Luther Masingill with sidekick Buddy Houts
Luther Masingill worked most Christmas mornings.
Simply known to generations as “Luther” he worked most Christmas mornings and enjoyed doing it. Luther loved Christmas and for most of his career he started playing the holiday hits the day after Thanksgiving. Luther said he wanted to work Christmas morning because his listeners lost their animals during the holidays as well as other times of the year.
Baseball legend Joe Engel offered Luther a job on Engel’s new radio station WDEF. The station signed on the year New Year’s Eve 1940 and Luther was there. WDEF’s first studio was located downtown in the Volunteer Building at 9th Street and Georgia Avenue.
Luther said he was working at Bill Penny Tire in East Chattanooga pumping gas when Mr. Engel pulled in and said “filler up.” Engel told Luther about his new adventure, Luther applied and was hired.
Luther was the “Voice of Chattanooga” and woke up the city for over 70 years. The late Mayor Pat Rose said, “If Luther said it, you could take it to the bank.”
Luther said he was ready to go when Uncle Sam called him in World War II. He served in the United States Army and is buried at the VA National Cemetery in Chattanooga.
Here is a short recording of Luther on the radio, Christmas, 1986. He did the same on Christmas morning as the rest of the year, performing a public service to his listeners".
Click here to listen.