Sept. 30 marks the 70th anniversary of the first television broadcast originating in Eastern Iowa when CBS affiliate WMT (which stood for Waterloo Morning Tribune) began transmitting as Channel 2 on the television dial.
Two weeks later, on Oct. 15, an ABC affiliate, KCRI (later changed to KCRG, an acronym for its parent company, the Cedar Rapids Gazette) went on the air. And on Nov. 25 with the addition of NBC affiliate, KWWL, owned by prominent businessman, Ralph McElroy, and based in Waterloo.
These pioneer television broadcasters were all preceded, however, by another legend of the airwaves, WOC, which began broadcasting on channel 6 out of the Quad Cities in 1949, a full year before the three channels filling the market between the Mississippi River and Des Moines.
In fact, before Cedar Rapids and Waterloo were added to the spectrum, WOC, broadcasting at the maximum power, was the only way the estimated 500 households with a television set in Eastern Iowa and western Illinois, could watch any programs on the “magic box.”
That’s not much, but while the signal may have originated from Davenport, it was a Cedar Rapids area native who made television become the fastest growing form of entertainment in the state, and drove it to popularity across the country.
Fran Allison was born at La Porte City in 1907. With parents who suffered from various debilitating illnesses, she was raised largely by her grandparents and graduated with a teaching degree from Coe College in 1928.
Shortly thereafter, she worked as an advertising agent for The Gazette and then was invited to perform on and host a comedy show as a boisterous spinstress named “Aunt Fanny” on WMT radio.
In 1947, Burr Tillstrom, an iconic puppeteer from Chicago whom Jim Hensen would one day call his “mentor,” developed a pilot for a new television series titled “Junior Jamboree” featuring two puppets, a clown and an alligator, named Kukla and Ollie. After a test run, he realized the puppets needed an adult to serve as a moderator and foil between them.
Tillstrom had heard “Aunt Fanny” and immediately sought Allison to fill the role. She arrived in Chicago, spoke with Tillstrom about his concept of the show, and was delighted that it appealed to and educated children, but was just edgy enough to maintain an adult audience as well. With no script and merely the spontaneous creativity of Tillstrom and Allison, the series opened to rave reviews in the Windy City.
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A year later, B.J. Palmer, the head of the Palmer School of Chiropractics, in Davenport, raised a half-million dollars to fortify his radio station, WOC (so named for the “Wonders of Chiropractics”) with a transmitter and antenna to introduce sound with a moving image into Eastern Iowa homes.
And so it was, at 6 p.m. central time, on Sept. 30, 1949, with Burr Tillstrom hidden as the puppeteer, Fran Allison became the first person ever to be seen on television in the eastern half of the Hawkeye State.
The show, which affectionately evolved to be known simply as Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, was a huge hit that night and was a staple on every NBC affiliate across the country for a full decade. By the time it ended its run, it had won three Emmys and three Peabody Awards. By the 1950s, Allison was popularly ranked as the third most recognized star in the nation, with only Milton Berle and Arthur Godfrey ahead of her.
Kukla, Fran, and Ollie were reprised again on Public Television in the 1970s and aired during reruns frequently for many years thereafter. Tillstrom died in 1985. His puppets were donated to the Chicago Historical Society Museum and can be viewed there. Allison passed away of a rare blood illness in 1989. She was brought from her home in California to Cedar Rapids and buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery.
This autumn, as you are watching NCIS, Abbott Elementary, Chicago Fire, or, perhaps, Nova, remember the innocent low budget ad-lib comedy puppet show starring an Iowan who was the first face of television for the state and set the standard for the Golden Age of broadcasting.
www.thegazette.com
Two weeks later, on Oct. 15, an ABC affiliate, KCRI (later changed to KCRG, an acronym for its parent company, the Cedar Rapids Gazette) went on the air. And on Nov. 25 with the addition of NBC affiliate, KWWL, owned by prominent businessman, Ralph McElroy, and based in Waterloo.
These pioneer television broadcasters were all preceded, however, by another legend of the airwaves, WOC, which began broadcasting on channel 6 out of the Quad Cities in 1949, a full year before the three channels filling the market between the Mississippi River and Des Moines.
In fact, before Cedar Rapids and Waterloo were added to the spectrum, WOC, broadcasting at the maximum power, was the only way the estimated 500 households with a television set in Eastern Iowa and western Illinois, could watch any programs on the “magic box.”
That’s not much, but while the signal may have originated from Davenport, it was a Cedar Rapids area native who made television become the fastest growing form of entertainment in the state, and drove it to popularity across the country.
Fran Allison was born at La Porte City in 1907. With parents who suffered from various debilitating illnesses, she was raised largely by her grandparents and graduated with a teaching degree from Coe College in 1928.
Shortly thereafter, she worked as an advertising agent for The Gazette and then was invited to perform on and host a comedy show as a boisterous spinstress named “Aunt Fanny” on WMT radio.
In 1947, Burr Tillstrom, an iconic puppeteer from Chicago whom Jim Hensen would one day call his “mentor,” developed a pilot for a new television series titled “Junior Jamboree” featuring two puppets, a clown and an alligator, named Kukla and Ollie. After a test run, he realized the puppets needed an adult to serve as a moderator and foil between them.
Tillstrom had heard “Aunt Fanny” and immediately sought Allison to fill the role. She arrived in Chicago, spoke with Tillstrom about his concept of the show, and was delighted that it appealed to and educated children, but was just edgy enough to maintain an adult audience as well. With no script and merely the spontaneous creativity of Tillstrom and Allison, the series opened to rave reviews in the Windy City.
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A year later, B.J. Palmer, the head of the Palmer School of Chiropractics, in Davenport, raised a half-million dollars to fortify his radio station, WOC (so named for the “Wonders of Chiropractics”) with a transmitter and antenna to introduce sound with a moving image into Eastern Iowa homes.
And so it was, at 6 p.m. central time, on Sept. 30, 1949, with Burr Tillstrom hidden as the puppeteer, Fran Allison became the first person ever to be seen on television in the eastern half of the Hawkeye State.
The show, which affectionately evolved to be known simply as Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, was a huge hit that night and was a staple on every NBC affiliate across the country for a full decade. By the time it ended its run, it had won three Emmys and three Peabody Awards. By the 1950s, Allison was popularly ranked as the third most recognized star in the nation, with only Milton Berle and Arthur Godfrey ahead of her.
Kukla, Fran, and Ollie were reprised again on Public Television in the 1970s and aired during reruns frequently for many years thereafter. Tillstrom died in 1985. His puppets were donated to the Chicago Historical Society Museum and can be viewed there. Allison passed away of a rare blood illness in 1989. She was brought from her home in California to Cedar Rapids and buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery.
This autumn, as you are watching NCIS, Abbott Elementary, Chicago Fire, or, perhaps, Nova, remember the innocent low budget ad-lib comedy puppet show starring an Iowan who was the first face of television for the state and set the standard for the Golden Age of broadcasting.
Opinion: Cedar Rapids woman was Iowa’s first television star
Burr Tillstrom and Fran Allison with Kukla and Ollie from the television program Kukla, Fran and Ollie. Sept. 30 marks …
www.thegazette.com
