Yoch’s Bakery Advertisement for Shamokin Centennial in 1964
If you lived in Shamokin prior to 1977 you will certainly remember Yoch’s Bakery. You may even remember the smell of fresh baked bread walking to and from school or work, but do you remember Yoch’s on the radio? WISL aired many commercial over the years for “Yoch’s Dutch Maid Bread” and we are fortunate enough to have a couple of these classic commercials to share.
A couple months ago we were introduced to Tom Kollins and had the pleasure of spending some time on the phone reminiscing about his days at WISL. Tom provided a wealth of knowledge, some fascinating recordings and just plain good conversation. We are honored to present to you the Tom Kalinowski story. Thomas Kalinowski’s involvement with WISL radio goes back farther than anyone we have been able to interview for the WISL Hall of Fame. He was only 12 years old in 1948 when he auditioned with the Kelly Bogetti Orchestra for a live music spot at the station. Tom says that Kelly Bogetti billed him as the “youngest accomplished Hawaiian guitarist in the Anthracite area.” Although they didn’t get the job, this would not be the last time Tom would climb the stairs at Rock and Sunbury Streets.
By 1952 Tom was entering his senior year at St. Edward’s High School. For career day that year, St. Edwards students took over WISL. With some assistance from the staff, they read commercials and did the station breaks for the day. Through this audition, Tom impressed the management and was asked to join the station. His first role was night announcer. The shift began at 6pm and Tom would head to the station each night after school was out. His duties consisted of various station breaks, and reading news, sports and other announcements between the Mutual Radio Network programs the station aired in the evening. Tom said he would sign the station off by playing a transcription of the “Star Spangled Banner” around 11 or 12 at night.
WISL Schedule Tuesday, September 8th 1953
In June of 1953 Tom graduated high school, and about that same time John Persico, who was the morning disc jockey at WISL had a blow out fight with Charlie Petrie, the station manager. Petrie subsequently fired Persico and Tom was asked to take the morning spot. The morning program was called “Wislin’ Time” and was a typical DJ show. Tom says they would play records, do interviews, and give the news, sports and weather. This was local radio and Tom was a one-man-band. He said “you needed a lot of energy to run that kind of a program.”
According to Tom, you needed to be a jack-of-all-trades to work in local radio at that time. While at WISL Tom was a Disc Jockey, play-by-play announcer for both football and basketball, did remote broadcasts and even tried his hand at advertising sales, “because every station wanted you to hit the streets and try to sell.” Some remotes that stood out in Tom’s mind include broadcasting live from a horse show held at a riding ring on Trevorton Road and broadcasting live from the American Legion when Ralph Marteri’s band came to play.
Jolly Jack Robel
Tom remembered Jolly Jack Robel, an accomplished Polka band leader from Shenandoah, who would come to WISL once a week for an hour long Polka show. Tom said that they would have a great time doing the program, but would have an even better time hitting up a local saloon after the show was over. Other memorable programs included The Little Giant’s Sunday program. The Little Giant owned a meat market at the east end of Independence Street. Legend has it that during the war, his was the only shop in town with meat, leading to questions of the quality and source of his stock. Nevertheless, in the post-war years, The Little Giant’s program on Sunday mornings was very popular. So popular in fact, that many would catch the early mass on Sunday to be sure they wouldn’t miss the program. In addition to the meat market and radio show, Tom also remembered The Little Giant having a zoo of sorts, located at the entrance to Irish Valley, where kids could see and pet deer, goats and the like.
WCBG Logo from Matchbook Cover circa 1956
Tom’s time at WISL would come to an end in 1956 when he auditioned for and won a job as the morning man at a brand new radio station in Chambersburg, PA; WCBG. With this move also came a name change, he now began going by the name Tom Kollins, a name that would stay through the rest of his radio career.
