Acousticon Hour was a "musicale" radio program aired during 1927 and 1928 on NBC. It offered selections from classical music, orchestral favorites, operas and operettas.
Jack Norworth and Nora Bayes, c. 1908-13. Norworth was heard on the Acousticon Hour in March 1928.
The show was sponsored by the company that marketed the Acousticon brand hearing aid, invented by Miller Reese Hutchison.[1] As broadcast historian Elizabeth McLeod has noted, in the 1920s a product name used in a show's title was considered a more acceptable form of advertising than the use of intrusive commercial messages:
The most popular program format of the late twenties was the sponsored musical feature. It could be a large symphonic group, a dance orchestra, or a song-and-patter team — and it would usually carry the sponsor's name. The A&P Gypsies, for example — a large, genre-crossing orchestra conducted by Harry Horlick. The Ipana Troubadors — a hot dance band directed by Sam Lanin. The Goodrich Zippers — a banjo-driven orchestra conducted by Harry Reser, when he wasn't leading the same group under the name of The Clicquot Club Eskimos. Everyone remembers The Happiness Boys, Billy Jones and Ernie Hare -- but what about Scrappy Lambert and Billy Hillpot, who performed exactly the same sort of material as Trade and Mark, The Smith Brothers. The list is endless: The Silvertown Cord Orchestra, featuring the Silver Masked Tenor. The Sylvania Foresters. The Flit Soldiers -- yet another Harry Reser group. The Champion Sparkers. The Fox Fur Trappers. The Ingram Shavers, who were the Ipana Troubadours on alternate Wednesdays. The Yeast Foamers. The Planters Pickers. And, the magnificently named Freed-Eisemann Orchestradians. All playing pretty much the same sorts of music, all announced by Phillips Carlin or John S. Young or Alwyn Bach or Milton Cross in pretty much the same sort of stiffly formal style.[2]
The Acousticon Hour was not a 60-minute show as the title suggests. It was a 30-minute program which NBC broadcast from 5:30 to 6 p.m. on Sunday afternoons. In 1928, the Acousticon male quartet sang "The Palms" in recognition of Palm Sunday. The singer-songwriter Jack Norworth was a guest in March 1928, and the pianist-songwriter Jean Schwartz appeared as a guest the following month. Selections from the operas Carmen and La Gioconda were included in the April 1928 schedule.
^Bennett Chapple (April 1903). "Curing the Deaf by Electricity". The National magazine. Vol. 18. pp. 129–131. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
^McLeod, Elizabeth. "Radio's Forgotten Years" 2009-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
^"Burton's BB Bios & New Pieces in Book". Billboard. November 11, 1950. p. 13. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
^ ab"Many Stars in Final Acousticon Hour". The Decatur Herald. Illinois, Decatur. April 22, 1928. p. 15. Retrieved November 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
Listen to
Jack Norworth (five songs)
External links
Associated Press radio schedule for Sunday, December 9, 1928. ( 2009-10-24)
January 03, 2023
acousticon, hour, musicale, radio, program, aired, during, 1927, 1928, offered, selections, from, classical, music, orchestral, favorites, operas, operettas, jack, norworth, nora, bayes, 1908, norworth, heard, march, 1928, contents, history, also, references, . Acousticon Hour was a musicale radio program aired during 1927 and 1928 on NBC It offered selections from classical music orchestral favorites operas and operettas Jack Norworth and Nora Bayes c 1908 13 Norworth was heard on the Acousticon Hour in March 1928 Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 Listen to 5 External linksHistory EditThe show was sponsored by the company that marketed the Acousticon brand hearing aid invented by Miller Reese Hutchison 1 As broadcast historian Elizabeth McLeod has noted in the 1920s a product name used in a show s title was considered a more acceptable form of advertising than the use of intrusive commercial messages The most popular program format of the late twenties was the sponsored musical feature It could be a large symphonic group a dance orchestra or a song and patter team and it would usually carry the sponsor s name The A amp P Gypsies for example a large genre crossing orchestra conducted by Harry Horlick The Ipana Troubadors a hot dance band directed by Sam Lanin The Goodrich Zippers a banjo driven orchestra conducted by Harry Reser when he wasn t leading the same group under the name of The Clicquot Club Eskimos Everyone remembers The Happiness Boys Billy Jones and Ernie Hare but what about Scrappy Lambert and Billy Hillpot who performed exactly the same sort of material as Trade and Mark The Smith Brothers The list is endless The Silvertown Cord Orchestra featuring the Silver Masked Tenor The Sylvania Foresters The Flit Soldiers yet another Harry Reser group The Champion Sparkers The Fox Fur Trappers The Ingram Shavers who were the Ipana Troubadours on alternate Wednesdays The Yeast Foamers The Planters Pickers And the magnificently named Freed Eisemann Orchestradians All playing pretty much the same sorts of music all announced by Phillips Carlin or John S Young or Alwyn Bach or Milton Cross in pretty much the same sort of stiffly formal style 2 The Acousticon Hour was not a 60 minute show as the title suggests It was a 30 minute program which NBC broadcast from 5 30 to 6 p m on Sunday afternoons In 1928 the Acousticon male quartet sang The Palms in recognition of Palm Sunday The singer songwriter Jack Norworth was a guest in March 1928 and the pianist songwriter Jean Schwartz appeared as a guest the following month Selections from the operas Carmen and La Gioconda were included in the April 1928 schedule Jack Burton was the program s announcer director and writer Performers who made their network premieres on the show included Lina Abarbanell Donald Brian Shelton Brooks Victor Moore Jack Norworth Blanche Ring Julia Sanderson Jean Schwartz Six Brown Brothers and Sophie Tucker 3 Broadcasts also featured the Acousticon orchestra and the Acousticon male quartet 4 The show s final broadcast occurred on April 22 1928 4 See also EditList of U S radio programs Old time radioReferences Edit Bennett Chapple April 1903 Curing the Deaf by Electricity The National magazine Vol 18 pp 129 131 Retrieved February 5 2011 McLeod Elizabeth Radio s Forgotten Years Archived 2009 03 03 at the Wayback Machine Burton s BB Bios amp New Pieces in Book Billboard November 11 1950 p 13 Retrieved November 5 2019 a b Many Stars in Final Acousticon Hour The Decatur Herald Illinois Decatur April 22 1928 p 15 Retrieved November 5 2019 via Newspapers com Listen to EditJack Norworth five songs External links EditAssociated Press radio schedule for Sunday December 9 1928 Archived 2009 10 24 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Acousticon Hour amp oldid 1094154738, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
