Night & Day

For more than a quarter-century, U.S. radio stations have signed on & off the air with such tiresome technical details (station's frequency, place of business, etc.) as are required by federal law. This week, Manhattan's station WNBC decided to spice up the formalities with "wakeup copy" in the morning and "go-to-bed copy" at night. To do the job, enterprising General Manager Ted Cott commissioned such seasoned phrasemakers as Poet Louis Untermeyer, Novelist Fannie Hurst, Editor Norman (Saturday Review of Literature) Cousins and topflight Radio

Scripters Norman Corwin and Arch Oboler. Samples:

Poet Untermeyer hailing the dawn: ". . . Morning, which has never failed, has come again. The city rubs its eyes and wakes from sleep ... In the country, the birds have already roused the world. The barn doors swing wide; the milkers put down their pails; the good earth breathes deeply . . . These next hours are precious; they may be milestones in your life. Face them boldly; meet them with all your resources. They are yours. Take this day. Make it a day to remember--or just to enjoy. Make it a good day. And, to begin with, a good Good Morning."

Novelist Fannie Hurst at day's end: ". . . Here I am, about finished, and ready to slip into yesterday's seven thousand years of days ... I am the day on which you paid off the mortgage . . . signed an international treaty or had your tonsils out. Somewhere in my hours, I contained murder, flood, epidemic. You have used and abused me in billions of ways ... In another moment I will have become Yesterday! And so, along with your bag & baggage, your frailties and your grandeurs, I deliver you affectionately to Tomorrow. Hail & Farewell."

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