NBC Memories 1942 - 1964
by Bill Roddy
Chapter Five of Twelve
Becoming an Announcer
The chief announcer at NBC was Floyd Farr, a wonderful person, who would become my friend, but in 1942 he was the man to see if you wanted to be an announcer, which was my burning ambition. Floyd knew whenever he saw me coming down the hall that I would ask him if there were any openings.
This man was patience personified and most gracious. He was always
kind to me, although I got on the nerves of the other announcers.
NBC was expanding their operation in Hollywood at Sunset and
Vine and offered jobs to many of the San Francisco staff. Frank Barton and
Archie Presby were two that accepted. Other announcers went off to war; I recall
Hal Wolf and Eddy King doing so.
At twenty years of age, I was not experienced enough to be an
NBC announcer, and did not have the talent. Of course, I didn't know that.
I had announced at KHUB, a 250 watt
station in Watsonville, California, in the summer of 1941 for four months and
that was it, but with KPO on 24 hours a day, and many announcers leaving, Floyd
gave me my big break.
I became a Junior Announcer.
The union for talent was the American Federation of Radio
Artists, AFRA. (today it is AFTRA, adding television.)
NBC could have junior and senior announcers; the juniors receiving
less money and easier assignments.
Floyd put me on the midnight to six a.m. shift, where I could
do the least damage to NBC's prestige. All I had to say every half hour was,
"This is KPO, San Francisco." and give the time. But wouldn't you know, I almost screwed up my first month.
Whenever one of the senior announcers would leave for
Hollywood or go off to the war, he was given a party in the fourth floor
conference room. They started after prime time shows were over and ran into the
wee hours of the morning. Everybody in radio and advertising in San Francisco would
drop by.
George Mardikian, a great guy, and owner of Omar Khayyam's Restaurant, would
bring wonderful food, and the liquor flowed. There was always a poker
game.
After I would say KPO, San Francisco, on the half hour I would go up to
the party and someone would give me a drink. I was underage, of course, but who
cared. Between visits to the party and drinks, my KPO got a little
slurred around two in the morning. Fortunately the brass never heard me and I
kept my job.
The men who came to the party were the most talented
announcers in San Francisco. I say men, because women could not become
announcers in those days. In fact, there were many jobs in every industry closed
to them. The newspaper classified ads had two
separate categories for employment: "Help Wanted Men" and "Help
Wanted Women."
LIVING
IN SAN FRANCISCO
There was a terrible
housing shortage during the war, as workers flooded into the city. I was living
with my mother at Hayes and Fillmore. She had rented a flat for us in a three
story building in 1937. The other two flats were vacant, but when the war
started she took those as well, and rented the rooms to workers.
I never slept very well in those days.
The room next to mine was occupied by a man who got off at midnight and was
always ready for a party. He and his friends would whoop it until three a.m. One time I got home from KPO at six in the morning and went into my
room. There was a woman in my bed! She had gotten drunk at the party and
wandered into my room.
When I turned on the light she woke up, threw back the covers
and said to me, "Come on in, honey, there's room for two!"
I declined the offer.
Chapter Six: After the War
Bill Roddy