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Homemaker Radio in Nebraska · Nebraska History Podcast

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The following episode features a historic article from the
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Nebraska History magazine. This article may reflect the
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language and attitudes of its time and while it offers
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valuable insight into the past, may contend expressions or
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viewpoints that are outdated or offensive by today's standards.
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Any outdated terms do not reflect the current views or
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perspectives of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
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Welcome to the Nebraska history podcast.
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I'm your host, Chris Goforth. Each episode we explore articles
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written and published in Nebraska History Magazine.
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Radio has always played a role in connecting people.
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Early homemaker radio programs like Mary Moore Homemaker on
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WJAG in Norfolk focus their efforts on providing content and
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support for the women in their listening areas.
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Today we explore the impact radio has played in connecting
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with and influencing women in Nebraska through the 2019
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Nebraska History Magazine article, Stirring Up
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Conversation, The Radio Homemaker by Mark Smith and
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Larry Walklin. The year is 1944.
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On a rural farmstead in northeast Nebraska with no phone
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service, a wife is tasked with operating a household.
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A winter snowstorm means she won't make it to town for the
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foreseeable future. Her children and husband provide
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familial companionship and support, but the voices of other
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women are missing. But then, at the appointed hour,
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the household radio crackles alive each weekday with the
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sound of a female broadcast host whose cheery demeanor is a
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comfort to the homemaker. With the introduction of
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widespread radio broadcasting in the 1920's, the new medium had
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demonstrated it could overcome distance, galvanized personal
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connections with listeners and ease isolation, particularly in
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rural middle America. It did so largely through men,
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who dominated broadcast ownership and programming.
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Within a few years, however, women began to make inroads on
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the air, talking to other women throughout the Midwest.
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Among the first such broadcasts targeted to homemakers was a
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show beamed to radios in the Twin Cities.
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In 1924. Washburn Crosby, later known as
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General Mills and the maker of Gold Medal Flower, produced a
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regularly scheduled homemaker program on a radio station the
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company purchased in Minneapolis.
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The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air, broadcast on WCCO,
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quickly connected with listeners.
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Within a year, the program expanded to more than a dozen
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stations on which multiple Betty Crocker hosts, furnished with
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scripts produced by Washburn Crosby, talked to other women.
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From 1926 to 1953, Betty Crocker shifted to national status on
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the NBC Radio network, with multiple hosts over the years.
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Reminding homemakers quote how to buy, what to buy, and how to
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make the best with what is available.
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End Quote Marjorie Husted, a company employee who graduated
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from the University of Minnesota with a degree in home economics,
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not only had a major role in creating the Betty Crocker icon,
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but Husted also served for a time as the radio voice of the
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iconic homemaker. Similarly, the US Department of
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Agriculture initiated a radio text service in summer 1926 that
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targeted a significant audience of women charged with caring for
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households. Local county agents, most likely
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men, produced advice broadcast scripts for Housekeepers Chat,
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which featured A neighborly but patriarchal sounding host, Aunt
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Sammy. Much like Betty Crocker, the
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personification of Aunt Sammy relied upon women's stand in
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hosts scattered among dozens of Midwest radio stations who
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dispensed recipes and advice on such home care areas as pest
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control, floor care, laundry and food.
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Aunt Sammy quickly secured a loyal audience.
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Within a year of its first broadcast, the government
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offered publications designed to quote meet the enormous demand
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of the most popular recipes broadcast.
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End Quote. Among the Midwest broadcasters
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that subscribe to the service was KOIL in Omaha, originally
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licensed to Council Bluffs, IA, KFAB in Lincoln, which later
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shifted studio operations to Omaha, and KMA in Shenandoah,
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IA. Increasingly, locally produced
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homemaking shows appeared in the mid and late 1920s on several
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Great Plains radio schedules in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska,
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Kansas and Missouri. By 1926, listeners could hear
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Stitch and Chat on KMA in Shenandoah and the Mother's Hour
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on rival KFNF. Both shows had laid the
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groundwork for regularly scheduled programming that
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attracted not only large audiences of women who raised
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children and tended to Midwest households, but also revenue
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from local, regional and national advertisers.
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Local homemaker shows, first on radio and later television,
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reached its zenith in the post war years.
