2/24/2005:
About this time in 1939, Bismarck radio station KFYR was debuting a new show called Cuckoo Quiz, described by the Bismarck Tribune as a ‘radio fanfare,’ studio gossip and information program. The new show was following a trend KFYR had discovered during the previous two years – a trend that’s still popular today.
“Every now and then a type of program comes to the front in radio listener appeal,” the Tribune reported. “For the last two years there has been a growing liking for question and answer programs of all types. Kay Kyser made a big hit on his Wednesday night program by asking contestants questions on music and composers. Then in the summer of 1938, Memory Baseball appeared over KFYR airways. This program has continue
“Using two teams of three persons each,” the story read, “the teams as a unit will vie to answer the questions as asked by Wayne Griffin, m.c. (sic) of Cuckoo Quiz. It is hoped that by having the teams get together for an answer, (and) having a sensitive microphone nearby to pick up the discussion, the new program will bring much choice comment to the listeners.
“KFYR listeners will have their inning by sending in sets of questions to be asked on succeeding programs. Prizes will be offered for the set of ten best questions submitted by any person during the week...(including) questions concerning Bismarck, North Dakota, its history and the like.”
Three months earlier, in November, the Tribune reported on another popular program called Hobby Lobby, the brainchild of former North Dakota boy, Dave Elman. The story read, “Ever since he was born 38 years ago in Park River, ND, Dave’s hobby has been the study of unusual hobbies, a pursuit that long before he entered radio had earned him the sobriquet of ‘the man of 100,000 hobbies.’ Dave’s profession, from the time he began earning his own living, was that of entertainer, and it was many years before he combined the two.”
The story went on to explain that Elman left school when he was 14 to join a traveling medicine show, followed by stints in a variety of stock companies, Chautauquas, showboats and repertory theater. In 1922, he landed in New York’s vaudeville scene, working as an actor, comedian and mimic.
When radio came on the scene, he was offered a position with one of the major networks as a continuity writer. One thing led to the next, and Elman hit upon the idea that would put him over the top – turning his fascination with avocations into a radio program. Once a week, he brought in a person with an unusual or particularly interesting hobby for a show he named Hobby Lobby. Guests came from everywhere and anywhere, receiving a free trip to New York for their troubles.
Elman’s new show hit the airwaves in the spring of 1937 and was picked up commercially a few months later. When the Jack Benny Show went on vacation that summer, Hobby Lobby replaced it, and the show ended up being voted “the outstanding new idea show of 1937.”
It would be interesting to know what other shows were inspired by Cuckoo Quiz or Hobby Lobby. In fact, that might be a good question for Dakota Datebook Radio Quiz.
Dakota Datebook written by Merry Helm