After working as a newsboy, salesman, motorcycle messenger and professional boxer, he was invited to Hartford by a race promoter to announce a motorcycle race. On his last day in town, he walked into WTIC's radio studios on a whim and asked to audition for a vacant announcer position. He became a junior staff announcer at WTIC on Oct. 1, 1936. He took over The G. Fox Morning Watchradio show on WTIC Radio AM 1080 in 1943. In a day when businesses sponsored entire programs, the prominence of the business was a reflection of the show's popularity. G. Fox & Co. was the premier department store chain in the greater Hartford area. In 1950, the program was renamed The Bob Steele Show. By the time he retired from the Monday through Friday radio show in 1991, he had created one of the longest running radio programs in the country. But he never fully retired. He continued to host a Saturday morning radio show on WTIC until his death at age 91. For much of his time at WTIC, he also did the evening sports program on both WTIC radio and television. It was no mean feat since he had to be on the air for his morning drive time radio show at 5:30 AM. For years, Steele broadcast six days a week and told the occasional incredulous interviewer that the show was his pastime, not a job.
Easy-Going Style
Steele's style was easy-going and comfortably predictable. Segments comprised weather, sports, birthdays, anniversaries, local and national news and storytelling for children. Nothing brightened up a winter morning more for generations of school-age kids than when Bob Steele announced that their district would have no school that day. A favorite segment was "Tiddlywinks from the Teletype, little stories of little importance..." that wrapped up each day's show, ending with the final bars of the 2nd Connecticut Regiment March leading into the 10:00 AM news. Quick with a pun, Steele's respect for the spoken word was renowned. He regularly shared with his audience tips and lessons on grammar and pronunciation, including his Word for the Day, an always popular part of his show. His unparalleled popularity was matched by a very responsive audience. He regularly received hundreds of letters a week from listeners, including, reportedly, letters from listeners "Down Under." Due to the 50,000-watt power of the WTIC transmitter and its clear channel status, atmospheric conditions would occasionally allow his show to be heard in the early days of radio from as far away as Australia. He often told folksy, punny stories about his numerous relatives, including his uncles Coldrolled and Stainless, and his aunts Bessemer and Amalgamated.
Favorite Songs
Throughout the 1960s, Steele vowed to not play music by the Beatles and other rock and roll acts on his show. By the 1980s, however, oldies from the sixties, including songs by the Beatles and others, worked their way into his playlists. Steele was more famous, however, for the obscure novelty songs he often played on his show, especially Rolf Harris' "Two Buffaloes," Mitch Miller's "The Yellow Rose of Texas," and, annually on May 20, a song appropriately entitled, "I'm Getting Married on The 20th of May." He also was very fond of "Tulips in Amsterdam" and "Any Dream Will Do."
Steele's Legacy
Bob Steele has four sons, Robert, Paul, Philip, and Steven. His oldest son, Robert H. Steele, represented Connecticut's 2nd congressional district in the early 1970s and was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor in 1974. In 1980, Steele published a book entitled "Bob Steele: A Man and His Humor." A second book celebrating his 50th anniversary on radio was published in 1986 and his last, "The Word for the Day," written with son Phil Steele, was published in 2002. The Bob Steele Reading Center at the Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford facility on Arbor Street, dedicated in 1989, honors his years as an advocate of literacy. On December 12, 2011, the Hartford city council voted unanimously to rename in Steele's honor a section of the city's Grove Street in recognition of his iconic status and the 100th anniversary of his birth. Bob Steele Street was officially dedicated in a special ceremony on January 4, 2013. A bronze plaque honoring Steele's career was installed on the east side of the Travelers Insurance building at the intersection of Bob Steele and Prospect streets on May 19, 2015. The plaque, created by sculptor Michael Keropian , was unveiled in a ceremony on May 29, 2015.