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The long running programs not only opened the Airways for
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women to produce and host radio shows in the Cornhusker State,
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but also new revenue streams for broadcast outlets overwhelmingly
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controlled by men. Women emerged as personalities
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on Nebraska radio and television through different sets of
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circumstances. Georgia Crawford, a partner with
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her husband in ownership of KCNI in Broken Bow, produced and
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broadcast the Kitchen Kate program five days each week by
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1954. Crawford assumed the role of
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general manager and sole owner of the station after her
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husband's death. Billy Oakley, whose 60 year
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media career began in radio as a performer personality in 1932,
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produced homemaker programs for QMA in Shenandoah and KMMJ in
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Grand Island. Oakley's controversial delivery
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eventually paved a successful transition to television with a
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daily program on KOLNTV in Lincoln.
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One of the best known Nebraska homemaker producer personalities
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was Martha Bolson, who was active from 1938 to 1984.
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Bolson's program, distributed through the Omaha based Harold
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Sotterland firm, was broadcast on 69 radio stations and 64
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television stations in several states as well on at different
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times all three Omaha commercial television stations.
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Bolson was an Omaha contemporary of long time NBC Tonight Show
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host Johnny Carson from Norfolk, NE.
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When both Bolson and Carson worked on Omaha stations.
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WOW Radio and WOWTVA Homemaker program with a 26 year run
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secured strong connections with radio listeners in northeast
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Nebraska. Eugene.
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Gene Hughes, publisher of the family owned Norfolk Daily News,
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was the driving force to secure a broadcast license in Norfolk,
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nearly 100 miles northwest of Omaha.
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The federal government granted a limited commercial land radio
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station permit to Hughes Publishing for WJAG in 1922.
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Women appeared on WJAG program schedules in the mid and late
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1920s, mostly as entertainers like the Norco Feeds Girl and
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Marjorie Beeler and Frances Warner Singers. day-to-day
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announcing chores were largely confined to men.
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In a rare instance, Alice Van Asten briefly served as a WJAG
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substitute announcer. In 1930, WJAG tried to attract
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housewives with programs such as Omar Cooking School of the Air,
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sponsored by Omaha Flower Mills and Shopper's Guide.
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These shows quickly faded, but by 1931 WJAG offered
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housekeepers chat beauty hints with Mary Reynolds and Nancy
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Foster's cooking school, sponsored by Nash Coffee.
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A March 1932 Norfolk Daily News ad said WJAG was quote looking
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for a woman in or near Norfolk who has had experience with
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chickens and quote for a 15 to 30 minute daily poultry program.
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Thomas Soon hired a host for Poultry Lady and a sponsor the
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Omaha Cold Storage Company. Soon, caring for chickens gave
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way to recipes and homespun conversation.
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In 1939, the first regularly scheduled homemaker program
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appeared on WJAG cousin Elsie's Kitchen.
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Host Elsie Ludkey of Norfolk recalled that producing the 30
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minute weekly program in her home targeted to other
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homemakers was strenuous. Quote When the cat and the dog
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had a fight on the air, or the time when the baby attacked the
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microphone with a mixing spoon. End Quote.
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Within a year the show had transformed into a live studio
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presentation but ended shortly thereafter.
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Lutke then joined The Breakfast Club team on WJAG.
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Cousin Elsie assumed an on air role of serving and promoting
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coffee and pastries sponsored by a coffee maker and local
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bakeries to her male announcer counterparts.
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Maude Werner, who later became a radio homemaker on WJAG,
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described Lutke's combination of advertising and visiting on the
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Norfolk station as among the first of such local broadcasts
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by a woman to area homemakers. Although Lutke's participation
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in the program ended in 1940, the template had been forged for
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a permanent homemaker show aimed at northeast Nebraska
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housewives. In late 1940, WJAG secured an
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Omaha advertiser interested in promoting a product line
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targeted to women. The station conducted auditions
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searching for a female host who would combine quote advertising
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and chatting with homemakers. End Quote.
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In December, WJAG hired Edith Hansen of Norfolk to host the
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Mary Moore Homemaker Show. Station records and interviews
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failed to reveal the genesis for an on air moniker of Mary Moore
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or why Edith Hansen did not use her name.
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A Norfolk Daily News promotional ad promised quote a new and
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different kind of homemaker program on WJAG.
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End Quote. The Monday through Saturday half
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hour show, from 9:00 to 9:30 in the morning with host Mary
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Moore, would broadcast money saving, household tips, recipes,
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news, bargains and the latest fashion trends.
