Please join us at the East Tennessee History Center, Wednesday, January 8th from noon until 1 pm for a free Brown Bag lecture, tour and screening hosted by broadcast media historian and collector Julian Burke! Burke will provide a brief history of both local and national radio and television broadcast pioneers, and present a guided tour of the vintage radio microphone portion of the museum exhibit “Live! On-Air! And In Your Living Room!”. The local microphone exhibit features original radio artifacts collected over the years by Julian Burke and WDVX C0-founder Don Burggraf, including classic mics used by WBIR’S Doc Johnston, and WNOX Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round announcer Lowell Blanchard!
For decades, Burke has travelled through-out East Tennessee and the nation, seeking out now-rare and unique pieces of discarded broadcasting equipment, including the earliest television equipment from the 1930s, and original announcer microphones from legendary local Knoxville radio station WNOX. The station, described as the “Cradle of Country Music”, served as both home base and training ground for country music legends Chet Atkins, Roy Acuff, Don Gibson, Homer and Jethro, Red Rector, Carl Story, and a multitude of others.
In conjunction with Mr. Burke’s presentation, rare, vintage film and video clips from the TAMIS collection will be screened, including the earliest-known surviving clips from Knoxville television circa 1953, and amateur homes movies shot at the WNOX-Radio studios during the 1940s and 1950s! Watch out for a young Chet Atkins and a rare glimpse of legendary Knoxville songwriter Arthur Q Smith! Also screened will be classic clips from the pioneering era of national television, including vintage commercials (anyone recall the Ford Edsel?) and scenes from programs such as
“You Bet Your Life” featuring the amazing Grouch Marx.