Jodie Peeler – Garroway at Large

Missed connections

In the couple months since I was last with you, much has happened. A whole lot of it has to do with the day job, mainly that I have become executive producer of a television program that, while it’s a complete gas to work on, has consumed much of my time and nearly all of my brain. That said, it’s going well and everybody seems to be happy with it (well, thus far, anyway), so there’s that.¹

Life hasn’t been completely all that, and my perambulations the last few months provided some connections with Our Dave, fleeting though they may have been. In mid-July, a chance opportunity to visit the ocean liner United States fell in my lap, and so I made a very quick weekend trip to Philadelphia.² My plan had been to stop in Bala Cynwyd and visit his gravesite first thing that morning, and I’d timed everything out and planned my route and everything. Well, everything went well except the execution. Since everything went well except the part where I relied on dead-reckoning and memory instead of, you know, programming a route into my phone and letting the thing guide me there, I missed the exit off I-76³ and didn’t realize I’d missed it until it was too late. I’d have tried to turn around, but since my report time for the visit to the Big U was fairly well set, I had to press on. I’m sorry, Dave. But since Philadelphia is one of my favorite cities (and since there are family connections in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area), I’m pretty certain I’ll be back.

There was a consolation prize on the way back, though: I spent the night in Durham, which meant a visit to another friend in Chapel Hill the next morning was a quick hop away.⁴

It turned out the Philadelphia adventure wasn’t the only adventure ahead for me with a Garroway-themed sidelight. In early September a throwaway comment on a pal’s Facebook post led to an invitation I couldn’t refuse. Three weeks later I was on an overnight trip to New York City, and early on a Sunday morning I walked over to the ABC broadcast center and spent three hours watching my friend and his colleagues overseeing the production of that day’s Good Morning America and inserting updates, fixes and other edits into each hour’s feed.⁵ Plus my friend gave me the grand tour of ABC’s studio facilities on 66th, which now means I’ve done the behind-the-scenes trifecta.⁶

I had gotten into town on Saturday afternoon, which meant I had to use up a lot of time and had no particular plans. After I’d spent a little time resting in my hotel room, I went on a little amble around Midtown and visited some familiar haunts.⁷ But I decided while I was out that I should try to find something else. A rather vigorous walk northward took me right to it.

And there you are: 48 East 63rd Street, also known as “Garroway’s Narroway.” This was the house where Dave moved after he married Pamela, the house that was supposedly haunted by poltergeists that were driven away in an exorcism. I don’t know who lives there now, and I didn’t want to do the “look, tourists!” thing, so I paused only as long as it took to get these quick photographs. It’s been renovated inside, but the outside looks much the same, right down to the gargoyle by the front door that Dave reportedly hid a microphone inside.⁸

After all these years, to finally see this place (if only fleetingly) was neat.⁹

— Thanks to our friend Mitchell Hadley, I became aware of the Random Access Television podcast a week or so back. And while there’s several episodes on which I really need to get caught up, one is of immediate interest: their longform examination of a Garroway at Large episode, which captures their sense of discovery and wonder. Give it a listen – it’s really sweet. (And there’s also a mention or two that certainly caught my ear and made me happy. But, I digress.)

Happy birthday, Dave! (And to us!)

That’s right…we’ve had one more trip around the sun, and another year of remembering the life and legacy of our beloved Dave Garroway. We’ve come so far since our very first post all those many years ago, when this little project was just getting started and the book was little more than an aspiration. Now the book is out there (in the fancy hardcover version, in a casebound version, in paperback, and for Kindle) and it’s sold some copies, and we remain pleased with what we’ve achieved and hope we’ve helped show the world some sides of Dave Garroway that have too often been neglected.

Of course, just because the book’s published doesn’t mean we don’t stop finding new things. A couple new items arrived in the mail this week, vignettes from moments frozen in time. I’ll present them here – and please forgive the watermarks, but these are special items and I want to protect them. I think you’ll be able to enjoy them, regardless.

The first is from a large-scale color transparency that I had to do a great deal of color-correction on. It’s still not as good as it could be, but it’s a lot better than the washed-out version I started with. This was taken a few minutes before 9 a.m. Eastern on May 5, 1952. The two East Coast hours of Today have ended, and there’s a brief pause to regroup before the second hour for Central Time begins. To the left, Jack Lescoulie sits, taking a pause before announcing the top-of-hour program intro. Up front, a floor crewman reviews the rundown while a cameraman looks away from his TK-30’s viewfinder. Atop the viewfinder is part of a Tele-Q system, an early prompter system.