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Hanson described the first broadcast as experiments,
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leaving her frightened and nervous.
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But soon she came to feel as if she was sitting right in the
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kitchen exchanging recipes and ideas with neighbors.
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Station management urged Hanson to query the audience as often
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as possible to determine the direction of the program.
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When World War 2 began nearly a year after the inaugural
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broadcast in 1940, government mandated rationing meant that
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Hansen had to be more creative with the ingredients in recipes
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and meal preparation. She explained to listeners how
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to prepare sugarless recipes and how to find a substitute for
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that cup of coffee. In 1942, Hansen departed WJAG to
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replace Jesse Young, a radio homemaker on KMA in Shenandoah.
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The Kitchen Club Show, ranked the second most popular show on
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KMA, conceded the number one position on station program
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listings to Leanna Field Drift Meyer's Kitchen Clatter.
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Hansen departed KMA in 1945, but returned nearly two years later
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to the same station. By the late 1940s, Hansen began
12:00
to Co host a nationally syndicated homemaker program.
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With the departure of Hanson, WJAG needed a new Mary Moore.
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Friends of Maude Werner of Battle Creek urged her to pursue
12:13
the homemaker position. She was initially hesitant about
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hosting a radio show, but did apply.
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Werner had acquired on air experience having participated
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in broadcast programs for local women's organizations on WJAG,
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coupled with a background in education.
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Born in nearby Stanton, she attended colleges in Wayne, Peru
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and Fremont, as well as the University of Nebraska, and had
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served as a school principal. By the early 1940s, Leo and
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Maude Werner had set up a household in Battle Creek, 12
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miles West of Norfolk, to purchase and operate a local
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grocery store. Werner and nearly two dozen
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women had been invited to WJAG for additions.
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Werner returned for further interviews and recalled Art
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Thomas and two male employees popping questions at me.
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The station had a new Mary Moore.
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Werner began hosting the show in May of 1942.
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Outgoing host Edith Hanson, a WJAG male announcer, and Thomas
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coached Werner on the finer points of producing 1/2 hour
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live studio broadcast. Werner confronted harsh Nebraska
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winters in treks to the station from nearby Battle Creek in the
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1940s. After several attempts by local
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residents, 1/6 Driver was able to deliver Werner to the studios
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10 minutes into the scheduled start time of Mary Moore.
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On another occasion, Werner was not as fortunate.
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A January Blizzard in 1947 left her snow bound in Battle Creek.
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Bob Verzil, a veteran WJAG announcer, conducted the show.
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After the broadcast, fellow employees teased Verzil with the
13:58
new nickname Mary. Verzil was not the first male
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substitute host, of course. Not long after Werner began to
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produce, Mary Moore, a new host, suffered a three day illness
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which forced WJAG male announcers to the microphone.
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In 1943, a lengthy ailment kept Werner from entering the studio
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for nearly six weeks. The wife of WJAG announcer Ken
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Meyers, all of Meyers, appeared on Mary Moore, with Werner
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composing commercial continuity from her bed.
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Meyers produced the program with additional material from women's
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magazines, letters from listeners and recipes from
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cookbooks. Throughout the 1940s, Warner
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broadcast Mary Moore live to Northeast Nebraska Homemakers
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for 30 minutes a day, continuing Hansen's practice of presenting
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herself as a neighbor who visits via the radio, sharing recipes,
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household tips, product plugs, and homespun conversation.
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Art Thomas methodically exploited local media to keep
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Warner, AKA Mary Moore, in front of northeast Nebraska residents,
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whom he coveted as potential listeners to sell to
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advertisers. Printed recipes, a station
15:13
newsletter, and program offerings in the local newspaper
15:17
provide early examples of media saturation.
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In the early years, the Norfolk Daily News, the Co owned
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publication of WJAG, promoted Werner through daily and years
15:28
later, weekly program schedules. In the 1940's the station
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printed and distributed a monthly newsletter, WJAG News,
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to showcase its personalities and a separate publication, Mary
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Moore's Prize Recipes. The latter publication consisted
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of a sponsored cover page, 2 pages of recipes, and the names
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of winners who submitted entries.
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Initially, prize recipes found its way to listeners each week,
15:56
but soon shifted to a monthly schedule.
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Media industry practices and changing technology transformed
16:05
the production process in the coming years.