Shortly after joining the staff at WCBG, Tom was approached by the local competition, WCHA, to come work for them. Tom agreed and found himself back in Central Pennsylvania working for another station owned by WCHA in Milton, WMLP. Tom recalled that one of the new hire rituals at WMLP was to send the new guy to the Buoy Hardware store, located across the street from the station, to try to sell advertising time. Tom says that the joke was that “old man Buoy was like Ebenezer Scrooge, was grumpy, would keep all the lights out in the store except where he knew you would be, and would never buy advertising.” That is until Tom went in. He said that either Mr. Buoy was trying to play a trick on the station or he was just simply ready to advertise, because when Tom went in, he bought some spots. When Tom returned to the station with the spot order, no one could believe it.
WCAR Detroit Publicity Photo circa 1962
Tom’s time at WMLP didn’t last long, as soon as contractual obligations were concluded with WCBG, Tom was brought back to Chambersburg and began working at WCHA. At WCHA Tom hosted a music program and did play-by-play for various sports. You can hear Tom at WCHA in the audio exhibits section of this post. These recordings were found by Tom on reel-to-reel tapes in his home and have not been heard for many years.
By 1960 Tom would find himself moving halfway across the country, thanks to a major market disc jockey who was traveling the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Tom says this disc jockey caught his program and told his boss in Detroit about this guy he heard in Pennsylvania. Tom was offered a job with WCAR in Detroit where he would finish his radio career.
Tom Kollins at the Detroit Athletic Club circa 1973
In 1965, Tom decided to make a career change, following a passion he had for Billiards and began playing pool professionally. Tom was a very accomplished pool player winning the Michigan Straight Pool Championship twice. From 1968 to 1973 he was the Billiard room manager at the prestigious Detroit Athletic Club. By 1977 Tom had found a new passion, one for the game of Snooker. This passion would find Tom traveling the world playing the game and holding the United States National Snooker Championship title five times. CLICK HERE to learn more about Tom’s fascinating Snooker career.
Tom Kollins on the Golf Course
Today, Tom enjoys retirement with his family and lived in the Detroit area. We are very fortunate to have had the opportunity to share in Tom’s interesting history, we sincerely thank him for allowing us to make another WISL friend.
*** UPDATE ***
We are sad to report that Tom passed away on June 22nd 2020 at the age of 84.
If you’ve listened to the live stream at WISL1480.com, you are probably familiar with the classic jingles presented in the oldies format. It’s hard to believe, but these jingles never aired on the original WISL. These jingles are actually edits, and were created using different vintage jingle packages from WFIL in Philadelphia and WISM in Madison, Wisconsin, giving us the necessary parts for a natural sounding WIS-L sing.
Jingles were a major part of radio programming from the 50’s through the 70’s. These “little songs” created a custom brand for the station and helped keep continuity between songs and programming elements. WISL had a number of packages over the years, each changing with the times.
In this post we have the opportunity to hear what might have been the first WISL jingle package ever created. We know very little about these jingles. They were given to us by Tom Kutza. Tom had dubbed them to a cassette years ago, and can only recall that they were not in use when he began working there in 1960. So, if you recognize these jingles, we would love to know what you know. Share your memories with us.
TV Guide Ad from 1958 for the Television Version of “Mr. District Attorney”
“Mr. District Attorney” was a very popular and long running radio drama. Starting in April 1939 as a 15-minute serial, the program would become a 30 minute program by June when it was named the summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show. “Mr. District Attorney” was created, written and directed by Ed Byron who based the program on New York Governor Thomas Dewey who was famous for his war against racketeering. Byron sought to bring a very realistic program to the air. The stories were a product of Byron’s study of crime statistics, criminology texts and crime reports in the newspaper. Byron was known to even mix with local criminals and police to further his research.
David Brian “Mr. District Attorney” on the radio 1952-1953
From 1939 to 1952, “Mr. District Attorney” aired on NBC and ABC and starred Dwight Weist (1939 15-minute serials), Raymond Edward Johnson (1939 30-minute programs), Jay Jostyn (1940-1952) and David Brian (1952-1953 syndication) as the main character, simply called “Mr. District Attorney” or “Chief”.
Other cast members:
“Voice of the Law” – (The program’s opening announcer) Maurice Franklin and also Jay Jostyn before taking over the lead role.
