Radio's Sweetheart Mildred Hunt

I often start these biographical excursions with a "best remembered for..." Alas, Mildred is hardly remembered at all. She has no biography that I'm aware of. What makes her more interesting as a historical figure is her nascent feminism. In the March 27th, 1930 issue of the Nazareth Item newspaper, in an un-credited article Hunt promotes the gender equality of broadcasting. In an article titled "Real Equality of Sexes Found in Radio Fields" she is quoted as saying

"In other professions men had a head-start, while woman were still in the kitchen or engaged in such ladylike jobs as teaching... in radio we started with an equal chance. The result is that today there are as many successful women radio singers and executives as men. And they've won their success without the aid of sex appeal, too."

The book Radio Round-ups: Intimate Glimpses of the Radio Stars, by Joseph Gurman and Myron Slager included the short bio:

"Mildred Hunt, known as the 'Crooning Contralto' ran away from boarding school at Wyoming Academy in Kingston, Pennsylvania to get into the Zeigfeld chorus. Her ability to sing was not recognized until Paul Whiteman urged her to study singing and go into radio. She cultivated her voice and followed his orders..."

It's a little patronizing, but at least she is a "star" by context and anyway that's all there is. The book Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings by Ross Laird refers to Mildred as a comedienne on two tracks, and lists two cuts on Filmophone, the sound track company.

 Whiteman's involvement in her career makes sense in that Mildred would later sing with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in 1927 on their Victor recording "A Shady Tree."  In May of 1929 she cut two more sides for Victor "Honey" and "My Dear." Phonograph Monthly Review called the recordings "intimate" and "extremely sentimental." It may sound like an insult today, but it was totally appropriate for the pop sensibilities of the day. Her song "Ho Hum" released by Decca in 1931 was described by The Gramophone as just "pleasing." That might have been an intended as faint praise.  But a 1928 Courier-News article praised her a contralto voice and noted that she sings with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra on the Eveready Hour. She was on the rise.

That year was probably near the peak of her career. A 1929 NBC press photo describes her as a "ballad singer" appearing as a soloist on a program by Roxy and his gang. Roxy is Samuel Rothafel, who began broadcasting in November of 1922. Through 1925, he broadcast his weekly variety show Roxy and His Gang live from the Capitol Theatre in New York. After that, The Roxy Hour was broadcast from the new Roxy Theatre on the NBC Blue network from 1927 to 1932. (Mondays at 7:30 PM) Her headshot further notes that the program is carried on WBZ, WJZ, WBZA, WBAL, WHAM, KDKA, KYW, KWK, WREN, WJR, KPRC, KOA, WHO, WRC, WOW, KVOO, WFAA, WSM, WSB, and WBT.

The same year she sang two songs in nightclub scenes in the film "Mother's Boy."  She also sang the theme "Redskin" for the 1929 film Red Skin, with the Ben Selvin Orchestra. She would cut some sides for Perfect Records in March of 1931 with top billing. All of her recordings together would barely make an LP today. DAHR (Discography of American Historical Recordings) has a decent listing here, but it excludes her Perfect records sessions. Honking Duck has one as well here. Then her media references stop abruptly in 1932 with a little sheet music. Her radio career appears to have abruptly faded away.

Hire's Harvesters

Nat Shilkret had so many bands it's like he had multiple personalities. A native New Yorker, Naftule Schüldkraut was born in 1889 when New York was more hardcore than it looked in the movie Gangs of New York. A child prodigy on clarinet, he was touring with the New York Boys' Orchestra before 1900. Before 1915 he'd already played with the New York Symphony Orchestra, the Russian Symphony Orchestra, Victor Herbert's Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra, Arnold Volpe's Orchestra, Sousa's Grand Concert Band, Arthur Pryor's Band, and the Edwin Franko Goldman Band. He hadn't gotten to radio because it didn't exist yet.