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As early as the 1930s, KMA in Shenandoah initiated live
16:12
Homemaker broadcast from the homes of Leanna Field,
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Driftmeyer and Jesse Young, which the other stations began
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to emulate. By the 1950s, quarter inch
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electromagnetic tape recording technology meant that radio
16:26
shows could be easily and cheaply stored.
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In January 1950, a promotional ad in the Daily News informed
16:34
listeners that More would broadcast quote from her own
16:37
home and quote in Battle Creek for 45 minutes each day, Monday
16:42
through Saturday. The ad, which portrays Werner
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situated behind a microphone, failed to state that she had
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been coached to produce episodes of Mary Moore on a reel to reel
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recorder for later broadcast. Warner's husband, Leo, created
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an in home recording studio, a room retrofitted with soundproof
17:02
material designed to dampen unwanted voice reverberations.
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By 1953, Mary Moore returned to its original running time of 30
17:11
minutes. For the next 13 years, the
17:14
broadcast generated thousands of listener responses and high
17:19
dollar regional and national advertising, a revenue bonanza
17:22
for WJAG. Several companies purchased
17:26
airtime over successive years on Mary Moore.
17:30
Tidy House, the producer of the Perfects and Gloss Techs brands
17:34
based in Shenandoah, lured the first Mary Moore of the early
17:38
1940s, Edith Hansen, who left WJAG for KMA to Co host and
17:43
nationally broadcast homemaker show in Norfolk.
17:47
Robert E Thomas or Bob Thomas, who assumed general manager
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responsibilities of the 1000 Watt WJAG after his father's
17:55
death in 1951, claimed that Tiny House sold products on Kitchen
18:00
Club and on one other local radio homemaker show.
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Mary Moore saying, quote. Consistently, year after year,
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Mary would produce orders and sales volumes on the air that
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surpassed the achievement on other individual stations that
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were stimulated by this firm's own exclusive homemaker.
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Not only that, but Mary Moore would produce more orders per
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dollar spent than this firm's homemaker did on stations of
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5000 watts and even 50,000 watts of power.
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End Quote. The successful Homemaker Show
18:33
had achieved national advertising status by the 1950s.
18:37
A publication targeted to advertisers nationwide promoted
18:41
Mary Moore with the reminder that WJAG is quote represented
18:46
by the Walker Company and quote, an ad agency with offices in New
18:50
York, Kansas City, and other metropolitan areas, Mary Moore
18:54
generated revenue from a number of regional and national
18:57
advertisers. Dizana pancake mix, Dwarfies,
19:01
vitamin and wheat germ supplements, EZ on transfer
19:05
patterns, Fairmont Foods of Omaha, Gingham girl furniture
19:09
Polish and floor wax, plastic plastic gloves.
19:13
Mother's best flower. Nash's coffee and China dish.
19:18
Much of the financial success of Mary Moore emerges from a
19:21
consistent pattern of connecting with listeners on a personal
19:25
level. Episodes produced initially by
19:28
Edith Hansen and longtime successor Maude Werner, along
19:32
with Martha Bolson, Billy Oakley and other Nebraska broadcasters
19:35
who produced homemaker shows, did more than dispense recipes,
19:39
advice and pitch sponsored products.
19:42
These women developed long distance friendships with
19:45
housewives. In a 1952 WJAG anniversary
19:49
broadcast, Werner offered an example of homespun
19:53
friendliness, delivered in a warm, conversational tone.
19:56
Quote Life is made sweet by the friends and things in common we
20:01
share. We want to live not because of
20:04
ourselves, but because of the people who care.
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And the joys of this life, when you sum it all up, are found in
20:11
the making of friends. That's why I like the Mary More
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program. That is why I've gotten so much
20:17
out of it. End Quote.
20:19
The ubiquity of broadcasting further enhanced the image of
20:23
Mary More. As a friendly neighbor next
20:26
door, a woman who communicated with other women, a rarity on
20:30
radio program schedules in that era, Hanson said.
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Quote, Mary is a neighbor to so many people.
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You can depend on your neighbor coming in to the home via the
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radio. And that neighbor is Mary Moore.
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She always has a cheery message for you.
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And quote Finally, technology fueled the success of radio
20:50
homemakers in the 1950s. The availability of tabletop
20:54
radios, an alternative to bulky living room sets, allowed women
20:58
to work side by side with their favorite broadcast homemakers.
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Perceived individual connections between listener and host
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propelled Werner to regional celebrity status.
