Hilda Woehrmeyer worked in the broadcasting business for over 30 years. She worked at WOWO, a station in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the sales promotion writer and station promotion director. Woehrmeyer said that “radio makes a neighborhood of a nation.”
Woehrmeyer began working in broadcasting in the 1930’s. Her employer at an advertising agency instructed her to write a script for their firm’s live musical show on WOWO. After completing that task, Woehrmeyer began working for the radio station and stayed there for more than three decades. She worked as the sales promotion writer as well as the station promotion director.
At WOWO, she worked on many projects, including working on “Stork Express,” “Rhythmatics” and “Roses to a Lady.”
WOWO radio station first signed to air on March 31, 1925. The station initially had 500 watts at 1320 kilocycles and was created after Fred Zieg, owner of a Main Auto Supply Store in downtown Fort Wayne, wanted to promote the sales of Dayfan radios. A salesman at the same store named Kneale D. Ross had convinced Zieg that for $150, a radio station could be built above the store. Although Woehrmeyer was known for her broadcast career, she previously worked as an employee at the Main Auto Supply Store.
The call letters in the radio station, “WOWO,” stand for “Wayne Offers Wonderful Opportunities.” That slogan was born out of a contest from listeners of the radio station.
In the 1930’s, when Woehrmeyer’s career in broadcasting began, WOWO became the first radio station to broadcast a basketball game. The station was also the first to air a “Man on the Street” program called “Hoosier Hop,” which began in 1932 and spanned nearly two decades.
After Woehrmeyer retired from WOWO, she began working at the Catholic Social Services in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Woehrmeyer passed away in 1989.
