1940 Beat the Band
1951 Defense Attorney

General Mills' Kix cereal sponsored everything from kids' shows to serial drama to variety and straight drama. Beginning in 1938, Kix took over the sponsorship of the already well-established romantic drama series, Curtain Time, then airing over Mutual key station, W-G-N, Chicago. Kix continued to sponsor Curtain Time through April 7th 1939 at which time it was replaced by Boone County Jamboree, a country variety program. Curtain Time languished yet again throughout most of the World War II years.

WENR finds itself under the ABC banner.

Throughout the World War II years, broadcast giant NBC had come under fire from competing networks, the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice over its numerous intentionally overlapping and self-competing NBC Network Divisions (NBC-Red, NBC-Blue, the former NBC-Orange, amongs others).

Prior to 1941, American radio had been dominated by three major networks: The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS). While there were several smaller regional networks that emerged and disappeared throughout the period prior to World War II, it was 'the big three' that engaged in the greatest competition for listener share throughout the era.

During the early 1920s, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) had built a growing network of radio stations transmitting over AT&T's phone lines. AT&T had systematically acquired a natural--and then legal--monopoly of these phone lines throughout the Northeast--eventually reaching to the West Coast. AT&T's 'key station' of that network was New York City's WEAF.

During that same period, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) began building a similar network throughout the Northeast over Western Union's telegraph lines--mostly in response to AT&T's monopoly of phone lines. RCA's flagship 'key station' was New York City's WJZ [originally based in Newark, NJ]. AT&T began signaling its desire to exit the radio broadcasting business in 1925 by restructuring and consolidating its radio broadcasting assets into what became the Broadcasting Company of America (BCA) in May of 1926. A consortium of RCA, General Electric, and Westinghouse offered to buy the short-lived BCA system lock, stock and barrel. The consortium's resulting National Broadcasting Company included the assets of RCA's original telegraph line-based network anchored with WJZ.

Given the previously established respective infrastructures of WEAF and WJZ, the new National Broadcasting Company retained both systems and expanded both of them throughout the following 10 years. WEAF's growing network was dubbed NBC-Red and the WJZ-anchored network was dubbed NBC-Blue. The 'color theme' of both networks--as well as four others that appeared over the following 10 years--reportedly owed itself to a combination of colored push-pins, yarn and color-coded grease-pencils that traced NBC's expanding network connections across huge Continental U.S. maps in NBC's headquarters.

NBC-Red, ostensibly NBC's predominately 'commercial' network tended to air most of NBC's most nationally popular, commercially sponsored programming. NBC-Blue, by contrast, though occasionally carrying commercially sponsored popular programming was more widely characterized as NBC's Public Affairs, News and sustained programming network of the two. NBC-Orange, NBC's expanding West Coast network, was viewed more as an extension of NBC-Red rather than NBC-Blue.

As NBC approached the 1940s the distinctions between NBC-Red and NBC-Blue began to blur--both commercially and by virtue of their increasingly anticompetitive programming practices. CBS was also coming under scrutiny for its own anticompetitive practices. That environment didn't go unnoticed by MBS and many of the larger regional independent networks of the 1930s. Nor did those practices escape the scrutiny of the recently reorganized (1934) Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC issued a report denouncing the affiliate acquisition abuses by NBC and CBS and sought to establish a 'one affiliate per city' rule for each of the major networks in an attempt to level the playing field.

MBS eventually brought an antitrust suit against NBC and CBS in the Fall of 1941 and the United States Justice Department also initiated an antitrust suit against both CBS and NBC in December of 1941. While contesting these various suits, NBC prudently consolidated and reincorporated it's NBC-Blue network into Blue Network Company, Inc. in January of 1942--or simply, The Blue Network. The various litigants--the FCC, NBC, CBS, MBS and the Justice Department--eventually took the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court in 'NBC vs. The United States.' In May of 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the FCC did in fact have the jurisdiction to regulate contractual obligations between networks and their affiliates.

Having seen the writing on the wall, NBC began taking offers for The Blue Network in January of 1943. Following the 1943 the Supreme Court ruling, RCA accepted an offer from Edward J. Noble to purchase The Blue Network as The American Broadcasting System, Inc. for a reported $8 Million. The FCC ultimately approved the sale of The Blue Network in October of 1943 based primarily on Edward J. Noble's written representations to "keep an open mind" regarding all requests for broadcast programming as well as affiliate relations.

