Re: WMEX Schedule in the 60's

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

it was asked:
>What was the idea behind the house names at WMEX?  Was the practice common in
>radio at the time?

"House names" is actually a very old idea.  Blame it on the late great John 
Shepard 3rd on WNAC (today WRKO) who had his women's show host use the name 
Jean Sargent in 1925.  When the original Jean left for a better job, 
Shepard made the next women's show host use the same name.  And on his 
other station, WBIS, he had a reporter named Nancy Howe-- 4 women held that 
name in the late 20s, and in fact the newspapers would announce when 
"auditions are taking place for the new Nancy Howe."

A number of radio dramas of the late 20s and well into the 30s had 
characters with a certain name; whoever played that role used the same 
character's name, and if an actor or actress quit or was replaced, the next 
person hired slipped into the role as if they had always been there.   Did 
the audience notice?  Probably. Did it bother them?  Probably not, since 
they listened for the show as a whole, and soon adjusted to a new "Mr 
Smith" or "Mrs Jones."