[United States Air Force]. Wheeldon, DelVina

[Complete Run of Twenty-Five Scripts, Plus Two Ephemeral Items, from the Notable Air Force-Related Episodes of DelVina Wheeldon's Groundbreaking Radio Show, "It's a Woman's World"]

Colorado Springs: 1956-1957. Twenty-five scripts, totaling 335 pages, each between seven and twenty-three pages, each with a pictorial title leaf, all stapled, plus two ephemeral items, totaling nine pages. Minor edge wear and light toning. Ephemeral items folded. Near fine. Item #2830

A complete run of transcripts for all twenty-five episodes of DelVina Wheeldon's landmark radio show about the United States Air Force, broadcast in Cincinnati during the middle years of the Eisenhower era. DelVina Wheeldon (also identified variously as Delvina or Del Vina) hosted a popular weekly radio show called, "It's a Woman's World" on Cincinnati radio station WCKY, where she also served as the Women's Programming Director. She earned a fair bit of fame after a series of shows on the U.S. Air Force which were designed to demystify jet flying and its supposed dangers. Her credibility on the subject was secured after she, according to one of the ephemeral items included here, "strapped herself into an Air Force jet and was flown at 830 miles an hour over Lake Erie at an altitude of 48,000 feet, then was dropped through the sonic barrier when the plane went into a dive." As a result of the flight, Wheeldon became the first woman to break the sound barrier as a passenger in a jet plane on May 12, 1956; she described breaking the sound barrier as no more dangerous than jumping a horse. Wheeldon used the experience as the basis of a series of radio shows touting the safety of jet flight and encouraging more Air Force recruits and their families to commit to service in the armed forces. She earned numerous citations and awards from the U.S. government, most notably the Air Force Association's Citation of Honor, its highest civilian award. She later assisted the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) with a syndicated radio series called “Face to the Future.”

The show scripts, each titled Delvina and Air Defense, and each with a distinct episode title and number, were printed by the Air Force in the wake of the show's success to use as recruiting tools for prospective Air Force pilots and their families. The eclectic array of subjects of the various episodes includes “How an air division protects your home,” “The atomic umbrella over your home,” "Your civil defense role in your survival," “How toleration of jet noise contributes to our security,” "The woman's angle...wife or mother...and an Air Force career," and “There are no atheists in cockpits.” Over the course of the twenty-five episodes, Wheeldon interviews Colonel Dean Hess about his career and his upcoming biopic Battle Hymn, discusses the Continental Air Defense with Colonel Barney Oldfield, witnesses a warning test of the Civil Air Defense System, and much more. In the ninth episode, Wheeldon details her famous flight in which she broke the sound barrier as a passenger on Babylon One. Wheeldon's contemporary view of womanhood can be seen in comments such as "There is nothing in the military service as close to the housewife as our air defense because it protects her homes, her family, her town...." There is also much to be mined for the gender roles and relationships between Wheeldon and the cast of military personnel she interviews. Wheeldon also peppers in references to the Soviet Union in her shows, providing comparisons or context to similar activities by the American military, providing an interesting contemporary case study of home front Cold War propaganda by a noted American female radio host.

The two ephemeral items are promotional pieces involving DelVina Wheeldon. The first is a large five-page promotional pamphlet for a program called "A Look into the Future. The U.S. Air Force" presented by the American Woman Radio & Television's 6th Annual Convention in St. Louis in 1957; Wheeldon is featured in two of the many photographs illustrating the convention, where she was awarded the Golden Mike for Women in Radio & Television for Outstanding Public Service. The second ephemeral piece is a four-page supplement from McCall's magazine, also touting the winners of the Golden Mike; the last page of this supplement includes a long biography of Wheeldon.

No copies of any of the scripts in OCLC. A fascinating collection of midcentury radio scripts by a woman touting the effectiveness of the Air Force in the jet age, with much research potential.

Price: $5,000.00