WSIX radio program posters, ca. 1930-1960.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Arrangement: Numeric by poster number assigned by library staff during processing.

Materials housed in the Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Posters featuring photographs of ABC Network radio personalities, ca. 1930-1960, advertising programs and broadcast times on Nashville, Tenn. radio station WSIX. WSIX printed these from glossies provided by the network, adding the program title and local broadcast time to each poster. Posters like this were often framed and hung in radio station lobbies so that visitors could see the network stars they normally only heard. Some of the celebrities featured include Fran Allison, Lionel Barrymore, Richard Crenna, Alan Ladd, Adolphe Menjou, Robert Montgomery, and Drew Pearson. Famous shows advertised include "Abbott and Costello," "The Breakfast Club," "Dr. Kildare," "The Original Amateur Hour," and "The Lawrence Welk Show"

Cite as: WSIX Radio Program Posters, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library.

Nashville Public Library does not have intellectual property rights to these materials. This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code).

Gift;,Paul Kingsbury;,2002;,Acc. RT-106.

WSIX radio began broadcasting as an AM station on Jan. 6, 1927 from the second floor of brothers Jack and Louis Draughon's tire service shop in Springfield, Tenn. The call letters were derived from their business motto: "Where Service Is eXcellent." Tradition holds that they traded five barrels of oil for a 100-watt transmitter to get their station started. In the summer of 1936, they moved to Nashville, broadcasting from the Andrew Jackson Hotel, and in 1939 relocated to the Nashville Trust Building. In the 1940s, the station was affiliated at various times with the Mutual Broadcasting System and/or the American Broadcasting Company (ABC, formerly the Blue Network), and their location on the dial changed from 980, 1210, 1240 and back to 980 AM during the early 1940s, due to FCC reassignments. In 1948, a short-lived attempt to broadcast on the FM band began, but ceased in 1953 due to lack of popularity. FM broadcasting would resume later. In September 1962, major changes came, with the development of a combined AM, FM radio and television station studio located on Murfreesboro Road in Nashville. WSIX TV began broadcasting on Sept. 26, 1962. Four years later, Louis Draughon who outlived his brother, Jack, sold all three entities to General Electric Broadcasting for more than $9 million. In 1973, WSIX TV changed their call sign to WNGE, later becoming WKRN. Meanwhile, WSIX FM also known as the Big 98, began building a reputation for playing country music characterized by the "Nashville Sound," known at first as "metropolitan country." In 1991, WSIX AM 980 was sold to the Bible Broadcasting Network, who changed the call sign to WYFN and the format to traditional Christian music, preaching, and programming.

Simple inventory, containing captions from posters, is available in repository;,item level control.,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_WSIXRadioProgramPostersFA.pdf.

Collection purchased by Paul Kingsbury prior to donation to Nashville Room in 2002.