It’s coming up on four months since Today‘s debut, and there are already changes to the set; the big board that lists the home cities of affiliates, with weather conditions for each, has been mounted between the newsroom and Dave’s desk. Look closely and you’ll see some interesting things on that desk, including some books, a milk carton, and a large envelope. Note also that both Dave and Jack are wearing carnations in their lapels; this could be a run-up to Mother’s Day.¹⁰ Dave’s wearing the big RCA BK-4 in a harness rig.

If the first one was washed out, then this one is vivid as life itself. This is from after Today moved into Studio 3K in 1958, and is a vivid Ektachrome by Fred Wertheimer. The caption states that’s Helen O’Connell next to Dave. If that’s the case, this was taken sometime between July 10 and August 15, 1958, for O’Connell had requested her release from the program and was replaced by Betsy Palmer on August 18.

Look at Garroway’s expression. Even though he’s smiling, there’s something about him that seems worn and worried, in contrast to the droll Garroway of 1952. His hair is turning silver and he just looks older somehow. Look closely and you’ll see the pinkie finger of his right hand is completely bandaged; other photos from this same day show it to be a heavy bandage, and it makes me wonder if there’s a splint under it.

The big BK-4s have been replaced by the much smaller (and long-lived) BK-6, which could be worn on a cord or clipped to a lapel.¹¹ In front of Dave is one of the iconic RCA 77 microphones. There are two monitors behind the anchor desk, but in the background there’s just a dark wall. You get the idea of what it was like to move from the bright RCA Exhibition Hall, with its street-level window, into a studio walled off and isolated from the outside world, and of the challenges the program staff faced. In the old storefront studio, all they had to do was turn the camera toward the window, but inside 3K, there was nothing to go to.¹²

And that’s a little present to you for Dave Garroway’s 111th birthday. Enjoy!

Todaymanship (NBC promotional book, 1953)

Although the book’s out there and finding an audience in its own low-key manner¹³, that doesn’t mean we here at Garroway at Large World Headquarters aren’t always on the lookout for new additions to the collection. Last week, a certain online auction site brought an especially rare item I’ve been seeking for years, ever since seeing a picture of a certain Today notable reading it in close detail.

“I hope you’re taking notes, because there’ll be a short quiz next period.” (NBC photo)

A few dollars and a week’s shipping time later, here it was in my hot little hands. Though I doubt this is the exact copy seen above.

I haven’t come across a lot of information about this little book itself, but as we’ll see as we look at a few pages, the message was to make the Today program appealing to prospective advertisers by telling stories from viewers’ letters and other feedback. The title is inspired by Stephen Potter’s The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: Or the Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating, a best-seller published a few years before that had spawned follow-up volumes by Potter.¹⁴

This is a slim little volume whose shape suggests a television screen. Its spread was too long for my scanner, and I therefore had to reassemble each spread from two scans in Photoshop. I also got some dark edges that I only had moderate success cleaning up, so please forgive that. Instead, focus on the samples below.

This introduction sets the tone for what’s to follow. It’s all written in a droll style with footnotes at various points, and the footnotes are often a license to insert jokes. The first footnote above is full of industry references; the second is a reference to this then-recent scandal.

This gives you an idea of what’s to come: a goofy little illustration¹⁵ depicting some of the acts that viewers say they engage in while watching Today. Somewhere in the image is a television picture showing Garroway responding to whatever scene is happening. Each drawing is annotated in a way that corresponds to remarks in the narrative. “Position of hand on nose is regulation shaving maneuver and not to be construed as criticism of Today,” it notes.

In this section a viewer writes of getting dressed while watching Today. The narrative notes how many viewers (10.7%) do this, although “ordinarily we of television try to avoid this sort of thing.” It also notes that “coy expression is a fairly common manifestation during this process. It arises from feeling that Garroway is actually present in room. This feeling of Garroway’s presence is decided advantage to advertiser (you?).”