21:11
WJAG mail counts demonstrate the potential of Mary Moore to
21:14
galvanized listener response and revenue.
21:17
With the exception of 1946, Werner, through the on air
21:21
persona of Mary Moore, generated substantially more mail from
21:26
1942 to 1950 than any other program, promotion or advertised
21:31
product. By late 1949, the mail count had
21:35
nearly quadrupled in seven years and was on track the first six
21:39
months of 1950, the last year of available station data.
21:43
To establish another record to better understand the folksy
21:47
appeal of Mary Moore in another context, the population of
21:51
Madison County, Nebraska, at the center of WJAG's nearly 100 mile
21:56
radius transmission signal, was nearly 24,300 residents in 1940.
22:03
By 1949, Werner generated more mail than the entire county
22:08
population. The increasing workload of
22:11
preparing Mary Moore broadcasts forced Werner to utilize the
22:14
services of production assistance, including Becky
22:18
Peters. Besides heavy mail volumes and
22:21
other program production duties, Werner was the * attraction of
22:25
yearly Mary Moore picnics. In 1951, the second annual
22:30
picnic attracted 650 listeners on a rainy Monday in the Norfolk
22:34
City Auditorium. Werner conducted live broadcasts
22:38
on WJAG as loyal listeners competed in several
22:42
competitions, potato and backward races, horseshoe
22:46
pitching and a slipper kicking contest.
22:49
Awards were presented to the oldest person present hold a
22:53
euchre, 84, from Norfolk, and the youngest newlywed, youngest
22:57
baby boy and girl, and largest family, seven children by the
23:01
way, and farthest distance traveled Alba, Nebraska, 120
23:05
miles southwest of Norfolk. A similar outdoor picnic two
23:10
years later attracted more than 500 listeners.
23:14
WJAG seized on the popularity of its iconic radio homemaker in
23:19
the 1950s, with a nearly identical format but different
23:23
host of a new weekday broadcast. A syndicated show, a departure
23:28
from the locally produced Mary Moore, was recorded in
23:31
Shenandoah, a hotbed of women's homemaker shows on KMA and KFNF.
23:37
Jane's Journal, hosted by Jane Robinson and sponsored by Tidy
23:41
House, featured quote 15 minutes of helpful hints, homemaking
23:46
ideas, and new recipes, and Quote Jane's Journal began in
23:49
1952 and appears to have been short lived.
23:53
A January 1954 WJAG schedule fails to list the program.
24:00
Industry practices, declining revenue, changes in lifestyle
24:03
and ambiguous federal regulations led to the final
24:07
broadcast of Mary Moore in late 1966.
24:11
After thousands of productions over a span of 26 years, with
24:15
many of those broadcasts under the direction of Maude Werner,
24:18
the then 73 year old host retired in December.
24:23
The station announced that it would not replace Werner, whose
24:26
career began in the Hotel Madison mezzanine studio in
24:29
downtown Norfolk and came to a conclusion with record
24:33
broadcasts originating from the Werner home in Battle Creek.
24:37
General manager Bob Thomas blamed the show's demise on
24:39
several factors, including a quote determined trend away from
24:44
a homemaker program such as she has developed for so many years.
24:49
End Quote, Thomas told listeners in a broadcast salute to Warner.
24:52
Many stations that program similar homemaker shows quote no
24:56
longer have such programming on the air.
24:58
Then to this station maintains another extremely well produced
25:02
women's program. End Quote.
25:04
That program was kitchen clatter produced in Shenandoah.
25:08
The 30 Minute Daily Show had appeared on WJAG program
25:12
schedules on and off since the 1950s.
25:15
Mary Moore's popularity with listeners and advertisers
25:19
reached its zenith in the 1950s, a time of significant national
25:24
economic expansion. By 1954, WJAG exploited Werner's
25:29
popularity with two Mary Moore shows, the long standing 30
25:33
minute broadcast at 9:00 AM, and a 15 minute feature, the Brunch
25:38
Hour with Mary Moore at 11. A review of available station
25:42
revenue, however, signals A downward trend during the last
25:45
decade of local homemaker broadcasts.
25:48
Gross sales on Mary Moore in 1956 totaled nearly $10,000.
25:54
By the end of 1960, revenue before expenses had plummeted
25:58
nearly $3000, a 30% decline. To enhance the declining revenue
26:04
line, station accounting records document yet another program
26:08
produced by Werner, an advertiser supported Garden show
26:11
broadcast for a few months in 1957 and in 1958.
