A 'Poole's Paradise' Christmas with Bob Poole!

Take the ratings for every locally produced morning radio program, total them all together and you still won't come close to the audience share Poole's Paradise enjoyed for a quarter of a century in Greensboro, NC. Bob became a sensation in the 1940s broadcasting a nighttime show from New Orleans that forever changed radio. He was the first modern radio DJ - first to combine (corny) jokes, guests, live bands and recorded music.

He made no bones about being a small town boy at heart. In fact, he made it his schtick and paved the way for The Andy Griffith Show that came years later on television.

Bob moved to New York in 1948 to join the Mutual network. Although his down-home program wasn't heard in The City Poole's Paradise was a nationwide smash hit. By the time he left in 1952 the Mutual network was beginning to unravel. Bob Poole imitators were flooding local radio markets all around the USA, eschewing expensive network programs. That's when Poole returned to his radio roots, WBIG.

When Bob Poole moved back to Greensboro, NC he became the reining morning radio man there until poor health forced his retirement in December of 1977. He died weeks later.

Gloria & Bob Poole on a mid-fifties cruise

This is from the December 10, 1948 broadcast of Poole's Paradise on Mutual:



This clip has a clever mash-up of different versions of Jingle Bells that I believe he brought, along with his theme song, to Greensboro.



Poole's Parlor, a half-hour variety show on Wednesday nights over WOR in New York. I believe this program aired from the fall of 1948 until January 1949. These clips are from the New Year's end show, December 28, 1948.





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