In the second section there’s discussion about places where people watch Today: in taverns, while in different rooms of the house, or even in bed. This section tells the story of a woman who had a swivel top put on a table so she could watch Today from her bed, but when she couldn’t see all of the picture she had the table’s legs extended. The narrative suggests she may be of the “leisure class,” in which case she could order someone to buy the sponsor’s product. A note also informs prospective time-buyers that Today‘s time cost less than $1.25 per thousand, making it one of the best buys on the air.

A third section looks at ways people have adapted to Today. One entry tells of a woman who calls a friend and holds the phone up to the television for the entirety of the program so she can hear the show. Another tells the story of the man who cut a hole in his wall so he could see from another room. In this one, we have a woman who installed a mirror so she could see the program while in the kitchen. The book calls this “reverse Todaymanship,” and a footnote says the correspondent kept referring to the program as “yadot.”

Now that we’ve seen some examples, the booklet says these are representative of about half the viewership of Today. What are the rest doing? “Nothing. They just sit there.” Husbands are late to work; wives postpone chores; children are late to school.¹⁶ “But whether Today‘s viewers work while watching or not, they are complete addicts and could be very susceptible to your advertising on Today.”

A new home for some old friends

I’ve written on here before about the importance of preserving television history. That’s not just in writing books about people like Dave Garroway, but also in preserving the things that remain. Some of those things are easy to preserve, like books and documents. Other pieces are a little more substantial, but still manageable. And then there’s some that require some effort. That’s what led to an adventure last week.

I’ve been friends with Bobby Ellerbee for several years, and on a few occasions I’ve visited him and his dogs at his home in Georgia. Over the years Bobby amassed a collection of television cameras that spanned a good half-century of the medium’s history. The first time I visited, two rooms were awash with just about every studio camera you could imagine, and his garage had just about enough surplus equipment to start a network.

Over the years, some of Bobby’s collection found new homes at museums or with film prop companies, but his camera room was still nicely populated. Recently, though, he bought a new house. It’s a nice house, but it doesn’t have the display area of the house he’s vacating. Bobby had to make some hard choices. To make a long story short, I got a phone call, and last week I rented a box truck and drove over to his house.

The more the truck filled up, the more I realized this was real, and I started to think about the two happiest days in the life of a boat owner.

In the space of about two and a half hours that Thursday, Bobby and three movers and I loaded four cameras and pedestals, a few boxes of equipment and books, and some other stuff we could put to work in our building. Bobby had told me to rent a truck with a lift gate, and it’s a very good thing I did. Camera pedestals are heavy. By 11 that morning the truck was loaded up and I was headed back home. I spent the afternoon and evening unloading the truck at the office, and that night I drove it back and reclaimed my car.¹⁷

The brave rental truck at the end of its travels with me. This was a happy moment, likely for both of us.

So, let’s see what we have.

Longtime readers will be familiar with this: the RCA TK-47. I already had one, but I certainly was not going to pass up another. Unlike mine, the internals of this one are still intact, and as I was cleaning it up I was interested to look inside.¹⁸ Bobby had installed vinyl lettering on either side to honor NBC’s flagship stations in New York and Los Angeles. Inside is a property tag from WISH-TV in Indianapolis. Part of me thinks it would be fitting to restore the WISH-TV livery, but I’m awfully fond of the genuine NBC stickers on there, especially since I associate the TK-47 with Saturday Night Live and David Letterman’s late-night NBC show.¹⁹ Fortunately, I’ve got a while to decide what to do.

A contemporary of the TK-47 is the Ikegami HK-312, which Bobby had decorated as an ABC camera of the 1980s. It’s appropriate, because ABC used Ikegamis a lot. The Ikegami doesn’t get recognized a lot but it was one of the workhorse cameras of its day, and you’ve watched a lot more television that was brought to you through these machines than you may realize. This particular one has some interesting labels inside about its history, and the box lens has an ABC property tag on it.

Now, here’s a rarity: a Marconi Mark VII. This one actually did belong to Tele-Tape Productions back in the day, which meant it spent a couple years at work in the early days of Sesame Street. What looks like sheet metal damage in the photo is really the reproduction logo, printed on vinyl, separating from the side of the camera. I’m going to replace that as soon as I can get the printing done (the design is pretty much done, but I just need to find someone who can print it to my specifications). In the meantime it’ll wear a rare and very interesting livery that a few Mark VIIs wore for a short period.

No, that’s not the pedestal they used under these when they were in service. Although, given their weight, you can sort of understand it.

