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George Snell papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS 0556

Scope and Contents

The George Snell papers (1928-1984) document early radio in Salt Lake City, Utah, at station KDYL and the development of United Broadcasting Company in San Jose, California. A majority of the collection documents early radio programming through radio scripts that Snell wrote. The collection also covers the developmental phase, sale, and acquisition of radio stations. Although the collection centers on radio scripts, the preparation papers for the sale of radio stations are a useful insight into modern radio developments and concerns. Another large section includes correspondence from Vardis Fisher, Ellis Foote, Grant H. Redford, and other western writers.

The collection is divided into three sections: Personal Materials, Early Radio Days, 1927 1947, and United Broadcasting Company. The first section, Personal Materials, contains biographical materials that portray both the radio and literary sides of George Snell. One of the largest categories in this section is the Vardis Fisher material, box two. Fisher and Snell had extensive correspondence from 1934 until Fisher's death in 1968. The correspondence delineates Snell's reviewing ability, Snell's and Fisher's reactions to several world wide events, a wager over their literary disagreement about Steinbeck and Hemingway, Fisher's Testament of Man series, and other topics. In addition to the correspondence are reviews, interviews, biographical materials, and other miscellanea.

The personal materials section also contains correspondence from Ellis Foote, Grant H. Redford, Ira J. Kaar, and others. Snell's correspondence with Foote, a western poet, was colorful and, at times, demonstrably graphic. The Foote correspondence characterizes Foote as a troubled and struggling poet with a vengeance for expletives. The Kaar correspondence is a smaller file with several letters about the early Utah radio days at KDYL where Kaar built its first radio transmitter. The Redford correspondence deals with the administrative and selective matters of the Rocky Mountain Review, a literary publication controlled by Snell and Redford.

The second section, Early Radio Days, 1927 1947, documents the early portion of Snell's radio career at KDYL in Salt Lake City and at KPO NBC in San Francisco. The majority of material in this section is radio scripts written by Snell. At KDYL, Snell wrote scripts for advertising companies and products. These scripts are listed alphabetically by company name. Snell was affiliated with KDYL for almost twenty years and served in many capacities: announcer, program director, writer, and others. KDYL radio scripts are in box three. In 1945, Snell left Salt Lake to write for NBC in San Francisco. As part of his duties, Snell wrote and produced "The Standard Hour" and "The Standard School Broadcast" from 1945 until he left in 1947. KPO NBC scripts are located in boxes four and five. Snell characterized his radio days at NBC as some of the best in his career. For a brief period, he continued to write and produce "The Standard" scripts, even after he left NBC in 1947 to form station KEEN in San Jose, California, with Floyd Farr and George Mardikian.

The third section, United Broadcasting Company, documents the formation of KEEN in San Jose and the sale of KFIG, KVEG, KFOA, and KAHU. The United Broadcasting Company was formed by Snell, Floyd Farr, George Mardikian, owner of "Omar Kharryam," a popular restaurant with its own radio show, and several others. The company began with KEEN, and the initial formation is documented in box six. The sale of later acquired stations is documented in boxes six and seven. This section provides the most business related information of radio in the collection. It is a good source of material documenting in the sale and acquisition of radio stations.

Although the Snell collection leans heavily toward the script production of early radio in Salt Lake City and San Francisco, it also documents and portrays the early entrepreneurial spirit of post World War II radio geniuses. Snell, Farr, and George Mardikian, their philanthropist friend/business partner, developed some of the most popular music formats, including "beautiful music" and cowboy western, across the country. The collection, in addition to portraying early radio scripts, captures the aggressive beginnings of popular radio from the early 1920s to the present.

Dates

  • 1928-1984

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical / Historical

George Snell (b. 1909) was born on 4 April 1909, to George Dixon and Ivy Belle Price Dixon. Snell was raised mainly in Utah, and for a time in St. Anthony, Idaho. Snell's interest in radio began early in the 1920s when he first constructed an oatmeal box crystal set and when he later became well acquainted with Stan Stoule, a West High classmate and licensed ham. With Stoule's basement radio station and license, Snell became proficient in Morse code and was quickly bitten by the radio bug. In 1925, Snell passed an examination by the Federal Radio Commission and received an operating license with the call 6AKM. Phil Lasky, general manager of KDYL, took advantage of the young man's skills, contacted him, and made Snell part of the KDYL staff in 1927. Eventually, Snell's career at KDYL would run the gambit from program announcer and script writer to program director, from 1938 until he left in 1944.

Snell left Salt Lake City in 1945 to write and produce "The Standard Hour" and "The Standard School Broadcast" for KPO NBC in San Francisco, California. While at NBC, Snell and Floyd Farr developed plans to build a radio station in San Jose, California, a small, burgeoning town with only one radio station. With a hold on construction permits after World War II (WWII), Farr and Snell, with the monetary help of philanthropist George Mardikian, were fortunate enough to be awarded a permit from the FCC and began construction and formation of radio KEEN in 1947. KEEN struggled with a network emulated station format until Snell and Farr broke the mold and tried an all country and western format of popular, recorded music. The birth of modern radio had been witnessed. The new formula proved to be the success of KEEN, and was later applied to the development of KBAY, KVEG, KFIG, KFOA, and KAHU under the parent image of United Broadcasting Company.

Snell continued to be active in radio, even when his sons controlled KBAY and KEEN. Alongside Snell's radio career is his literary career as an author and respected literary critic. From 1934 1968, Snell corresponded with well known writer Vardis Fisher. Snell published three novels in the 1930s: The Great Adam (1934), Root, Hog and Die (1936), and And If Man Triumph (1938). He also had lengthy discussions with Fisher about many literary matters, especially the value of Steinbeck and Hemingway. In addition, in 1947 he published Shapers of American, a still used anthology of biographies of well known American authors. In 1988, he

Far from containing his life to two main interests, Snell supported community activities. Among many activities, he was on the board of directors of the Salvation Army, a member of the San Jose Light Opera Association, president of the board of directors of the San Jose City Library, member of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, and president of the San Jose Advertising Club. The diversity and entrepreneurial genius of Snell is readily depicted in his collection: the radio ham, the "format" genius, the published author, and the sensitive literary critic are equally displayed.

Extent

2.5 Linear Feet

Abstract

The George Snell papers (1928-1984) document early radio in Salt Lake City, Utah, at station KDYL and the development of United Broadcasting Company in San Jose, California. A majority of the collection documents early radio programming through radio scripts that Snell wrote. The collection also covers the developmental phase, sale, and acquisition of radio stations. George Snell (b. 1909) was born on 4 April 1909. He developed a love for the raido at an early age and played a major role in the development of Utah and California Radio.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of George and Althea Snell in 1984.

Separated Materials

Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0152).

Processing Information

Processed by Julie Reiser in 1989.
Title
Inventory of the George Snell papers, 1928-1984
Author
Finding aid created by Julie Reiser
Date
© 1989 (last modified: 2019)
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863