His move toward commercial recording and performing began in 1915.  That year he was hired by the Foreign Department of the Victor Talking Machine Company. In 1926 he became  director of light music. He went on to make thousands of recordings for Victor. It was in this window he went into radio. He became a conductor for The Eveready Hour on WEAF-AM. The program was sponsored by the National carbon Company which owned Eveready Battery.  the host of the program was banjoist Wendell Hall. The program was dreamed up by George Furness at National carbon who in a way was it's producer.

In that era WEAF founded an early network and by link up over Bell telephone lines networked to WRG in Buffalo and WJAR in Providence hugely increasing their audience.  In 1925 Nat played with his Victor Salon Orchestra on the program, and by 1926 moonlighting as "Hire's Harvesters," for Hire's Root Beer. Now that was an obscure radio tidbit. In his book The Mighty Music Box, author Thomas A. DeLong called it a "less memorable program." NBC bought ads in Colliers magazine in 1926 to plug the new program and listed off their early NBC affiliates WEAF in New York WSAI in Cincinnati, WCAE Pittsburgh etc:

"Every Thursday, at 7:1 5, Eastern Standard Time, let Hires Harvesters carry you to Lands of Romance where the ingredients for Hires are gathered."

Hires was never very active in radio sponsorship. In radioland they spent on Horace Heidt and little else. In 1947 the sponsored the program "Here's To You" on CBS. The John Dunning opus On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio mentioned Hires only one time. The Harrison Summers book Thirty-Year History of Programs Carried on National Radio Networks in the U.S. 1926-1956 lists the NBC program active as in 1926 and 1927. But the program may go back earlier.  Even the Everready Hour was erratic in length and times in that pioneering era. I'll cite the very few known newspaper references below:

Lewiston Evening Journal - April 15th, 1926  "WEAF 8:15pm Hires Harvesters New England Program"
The Daily Argus - February 18th, 1926 "WEAF 8:15pm Hires Harvesters"
Wallace's Farmer - February 25th, 1927 "WCCO 7:30pm Hires Harvesters"

Twice the Evening Independent newspaper of St. Petersburg lists off the show's program in great detail. I note that Shilkret wrote half the songs of each weekly program. The March 21st, 1927 issue describes a program with a "South American theme" theme starting with Valparaiso and ending at Rio De Janeiro. It lists the programs playlist and songwriter credits:
     Harvesters March - Shilkret 
     Fate - Shilkret
     Students's Fado, South American Air Chamarita. Fado Portugese
     Valse des Feuilles - Markoff
     El Choclo - Villodo
     O Madame - Markoff

The March 28th, 1927 issue describes a program with a "Down East theme" focusing on Maine and New England. But it also list the programs playlist and songwriter credits:
    Harvesters March - Shilkret
    Snappy Weather - Shilkret
    Mellis Dunham Tunes - (Traditional)
    Sass - Shilkret
    Dream On - Herbert
    Long, long Ago - Bayley
    Gleaming Shadows - MacDowell
    Dizzy Fingers - Confrey

The Kokomo Tribute actually gives them some credit on the Blue Network on June 2nd 1927: 

"The Hires Harvesters who recently became a regular Network feature will be heard in their second performance in a program broadcast through WJZ and the Blue network at 8 O'clock At this time the Hires Harvesters will present a program of Spanish numbers Including some by Waldteufel, Malvernen, Mowsey and Shilkret The complete program for this broadcast is as follows Harvesters March, Tango De Malvernen, Vocal-Shilkret, La Rubito Guitarre Moskowski, Spanish Shepherds, Moorish Dance, El J,  Sweet Shilkret.  This program will be broadcast by WJZ, WBZ WBZA, KDKA, KYW, WBAL, WJR, WHAS, WSB, WSM, WMC"

An issue of the Reading Times lists it off more concisely on June 9th, 1927. "The next concert by the Hires Harvesters, to be broadcast at 8.30 o'clock will be heard through WJZ. India will be visited in this broadcast, with "The Song of India," "Hindu Seene," "Oriental," "Snake ' Charger" and other selections reminiscent of India and the Near East. Among other features will be a cello solo "Melodie Exotique."the format of the odd little program becomes clear and the musical challenge for Shilkret as well. It's disappearance over that summer seems unsurprising.