Garden Gate

Gelesen von Tom Williams

The Garden Gate was broadcast from Nashville and hosted by “The Old Dirt Dobber,” Tom Williams. He dispensed gardening advice in response to questions submitted by listeners, receiving up to 40,000 letters each week. Each program featured the awarding of “The Order of the Green Thumb” to a gardener nominated by listeners, and concluded with a poem submitted by a listener.

Williams was a knowledgeable figure in gardening, having developed a new variety of iris plants in 1944 named “The Dinah Shore” in honor of the singer. One episode in the Hehn collection is from October 16, 1948, where he discusses birds and pink dogwood trees. The program ends with a brief silence before transitioning to a kid’s sports program, Red Barber’s Clubhouse.

Another episode is believed to be from September 25, 1948, based on the teases for other programs. This recording begins with the end of the preceding program and is followed by Red Barber's Clubhouse featuring guest violinist Fritz Kreisler.

These recordings are part of the Joe Hehn Memorial Collection, which was digitized by a range of North American volunteers and international collectors.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.