Studio F


Dimensions: 26 x 21

Decor: "Represents an English library"
Studio F

Studio F, on account of its decor, was the most unusual of the six original Merchandise Mart studios. It was specifically designed to not look like a radio studio. The rationale was that "important personages" broadcasting for the first time would be less intimidated in a "homelike" setting.

The principal tenants of studio F in its early years were Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll---who, as "Amos 'n' Andy", became radio's first megastars---and Art Van Harvey and Bernardine Flynn, radio's beloved "Vic and Sade".

Curator's note: Former NBC staffer Glenn Webster engineered both of these shows and has sent me photographs of studio F in action. I've posted them in an area called the Glenn Webster Page. They are among the most interesting (and certainly the rarest) items on this site.

Following the construction of three new studios in 1935, one of which usurped the studio F title, studio F was renamed "studio J".

By the time I arrived at the Mart in 1973, studio J had long since been converted to office space. In its last days, it was the home of the Promotion Department. The Promotion director inhabited what was once the control room.

NBC apparently considered the "non-studio" design of this space a success. Four such studios were incorporated in the design of the Radio City studio complex at 30 Rockefeller Center (two were located on the eighth floor; two on the ninth).

Return to the 1930 Studio Tour Guide

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Created by Rich Samuels (e-mail to rich@richsamuels.com)