“Miss Miller” – (Edith Miller the District Attorney’s secretary) Vicki Vola
“Miss Rand” – (The District Attorney’s receptionist) Eleanor Silver and Arlene Francis
“Len Harrington” – (The District Attorney’s Chief Investigator) Walter Kinsella and Len Doyle (1940 -1953)
“Mr. District Attorney” Ad from the Shamokin News-Dispatch October 16th 1954
The program began it’s television run on ABC on October 1st 1952, and was placed into general syndication on radio for the 1952 season.
WISL brought Mr. District Attorney to the air in late 1954, at the tail-end of it’s days on the radio. The episodes ran by WISL were the David Bryan independent syndication episodes. The program aired Sunday afternoons at 4pm and was sponsored locally by D&R Radio of Trevorton and Connaghan’s Music Store of Mount Carmel in what appears to be a ZENITH “co-op” advertising deal.
Presented here for your enjoyment are five original episodes of “Mr. District Attorney.”
AUDIO EXHIBITS
The Deadly Snowflake (original air date May 26, 1948)
The Unknown Source (original air date July 14, 1948)
The Bridal Path Murders (original air date May 31, 1953)
The Body On The Freight Train (original air date July 12, 1953)
Letters To Santa Graphic from Guinan’s Advertisement (Shamokin News-Dispatch, December 2nd 1951)
Growing up in the Shamokin and Mount Carmel area, it’s likely that when you hear someone say “Letters To Santa” it brings a warm feeling to your heart. It may bring back memories of preparing your letter for Santa, probably with the help of your Mother or Father, and then either mailing it to WISL Radio (a.k.a. The North Pole) or going with Mom or Dad to drop it off at a local business, who would make sure it would get to Santa, then racing home from school, or maybe waking up extra early to hear Santa Clause read your letter live on WISL Radio.
“Letters To Santa” article (Broadcasting Magazine December 12th, 1949)
The program was “Letters To Santa” and was arguably the longest running program on WISL Radio. While it’s difficult to track down the exact details of the show’s origins, we do know that it dates back as far as 1949, one year after WISL Radio signed on. According to an article written in the December 19th, 1949 edition of Broadcasting Magazine, the program drew “thousands of pieces of mail from every community, both urban and rural, in the area” and featured two announcers who would alternate reading the letters live on the air. The program ran 15 minutes in length and was usually sponsored by one local business.
Radio Listings as published in the Shamokin News Dispatch December 23rd, 1954, Notice “Letters To Santa” airs at 4pm
The program continued throughout the 1950’s, airing at various times during the day, sometimes at 11am other times at 4pm. The popularity of “Letters To Santa” grew and by the early 1960’s was being hosted by WISL News Director Jim Riley. The format was fairly the same, letters would come to the station and would be simply read on the air by Riley. However, in 1961, that format would change and WISL’s “Letter’s To Santa” would take on a whole new meaning to children in the area.
Tom Kutza has always loved the Christmas season and has even considered himself to be one of Santa’s helpers. When he joined WISL in 1961, he said to himself, if he had anything to do with the “Letters To Santa” program, he would arrange to have Santa read the letters to the children. It wouldn’t be long before Tom got his wish. Jim Riley accepted a job with WHLM-AM radio in Bloomsburg, PA, and upon his departure Tom took over the “Letters To Santa Program.”
From this point on, not only would children get to hear their letters read on the air, but WISL Radio would “fire up their connection to the North Pole” so that Santa himself could read the letters live on the radio.
Guinan’s Department Store Ad from The Shamokin News-Dispatch December 2nd, 1954, telling kids to drop their letters off in their Toyland section.
Over the years there were many sponsors of the “Letters To Santa” program. In the 1950’s there was W.C. Hack & Sons and Guinan’s Department Store, both of which showed their support in newspaper ads in the Shamokin News Dispatch. Kutza said that during the 1960’s Reed’s Dairy was one of the major sponsors, and that kids could give their letter to the Reed’s delivery man to be read by Santa. Burger King was also a sponsor over the years, and kids could take their letters to the restaurant to get them to the big guy.
