Wilkens Amateur Hour
June 19, 2021I need your help! Of course I realize this is an extreme long-shot, but here goes. The other day I was approached by Sarah who wrote in her email:
I am looking for footage from the old KDKA show called “Wilkens Amateur Hour”. My grandfather Arthur Santarelli of Leetsdale was on the show sometime between 1950 and 1954 (According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, he was pictured in an article on October 23rd, 1953 singing in Duquesne possibly at the old Syria Mosque so it was likely around then). I was told that he won the contest when he was on the show from family members. I know he was an opera singer and I have always wanted to hear him sing because I was always told that he was outstanding, but he passed away before I was born and no one in my family has any recordings of him. It would mean the world to me to be able to see/hear him perform because I also love to sing opera. I have always felt a connection to him, even if I have never been able to meet him.How can I get access to this footage? I contacted KDKA, WDTV, Hienz History Center, Hillman Library (Pitt), Carnegie Library, and I have been referred to you by an old employee of KDKA. He informed me that you might be the only person to help me find this old footage.
Email from Sarah Zolfaghari dated June 14, 2021
If you weren’t aware, the Wilkens Amateur Hour was originally on WJAS radio but later moved to WCAE Radio and KQV Radio. In 1950 became the first regularly scheduled “live” television show originating in Pittsburgh. (Read more about it here.) It was sponsored by the Wilkins Jewelry Company who had 7 stores in the area.
This article from The Pittsburgh Press dated November 19, 1950 featured the announcement that it was moving over to television that night and Al Nobel would remain as Master of Ceremonies.
Getting back to Sarah’s request..
(First of all if you are the former KDKA staffer whom Sarah met one evening who suggested that I might be the only one who could help her, thanks. I’ll do my best.
Sarah inquired of the footage when she met a former KDKA staffer one evening while out. He had mentioned to her that when CBS took over from Westinghouse, a lot of stuff from the days of yore went to a landfill. (That is criminal!) Despite that, she went to KDKA-TV to inquire. At the studios, no material went back that far and the footage could be “in a mountain“.
Other places which have proven to be of no help in the process are the Carnegie Library, and Heinz History Center. Sarah even reached out to the current WDTV-TV. That Station, despite being close by in Bridgeport, West Virginia, has no connection with the current KDKA-TV which was originally WDTV Channel 3 (“DTV” standing for DuMont Television).
One glimmer of hope is the University of Pittsburgh’s Hillman Library where Sarah is in the cue for the media curator to research her information.
Meanwhile, Sarah shared this picture from the October 23, 1953 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mr. Santarelli is on the right side. No word if this was a promotional photo for his appearance on Wilkens Amateur Hour.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – October 23, 1953
I will pass this along to some historians I know, but meanwhile if you have any thoughts or ideas. Please let us know! (We prefer old-fashioned email – info@pbrtv.com.)
It really is shocking that CBS would send all of that material to a landfill in the late 90’s, decades after the well-documented historical tragedy of the DuMont Network archives being dumped in the East River in the early 70’s. I wish this lady good luck, but facts are that this was a live show and not everything was kinescoped back then. Odds to me seem 50-50 whether any footage ever existed.
Unfortunately that’s very common nowadays. More than likely due to space issues, but also machinery to play it on. That was very expensive film too… no “tape”.