The collection documents Milwaukee Polish-language radio broadcasting through the 1930s to its virtual demise in the mid-1950s, focusing on the careers of Stanley I. Nastal and his son. There is a folder of biographical information and photos of Nastal, including an obituary, military photographs, and a short biography written by his son. Also included is a photocopy of the 1922 military memoir written by Nastal, Sr., “Niebieska Dewizja.”
Records of Polish-language programming include program logs, in English, of Our Polish Hour, dating from 1947 to 1954, fragmentary accounting statements listing monthly advertising receipts, and a scattering of advertising contracts, 1940-1949. A folder of correspondence, 1934-1951, deals with radio station and programming matters, station contests, personal and family items, and letters written to representatives in Congress. Also with the correspondence is a 1946 letter discussing station WEMP's curtailment of foreign-language broadcasting. A major portion of the collection consists of scripts, all in Polish, written as advertising copy for the Sunday night Theater of the Air broadcasts and for the daily serialized sketches. Many of the scripts were written by Natal, Sr., who also acted in the dramas presented. Other members of the Nastal family participated in the presentations, as did local and national Polish actors, among them Jozef Kosciuk.
The scripts for skits (Box 3) were written for the continuing series Chwalek i Malek, in which regular characters met to discuss events in a neighborhood tavern. Nastal, Sr. took the role of Chwalek, Kosciuk was Frank, Nastal, Jr. was Antos, and Casey Wisniewski portrayed Bruno. After Nastal, Sr.'s death in 1947, the series continued as Malvina and Friends, with Malvina (Helen Nastal) as the tavern keeper. Many of the scripts in the collection have been annotated. Notes in pencil in a European-style of handwriting are Nastal, Sr.'s production notes, while notes in pen (in English) contain Stanley, Jr.'s notes about production dates and characters.
Other material in the collection consists of a Polish song book, printed about 1949, and a few items of information concerning WFOX radio station.
According to the donor, only about ten percent of his father's papers were preserved; some papers the donor retained. In addition, there are partially identified recordings of Polish-language radio programs housed in Madison only pending better identification.