W.C. Hack & Son’s Ad from The Shamokin News-Dispatch November 24th, 1953. Note the mention of “Letters To Santa” at the bottom of the ad.
Kutza said that it has been interesting to see how toys have changed through the years. When he took over the program the children would “write for dolls and tinker-toys, but today it’s all computers and high tech gadgets.” The program has brought it’s share of heart breakers to the air as well, Kutza said that there were many letters asking Santa to “please get Daddy a job for Christmas” or “bring Daddy back from the war.” He shared with us a couple of the memorable happy stories from over the years:
Father Herbert Skurski from St. Stephen’s Church was loved by the children. Known as “The Magician” it saddened many when he was sent by the Archdiocese to a church in Nova Scotia. The Father was well known in the Shamokin area, so it wasn’t surprising when one youngster wrote a letter to Santa asking if he would please pick up Father Skurski in Nova Scotia on his way to Shamokin and bring him back for Christmas. Well, as luck would have it, Father Skurski was headed back to Shamokin for the season. Can you imagine how happy that youngster was to find that Santa had honored the wish and delivered Father Skurski to Shamokin, just in time for Christmas Mass?
Another story takes us back to the days of the Vietnam War. A young boy wrote to Santa “if it’s possible, could you bring daddy home for Christmas?” Kutza said that these letters were always the saddest, knowing that all this little guy wanted was his daddy home for Christmas, and that nothing could be done to make sure his wish came true. However in this case there was a little Christmas magic in the air. Christmas morning came and the little boy came downstairs from his room, hoping to see his daddy standing there. He looked and looked and there was no sign of his daddy. Sad and disappointed that his daddy was not there on Christmas morning, he looked at his mother and said “I guess Santa couldn’t bring daddy home.” What the boy didn’t know was that in the early morning hours, while he was sleeping his father did come home and was asleep upstairs. The boy’s mother said he should go look upstairs, maybe Santa had left him up there. Needless to say, Santa delivered, and their family was reunited for Christmas.
In 1998, Kutza left WISL and “Letters to Santa” came to an end, at least in it’s original form. Five years later, in 2003 the News-Item approached Kutza, who at the time was the Tourism Director of Northumberland County, about bringing the program back, this time through the magic of the world wide web. Kutza agreed and now children from anywhere in the world can send their letters directly to Santa and hear them read by him nightly through the News-Item’s website.
The tradition also continues on the WISL internet stream weekday night at 7pm through the month of December. Kutza said he is so thankful that the News-Item saw the value in this wonderful program and brought it back to life.
We were able to locate a couple vintage “Letters To Santa” programs from the 1990’s, they are presented here for your enjoyment. We are always looking to add to the archives, so if you or anyone you know may have recorded a “Letters To Santa” program on WISL feel free to email us at [email protected]. We will be happy to pick up cassettes or reel to reel tapes, transfer them to a digital format, return the originals and provide a digital copy in return. We would love to be able to share more Christmas Magic from “Letters To Santa.”
Presented here is a jingle created for Shamokin Equipment dated 1951. We recently stumbled across this acetate disc at an antique store in Lewisburg, PA. This is a great example of the early early sound of local radio at WISL. This jingle would have been used to set up a live announcer reading the advertised specials at Shamokin Equipment for the day. Before the wide use of tape machines, most radio stations would “cut” items such as jingles and promotional spots to acetate discs. These discs would then be used for future playback. This particular disc was most likely a “proof” that would have been sent to the advertiser for approval before the advertising campaign began. You can also tell that this was an “in-house” production, most likely with local talent as the musicians and singer.
Unfortunately, we have no other information about this jingle.
When WISL radio signed on in 1948 there was quite a bit of money up for grabs in the Shamokin area. Independence Street was full of businesses, local jobs gave residents money to spend and WISL had the medium that could bring the consumer to the stores. WISL did not just target the local advertising market, they also looked to the national advertisers for revenue opportunities. However, being a fledgling station, WISL had to promote itself to the advertisers, otherwise known as the agency advertising buyers.
