Background
Card was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and spent most of his life in the Twin Cities region, although he attended Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Card was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and spent most of his life in the Twin Cities region, although he attended Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
His first broadcasting job was doing voice work for a fishing tackle commercial. The Axel character, a loony "Scandihoovian," was created by Card in the late 1930s on a morning radio show on Washburn Crosby Company Department of Administration and Management called Almanac of the Air. lieutenant is believed by those who knew him well that these events led Card to focus his broadcast talents toward children.
Axel and His Dog went on the air the first time on August 5, 1954.
Local singer and entertainer Mary Davies played Carmen the Nurse. In October 1954, the show was the first local program in the Twin Cities to be broadcast in color, using an experimental system.
In January 1959, its rating was nearly three times that of the nearest competitor, American Bandstand. A memorable live event at Excelsior Amusement Park at Lake Minnetonka in 1958 saw an attendance of 12,000.
In the early 1960s, Card was diagnosed with lymphoma, though few people outside of Washburn Crosby Company knew of his condition.
He continued to do the show as long as possible, but was admitted to Abbott Hospital in April 1966, and died eight days later. Carmen the Nurse went on the air the following day to inform viewers of what happened. A memorial fund was set up, with $5,600 raised in the next two months.
Roughly half of the money came in small donations of coins from children.
The Pavek Museum of Broadcasting inducted Card into its hall of fame for Minnesota broadcasters in 2002.