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2026
Man From Mars Productions
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We know the little girl existed. Her name was Olive Mae Pfau. She was born on May 29, 1928 and lived most of her life in East Glastonbury, Connecticut. Music, the arts and dancing were her lifelong passions. As a child she sang on the radio as Little Olive Mae, and later in life she taught keyboard instruction - and even played in a ukuele band. Olive grew up and got married, raised a daughter and died on July 30, 2007 at the age of 79. And her family kept the correspondence she maintained with one of WDRC's pioneer broadcasters: Sterling V. Couch.
How about the program? The earliest reference we found was that it aired Thursday afternoons at 4:30 as of November 12, 1931. The first broadcast featured seven acts and about a dozen performers. |
 The Hartford Courant October 2, 1932 |
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The ringmaster behind WDRC's Young Folks Program was longtime program director Sterling V. Couch. He not only hosted the program but was also in charge of finding local musical talent, arranging rehearsals, scheduling appearances, and coordinating with the musicians who backed the young singers. Couch joined WDRC in 1927 when it was still WPAJ in New Haven, coming north to Hartfod when the station relocated in 1930. Sterling was known on the air as Daddy Couch, largely because of the Young Folks Program. In later years he was also the station's religious and education director, as well as the commercial traffic manager. The show proved so popular that in September 1932 WDRC arranged the broadcast from the stage of the YWCA on Ann Street in Hartford. As the weeks went on it was routine for more than 200 people to gather as a live studio audience. The youngest participants would stand on crates - or be lifted by an adult - to reach the microphone. In time the program increased from a half hour to a full hour and featured up to 30 children, all under the age of 16. Couch incorporated a "League of Nations," featuring at least one musical performance in a foreign tongue per week. In all, a stable of about 90 performers were available for any given show. Fan mail was plentiful; click on this example from a listener at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston.
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 The Hartford Courant - October 2, 1932 |
 Daddy Couch in March 1949 |
Click for more of Daddy Couch's letters to Little Olive Mae (and her Mom).
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 Olive Mae Pfau in 1932 |