And this stylish beast is the RCA TK-42. I’ve seen it described as RCA’s attempt to combine the color of the TK-41 with the sharpness of the monochrome TK-60. Unfortunately, ambition didn’t match execution and the TK-42 was not a hit. NBC itself really didn’t want anything to do with them, so TK-42s and TK-43s were often what brought local stations into the color era.²⁰ The TK-42 was soon superseded by the great and durable TK-44. This one somehow made it to modern times, and even has the proper RCA pedestal and head most often seen beneath them. Unfortunately, it’s missing a few of its internals and has to be balanced with some weights inside, but from the outside you couldn’t tell. The black-and-gold RCA logo disappeared from the right side somewhere along the way, but a very helpful designer with a 3D printer was able to print up a replacement that looks just like it’s always been there, and I’m very happy.

We look much happier wearing the General’s lightning bolt. Now imagine how we’ll look once we’re back on our big ol’ pedestal and we can get a good all-over clean-up and shine.

There’s plenty left to do on these cameras. I’ve done some initial clean-up on them, but when I have time I want to give each one a good going-over to make them look as good as they can.²¹ There’s also a few things I may do as I find period-correct hardware for these machines. But all that’s down the road. Right now, what matters is that these old machines are safe in their new home, where young eyes will be able to see the equipment that helped make possible what they now take as a given.

Where have we been?

No, we haven’t disappeared, and we’re sorry if you think we have. The good news is that some good things have appeared during the lull. One of them is another episode of Garroway at Large, presented here for your enjoyment.

I’m hoping more are in the wings. These need to be preserved and seen, for it’s a glimpse at a fledgling medium spreading its wings (and even more time to spend with Our Dave in his pre-Today years, when he was at his most whimsical).

:: We may have been quiet here the last little while, but we have not been idle. One thing we’ve been working on is the next title from Tyger River Books, which published Peace. I’m happy to share that our second title (written by someone who is not me) will make its debut in May. The subject is another fascinating, multi-faceted person whose story had been lost to history for too long. I’ve read it (obviously) and it’s a great story you don’t want to miss. You can find out more about it here, and please keep an eye out for the book’s debut. It’s going to be something special.

Endings and beginnings

And here we are, as another year wheezes to its inevitable conclusion. I’ve thought sometimes about how the end of one year and the start of another is more psychological than anything; it’s not like the planet goes over a speedbump at midnight on New Year’s or anything like that, for life just goes on.²²

Be that as it may, the last year has been eventful for the Garroway book project – at long last, the book got published in three delicious varieties, and it’s been well-received and some people have written and said some especially kind things about it, which has been gratifying. (And the book’s been published in time for the holidays, too. It makes a terrific gift. Just saying.)

What’s ahead for the Garroway project in 2024? Well, you’ve no doubt noticed our tempo here has eased; that’s the inevitable result of the book getting published, not to mention other projects demanding my attention. This website, however, is not going away any time soon, and as we discover new things we’ll share them here. I’ve learned from previous ventures in research that publication is sometimes just the beginning for new discoveries and adventures, and I feel there’s still new discoveries in the Dave Garroway story yet to come…and as I find them, I want to share them with you.

For instance, here’s ten wonderful minutes of excerpts from about this time in 1954. What better way to get ready for Christmas than a few minutes with our Dave, along with Arlene Francis²³ and Betty White? Enjoy.

Thank you, 2023, for all you brought us. To the new year: please be kind and generous. And to all of you out there: thank you for being with us throughout this whole adventure. Stay tuned for more discoveries.

Coming to an e-reader near you

I’m happy to announce that Peace will become available in a new format Sept. 30:

I hadn’t planned on an e-reader version of the book, but some things came together to make it possible. The file has now been uploaded and the e-book is now available for pre-order²⁴. It’s scheduled to reach your Kindle device (or reader) on Sept. 30. ²⁵

:: Yes, things have been quiet on the blog of late, and it has a lot to do with other things taking priority here at Garroway at Large World Headquarters. Most of that has to do with the day job, of course, and it eats up a lot of my time and brainpower. Be that as it may, I do have some things in work, including a follow-through on my plans to put signed copies on sale for you loyal readers out there. Since my options for getting copies to sell are now more diverse, that will help. As soon as available resources (read “time, money and brainspace”) come together, I’ll post here and we can get going. Stay tuned.

