Finally on the blog this week, a rare mid-thirties political broadcast.
This was a special program carried on CBS from the Dayton Biltmore Hotel in Dayton, Ohio, where the Fraternal Order of Eagles was having its annual convention. George F. Douglas, from Philadelphia, the Grand Worthy President of the Eagles, introduces a speech by Frank. E. Hering, editor of the “Eagles” magazine.
The Eagles is a fraternity that was founded in 1898 by a group of theater owners and became known for consisting of individuals involved in the performing arts. They helped the establishment of Mother’s Day and were instrumental in organizing in support of Social Security.
Hering uses his time to outline the organization’s previous support for legislation to support widows, the poor and unemployed in times of economic crisis. He goes on to urge Congress to pass what he calls the “Ludlow Eagles” bill, which would allow workers to have a sufficient wage to save for their future.
Social Security was working its way through Congress at this time, but I’ve been unable to determine with certainty if Hering is calling for the passage of the Social Security Act or another piece of New Deal legislation. Anyone out there that’s more familiar with what was going on in Congress in August 1935 have an opinion on this?
This recording is an air check of WABC, New York. The transcription begins and ends with a time check and id from the station and includes the CBS network id. There's a short piano fill at the end of the broadcast that made me think I was listening to the "War of the Worlds" for a moment.
Our mp3 was transferred direct from four sides of two 12” Audio-Scriptions, Inc. uncoated aluminum discs running at 78 rpm. Hering's name is misspelled on the disc labels, by the way. The first part is in rough shape with a few skips - it was difficult to get it to play because it was scratched and heavily abused. The remaining parts sound much better. This appears to be a previously lost program.
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