leading baritone roles with the Covent Garden Opera in London during 1949. He lived in Italy for a while and sang there, then went on to become a regular performer for the Florentine Opera Company in Milwaukee, and by 1958 was president of that organization. Gerald Bartell, meanwhile, capitalized on his children's program to release a series of children's 78 rpm phonograph records under the name Jerry Bartell. The first of these came out in 1948 and was called Tingo, the Story of a Clown, a 12-minute tale that had been written by his wife Joyce. They featured him playing the characters and singing the songs. Subsequent releases included the song collections Playtime and Jerry Bartell's Playtime Album in 1949, and Pat and the Pixies and The Men Who Come To Our House in 1950, both of which his wife Joyce wrote the stories for. In a review, Billboard said of Pat and the Pixies that it was a "sensitive" and "warm" adaptation of an Irish folk tale, but that Bartell's following from Playtime for Children was not big enough to expect large-scale sales of the record. In addition Bartell appeared on television in the program Playtime with Jerry, a 15-minute show that was syndicated to stations such as KTVI-TV Channel 2 in St. Louis, which broadcast it on Saturday mornings during 1957–58. Expansion The Bartell family expanded to radio stations beyond Milwaukee. The full list of radio stations included: WEXT 1430 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1947, shut down 1950 WTWT 1010 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in 1948 WOKW in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in early 1950s (subsequently went dark) WOKY 920 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1950 WAPL 1570 in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1952 KCHA 1580 in Charles City, Iowa in early 1950s WAKE 1340 in Atlanta, Georgia, bought 1955, sold 1962, broadcast from the Georgian Terrace Hotel KCBQ 1170 in San Diego, California, bought 1955 KRUX 1360 in Phoenix, Arizona, bought 1955, sold 1958 WYDE 850 in Birmingham, Alabama, bought 1957 WILD 1090 in Boston, Massachusetts, bought 1957, sold 1966 KYA 1260 in San Francisco, California, bought 1958, sold 1962 WADO 1280, a Spanish language station in New York City, bought 1959 Some of the smaller stations were sold as the family entered larger markets. By 1960 the family owned six radio stations. The Bartells also entered into the television market. WMTV-TV Channel 33 began operations in Madison in July