A research blog on the history of radio, film, television and classroom media geared towards children and young audiences through most of the 20th century.
Christmas Greetings from Alice Remsen, NBC Blue Radio's "Musical Story Lady" From Radio Daily December 1937.
From Variety, January 4, 1939
Alice Remsen (1886-1974) was a British born American entertainer, whose career spanned nearly 50 years. In some histories she was the first singer to perform regularly on television. Her program "Alice Remsen" aired on W2XCD from Passiac, New Jersey in 1931.
Alice Remsen c. 1932. Image from Radio Digest January 1933
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s she sang regularly on the radio. For NBC she starred in 3 programs at once, one of which was for children called "Land of Make Believe". She was known as the "Musical Story Lady" on this program and released albums based on this series.
In radio trade magazines, radio stars would extend Christmas Greetings, and this post includes a few from Ms. Remsen.
"A Christmas Carol" Broadcast Date:Decemeber 21, 1945, WRGB, Schenectady, New York Cast:Starring Ireene Wicker "The Singing Lady"
Status: Most likely never recorded, but publicity stills may exist.
WRGB Christmas Party
Broadcast Date: December 24, 1945, WRGB Schenectady, New York
Cast: Unconfirmed
Status: Not recorded, but 11 photographs are available online.
From "In television too-- the show's the thing : the first year of ABC television" (1946). The woman at the center appears to be Ireene Wicker.
It has been 3 years since I wrote a post with the theme of "Island of Lost Christmas Specials". The island would be a mythical place where scores of kinescopes, VHS tapes, transcription discs and more of yesteryears merriest programs may be found.
Irene "Ireene" Maud Seaton Wicker Hammer (c. 1900*-1987) or simply Ireene Wicker was the famous Singing Lady of NBC Blue (later ABC) Radio from 1931 - 1945. She continued telling stories as a Peabody award winner even into the 1970s on New York radio.
By 1945, she was actually a 14 year veteran of television. Her first appearance was in a televised play broadcast from Chicago in 1931. Wicker had multiple telecasts before her ABC TV series debuted in 1948, including at least six at station WRGB in Schenectady, New York. WRGB was the General Electric owned landmark station with multiple groundbreaking programs broadcasts in the 1940s.
One of Wicker's programs was her presentation of "A Christmas Carol" on December 21, 1945. The program is listed in the book "In television too-- the show's the thing : the first year of ABC television" (1946), which is freely available from Hathi Trust.
WRGB also broadcast the "WRGB Christmas Party on December 24, 1945. A photo for the ABC book appears to show Wicker (not in her usual fairytale gowns) reading to a group of children, with a caption suggesting that she was reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas". This image is one of 11 that exist from this broadcast. The full photo is also available from the Digital Public Library of America courtesy of the Museum of Innovation and Science. A brief caption in the ABC book stated that this was a special program "given for underprivileged children". This party included Santa Claus and storytellers.
It is not known if an image of Wicker's 1945 Christmas Carol program exists today.
"The Singing Lady" would return to Dickens' famous tale again on her ABC-TV series in 1948. That December, she was assisted by the Suzari Marionettes.
For an idea of what she may have sounded like as Ebeneezer Scrooge, listen to one of her Christmas music albums for children.
The Island of Lost Christmas Specials
* Some sources list her birthdate as 1900, 1906, and 1907.
