Gunther's Quiz Show: Quiz of Two Cities 

It just went on...and on...and on.  That was the story of the Gunther Brewing Company's radio show: "Quiz of Two Cities."  Starting in 1938 and lasting for over ten consecutive years, the Maryland brewery sponsored a game show titled '''Quiz of Two Cities" to Baltimore and Washington audiences.  At times it reached a audience most advertisers could only dream about.  Under the Gunther banner it occasionally reached the amazing total of 71% of its possible radio audience. From 1938 through 1947 it never delivered less than 31% of potential listeners.

Other advertisers throughout the country sponsored the "Quiz" in their respective cities (see a partial list at bottom) but never was the show as popular as in the Baltimore-Washington market where it aired on WFBR, Baltimore and on WTOP (and later on WOL) in Washington on Wednesday night.  The show also aired on WOI in Washington and on Baltimore TV on WAAM in the 1950s.

Newspaper advertisement, March 1942.

The format of the "Quiz" remained pretty much the same during its long tenure on the air.  The Quiz had four rounds, so four contestants were chosen in each city to participate in the program.  Each round was worth twenty dollars to the contestant in Baltimore and Washington (even though one might be asked three questions and the other only one or two.) In addition to the twenty dollars offered each round, twenty points were awarded if the question or questions were answered correctly. At the end of the broadcast, the points were totaled to determine which city was the winner for that week. The highest scoring contestant in each city were then eligible to compete for the "Super Bonus Pool Question."  (When a contestant failed to answer a question or a part of a question, the money allocated to that particular question was put into the Super Bonus Pool.)  Some "bonus pools" exceeded two thousand dollars and many went over a thousand. To add some perspective, the average yearly salary in 1950 in the US was about $2,900.  In 1940 the average income was a bit under $2,000 and the minimum wage was 43 cents an hour!  If a contestant "hit the jackpot", the pool started off the next week with a fresh one hundred dollars.  The Super Bonus Question was usually fairly tough, but eventually some lucky contestant won it all. 

This is a poster for "A Quiz of Two Cities" for New England.  circa 1940s. 
Courtesy of  Marc Frattasio and the New Haven RR site.

Successful as the program was, the Gunther Brewing Company and its advertising agency, Booth, Vickery & Schwinn, did have some problems, the toughest being where to put the thousands of loyal listeners who wanted to see an actual broadcast of the show. Unable to accommodate the huge influx of requests for tickets to the broadcast because of a lack of seating capacity in the Baltimore and Washington studios, it was often necessary to lease a large theater or auditorium to work off the backlog. Normally, the show was presented from the WFBR studios in Baltimore and from the Almas (Masonic) Temple in Washington, D. C.  Contestants for the Quiz were then drawn by ticket from the studio audiences. 

"A Quiz of Two Cities" was also broadcast on television in Baltimore and Washington on Wednesday evenings. It was broadcast on WMAL in Washington. The top prize by this time started at $250.00.

"Quiz of Two Cities" television broadcast from WMAL, Washington, circa 1951.

Questions for the show were either made up by the agency or were submitted by listeners.  If a submitted question were used on the program, Gunther's sent two dollars to the person sending in the question.  If both the contestants in Baltimore and Washington missed the question, then the submitter's reward was upped to ten dollars.   While the show was most popular in Baltimore and Washington, it was copied in other areas.  Here is a partial list of those areas and stations that aired their own version of "The Quiz of Two Cities."   Additional information is always welcomed to update this list!

Other Cities with "A Quiz of Two Cities"

• Hartford, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts. 1940 on WTIC.
• Buffalo Bob (from Howdy-Doody) co-hosted in Buffalo, New York.
• Richmond versus Norfolk, Virginia on WRVA.
• St. Louis on KMOX.  (vs. Kansas City?)
• San Francisco KFRC  (vs. Los Angeles?)
• WAPI  Alabama?
• Boston, MA and Providence, RI on WEAN and WNAC.
• WBAP in Fort Worth and WFAA in Dallas (need to confirm)

Additional Information Needed: 

I still need some more information, including (but not limited to).
When the show ended in Baltimore and Washington?
Who were the MCs in Baltimore and Washington?
What other stations aired the show?
What are the current call letters for station WOI in Washington, D.C.?

If you can help, please email me at Mark@rustycans.com I always credit contributions!