A Radio Retrospective
By Mike Martini
Perhaps you recall the famous radio opening: "The Adventures of B-i-i-i-g Jon....and
S-P-A-R-K-I-E-E!!" "Big Jon and Sparkie was a nationally broadcast radio program that began its
life in Cincinnati. Moreover, it was one of radio's last successful children's programs and one of
Cincinnati's last big contributions to national broadcasting during radio's golden age. "Big Jon
and Sparkie" was first produced as WSAI in 1947 by a young announcer named Jon Arthur. The
son of a Pennsylvania minister, Arthur began his career in radio in 1939 in West Virginia.
Eventually, Jon Arthur found his way to Cincinnati and WSAI as a disc jockey. One of his
gimmicks was to have the voice of a little masty kid interrupt his records. According to Don
Kortekamp, a continuity writer who also worked at WSAI at the time, the station manager came
to Arthur and suggested, "Why don't you make Sparkie a good kid and develop a children's
program?" Arthur agreed and teamed up with Kortekamp writing all the scripts and Arthur acting
all of the parts, the show was an immediate local hit....so much so, that work trickled up to the
owner of WSAI, legendary Chicago retailer Marshall Field III, who agreed to finance the show for
national syndication. In 1950 the daily "Big Jon and Sparkie" and its Saturday companion show
"No School Today" were picked up by the ABC radio network. At first, the daily "Big Jon" was an
hour-and-a-half, which meant the pair was producing and amazing seven hours of nationally
broadcast programming a week.......almost unprecedented! By 1951, though, the daily show
was dropped but "No School Today" continued coast-to-coast until ABC cancelled the show in
1958 (along with most of its other entertainment radio programs.)
"Big Jon and Sparkie" was the story of Big Jon who had, as a friend, an invisible elf named
Sparkie from the land of Make Believe. Sparkie came to earth and, like Pinocchio, wanted to be
a real boy. Jon and Sparkie would involve themselves in a variety of situations and activities
around the semi-fictional town of Cheviot, Ohio. Writer Kortekamp grew up in the real Cheviot,
Ohio and based most of the characters and settings on people and places he knew during his
childhood. So, while the national audience listened curiously about "The Westwood Theater" or
Krausemeier's Butcher Shop, native Cincinnatians connected the stories to the real Westwood
Cinema and "Krauser's" Meat Market. Of course, Jon and Sparkie weren't the only characters in
the shows: Ukey Betcha (which is taken from the name of one of Kortekamp's childhood
friends), Mayor Plumpfront (the amalgamation of then Cheviot Mayor Edward Gingrich and
Cincinnati Mayer James Garfield Stewart) and a host of other characters were occasionally
heard and Arthur voiced them all! In fact Kortekamp admitted he'd often encountered friends
and neighbors who asked to somehow be written into the scripts.
For those unfamiliar with the show, Sparkie's voice was similar to television's "The
Chipmunks." WSAI engineer William Mahoney adapted a reel-to-reel tape machine to speed up
Arthur's voice on playback all the while keeping it understandable. Arther would record
Sparkie's lines ahead of time and then fill in the other voices during the broadcast.
"Big Jon and Sparkie" enjoyed great popularity during their broadcast run. The show
generated thousands of cards and letters and was heard, at its peak, on over 270 stations in
the United States and Canada as well as Armed Forces Radio. Big Jon and Sparkie urged their
young listeners to keep their rooms straight, to be polite, treat siblings with kindness and to do
their homework. But Kortekamp is careful to point out that Jon Arthur wanted the show to be fun
and entertaining and not too preachy. After "Big Jon and Sparkie", Jon Arthur moved to the West
Coast where he continued in radio for several years until he died in the 1980's. Don Kortekamp
continues to write, in his spare time, in Cincinnati. The radio program, while off the air nearly 50
years remains popular among collectors of old radio shows and is a wonderful, warm memory
in the minds of many who grew up developing their imaginations thanks to radio.
Sources: John Dunning's Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio and an interview with Don
Kortekamp (9/18/01) in the collection of Media Heritage, Inc.
