The broadcasting industry has a major milestone to celebrate this week - September 9th marks the 100th anniversary of the formation of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) as a radio network.
The broadcasting company was formed when the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), which had been operating a collection or radio stations in major cities of several states decided to withdraw from the business, and so sold it's radio broadcasting division to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for approximately $1 million.
The new network began broadcasting out of New York City on November 15, 1926, with a four-hour program featuring Will Rogers and the Metropolitan Opera. The program was transmitted through twenty-two stations across the nation to homes as far west as Kansas City, Missouri.
This photograph, taken on May 9th, 1940, is from Hagley Library's Cavalcade of America photographs (Accession 1985.259) collection, and takes us inside the sound effects studio of the broadcasting company. It shows NBC author, producer, and director Arch Oboloer (center) overseeing the creation of falling tree sound effects for episode No. 262 of Cavalcade of America, 'An American is Born'. The The Cavalcade of America was an anthology drama radio program sponsored by the DuPont Company which aired weekly from 1935 to 1953. This particular episode featured Bette Davis in a story about a Czech couple in Mexico, waiting for an entry visa into the United States.
The collection has not been digitized in its entirety, but you can find a broad selection of photographs in our Digital Archives at the Cavalcade of America photographs page. You can also find a broad range of documents, photographs, moving images, and other archival material documenting the history of the NBC across a range of Hagley Library collections by clicking here.