"We build the subs" first broadcast

Photographer

Kadow, Francis M.

Date

• November 11, 1942

Summary

• Four men dressed in suits and ties stand around a microphone in the broadcast studio of radio station WOMT in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. At their side, standing in front of a large war bond sales poster, is another man similarly dressed, while in front a woman wearing a hat sits at a piano. All were employees of the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, performing in the opening number of the first broadcast of a one-hour weekly radio program "We Build the Subs" which aired for the first time at eight o'clock p.m. on Armistice Day, November 11, 1942. The program, which was sponsored by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, showcased the local talent of company employees who sang, read poems, talked about their work at the shipyards, and performed in other capacities. The live broadcasts were done before a studio audience. An article in the November 1942 issue of the company newsletter "The Keel Block," reported that this first broadcast, "which was preceded by trembling knees, dry throats, and jitters, all of which miraculously disappeared when the program began, impressed many people as comparing favorably with similar programs heard over large networks." The men in this photograph standing left to right are Clarence Rottman, a Shipbuilding Company clerk who served as master of ceremonies for the program, and a quartet made up of Dick Werneke, Jim Jerend, Lou Francis, and Leo Hartenberger. Accompanying them at the piano is Mrs. Stan Francis.