Seeking to ultimately shed any references to NBC-Blue and The Blue Network, by December of 1945 the FCC approved Noble's request to transfer all of The Blue Network and The American Broadcasting System licences to The American Broadcasting Company. During a period of approximately two years following that rebranding, most of the network's high profile programs were announced as broadcast by "The Blue Network of the American Broadcasting Company."

And so it was that Chicago powerhouse station WENR became ABC's Midwest key station--one of , then, four ABC key stations. The other three were San Francisco's KGO, Los Angeles' KECA and ABC's flagship station, WJZ in New York City.

Curtain Time once again returns to WENR.

Having by then made the rounds of every major radio outlet--and network--in Chicago, with its July 4th 1945 premiere Curtain Time found itself having come full circle back to WENR in 1945, this time under the auspices of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Mars, Incorporated sponsored Curtain Time throughout the post-World War II years.

Mars, one of the few remaining family-owned international corporations of its size in the world, had been sponsoring Radio via spot sales and local sponsorshiop since the advent of the popular medium. Mars began sponsoring national Radio programming in earnest during the lead-up to World War II and throughout the 1940s and 1950s:

1939 Doctor I.Q.
1941 Dr. I.Q. Jr.
1941 What’s Your Idea
1942 Fountain of Fun
1945 Curtain Time
1950 Bob Barclay, American Agent
1950 Falstaff’s Fables
1950 Inner Sanctum
1951 Can You Top This?
1951 People Are Funny

The Mars Family and its Mars, Incorporated had become one of the world's most popular confection makers by 1939. Its Mars Bar and Milky Way bar in particular had been international favorites in one form or another since the 19th Century. Mars produced and marketed several differing versions of it's two flagship confections depending on the tastes and habits of its target markets. The American Mars and Milky Way bars, for example, varied widely from their United Kingdom and Australian counterparts; varying in size, shape, nougat flavor, consistency and weight.

Throughout its sponsorship of Curtain Time--over both ABC and NBC--Mars promoted its Milky Way, Snickers, Mars Bar, Forever Yours and new cocoanut Ping Bar, alternating between them every two months or so. While promoting Mars' Milky Way bar, Curtain Time's ensemble drama troupe was referred to as the "Milky Way Players" for the first year and a half of Mars' sponsorship. When it began promoting its Snickers bar in mid-1947, the Milky Way Players reverted to the Curtain Time Players.

. . . and Curtain Time returns one last time to WMAQ

From the June 1st 1946 issue of The Billboard:

'Curtain' to NBC
And Limited Net 

Curtains for Curtain Time

By the time Curtain Time finally left the air, it had made an appearance on every major radio station in Chicago but WBBM, and every major broadcast network but CBS. Many of its broadcasts were also distributed by the Armed Forces Radio Service, sans commercial messages, under the Curtain Time title. It would also appear that Curtain Time, under one local sponsor or another, continued airing in rebroadcasts for another thirteen years between 1950 and 1963.

Needless to say, Curtain Time and its romantic drama ensemble format stood the test of time throughout a good portion of the Golden Age of Radio's most competitive years. Curtain Time's solid ensemble casts, supported by predominately original scripts and adaptations and underscored by some of Chicago's finest orchestras and director/composers proved to be a winning combination for its target audience. For at least half of its run, Curtain Time proved itself to be a commercial success as well, not to mention one of Chicagoland's most resilient radio features.

Series Derivatives:

Library of American Broadcasting, WENR, "The The Voice of Service", by Bruce Eastmond with Karen Fishman and Suzanne Adamko.

Notes on Provenances:

The most helpful provenances were newspaper listings.

OTRisms:

Needless to say, virtually all of the circulating information about the history of "Curtain Time" is universally in error--from the 'announcer' to its earliest broadcasts, to its details, to the number of broadcasts. Times Past is particularly in error in every single of the above cited respects. Now that we've taken great pains to set the historical and broadcast histories straight, let the entirely predictable plagiarism begin.

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[Date, title, and episode column annotations in red refer to either details we have yet to fully provenance or other unverifiable information as of this writing. Red highlights in the text of the 'Notes' columns refer to information upon which we relied in citing dates, date or time changes, or titles.]