“In the Beginning” – The WGBH Logo (1956)

From Don Hallock

What does this image really mean, and how did it become the WGBH logo?

Peter Hollander reminds us that his wife, Lilly, station art director from 1956 to 1958, first proposed use of the pictogram that became the WGBH logo, and remained so for many years.

What it means

Rudolph Koch, in his “Book of Signs,” explains the derivation of the image thusly:

The woman, couples with…

The man….

And begets children….

Combined, they constitute “the family.”

From Steve Gilford

Towards the end of the ’60s, the WGBH symbol made a comeback. Once again, the little black decals with the gold stick figure design were given to people who became WGBH members to be placed on the windshields of their cars.

The curious were told that the design was really an Aztec ideograph, a complex symbol meaning “family.” I had always liked the odd little design, so as soon as they became available, I put one on my motorcycle’s windshield.

That particular year, I was on a vacation trip. Somewhere on the plains of eastern Colorado, I rode into a gas station on my motorcycle and began to fill the gas tank. There was a car on the other side of the pump island. I noticed it had Nebraska plates.

A cocky young man walked over and looked at the black decal, then he looked at me, and looked again at the decal before he asked, “What is that?”

I figured I’d put him in his place. Aware of the disparity between my motorcycle appearance and what I was saying, I spouted, “It is an Aztec ideograph made up of several different elements, Man, Woman, Children, all combined in a single symbol, family.” Satisfied that I had given him an impressive enough explanation that would put an end to what I felt was his supercilious curiosity, I stopped.

He smiled, turned around to the car with the Nebraska plates and called out, “I told you so!!”

An inquiry …

“Hi there! I bought a used car and just discovered what appears to be a parking pass. It has the family symbol on it that you use for your logo. As it’s such a unique symbol, I was wondering if it might gave been issued by you guys at some point.”

From John Kerr

Here is the front and back (with explanation and the name of the maker) of the WGBH logo decal we used from the late 1950’s to the early 1970’s.

I still have a few of them tucked away in my desk drawer.

Viewers and listeners would proudly stick these “family symbols” on their car windows, bicycles, luggage, etc. You could see them all over the world.

They were widely used for many years by our viewers and listeners until brilliant Yale designer Chris Pullman arrived, after which his drop-shadowed “2”, “44” and “WGBH” replaced them on air, as decals, on the golf umbrellas and the tote bags we sent to contributors, etc.

Others knew that if you showed one of our decals, you were a contributor and fan.