One of the powerhouses of daytime radio was Arthur Godfrey - with his folksy low keyed delivery he could sell anything and housewives took his endorsement as gospel. But he could be petulant and once fired his singer, Julius LaRosa on the air (in TV time) In the evening you might catch Rudy Vallee, the Connecticut Yankee who greeted you "Hi Ho everybody" and sang thru a megaphone. It was said he had the first nickel he ever earned. Jimmy Durante always closed with "Goodnight Mrs.Calabash, wherever you are." He could be great and unscripted in a nightclub. But the most commanding voice on evening radio was that of Walter Winchell a throwback reporter who wore a felt fedora behind the microphone like a scene from "Front Page" or Damon Runyon. He had a staccato delivery and opened his broadcast with "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and all the ships at sea, let's go to press." He also had a nightlife beat and a column in the morning paper. It was said that a mention in his column could make or break a career. He had a long standing feud with Ed Sullivan, another seasoned reporter from another paper - two pros from different walks of life. My mother went out one Christmas eve and came home with a small table model Emerson which became a bedside model and with the airwaves uncluttered at night we could bring in distant cities as Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit and catch hockey games and sporting events - all with the spin of the dial. Bing Crosby had a marvelous baritone voice and White Christmas was a best seller. And it wouldn't be New Years eve without Guy Lombardo playing Auld Lang Syne - and when Bing and Guy died within three weeks of each other in 1977, I commented that they snuffed out Christmas and New Years in one fell swoop.
tjs
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