The Hagley Vault has a special guest star this week. Miss Patience, seen here in a ca. 1936 photograph was one of NBC's first regularly filmed stars of studio 3H.
During these early years of television, film cameras required intense light to capture images for broadcast. So much so that NBC's Betty Goodwin, television's first female announcer and fashion show consultant, began to suffer from blisters on her face from modeling clothes and make-up for hours in front of the camera.
Fortunately for Goodwin, Miss Patience was (quite literally) made of tougher stuff. Goodwin's new co-star was a mannequin, and thus able to patiently endure the punishing heat and time required for those early screen tests.
This photograph is part of Hagley Library's The RCA News and Information Department photographs (Accession 2464.68) collection, which contains photographs and negatives created or commissioned by RCA that document much of RCA's history and activities. Many of the photographs were organized by the News and Information Department into subjects that cover the history of radio, television, communications, and consumer electronics, with a particular emphasis on RCA's role in that history. It has not been digitized in its entirety, but you can view more selections from the collection by clicking here.