Stage at Central Riverside Park.
If you were thinking about getting married, would you consider having your ceremony broadcast on the radio nationwide? And held on a grandly decorated stage in the Miller Theater or Central Riverside Park with thousands in attendance? Between 1930 and 1941, that was an option for one lucky couple here in Wichita. It was called a Radio Wedding, and it was a charming highlight of the Depression years.
To attract hopeful entrants and help allay any jitters that getting married with such fanfare might cause, the organizers reached out to downtown merchants to donate gifts for the couple, which they did in abundance. These were listed in detail in the paper, sometimes with a photo of the smiling recipient. A complimentary stay in the bridal suite of a local hotel was provided to the newlyweds. And, for a couple years, they were whisked away in a spiffy Braniff airplane for a honeymoon at a Chicago hotel.
The Wichita Eagle and radio station KFH came up with this idea in early 1930. It would, of course, drive sales for both entities as well as the businesses donating gifts, but it was also a way to spread joy in a dark time. There had been a few “radio weddings” elsewhere in the 1920s, but the ones here would exceed those by far.
The first announcement in the Eagle was on the front page of the May 24, 1930, edition. The ceremony that first year would be held in the KFH studio on June 2. Mendelssohn’s wedding march would be played on a pipe organ, the ceremony would be presided over by “a well-known pastor,” and upon its conclusion the lucky couple “will find themselves literally showered with wedding gifts from the merchants of Wichita. Everything which a bride could wish for her wedding will be included.”
Couples were asked to apply to the Eagle office and their names would be kept confidential. Only the lucky winners would be announced to the public.
On Monday evening June 2, 1930, Raymond Bumgarner and Evelyn Stonebraker said “I do” into the KFH microphone, under the direction of Rev. L. Morgan Chambers of St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal church. Preceding the ceremony, the Vollmer sisters sang “At Dawning,” Don Smith sang “Ah Sweet Mystery of Life” and Sue Webb Fulton sang “I Love You Truly.” The Downing Mortuary organ, under the able fingers of Leah Allender, and with the accompaniment of the Vollmer sisters, softly rendered “Oh Promise Me” during the ceremony. An informal reception was held afterwards at the studio, and then the newlyweds were off to spend the night in the Hotel Lassen bridal suite. The following day, they had the use of a Checker Cab to drive around downtown to pick up their gifts donated by various merchants. The list of gifts took up several column inches in the Eagle.
The second Radio Wedding upped the ante by moving the ceremony to the Miller Theater, then located at 115 N. Broadway. Wiley Film Lab, at 305 E. Kellogg, made a movie of the event and presented it to the couple afterwards. Roy Cato played the massive Miller pipe organ as Raymond Dutton and Ethel Giggy became husband and wife. Rev. J. Henry Hornung of College Hill Congregational church officiated. (The couple each year chose the officiant.)
I cannot find mention of a Radio Wedding in 1932 or 1933, but another was held at 7:30 p.m. on May 31, 1934, this time in Central Riverside Park. In lieu of an organ, the Russell Lowe Orchestra rendered the Wedding March. An estimated 8,000 people attended, so many that the Park Department was only able to seat about half of them. As Ralph Jayne and the former Camille Miller left the stage, the audience, knowing they could not all extend personal congratulations, broke out into raucous applause. Rather than the Lassen, this time the couple was given the bridal suite at the brand-new Allis Hotel.
In 1935, Dell McDaniel and Louise Lowry were also married in Central Riverside Park. This time the crowd was estimated at 15,000. An elaborate cake was provided by Wolf Bakery. They were driven away to their new home on South Main in a new Hudson provided by Mosbacher Motors.
Then 1936 saw the fifth Radio Wedding, again held at Central Riverside Park. Prior to the event, the Eagle published a photo of 2-year-old Sonny Bumgarner, the first child of the first radio wedding couple, establishing the long-term merit of the event. William Turpin and Margaret Scott exchanged vows on June 1, accompanied by music from a Hammond electric organ. A blue Pontiac sedan took the Turpins to the Lassen Hotel afterwards to spend the night in the bridal suite. According to the paper, as the happy couple drove off, the others in attendance would “re-enter the ordinary walks of life after a brief, glorious respite from the cares of the day.” After their wedding breakfast, the Turpins took a “honeymoon hop” to the Hotel Sherman in Chicago on Braniff Airways, all courtesy the Eagle.
Gus Barton and Virginia Eilerts exchanged vows May 31, 1937, in Central Riverside Park. Once again, the Eagle flew them to Chicago for their honeymoon.
The event moved back to the Miller in 1938, where James Crocker married Alta Taylor on May 30. Their Eagle-provided honeymoon was at the Elms Hotel in Excelsior Springs, Mo.
Central Riverside Park hosted the next three Radio Weddings: Robert Harrison and Nellora Bish on May 30, 1939, William Rutschman and Lois Maninger on May 31, 1940, and Frank Moore and Irene Black on May 30, 1941.
The 1941 wedding was the last. While the events continued to draw thousands of attendees, the organizers may perhaps have been thinking the novelty and appeal were wearing thin. But, other events in the Pacific and Europe later that year probably convinced the Eagle and KFH that it would be appropriate to focus attention elsewhere. However, for the wedded couples, their families, friends and all who enjoyed attending the ceremonies, the Radio Weddings were no doubt a very pleasant memory.
Jim Mason writes frequently about Wichita history. He can be contacted at jemason53@gmail.com.
