His mother's voice came to him
after the passage of 55 years
By JOHN MARTIN
Journal-Bulletin TV Writer
Bruce Kalver loves old-time radio. It has long been a part of his life.
Now it holds a special place in his heart.
Kalver, a Cranston resident who hosts a Sunday morning nostalgia show on New Bedford's WBSM radio, will have a special guest tomorrow morning. His mother Eunice Woolf will sing.
At least, you'll hear her voice as she appeared at the age of 15 on Major Bowes' Amateur Hour 55 years ago, singing a medley of songs in the style of Dinah Shore, Judy Canova, Judy Garland and others.
Stored on a thin audiocassette, it is a performance of a lifetime, a moment frozen in time and preserved forever thanks to a Major Bowes' producer and the Library of Congress, and in Kalver's hands thanks to the kindness of a stranger on the Internet.
Kalver will play the tape in the 10 o'clock hour of Nostalgia Times Radio Programme tomorrow, the 11th anniversary of Eunice's death.
This all began innocently enough. Eunice, who grew up in Providence, was vacationing in New York with her parents when her mother suggested that, as long as they were in the city, Eunice should audition for Bowes.
Eunice was no stranger to the world of entertainment. Her mother, Jeanette Zenenberg Woolf, danced with Rudolph Valentino movies; her father, Samuel, was an assistant to legendary magician Harry Houdini.
Kalver, himself a magican, also produces dinner-theater productions and murder-mystery evenings.
``About 25 years ago I started collecting old radio shows in hopes of coming across a recording of my mother,'' he said over lunch recently. ``But I soon realized there weren't many recordings. I would ask and I would always be told that there were a handful here and there and that was it.''
Last November, Kalver logged on to the Internet, where a Web Site (www.airwaves.com/otr.html) led him to a newsgroup devoted to fans of old-time radio. On a whim, he posted a note asking if anyone collected Major Bowes .
Three days later he received E-mail from a librarian at the Library of Congress Recording Division who said the library had a recently donated collection of Major Bowes' original transcription disks -- the oversized phonograph records on which the shows were recorded.
The bad news was that the disks were not fully catalogued.
All Kalver had to go on was that his mom's appearance took place during World War II and, as best his mother remembered, sometime in the late summer. Kalver crossed his fingers, hoping that his long search was over.
``He looked it up and wrote back. `No, we don't have anything. Try again in a year or two.' So I figured I've waited this long, I'll wait a year and keep pestering.'' Two days later, Kalver received another message from the librarian: We have a transcription of Eunice Woolf on Major Bowes Amateur Hour, recorded Sept. 3, 1942.
Eunice Woolf was born in New Bedford, but moved with her family to Providence, where she was a cheerleader at Nathan Bishop Junior High and at Hope High School, where she graduated in 1944.
As a young teenager, she performed in the popular ``professional'' amateur nights in Providence, Boston, Springfield and Worcester with her twin brothers Sumner and Allen. After her appearance on Major Bowes' radio show, she toured with Bowes, performing at USO shows during the war. For years after, she sang in nightclubs.
Kalver says his mom sang, without credit, on a Count Basie album. Which he is now looking for. For now, he cherishes the Major Bowes' recording.
When the tape came, he sat there just staring at it, thinking to himself over and over, I can't believe I have it .``And then I played it. And I cried. My wife came home and we played it and she cried. I sent a copy to my father [Everett ``Ed'' Kalver] in Florida and he cried.
``When people die, there are a million questions you want to ask. And you can't. They're gone. Just to hear her voice again -- she's 15 years old -- she has perfect pitch, she's so crisp and clear. . . .'' Kalver's voice drifts off, as if he's listening to Eunice's voice and the sound of the applause from the Major Bowes' audience. And imagining his mom at 15.
``I keep telling people to go home, get a recorder, and record your family history,'' he says quietly. ``Don't wait 'til the day after, because it will be too late."
``Put that tape somewhere safe. Because it's always great to hear the voice,'' he said, tapping his finger on the cassette.
``Any family can have this.''
WBSM is at 1420 AM. Its signal, Kalver says, generally extends into parts of Providence, Cranston and Warwick, and in communities close to Narragansett Bay.
From the Providence Journal, April 14, 1998
Copyright © 1998 The Providence Journal Company
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