Housekeeping

Busy with work and other stuff, but a couple notes:

Those of you wanting to buy the book may be better served, at least for the moment, by buying the versions available through Amazon. I’m having severe quality-control issues with the copies you can buy through the Bookshop link (these are manufacturer issues that I am trying to resolve), and at the moment I am not happy at all with what’s been coming through that. For better quality and faster service (and a slightly lower price), go through Amazon to buy the book.
I have negotiated the image rights for an electronic-book version of the book. That is in work, but I am juggling it between several other things I must see after. It will happen, though.

As always, stay tuned!

Into the Amazon

This is a quick note, because my week is about to be consumed with meetings and other chores, but it contains good news: Peace is now available through Amazon’s publishing program, in a case-laminated hardcover ²⁶ and in paperback, too. This provides you with new options to get the book at a little bit lower price, and I also hope it’ll provide quicker delivery too.

We’re not ready with an e-book version just yet, because that will require negotiating some image rights for electronic book use. We’re working on that, though, between other chores. Stay tuned.

The things that matter most

You spend years working on a project and you learn a lot of things. There are times you look at what you’re doing as a fun challenge. Other times you look at the project as a goal to be met. Other times, you curse the day you took the project on and wonder if you’ll ever get it finished. On a handful of occasions you want to assume a new identity and pretend the project never existed.

If you’re lucky, though, the day comes when you realize the project has given you gifts beyond what you ever imagined, and you’re thankful you decided to follow the path. You get to meet some interesting people, go new places, see new things, have new experiences. If you’re lucky and if you keep the right mindset about it, the project becomes this amazing adventure. Maybe not something on the order of an Indiana Jones adventure, of course, but one that’s fun and fulfilling and exciting in its own way.

And if you’re really lucky, you make friends. I have already. It’s how I met Brandon, who has been with me on this project since long before the website began. It’s how I came to know Mitchell and Judie Hadley, and how I came to know Carol Ford and Dennis Hart and some other genuinely good people who have added so much color and fun to my life.

Sometimes, though, you can’t believe who you get to know. I’m presently working through that right now, because two weeks ago I had the privilege of spending a few days visiting Dave Garroway’s daughter Paris. She’s retired to a sunny part of the American West, and there’s lots of cool things to see and do out there. Although we’d talked on the phone every so often, we hadn’t seen each other since 2018, and it was therefore a lot of fun to have the chance to be together again.

It was a long trip there by air, and it wasn’t helped by bad weather complicating my connection at O’Hare, and then turning my connection at Denver into a sprint through a busy concourse.²⁷ One bumpy flight over the Rockies later, I was there, and there was Paris waiting for me at the airport.

We packed a lot into our time together. There was a road trip or two, some hiking, a wine tasting, some photography in some of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in the Lower 48, some really good meals together, visits with her friends and members of her family. And, of course, we talked about her life and her memories of her dad, and we also reminisced about dear Dave Jr. What mattered most of all, though, was the time we shared talking to each other as friends. We weren’t a biographer and the daughter of the biographer’s subject. We were two women sitting on the back porch, watching the sun set while we had some good wine and listened to some fine music, talking about life and what had gotten us here and what we’d learned along the way, sharing insights and hard-earned wisdom from our lives, because both she and I have had some adventures along the way.²⁸ There were moments when we laughed, other moments when I felt my eyes get a little damp, but all of it was good. And, too soon, it was time to come home. It was time well spent.²⁹

All too often it’s easy to think of a book project as this clinical, self-contained thing. It’s not. If you do it properly, you are essentially absorbing another person’s life story into your own life. That’s why you have to be careful to choose someone it’s easy to live with, because the subject of that book is going to be very, very close to you for however long it takes. And, beyond that, the people who were special to that person are probably going to become names you will come to know and sometimes care about. They become part of that story within your life, too.

But if you are extraordinarily lucky, some of those people will become part of your own life, and although you met them because of their relationship to the subject of your project, the relationship you build with them becomes independent of that. That’s certainly what happened here, and that friendship is one of the true blessings of this whole project.

I have so much to be thankful to Dave Garroway for. Most of all, I’m thankful to him because through this project, so many neat people became part of my life. That’s maybe my biggest piece of advice for anyone who wants to be an author or researcher. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open, because the chances are good that this whole enterprise is going to change your life in unforeseen, and often wonderful, ways.