Recently Colleen brought in audio reels to Pixologie to have them digitized for her mother. While they did contain performances from a 1950s WTMJ show, the reels also told of Irish family traditions, great musical talent and a genuine love for family. This story tells how saving audio reels preserved a big part of their family history.
Born in 1934, Mary “Molly” (Halloran) Trenkle grew up in house full of singing. With Irish roots, her family was tight-knit and very musical. Their traditions of singing and performing go back generations.
Mary’s family moved from LeSueur Minnesota in 1942 to Milwaukee Wisconsin for work. They later settled in Cedarburg, Wisconsin in 1949 and brought their love of music along. Mary’s family started a band in Cedarburg called “Happy Jack and his Band” which consisted of her father John Halloran, her mother Mary Halloran and Uncle John Callahan and two other close friends. Mary recalls being exposed to music since day one.
Through the 1940s and 1950s, the Halloran family gathered every Sunday, enjoying each other’s company, singing and performing together. Mary grew up singing and loving music. While at Cedarburg High School, Mary entered a talent show and won first place. Encouraged by family, Mary entered a WTMJ talent show and won first place.
This led to a local band, “The Hiawatha Ramblers” to come in for an audition. The Ramblers aired on WTMJ at 10 pm. Because of their success with that show, the band decided to start a second show called “Joe Szott & the Hot Shots.” Mary performed on that show from 1952 to 1956.
Click here to listen to one of the audio reels. Mary is introduced around the 14:30 minute mark.
During those years, the family recorded some of their own performances as well as some of Mary’s WTMJ shows. Eight reel to reel audio tapes were enjoyed over the next decades, but then went into storage.
Mary married Simon Trenkle in 1958. Because of her love of music, she felt everyone should have the knowledge of music. She made sure each of her five children played an instrument. Mary continued to share her music with family and friends at many social gatherings through the years.
Colleen looked forward to seeing her mom so they could listen to the tapes together. Mary was delighted to be able to hear her family members voices again. Listening to all of the old tunes they sang together, she recalled many old stories. They were so impressed that we were able to transfer these memories. Colleen said sharing it was such a treasure for all the family.
We are grateful to have helped Colleen and Mary enjoy those songs and memories once again.
Interested in audio recordings from old radio shows? Click here to learn about another client of ours who was able to hear her father’s voice again.
Here’s an interesting article about the history of radio in Milwaukee dated from 2001. How much has changed since then.
Do you have photos, audio, film and other types of media that help tell your family’s story? Don’t let it stay hidden away any longer.