Quincy High School - Goldenrod Yearbook (Quincy, MA)

Page 30 text:

There is a main control-room through which everything that goes on the air passes. Connected by wiring with this is what is known officially as an announcer’s booth, usually a little six by ten cell with nothing in it but a chronometer, a loudspeaker, a chair, and a microphone. Here the an- nouncer sits (poor man) and waits the long hours through for “cuts” or “breaks” as they are known, which mean simply station identifications or announcements of the call letters, such as “W N A C in Boston.” These “cuts” come either on the half or the quarter-hour, or usually both. Now, there is always a “cue” so that the local announcer may know when it is exactly the time to make his “cut.” These cues vary with the chains, but on CBS programs it is: “This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.” When the local man hears the network announcer say this, he “punches in” his own microphone by pushing a button on a control box before him. This puts him on the air with his “cut” or news flash. The cue invariably comes thirty seconds before the “nose” or exact half or quarter-hour. This means that at the end of a fifteen-minute program the cue is given at fourteen and one-half minutes past the hour, and on a thirty minute broad- cast, the warning phrase is given at twenty-nine and one-half minutes past. This leaves the announcer, who has cut in his mike at the cue, thirty seconds to make his station announcement and news flash, at the end of which he switches his mike off and the next program starts “on the nose” or exactly on the hour or half-hour as the case may be. The local announcements do not always consume the full thirty seconds allowed them by the networks, and in event of such a shortage of material, the remaining “dead air” or seconds of silence before the start of the next program must be filled in by a “sustainer” which is usually a bit of music or a run of bells or chimes played by some studio musician or recorded for just such emergencies. Despite these many measures of caution, there is often much confusion and scurrying about in radio stations to get pro- grams ofF on time, which the smoothly-running broadcast does not betray to the audience. Altogether it is a pleasant business (but for the hours) and it is educat- ing to meet the many personalities one does encounter in any form of the entertainment business. May I say just one word to those thinking of looking for radio work? Do not let yourselves be misled by the enormous sums reputed to be paid radio announcers or artists, since one hears only of the headliners in each field. For every one of these there are five hundred struggling plodders trying to make network ends meet. Thank you again for the privilege of writing you, and I suppose I should say Signing off: Luis Marden

Page 32 text:

SPORTSFOLIO eOOD afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, members of the Q. H. S. faculty and studes: This is your favorite station, D-O-P-E bring- ing you once again the greatest sports feature on the air—The Sportsfolio. Today, I would like to tell you about a city in Massachusetts, Quincy by name, which happens to possess the fightingest football team between the two poles. I could stand here all day telling you about that team but I’m not going to. I could tell you about the original Hard Luck Team, an out- fit which possesses every quality essential to a consistent winner except for that important item usually called Luck, but I’m not going to do that either. I shall let you judge for yourself; as a matter of fact you are go- ing to witness the major games of Quincy’s season visualized for you by your old standby, Red Hooey.—Here we go! Well, folks, we’re going into the last quarter of this Quincy-Melrose game and there is still no score. These teams have battled forty-five minutes in a deadlock which must be broken this period. It’s Quincy’s ball, first down on their own ten yard line.....There’s the pass from center .....It’s fumbled! They’re all diving for that ball.....one minute, folks and we’ll tell you whose ball it is..It’s Melrose’s ball, first down and just listen to that crowd! . . . They’re lining up . . . The ball goes to Brown . . . .He fades back! . . . . It’s a pass! .... and a tochdown! The score is Melrose 6, Quincy 0. Signals! 1-2-3-4-Hike! We’re broadcasting the game between the Tufts Jay Vees and Quincy High .... It’s Quincy’s ball, first down on Tufts’ 12 yard mark. Ordway is back . . . The pass from center is poor! . . . Ordway is smothered for a four-yard loss ... Second down, fourteen to go .. .Daley back . .. Again the pass from center is bad and Daley is nailed for a two-yard loss . . . Third down, sixteen yards to go . . . Malvesti passes to Troup for a six yard gain . . . Malvesti passes again but the heave is grounded . . . Tough luck, Quincy! . . . Score Quincy 0, Tufts 0. Signals! 1-2-3-4-Hike Here they come and the crowd roars! Quincy High’s football eleven is taking the field. The startinng lineup is Gookin, Service, Finn, Densmore, Alfano, Hughes, and Smollett in the line, Baldovin, Malvesti, Daley, and Ordway in the back field. The score is Quincy 13, Brookline 6.