Our featured exhibit is one of the print ads featured in Broadcasting Magazine during the years of 1951 and 1952. In the early 1950’s Shamokin was doing a booming business with a growing economy and WISL was spending money to make sure Madison Avenue knew where to send their advertising dollars. This particular print ad was published in the January 21st 1952 issue of Broadcasting Magazine.
WISL Advertisement from Broadcasting Magazine January 21, 1952
Here’s an interesting find; A trade magazine advertisement for RCA-866A rectifier tubes printed in a 1956 edition of “Broadcasting Magazine.”
When WISL was built, the entire operation, from studio to transmitter, was outfitted with RCA equipment. RCA was one of the leading manufacturers of radio and broadcasting equipment from the earliest days of broadcasting through the 1970s.
WISL was a happy customer and this sentiment is reflected in a testimonial provided by Chief Engineer Ray Willard on the dependability of RCA’s rectifier tubes.
Mr. Willard wrote;
“I thought you might be interested in the report of two RCA-866A mercury-vapor rectifiers we have been operating at WISL. They have already recorded 20,500 hours of continuous service and are still going strong… not a record, perhaps, for this type tube… but at any rate, the practicability of purchasing dependable RCA tubes is obvious.”
RCA Advertisement from Broadcasting-Telecasting June 25, 1956
In 1953 WISL was celebrating five years of radio broadcasting in Shamokin. To commemorate the occasion Radio Anthracite, the parent company of WISL, took out a full page ad in the Shamokin News Dispatch. The advertisement touts an award they received from the Pennsylvania Week Radio and Television Committee, a special fifth anniversary cash contest sponsored by National Dime Bank and the first official announcement of Radio Anthracite’s intentions of opening and operating a television station in Shamokin.
The Federal Communications Commissions was assigning new UHF television stations across the country and channel 65 was to be assigned to the Central Susquehanna Valley. WISL was not the only station to throw it’s hat in the ring for the new TV License, The Sunbury Broadcasting Corporation, owner of WKOK in Sunbury had already applied for the channel 65 allotment.
By early 1954, both contestants had withdrawn their applications and visions of channel 65 would never be realized.
WISL Advertisement from The Shamokin News-Dispatch (January 24, 1953)
Article From The Shamokin News-Dispatch (February 22, 1954) Announcing the withdrawal of WKOK’s TV application
There are few names more recognizable in the Shamokin and Mount Carmel areas than Tom Kutza, and even fewer that conjure up such positive and happy memories. Of all the voices heard over the WISL airwaves, Tom’s was there the longest, spending roughly 34 years behind the microphone.
To many, it’s unimaginable to think that Tom worked anywhere else other than WISL, but believe it or not, there was a time that Tom was just a kid trying to break into the business. In radio, you needed to take whatever job or jobs you could get, and Tom’s break into the business occurred at two different radio stations in the late 1950’s, WBRX in Berwick and WPPA in Pottsville. Tom simultaneously worked at both of these stations on a part time basis, mostly as a news reader.
Tom Kutza Live before his days at WISL
To many, it’s unimaginable to think that Tom worked anywhere else other than WISL, but believe it or not, there was a time that Tom was just a kid trying to break into the business. In radio, you needed to take whatever job or jobs you could get, and Tom’s break into the business occurred at two different radio stations in the late 1950’s, WBRX in Berwick and WPPA in Pottsville. Tom simultaneously worked at both of these stations on a part time basis, mostly as a news reader.
In 1960 Tom would be offered a job at a station much closer to his hometown of Mount Carmel. Tom joined WISL in October 1960 covering the night shift and a program they called “Moonlight Serenade.” He would work his way up the WISL ladder, moving next to afternoon drive and finally getting a shot at the “big time” and the morning show in 1964. Generations of Shamokin residents would wake up to the Tom Kutza Morning Show, dubbing him “Shamokin’s Morning Mayor” over the years. Tom kept everyone up to date on, local news, weather, sports, school cancellations and yes even the school lunch menus.
