KTIS Minneapolis radio station label

The labels I find inside books usually consist of bookplates, book shop labels, school labels, etc. Now I can add radio station labels to the list. My first one of these is from KTIS in Minneapolis, the radio voice of Northwestern Schools (Bible School, College of Liberal Arts, and Theological Seminary).


This promotional label for both the radio station and the college that owned it could date back as far as 1949 because the KTIS came on the air that year. The book it was found in is a later printing of the The Disciplines of Life, by V. Raymond Edman (1948). Without knowing the printing history of the book, my fourth printing could have been in the following year or in any year after that, up to the time zip codes began. The address on the label has Minneapolis 3 Minnesota. Another clue is the FM station indicated on the label. FM radio got started in the 1930s, but didn't begin to flourish until sometime after its inventor's suicide in 1954 (interesting FM history here). Likely, this label dates closer to 1960, giver or take a few years.

KTIS, and its Christian programming, is still on the air all these years later and it looks like they will be celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. I haven't found any mention of this, though, on the KTIS Web site.

Fifty-year-old radio stations are not that unusual. But 50 years of the same format seems very unusual. KTIS started out with a religious/Christian format and they are still humming along with basically the same format--radio programming for a Christian audience. Not only that, but they are still owned and operated by Northwestern College (nee Schools). Of course, being owned and operated by a theology-oriented college probably accounts, to a large degree, for the longevity and consistent format.

The Houston area market I live in has seen so many format changes among its radio stations, especially in the last 10 years, that I can't think of any that have the same format they had 50 years ago. The biggest change I can find with KTIS is their location. They moved all the way from Minneapolis to their Twin City location of St. Paul.

Many years ago, though, in Minneapolis, KTIS gave away a copy of The Disciplines of Life and affixed their "souvenir booklet" label on it. And now it's a unique "souvenir" in my collection of bibliophemera.

Comments

  1. BlysseJanuary 15, 2009 at 8:52 AM

    To help you out on the dating a bit. You are correct. KTIS AM and FM signed on the air in 1949 (actually celebrating their 60th this summer).

    The best information I have would date this between 1949 and 1956. Northwestern closed their Theological Seminary in 1956, and maintained the Liberal Arts College.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chuck WhitingJanuary 15, 2009 at 9:56 AM

    Oops on the anniversary calculation--thanks for the correction. My Liberal Arts degree did not include any math electives ;o) And many thanks for helping to narrow down the date of this label.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Benjamin L ClarkJanuary 17, 2009 at 9:48 AM

    Speaking of non-bookstore book labels, I have one from a VW dealership in a copy of Small Wonder.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Chuck WhitingJanuary 19, 2009 at 5:39 PM

    Ha! That's about as appropriate a title as you could expect. And the chances of that pairing being coincidental? Zilch, I'd wager.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to open a book

Image
Cataloging books the other day, I came across an 1890s multivolume set called Messages and Papers of the Presidents . Inside one of the volumes was a slip of printed paper with a bookbinder's message: How to Open a Book . The set was published by the Government Printing Office, so they are the likely source of this piece of paper, which reprints a passage from a publication titled, Modern Bookbinding . No other bibliographical detail is included for that title, but I have found a magazine from that era, Modern Bookbinding and Their Designers . No clue, though, as to the author of this particular piece. You might wonder (I did) why there would be a need for instructions to open a book. And if you put those instructions inside the book, doesn't that defeat the purpose somewhat? Opening a book is not as easy as you might think. At least if you read these instructions and try to follow them. Here's the gist of it in the opening run-on sentence: Hold the book with its back on a
Read more

A Bookaholic and Bibliophile in Ukraine

Image
A favorite piece in my Bibliophemera collection is an unused postcard illustrated by Ukrainian artists Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv. It features two interesting, whimsical creatures embracing each other while maintaining engagement with their books. Cat-like and bird-like, one in high heels and one barefoot, one with a long tail and prominent ears and one with tail feathers and no visible ears, both with beaks, and both with books. They can’t put their books down even in this intimate moment. Appropriately, they are labeled Bookaholic and Bibliophile. Might they even be an imaginative rendering of the artists themselves? Romana and Andriy were both born in Lviv, Ukraine in 1984 and continue to live and work there. The illustration on the postcard is a fitting depiction of their artistic lives where books and their illustrations comprise their passion for illustration, book design, and writing. Together, they started Art Studio Agrafka in Lviv where they have produced award-win
Read more

Henry Altemus Company - Philadelphia

Image
Having recently corresponded with Frank DeFreitas over at Antiquarian Holographica about certain historical sites in Philadelphia, I guess the Philly force was with me yesterday when I was out scouting for books. I found a decent copy of The Story of Young Benjamin Franklin , by Wayne Whipple (Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia, 1916). Whipple wrote a series of children's books portraying famous Americans such as Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin. He also wrote about American icons such as the Liberty Bell and the American Flag. I might have passed on the Franklin book if not for what was tucked inside as a bookmark--a contemporary brochure from the publisher, Henry Altemus. There's a little character at the top of the first page, standing next to a row of books and with a book in hand, he exclaims, An Altemus book and nothing to do until tomorrow. Oh, joy! The brochure opens up into a front-and-back listing for Altemus' 20th Century Books for Boys and Girls. One side lis
Read more