Here’s the schedule for station WNHC-TV in New Haven, Connecticut for the week beginning Sunday, July 25th, 1948, straight from listings published in The Hartford Courant. WNHC-TV was a DuMont affiliate and aired many of its programs during the week, relayed from WABD in New York City. I don’t have any listings for Sunday, July 25th but that doesn’t mean the station wasn’t on the air. Perhaps the most interesting program of the week is the dedication ceremony Idlewild Airport that took place on Saturday, July 31st. It is was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1963; between 1948 and 1963 it bore two other names: Major General Alexander E. Anderson Airport and New York International Airport, Anderson Field.
President Truman attended the ceremony, as did New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey (a photograph of the two can be seen here at the Truman Library) and New York City Mayor William O’Dwyer. I’m sure film footage of the event exists but I doubt any recordings of WNHC’s broadcast (whether it was relayed from WABD or not I can’t say) exists. As always, if I had a time machine, I’d want to go back and watch Mary Kay and Johnny.
Monday, July 26th, 1948 [1]
5:00PM – Teletunes.
5:55PM – Program Resume.
6:00PM – Small Fry Club.
6:30PM – Russ Hodge’s Scoreboard.
6:45PM – Film Shorts.
7:00PM – Doorway to Fame.
7:30PM – Camera Headlines.
7:45PM – Film Shorts.
8:00PM – To Be Announced.
8:30PM – Swing into Sports.
9:00PM – Film Shorts.
9:30PM – Court of Current Issues.Tuesday, July 27th, 1948 [2]
12:00PM – Teletunes.
12:15PM – Special Session of Congress.
5:00PM – Teletunes.
5:55PM – Program Resume.
6:00PM – Small Fry Club.
6:30PM – Russ Hodge’s Scoreboard.
6:45PM – Film Shorts.
7:00PM – Alan Dale Show.
7:15PM – Mary Kay and Johnny.
7:30PM – Camera Headlines.
7:45PM – Tele News.
8:00PM – Laughing at Life–Victor McLaughlin.
9:10PM – Boxing, Jerome Arena.Wednesday, July 28th, 1948 [3]
5:00PM – Teletunes.
5:55PM – Program Resume.
6:00PM – Small Fry Club.
6:30PM – Russ Hodge’s Scoreboard.
6:45PM – Film Shorts.
7:00PM – Photographic Horizons.
7:15PM – Film Shorts
7:30PM – Camera Headlines.
7:45PM – Film Shorts.
8:00PM – School Days with Happy Felton.
8:30PM – Film Shorts.
9:00PM – Boxing, Jerome Arena.Thursday, July 29th, 1948 [4]
5:00PM – Teletunes.
5:55PM – Program Resume.
6:00PM – Small Fry Club.
6:30PM – Russ Hodge’s Scoreboard.
6:45PM – Film Shorts.
7:00PM – Birthday Party.
7:30PM – Camera Headlines.
7:45PM – Jack Elgen Show.
8:00PM – Champagne and Orchids.
8:15PM – Film Shorts.
8:30PM – Charade Quiz.
9:00PM – Boxing, Jerome Arena.Friday, July 30th, 1948 [5]
5:00PM – Teletunes.
5:55PM – Program Resume.
6:00PM – Small Fry Club.
6:30PM – Russ Hodge’s Scoreboard.
6:45PM – Film Shorts.
7:00PM – Camera Headlines.
7:45PM – Film Shorts.
8:00PM – Fashions on Parade.
7:45PM – Film Shorts.
9:00PM – Boxing, Jerome Arena.Saturday, July 31st, 1948 [6]
1:30PM – Teletunes.
2:00PM – Idlewild Airport Dedication.
4:30PM – Sign Off.
Works Cited:
2 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 27 Jul. 1948: 16.
3 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 28 Jul. 1948: 11.
4 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 29 Jul. 1948: 19.
5 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 30 Jul. 1948: 21.
6 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 31 Jul. 1948: 5.
Didn’t I say that older “obscure” movies (including the ones originally telecast on New York’s W2XBS/WNBT between 1939 and ’42) would eventually turned up on local stations, once commercial broadcasting became a viable commodity by 1948?
Here’s the proof, on Tuesday night [although I believe it was a “network movie”, fed to DuMont affiliates in prime-time]: “Laughing At Life” (1933), from Mascot Pictures [which eventually became Monogram], starring Victor McLaglen as a soldier of fortune organizing a band of South American revolutionaires…and William {“Hopalong Cassidy”} Boyd as the detective determined to bring him back to the U.S. Neat little adventure with emotional moments…
The evening schedule was also fed to DuMont stations in Washington and their other East Coast stations at the time- “CHAMPAGNE AND ORCHIDS” was an early musical interlude featuring “Adrienne” (Meyerberg) in a night club setting; Jack Eigen, a disc jockey/interviewer that was given a national boost by Fred Allen on his radio show, conducted a weekly interview with celebrities and other newsworthy people; Russ Hodges, famed radio sportscaster and “play-by-play” announcer, delivered a daily sports report; Bob Emery’s “SMALL FRY CLUB” early weekday evenings (as “PUPPET PLAYHOUSE” {Howdy Doody} was on NBC Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons from 5-6pm); “KING COLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY” on early Thursday nights; “CAMERA HEADLINES” was DuMont’s nightly news show in the summer of ’48.
“MARY KAY AND JOHNNY” [Stearns] was probably DuMont’s most popular weekly show, even though it was appeared as a weekly 15 minute series at that time, for American Home Products’ Whitehall Pharmacal division {Anacin}. It was a gentle situation comedy featuring the Stearns, married in real life….