Louise Bennett-Coverley.
Leighton Williams, Staff Reporter
'Dulcemina'. 'Mass Ran and Miss Lou'. 'Argosy'. 'The Fortunes of Flora Lee'. 'Here Comes Charlie'. 'Ring Ding'. 'Teen Age Dance Party'.
Those names would be familiar to those of us who were around in the 60s, as they were popular programmes on radio or television.
However, they don't mean much to Jamaicans who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, because the programmes were discontinued long before some of us can remember - r were even born.
But don't get all fired up to catch up on your culture, or reminisce on days of yore. If you tried to get a recording of some of these older local programmes to watch or listen to, you may be in for a disappointment.
Most of the recordings have been destroyed.
"That's a fact. Miss Lou and Mass Ran, Jamaica Hit Parade, It's A Mystery and the soap operas, except for The Fortunes of Flora Lee (written by Carmen Christie) no longer exist. I made a promise and I lived up to it that I would save a tape for the family and they still have it," pointed out Charles Hyatt, who directed The Fortunes of Flora Lee in the 1960s.
The programmes, which were aired mainly on the then Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC), now Television Jamaica (TVJ), were done as a part of the station's mandate to emulate British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) programming format.
They covered a wide range of themes and appealed to all segments of the market. There were game shows, documentaries, band performances and soap operas, as well as advice programmes.
"It was a fantastic diet of creative works. There were programmes on art, farming, women's programming and a host of other programmes," playwright Louis Marriott explained.
Based on the arrangements when the station was established, the JBC received a budget to cover broadcasting expenses. Over time, the budget was cut as government resources dwindled. In the end, many of the local programmes were discontinued.
"Some of the programmes were quite popular. For example, Miss Lou and Mass Ran was popular. 'Here Comes Charlie', hosted by Charles Hyatt, was also popular. Every single thing was scrapped," playwright Trevor Rhone said. As the programmes were dissolved, the tapes were stored. However, they weren't stored forever.
The reduction in funding ultimately meant that the station needed resources. Consequently, many of the tapes meant for archiving were erased to make way for newer material. And, in an instant, the programmes which once provided information, education and entertainment to Jamaicans no longer existed.
"They probably have snippets at the archives, but from what I know the programmes were destroyed," Mr. Hyatt said.
Charles Hyatt isn't the only one who has had his works scrubbed. Louis Marriot was unable to say if any of the nine plays he did for the JBC had been archived or saved.Trevor Rhone has also been unable to ascertain the number of his works that have gone a similar route, let alone the other cultural programmes and interviews from that period.
While most of the programmes are said to have been erased, the veteran writers and producers say some may still have been left in the Archives.
Checks with the TVJ Library revealed that the National Archives, which fall under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), had stored some of the older Jamaican programmes. However, when The Sunday Gleaner contacted the National Archives, we were sent on to the National Library.
When the National Library was contacted, a spokesperson there who wished to remain anonymous said: "We have a few of the works from that period, but nowhere has a comprehensive storage. We are currently going through to see what we have."
"We may have a few copies of Dulcemina, but none of Ring Ding and several others. These stories are timeless and represent a part of our culture. The absence of these represent a serious gap in our culture," she continued. The National Library representative explained that the tapes they had acquired from the JBC were collected from the yard. The Library said they were informed by passers-by that the tapes, which turned out to contain some of these programmes, were in the yard. Hence, they were able to salvage a few but added that they did not know how much was lost.
Former general manager and chief announcer at the JBC, Dwight Whylie, said it was possible that programme directors from overseas who didn't know much about the JBC's mandate, may have unintentionally allowed the destruction of parts of our heritage.
"A lot of the programmes were scrubbed out of ignorance. The tapes were an indication of what could be done with limited resources. We started importing programme directors during that time and a lot of the stuff got re-used," Mr. Whylie pointed out. He added that he had learnt of the material's erasure when he returned to the JBC from England and asked about them.
The writers and producers of the original work says the missing cultural works are invaluable. "The fact that they are gone now makes them priceless. They're priceless items," Mr. Rhone said.