Tom Kutza at WISL circa 1960
Tom Kutza as “Captain Action”
Tom’s position as the morning disc jockey gave him great community visibility, and Tom was everywhere. He was the MC at local proms, the DJ at sock hops, dances and weddings, the live host at your favorite store and even the color commentator on the WISL sports broadcasts. Tom even had the chance to play super hero to his legions of adoring fans as “Captain Action” for an appearance at the Big N Department Store in Coal Township.
Tom’s position as the morning disc jockey gave him great community visibility, and Tom was everywhere. He was the MC at local proms, the DJ at sock hops, dances and weddings, the live host at your favorite store and even the color commentator on the WISL sports broadcasts. Tom even had the chance to play super hero to his legions of adoring fans as “Captain Action” for an appearance at the Big N Department Store in Coal Township.
Tom’s on air legacy included his years hosting the “Welker’s Furniture Polka Show” on Sundays. Tom recalled in a News Item interview…
“I remember one summer day walking from Springfield to my former home on Race Street (in Shamokin); I heard the polka show on every radio between those two points.”
Christmas was a special time of year in Shamokin and a favorite for Kutza as well. The popular “Letters to Santa” program actually dates back to the 1950’s and WISL newsman Jim Reilly. Reilly would gather letter written to Santa by children in the listening area and read them on the air. Years later, Kutza would ask if he could read the letters in the role of Santa Claus himself, a tradition that Kutza would continue even after leaving the station.
Tom Kutza Business Card 1980’s
Over the years, Tom welcomed many people to the WISL microphone. There were celebrities such as singer Frankie Laine, music groups such as the 1910 Fruit Gum Company, sports figure Stanley Covaleski, and almost anyone else that would have a chat with Tom. Kutza remembers…
“I really enjoyed doing the talk show over the years. We would get on the air and our guests would ask what we were going to talk about, and I would just say ‘I don’t know, we’ll just see how it goes”
Following their interview, guests would remark that Tom made it so easy. Tom had a way to always put his guests at ease, creating a fun and free atmosphere.
Tom’s days at WISL made him a part of the family for many in the Shamokin and Mount Carmel areas. People woke-up every morning to his program, listened to him at work and during their lunch hour, shook his hand on the street and did the polka with him on the weekend. Parents recorded his program and sent it to their children serving in Vietnam, in a way sending them a piece of “home.” Tom’s legacy in Shamokin continues to this day.
Tom Kutza, Master of Ceremonies at the Mount Carmel High School Prom in 1962
Tom’s stay at WISL ended in 1998, victim of a combination of Shamokin’s deteriorating economy and poor station management. However, Tom would take everything he learned in his 34 years on the radio and embark on a new career, becoming the Tourism Director of Northumberland County. His job now was to travel the county creating awareness of the many great thing that Northumberland County had to offer. Tom talked to children about history and the amazing stories of the past. He visited the senior centers to bring back memories of younger days and helped let others know all that Northumberland County has to offer. Tom would retire from the county a decade later.
While Tom may be retired he is far from finished. Tom is still keeping the memory of WISL alive, now online at www.WISL1480.com, Tom has revived the traditional “Sunday Afternoon Polka Program” every Sunday afternoon at 2pm. Every Christmas Tom teams up with the News Item to present his “Letters to Santa” program. The News Item still receives hundred of letters each year from children hoping to get Jolly Old St. Nick to read their letter.
Tom is also now a national personality, taking his Coal Region Christmas memories to a whole new audience with “Christmas Eve with Tom Kutza,” a five hour Christmas music and memories program. Originally broadcast on WBLJ (formerly WISL-FM) in Shamokin in 2005, in recent years the program has been carried on stations as far away as North Dakota and Florida. Tom has also relived the memories of WISL, being on hand at the WISL display at Shamokin’s Anthracite Heritage Festival meeting old friends and reliving great memories. In his spare time Tom enjoys life with his incredible and growing family.
AUDIO EXHIBITS
A typical Tom Kutza Morning Show open, Tom begins with a polka, then it’s Big Red to wake up Shamokin!
Tom’s trademark program close: “… put that lunch on…”
A Vintage Tom Kutza Program Liner
Commercial for Tony’s Store and Garage from May 13th 1994 voiced by Tom Kutza
