Like most of us, Dennis Wright discovered old-time radio programs on sheer happenstance and was immediately hooked. At the age of 16, during the winter of 1973, he dial surfing the AM radio band when he heard Orson Welles starring in Lucille Fletcher’s “The Hitch-hiker” on Suspense. As the years passed, his passion for old time radio grew along with his desire to collect the old-time radio programs that brought him so much entertainment. This eventually led to a feverish desire to collect and preserve photographs of well-known radio personalities, followed later by a fanatical search for old-time radio premiums and memorabilia. Bitten by the collecting bug, he grew “a passion that keeps you going during the day, but an obsession that keeps you up all night.”In 1988 he became a CNA (Certified Nurse’s Assistant), and as his collection of radio premiums grew, he began to share them with he patients and soon discovered they enjoyed reminiscing about old-time radio as much as he liked talking about it. He looked into other opportunities to share his collection with other museums, retirement homes and assisted living facilities and finally during March of 2016, Dennis and his wife opened the Radio Days “theater of the mind” Museum in Sutherlin, Oregon. This is a small town with a population of 7,000, located about three hours south of Portland.
His first radio premium collected was the Sergeant Preston Police Whistle, now on display in the museum. Most of what is in the museum today is from his own collection. He shops eBay and other auction sites and sometimes purchases from private collectors. “We have on permanent display some vintage broadcasting equipment, vintage and antique radios,” Dennis explained to me. “Also old-time radio album art, posters, comic art and radio premiums from the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. Our rarest display pieces would be the Captain Midnight Sun God ring, and two complete Lone Ranger Frontier towns from 1948 (one unpunched in four sections and the other assembled for all to see). One of my favorite pieces is the 1947 Green Hornet secret compartment ring. We have an exceptionally large collection including items from: Space Patrol, Buck Rogers, Captain Midnight, Tom Mix, The Lone Ranger, Straight Arrow, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon and other radio shows.”
The recent worldwide pandemic restricted his ability to share the collection with those in retirement homes and assisted living facilities, but that should soon revert back to normalcy by summer. The Museum is regularly scheduled Wednesday to Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Dennis was kind enough to send me photographs from the museum so feel free to enjoy them. But open or close, the museum is always open for donations – including collectibles. Personally, I went upstairs and found a few things I could easily part with and shipped out a package containing a few donations – including an original Charlie McCarthy comic book, autographed photos from radio celebrities, and other goodies that will no doubt go on display in the museum. If you have an item or two among your collection you would like to donate, feel free to send them to Radio Days Museum, Po Box 845, Sutherlin, Oregon 97479. I am certain he would appreciate the donations and add them to the displays.
