REPS is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and can trace its origin back to the Fall of 1990 when a few old time radio enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest got together to share their hobby of collecting and listening to some of the all time classic radio shows.
Nov 3,1990 These Founders met once again at the Merchant’s Cafe in downtown Seattle and accepted a name for their new old-time radio club.The Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound was born. The founders of the club were Mike Sprague, Frank and Anna Denton, Bob Herman, Michael Jacobs, Carol Pearce, Vi and Andy Anderson, Mark Skullerud and Misty Dawn Lane.
Mike Sprague provided the leadership needed to guide the new organization and Misty Dawn Lane created the first REPS audio lending library – 500 original old-time radio shows donated from her personal collection of audio cassettes. The group decided to have a monthly meeting on the first Saturday of every month at the Queen Anne library. Meetings would continue at this site until 2004.
January 1991 Membership was first offered and the club began to grow.
February 1991 A big turning point for REPS when it was learned that John Archer, who briefly played the Shadow in 1944-45, was living in town. John agreed to be the special guest at the February meeting. Flyers, notices and press releases were distributed and on the day of the meeting, the Queen Anne library was packed. Everyone had come to see the voice of the invisible Shadow and new members were signing up left and right and from all walks of life. Overnight REPS became a full fledged old-time radio club.
In the days after the meeting with John Archer, plans were afoot to schedule a wide array of interesting guests and speakers at the monthly meetings.
March 1991 Mark Skullerud, who we all called Skully, presented a look at Tom Corbett Space Cadet.
April 1991 A visit with local radio personality Jim French. Jim French was then producing a radio drama series known as the KIRO Mystery Playhouse. The series is still going strong today under the name Imagination Theater.
June 1991 Our guest was writer, producer, director and actor, Frank Buxton, co-author of The Big Broadcast (a popular reference book on the Golden Age of Radio).
The monthly meetings along with the REPS library of old-time radio shows were a big attraction for fans of the golden age but Mike Sprague, president of REPS, had even bigger and more exciting plans for the club.
Old Time Radio Convention Arrives in the Pacific Northwest
REPS President, Mike Sprague, envisioned an Old Time Radio Convention from the very beginning and began planning for one early on. Most said it couldn’t be done but Mike persevered and in June of 1993 the first REPS Showcase convention was held.
Guests included an array of Old Time Radio personalities:
John Archer (The Shadow), Parley Baer (Gunsmoke), Harry Bartell (Suspense, Escape), Dick Beals (Suspense,The Great Gildersleeve), Herb Ellis (Dragnet, Gunsmoke), Page Gilman (One Man’s Family), Merrill Mael (Vic and Sade), Anne Whitfield (One Man’s Family, Phil Harris and Alice Faye), Doug Young (Cisco Kid, The Whistler) and others from the Golden Age of Radio.
The Showcase was a huge success and would become an annual event which continues to this very day. The REPS Showcase is a special event that allows us to interview and document the history and stories of old-time radio and provides an opportunity for fans to meet, in person, the personalities who appeared on our favorite radio shows. There is a tremendous amount of talent involved in recreating some of the best shows that were ever to grace the radio airwaves. In just the last few years REPS has produced outstanding performances of The Great Gildersleeve featuring Shirley Mitchell in her original role and Pinocchio starring Eddie Carroll as the voice of Jiminy Cricket with Disney legend- Ginny Tyler as the wooden boy. In 2009 a radio production of the Wizard of Oz was performed.
At REPS, we hope to motivate people to join, share, take part, connect and engage in order to introduce others to the magic of radio and audio theater.
