DX Audio Service
HISTORICAL MOMENTS
January 1996

John Gambling

Historical Moments in Radio .. stories of the rich and exciting past on
the a.m. radio dial .. and today we will hear about the King of New York
morning radio for many years .. on WOR .. his name?  John Gambling.  Now
that might be the whole story, except those of you within 100 miles of
New York City will realize there have been at least three John Gamblings
over the years mornings on WOR.

For today we’ll talk about John B. Gambling .. the father of John A.
Gambling and grandfather of the John Gambling heard most recently as
morning man on WOR.  John B. was on the air 12% of WOR’s broadcast week,
but, for over a decade, he brought in an incredible 28% of WOR’s total
income!

And here is John B. Gambling’s story in his own words:

In February 1925 I was married.  I had only one marketable skill --
wireless telegraphy.  I was aware that a fellow named DeForest had been
demonstrating his new radio tube and had some experimental voice and
music broadcasts from the top floor of a building at 4th Avenue and 19th
Street in New York City.  Over in Newark, station WJZ had set up some
fledgling operations.

In fact, Newark seemed to be a radio central.  the Bambergers Department
Store had partitioned off a corner of its sporting goods department for a
broadcasting room as a publicity gimmick.   On Washington’s Birthday,
February 22, 1922, the studio engineer Jack Pollele, put an Al Jolson
record of "April Showers" on a Victrola, set a microphone next to its big
horn, and WOR made its debut.  The transmitter was a reconditioned 250
Watter manufactured by the Lee DeForest Radio Company.
   
And so it was in early 1925 that I learned that WOR needed another
engineer who could work in the morning hours during the Bernarr MacFadden
calesthenics program starting at 6:30 a.m.  At 8 a.m. we signed off and
then returned to the air for an hour at 10 o’clock, then briefly
afternoons at 2:30 and finally each day we were back on the air from 6
p.m. to 10 p.m. sign off. 
  
On my second day,  Jack Poppele decided I might as well do the announcing
for Mr. Macfadden too.  That was fine with me, but I had never spoken
into a microphone or in public before .. I didn’t tell Jack that, of
course.
  
Now in those days, everybody in radio was "distinguished".   By the end
of the first week of my announcing job, my wife picked up a copy of the
New York Graphic and found a full page picture of me:  "The Distinguished
Announcer, John B. Gambling".  
The caption went on to mention I was announcer for the Bernarr MacFadden
program on WOR.  Shortly thereafter I learned that the New York Graphic
was owned by Mr. MacFadden and that he paid out of his own pocket for all
the air time he used on WOR.   That also explained all the notices he had
me read on the air promoting articles exclusively in the New York
Graphic.  

But then one day, Bernie MacFadden didn’t show up.  What to do!  I pulled
out one of his exercise charts, stepped up to the microphone and did his
routines .. as best I could.

Within minutes our telephone switchboard lit up.  Who is that wonderful
man with the clear voice, callers asked.  We can understand every word he
says!  We love him!

Well that began a whole new career for me.  Within two weeks, the
MacFadden exercise program ended and I was able to convince management to
let me try a one-man talk and exercise program.

By now we were broadcasting from the new WOR studio on 57th Street in New
York City.  Our new 500 Watt transmitter was still across the river in
Newark.  So each morning I would come in, warm up the studio equipment,
call the Newark engineer and then provide bright chatter and exercise
routines.  

I was also able to trade quips with the orchestra we had in the studio to
accompany the exercises .. except for the accordian player.  His way of
expressing himself was a bit salty for those years .. it took me several
days to realize that when he started to walk toward a microphone, I would
say "okay, everybody ready?  On your toes .. arms out .. play boys."

After 3 months I picked up my first sponsor, Colgate toothpaste.  They
bought the full 90 minutes, but insisted on a commercial every 15
minutes.  Also I had to be photo-graphed in a gym suit doing the
exercises.  This was not my normal dress while announcing.  True, we had
stopped wearing tuxedos by then, but I usually wore something casual and
did my program sitting on a stool in front of the microphone .. not in
the "ready" position on a gym mat.

This story goes on and on .. in many ways typical of how people got
started in radio back in the good old days.

For Historical Moments in Radio, this is John Bowker.