From the Archives: Remembering Harve Bradley and other Past Weathermen

Mike Summerour sent us this e-mail:

Years ago I believe Channel 12 had a weather forcaster that would always refer to "that square state". What was his name and who long was he on the air with Channel 12?

Well, I know the answer to this one.  I got to learn about several of our early Weathermen while researching our 50th anniversary special a couple of years ago.

The Square State Weatherman is none other than Harve Bradley.

Harve joined WDEF TV just a few months after it signed on the air in 1954.  He did the late newscasts for several years.  In those days, it was a one man show.

Harve did everything.. news, weather and sports, plus reading his own live commercials in between.

But he says people always remembered him best for clowning around during the weather.

He left the station and the city in the sixties.  But Harve returned to Chattanooga and WDEF in the mid eighties as a radio disc jockey for a few years.  And that's where I remember him from.. the smokey voice who handled the afternoon drive home.

Harve passed away several years ago, but we still have plenty of material on him, which I'll share with you here.

First, the story we aired for our 50th anniversary special in 2004 on weathercasters (Harve Bradley, John Gray, Debbie Baer, even a cameo from David Neal).

Patrick Core shows you how they did it back in the day.

Since this story aired in 2004, John Gray has passed away.  Debbie Baer-Allen is still doing just fine in Nashville. 

But we also have more from Harve. 

First, a montage of old photos.  You can see the early weather boards he worked on.  Not much high tech about them.

But wait, there's more!

Back in 1984, Harve was still in town (actually still in the same building) doing radio for WDEF.

So to celebrate our 30th anniversary, David Carroll interviewed him about the early days (Yes, David started his TV career here on the Morning Show with Helen Hardin). 

So they sat down for an interview in Harve's radio booth.

I've broken it up into several parts, so you don't have to sit through all of it.

But I'm posting the entire interview (and even some parts not meant for the air) because this is historical now.

And it's never been shown in it's entirety.

So enjoy.

Part I:  David asks Harve how he came to WDEF.  But first, I've included material from before the formal interview begins, just for flavor.  Back then (1984), you still could light up on camera.  No modern day personality would dare do it now.

Part II: Harve talks about how early television news was much different than what we see today.

Part III: The story about the Square State.

Part IV:  How far did management let him go on the air?

Part V:  Of course, there were no computers, dopler radar or weather degrees back then.  So how did they make the forecast?  And how did they stack up to weathercasts in 1984?

PS... The "They" Harve refers to is the National Weather Service.  Back then TV weathermen got all their information from the weather service.  There was a local office then at Lovell Field.  But that was shutdown due to budget cuts in the 80's.

Part VI: Finally, the wrapup.  David tests Harve's memory.  Does he remember his sponsors?

Part VII:  And we leave you with one more bonus. 

After the interview, they asked Harve to record a Promo for the 30th anniversary show (hosted by David Carroll & Luther).  I leave you with the versions he cut... no scripts.  Can you guess which one they used?

Thanks for the e-mail.

If you've got more questions about the old days at WDEF, drop us a line to News@wdef.com or you can get me at wparker@wdef.com