26:17
By 1966, Werner's half hour block of airtime six days a week
26:21
was more valuable for new programming and revenue
26:25
generation, Thomas said. Quote Business matters, meaning
26:29
daytime stations in particular must find ways to curtail costs
26:33
and make most efficient use of every single minute of broadcast
26:37
time. End Quote.
26:39
Finally, Thomas laid blame on the Federal Communications
26:42
Commission, or the FCC and their regulations strongly tied to the
26:46
business side of broadcasting for further exacerbating efforts
26:50
to sustain a local homemaker show.
26:53
The FCC raised its regulatory eyebrow over the industry
26:57
practice of limiting the number of commercial minutes allotted
27:00
to feature length programs. Werner promoted numerous
27:04
sponsors at length on each 30 minute broadcast.
27:08
According to government regulators, in that era,
27:10
Werner's productions constituted program length commercials, that
27:14
is 1/2 hour of commercial matter per program.
27:18
Because radio stations had to adhere to commercial time
27:21
restrictions each hour, a 30 minute commercial would have
27:25
exceeded federal government standards.
27:27
Kitchen Clatter, the syndicated homemaker show that filled the
27:30
void left by the departure of Maude Werner and Mary Moore,
27:34
abruptly ended its daily broadcast in 1985.
27:38
Not long after, Billy Oakley, a familiar voice to listeners in
27:42
other Nebraska radio markets, served as host of a 10 minute
27:46
syndicated show broadcast Monday through Saturday on WJAG,
27:50
sponsored by the Extra Touch Company of Shenandoah.
27:55
The ability of women to control programming was an important
27:58
development in the history of radio, driven by station
28:01
managers in Nebraska as lucrative financial
28:04
opportunities. The image of women maintaining
28:07
households may have been reinforced by early homemaker
28:10
shows. However, radio operations in
28:13
Nebraska sensed A niche, underserved audience, thus
28:17
opening the door of broadcasting from program production to
28:20
hosting for many women to explore.
28:23
Because of the specialized nature of programming to women,
28:26
the men who operated broadcast outlets granted almost sole
28:30
content and production duties to the women hosts of homemaker
28:34
shows. This effectively provided women
28:37
with historic opportunities to produce broadcast programming
28:41
out of the dominant shadow of male influences.
28:44
WJAG manager Art Thomas nurtured the broadcast skills of the two
28:49
hosts of Mary Moore. Beyond that initial coaching,
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much of show's resilience year after year lies with Edith
28:56
Hansen and Maude Warner, whose hosting abilities and production
29:00
techniques resonated with local homemakers.
29:03
To be sure, the marketing image of more constructed and
29:07
maintained by Thomas and his son later on Bob was a focal
29:11
component on the success of Mary Moore as well.
29:15
Successful radio home advice programs with Nebraska ties such
29:20
as Martha Bolson and Billy Oakley shifted to local
29:23
television in Nebraska. WJAG did not transition Mary
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Moore to television or regional radio syndication.
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However, Maude Werner's daily production on WJAG is emblematic
29:36
of the homemaker format that emerged on other Nebraska radio
29:40
stations before and during the same era of Mary Moore.
29:45
Whether on radio or television, changes in family lifestyles and
29:50
more women working outside the home further impacted the
29:53
decisions of many station operators to end homemaker
29:57
programs by the end of Mary Moore in the 1960s.
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According to Werner in a 1973 interview, the preparation of
30:06
meals from scratch was not as common as Americans turned
30:10
increasingly to convenience foods.
30:12
More women entering the workforce meant fewer listeners
30:16
for homemaker programs and, as a result, fewer advertisers.
30:21
Nevertheless, revenue producing sponsored homemaker programs
30:25
offered women such as Maude Werner and her broadcast
30:29
contemporaries in Nebraska and the Midwest opportunities to
30:33
become influential in their own right during the early years of
30:37
radio. Thank you for listening to the
30:39
Nebraska History Podcast. To learn more about Nebraska
30:42
History Magazine, to listen to more podcasts, or to support our
30:46
podcast by becoming a member of the Nebraska State Historical
30:49
Society, go to history.nebraska.gov/podcast.
30:54
And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and get notified
30:57
when we release new episodes on your favorite podcast platform.
31:01
Until next time, I'm Chris Goforth.