Jane King & Jack Creamer
"The Handy Man" Program on WPTZ
circa 1947

Broadcast Pioneers member Jane King (aka Jane King Hall) was a regular on WPTZ in the early days. She was on The Handy Man and was a regular on the Let Skinner Do It and the later Let Scott Do It shows with Mr. Rivets. She also hosted her own daily afternoon half-hour program on Channel 3. However, The Handy Man show belonged to Broadcast Pioneers member Jack Creamer and Jane was his sidekick. "The Handy Man" program was carried over WPTZ from April of 1947 until February of 1953.

Some people have confused this program, "The Handy Man," with the show entitled, "All Eyes on Gimbels" which aired in 1946. Creamer was also the host of that program.

This photo was taken by Broadcast Pioneers member Preston Stover. Preston was on staff at WPTZ but moonlighted taking pictures of Channel 3 shows and selling them. Mrs. Stover told us that Preston would take the snapshot and then develop it that night in their bathtub. They were saving up to purchase a home and his photography work gave them the money for a down payment. Stover started at WPTZ as a cameraman and quickly rose through the ranks to become a Director and Producer. He stayed with the station until it was traded to NBC. At that time, his family moved to Cleveland and the newly acquired Westinghouse properties there.

We also know that Carol Reed was involved with Jack's Handy Man show. She also had a TV disc jockey program on WPTZ. However, we believe that it is not Carol in the above picture. Jane King had identified herself as being the female in the photo. We have no reason to doubt that claim.

From the official archives of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
Photo is a composite of two different versions of the same picture
One is courtesy of Mike Feymer and the Test Patterns and Broadcasting Bits website
The other one was donated by Broadcast Pioneers member Gerry Wilkinson
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The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com