March 20, 2003
Exhibit tunes into history of broadcasting
'On the Air' runs through May 30 at Grand Traverse Heritage Center
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Saturday evening, the Grand Traverse Heritage Center debuted its new exhibit - On the Air: Michigan Radio and Television Broadcasting - to an eager crowd of media junkies.
The exhibit, which runs though May 30, features a decade-by-decade stroll through the history of broadcasting in the state. The display ranges from photos and equipment to biographical sketches of broadcast pioneers and celebrities. A running narrative documents the industry's development beginning in 1895 with the first wireless radio signal to modern developments in HDTV and satellite technology.
Equipment on display includes early radio and television sets plus a table filled with items used to make sound effects for early radio shows. Local broadcaster Ron Jolly of News Talk 580 WTCM loaned his collection of 22 vintage radios to the exhibit.
The radio station also gave the exhibit a console used from 1940 to around 1985. Veteran broadcaster Merlin Dumbrille, who has worked for News Talk 580 WTCM for 52 years, learned his craft on that console and vividly recalled its beginnings.
"This console was designed by Les Biederman and engineer Jay Ealy did the work building it," said Dumbrille, the public affairs and farm director for the station.
"The metal part was made by the Grand Traverse Casket Company, which used to have a factory on Lake Street near McGough's, and the Brown Lumber Company built the structure to support it."
Dumbrille noted that for years Traverse City was the feeder station for five stations on the Paul Bunyan Radio Network.
"We had a preselector that fed five stations out of that board," Drumbrille said.
The exhibit's sponsors are: the Michigan Humanities Council, the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, the Les and Anne Biederman Foundation and Richmond, Inc, Architects and Planning.
Museum curator Daniel Truckey learned of the exhibit last October while attending a Michigan Museum conference in Saginaw. He jumped at the chance to bring it to the Grand Traverse Heritage Center.
"For me, the fun part about it is the stuff, I love the old radios and televisions," Truckey said. "It is neat seeing how technology has changed because television and radio are really the product of technology, developed starting with the telegraph and being able to transmit sound through cabling and over the air."
"Seeing the changes over time is the exciting thing for me," he noted.
Truckey said that the Michigan Association of Broadcasters encourages museums to include local history into the exhibit.
"It fills it out and makes it more interesting to local people," he said. "Also there's a lot of history here to include."
Dumbrille has lived and breathed that history, watching the evolution of the industry during his five decades in the business. He added that history is still being made today as radio and television jump from analogue to digital equipment, a change that will affect viewers and listeners as well as broadcasters.
"Technology has jumped ahead so fast that the equipment you use one day is obsolete the next," he said. I thought it was very informative and well put together and told the story of how radio started out in its infancy and how it grew."
Other upcoming events associated with the On the Air: Michigan Radio and Television Broadcasting exhibit are listed below. All events will be held at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center on Sixth Street.
- Historical talk by Merlin Dumbrille and Ron Jolly; 7 p.m., Thursday, March 27 Sponsored by the Grand Traverse Pioneer and Historical Society.
- Showing of the movie "My Favorite Year;" 8 p.m., Sunday, April 6
- Broadcasters Roundtable featuring Dave Walker, Dave Barrons and Phil Orth; 7 p.m., Thursday, April 10
- Career day for high school and college students; 3 to 7 p.m., Thursday, April 17
For more information on these events or the exhibit, call the Grand Traverse Heritage Center at 995-0313.