| Radio station WMAQ operated by the Chicago Daily News was one
of Chicago's earliest radio stations (DN-0084883). Images from the mid 1920s show WMAQ's
broadcast towers atop the Hotel LaSalle (DN-0078564, DN-0078563) and
some electronic equipment (DN-0076284, DN-0078881).
WMAQ announcers (DN0079116, DN0079115, DN-0085994) are
featured in many images. Also represented are studio
personalities such as Russell Pratt (DN-0080965,
DN-0088295, DN-0082348); the
orchestra (DN-0087325), the Whitney Trio (DN-0081642), and visiting celebrities such as Tom Mix
(DN-0087949) and Beatrice Lillie (DN-0085466). The set often used for performances
had walls covered with heavy curtains to help control the quality of the
sound (DN-0084882). Performers on radio
were not normally visible to the public, but actors and actresses
sometimes posed in costume for the newspaper's photographers (DN-0077756, DN-0077759).
Charles J. Correll and Freeman Gosden were the stars of WMAQ's most
famous program, Amos 'n Andy (DN-0088832, DN-0088835). Like the newspaper, the radio station
ran promotions and expressed its social concerns through
events.
Topsy Turvy Time was a contest for children
(DN-0082123, DN-0086510, DN-0087223). In 1927, WMAQ ran
a fund drive for Mississippi flood relief (DN-0083301). |
DN-0084883
DN-0078564
|
