Radio Premium

A radio premium is a gift or discount sent to a listener of a radio program who writes in to request the gift.

History

In the United States, during the 1930s through the early 1950s, the primary entertainment medium was broadcast radio. Besides news and sports shows, there were many programs devoted to comedy, variety, and drama. Many of the dramatic shows, both for children and adults, were presented in 15-minute serial format.

For children's shows in particular, advertisers started offering "souvenirs" of the shows, usually in the form of a novelty, such as a pin or ring. These were usually obtained by sending in a proof of purchase to the sponsor of the show, often accompanied with a small sum, often a dime, for handling charges.

Some premiums were simple, such as photos of the cast of the show, but most were items like "secret compartment rings," where, as the name implies, there was a concealed volume where a note or other small item could be hidden.

Some shows aimed directly at children gave out badges as premiums. These could be Sheriff's badges, as in the Tom Mix Dobie Sheriff's Badge, which had a built-in siren, or a Solar Scout badge, from the "Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century" program. The "Little Orphan Annie" radio show offered a series of "decoder pins," which were both membership badges and cryptological devices to decipher secret messages. The "Captain Midnight" program carried on the tradition with its "Code-O-Graph" cipher units.

The show that provided the most radio premiums was "Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters", which ran from 1933 to 1949. Its premiums ran the gamut from campcraft items (a combined compass-magnifier unit) through rings (such as the Signature Ring, where one could see a real signature of Tom Mix) to a Lucite Signal Arrowhead, with siren, whistles, and a magnifying and reduction lens. The show offered wooden guns, "lario" twirling devices, and spurs with luminous rowels. Even at the closing days of the radio show, it offered a model of a television set.

Most of the other shows were more modest in their offerings. The "Sky King" program, one of the later ones, offered multifunction premiums, such as the Magni-Glo Writing Ring, which had a secret compartment, a magnifying glass, a luminous plastic element, and a tiny ballpoint pen all built into a crownpiece of a ring that would fit easily on a child's finger.

During World War II, the shortage of manufacturing materials meant that the majority of premiums were nonmetallic. Many were paper and cardboard: the "Hop Harrigan" and "Captain Midnight" programs offered "plane spotting" premiums, which echoed the Air Warden activity of the Civilian Defense organization in the home front. "Captain Midnight" and "The Lone Ranger" shows offered blackout kits. Most of the metallic premiums issued in 1942 were actually manufactured before the Pearl Harbor attack for later distribution.

The majority of radio premiums were sent away for by mail. It would usually take two to three weeks for the premium to arrive, usually is a small manila envelope. Some premiums required listeners to visit the sponsor's business, such as Skelly Oil gas stations.

Although radio premiums were generally aimed at children, a few soap opera programs offered them occasionally.

The reason for radio premiums was twofold. The obvious one was to encourage sales of the sponsor's product, since a proof of purchase was required to claim the premium. Another reason was that statisticians could estimate the number listening to the show by premium demands from the listeners. This was as accurate as and less expensive than the ratings services then in existence.