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| Uncle Martin Wales in the WBAY studio (Coral Gables, Florida), ca. late 1940s or early 1950s |
The First Hillbilly of Florida
The Story of "Uncle" Martin Wales
Uncle Martin Wales was one of the mainstays of Miami country music, possibly being the most enduring radio personality of the area.
Martin Smyth Wales was born on August 12, 1912, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Charles Elliot and Sarah B Wales. Wales' ancestors had been living in Minnesota since the mid 19th century. Music and performing was an early passion of young Martin Wales, as he entertained soldiers at a gathering at his family's house at the early age of six years.
By 1930, Wales had taken up singing and playing guitar professionally and set out on his own. He started his career in 1930 in Billings, Montana, where he "combined announcing with hillbilly singing" according to his obituary in the Palm Beach Post. He then spent some time in a Canadian logger camp and as a beachcomber on South Pacific islands.
In 1934, Wales spent his holidays in Miami, Florida, and liked it so much he stayed for the rest of his life. He married Vivian M. Stanton in 1938 and started appearing on Miami radio in the 1940s. In 1941, he was a performer on WKAT in Miami Beach. It was at that time that he invented the character of "Uncle Martin", singing old-time songs with a fake beard. He became station manager of WIOD but retained his show on WKAT (where he hosted the "Frosty Martin Show") and in 1947, introduced "Uncle Martin's Square Dance" on WBAY in Coral Gables. In 1951, he divorced from his first wife and married Betty M. Carson the same year.
He also made the transition to television in the early 1950s. In 1953, WITV was started in Fort Lauderdale with a country music show entitled "Sunset Ranch", hosted by Wales and Miss Molly Turner (who later became a popular newscaster in Miami). In contrast to many other early TV shows, it was not filmed in a studio but outdoor on what looked like a ranch (or, on rainy days, from a small cabin). The show featured a lot of local talent, including Eddie Thorpe, Happy Harold Thaxton, Buddy Starcher, and Elaine Rouse, among others.
By 1954, Wales had switched to radio WINZ. Like many of his fellow radio performers, Wales did not record much during his long career. One session by him is documented for King Records' DeLuxe subsidiary label, which had a Miami office headed by Henry Stone and therefore cut sessions on a couple of local performers. On January 1, 1954, Wales recorded two songs, "Sweeter Than the Flowers" and "If You Haven't Written Your Mother", which stayed unreleased, unfortunately.
Wales went out of the business in the 1960s or 1970s, after 30 years of Miami broadcasting. He passed away on March 28, 2003, in Hobe Sound, Florida, at the age of 90 years.
See also
Sources
• Donn R. Cole, Jr.: "Towers in the Sand: The History of Florida Broadcasting" (North Loop Books)
• Sales Management, Vol. 48 (Rutgers University), 1941
• "Hearings" (United States Congress), page 1145
• "Broadcasting, Telecasting", Broadcasting Publications (1947)
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