Hoot Owls

The KGW Keep Growing Wiser Order of Hoot Owls was launched in January, 1923 when the editor of the Oregoninan newspaper, which owned KGW, invited a Portland businessman -- Charles F. Berg -- to his office and explore the idea of creating a variety program which would involve the radio listening audience. What resulted with a freshly written and acted weekly program which took audiences by storm. The Hoot Owls were set up as a mythical lodge and its officers had outlandish names (some said as a subtle slap at the Ku Klux Klan which was then growing in importance). Listeners could write in an be inducted but in-studio inductees were required to undergo considerable ribbing. The program consisted of music, provided by local musicians (including the KGW staff orchestra) and various skits written for the program. The program cast consisted of prominent Portland officials and business men and the theme song was played on a rescued wheezing caliope (called the Owlorgan) by the Episcopal Bishop of Oregon The program weekly poked fun at local and national topics and inviduals -- all in good humor.

Like many another pioneer in a dawning medium, the original Hoot Owls radio showcame to prominence through a combination of good timing, understanding and exploiting the new medium's raw potential, having few fixed rules to restrain them, and generally doing whatever amused themselves rather than second-guessing or pandering to their audience. As a review from that era noted: "The Hoot Owls & sound like there was a dandy party going on in the next room and somebody left the door open." Much like SCTV 50 years later, the Hoot Owls performers were also its writers; by working off the radar in the "provinces" they were less constrained by convention; and their local flavor and funky, low-budget amateurishness injected a charm and personality that had wide appeal. They were, in that sense, the You Tube of their day