By Mike Martini
Perhaps you recall the famous radio opening: "The Adventures of B-i-i-i-g Jon....and
S-P-A-R-K-I-E-E!!" "Big Jon and Sparkie was a nationally broadcast radio program that began its
life in Cincinnati. Moreover, it was one of radio's last successful children's programs and one of
Cincinnati's last big contributions to national broadcasting during radio's golden age. "Big Jon
and Sparkie" was first produced as WSAI in 1947 by a young announcer named Jon Arthur. The
son of a Pennsylvania minister, Arthur began his career in radio in 1939 in West Virginia.
Eventually, Jon Arthur found his way to Cincinnati and WSAI as a disc jockey. One of his
gimmicks was to have the voice of a little masty kid interrupt his records. According to Don
Kortekamp, a continuity writer who also worked at WSAI at the time, the station manager came
to Arthur and suggested, "Why don't you make Sparkie a good kid and develop a children's
program?" Arthur agreed and teamed up with Kortekamp writing all the scripts and Arthur acting
all of the parts, the show was an immediate local hit....so much so, that work trickled up to the
owner of WSAI, legendary Chicago retailer Marshall Field III, who agreed to finance the show for
national syndication. In 1950 the daily "Big Jon and Sparkie" and its Saturday companion show
"No School Today" were picked up by the ABC radio network. At first, the daily "Big Jon" was an
hour-and-a-half, which meant the pair was producing and amazing seven hours of nationally
broadcast programming a week.......almost unprecedented! By 1951, though, the daily show
was dropped but "No School Today" continued coast-to-coast until ABC cancelled the show in
1958 (along with most of its other entertainment radio programs.)
"Big Jon and Sparkie" was the story of Big Jon who had, as a friend, an invisible elf named
Sparkie from the land of Make Believe. Sparkie came to earth and, like Pinocchio, wanted to be
a real boy. Jon and Sparkie would involve themselves in a variety of situations and activities
around the semi-fictional town of Cheviot, Ohio. Writer Kortekamp grew up in the real Cheviot,
Ohio and based most of the characters and settings on people and places he knew during his
childhood. So, while the national audience listened curiously about "The Westwood Theater" or
Krausemeier's Butcher Shop, native Cincinnatians connected the stories to the real Westwood
Cinema and "Krauser's" Meat Market. Of course, Jon and Sparkie weren't the only characters in
the shows: Ukey Betcha (which is taken from the name of one of Kortekamp's childhood
friends), Mayor Plumpfront (the amalgamation of then Cheviot Mayor Edward Gingrich and
Cincinnati Mayer James Garfield Stewart) and a host of other characters were occasionally
heard and Arthur voiced them all! In fact Kortekamp admitted he'd often encountered friends
and neighbors who asked to somehow be written into the scripts.
For those unfamiliar with the show, Sparkie's voice was similar to television's "The
Chipmunks." WSAI engineer William Mahoney adapted a reel-to-reel tape machine to speed up
Arthur's voice on playback all the while keeping it understandable. Arther would record
Sparkie's lines ahead of time and then fill in the other voices during the broadcast.
"Big Jon and Sparkie" enjoyed great popularity during their broadcast run. The show
generated thousands of cards and letters and was heard, at its peak, on over 270 stations in
the United States and Canada as well as Armed Forces Radio. Big Jon and Sparkie urged their
young listeners to keep their rooms straight, to be polite, treat siblings with kindness and to do
their homework. But Kortekamp is careful to point out that Jon Arthur wanted the show to be fun
and entertaining and not too preachy. After "Big Jon and Sparkie", Jon Arthur moved to the West
Coast where he continued in radio for several years until he died in the 1980's. Don Kortekamp
continues to write, in his spare time, in Cincinnati. The radio program, while off the air nearly 50
years remains popular among collectors of old radio shows and is a wonderful, warm memory
in the minds of many who grew up developing their imaginations thanks to radio.
Sources: John Dunning's Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio and an interview with Don
Kortekamp (9/18/01) in the collection of Media Heritage, Inc.
This article uses material by permission of Mike Martini.
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nostalgia. Shop online for our vintage-inspired products, or browse for
information on the golden age of radio.
store specializing in antique reproductions of vintage electronics. Our
old style products include original vintage AM/FM radios, portable
suitcase - styled record players and turntables, record changers,
multi-functional audio cassette/compact disc players, jukeboxes,
telephones, music boxes and more. The rich lines, retro designs and
authentic crafting on these antique replicas provide a delightful dose of
nostalgia. Shop online for our vintage-inspired products, or browse for
information on the golden age of radio.
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