How Mr. Sawdust Got His Name — 1948 Home Show (An Imagined Moment Back in Time)
Channel: Mr. Sawdust
Date: 2023-02-19

In the chapter titled "The Great Do-It-Yourself Era" of his book (Master the Radial Arm Saw), Wally Kunkel tells the story of just how he came to be known as "Mr. Sawdust". Though it was one of the earliest television broadcasts all the way back in 1948, we've simply never been able to find it (likely as it was purely a live broadcast). I'm sure I'm not alone in having imagined this moment when reading his recollection of it — so here's a little experiment in bringing it to life, even just a bit. — David

https://mrsawdust.com/blog/how-mr-sawdust-got-his-name

You can read the full chapter from the book right here (or read the excerpt further down right here):
https://mrsawdust.com/master-the-radial-arm-saw/chapters/the-great-do-it-yourself-era

For anyone curious (warning: nerdspeak to follow), here's a few notes on how this was made:

– Each person's voice was used to train a distinct AI voice-model. Each model was trained using samples of their respective voices, from various archival YouTube footage.
– The dialogue itself was simply imagined and scripted out to create an exchange giving each person a chance to say a little something.
– If you're interested (but unfamiliar) with how these voice performances compare to the "real" voice of each person, search their names on YouTube. The fidelity and resemblance of Norman Brokenshire and George Gobel is rather fantastic, albeit with a good deal of experimentation to get right. As for Mr. Sawdust himself, there's certainly more than a few hints of "the man himself" in the voice I've been able to achieve so far — but the more you know someone's voice having known the person themself, the harder it is to truly fool the ear. I've tried to make it something that, in the very least, if he were alive today... would make him smile and laugh at this strange new world of possibility in which we're all now living.
– All the various snippets of dialogue were assembled atop a bit of crowd noise and music from the era, and that's that. A handful of photos we're added to at least "put a face to the voice".

———

The following is an excerpt from the book, upon which this "imaginary exchange" is based:

So, this is the story that Do-It- Yourself America learned to love.
I well remember that I “worked” the very first Home Show that was ever held in the 34th Street Armory in New York City. That was in 1948. It was also the very first Home Show to be televised—which made it a very big event. TV was in its real infancy, everything was “live” and a very popular lady by the name of Mary Margaret McBride came into the armory with a huge camera and lots of long, fat wires and decided I was to be her subject.

While she was getting ready, I met an even bigger personality by the name of Norman Brokenshire. He was the most famous of the radio commentators at the time (the Cronkite of his day)—and also quite
a woodworker at his home in Ronkonkama, Long Island. Along- side him was a young comedian with a “butch” haircut, a newcomer to television—and his name was George Gobel. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember “Lonesome George” for his—“Well, I’ll be a dirty bird!”

While Mary Margaret was focusing on me and my DeWalt, she also decided that I would “make something in 60 seconds.” I guess I looked a little lost because Brokenshire started coming up with suggestions—the best of which was, “Make a box!” After a little head- scratching, I agreed with him.
So, with the big camera whirring, Mary Margaret commentating, and “Broke” and Gobel telling me how many seconds I had left, I made a half-dozen saw cuts, changed to a dado-head and made a half-dozen more cuts, and started picking up the pieces with “Five seconds to go!”

The whole thing snapped together at “Two!” and I held up the box to a cheering, counting crowd at “Zero!”

Gobel turned to Brokenshire and said, “We call him Mr. Sawdust! Yessiree, that’s what we call this fella!”

And that’s been my name ever since.