In 1939, at age sixteen, Mackie Quave began a fifty year-long career in broadcasting.  At that time he won a national radio announcing contest in Hollywood, California.  In the early 1940s he started work as an announcer in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, at Station WWNC.

 

 

 

The "WISE SCHOOL QUIZ SHOW WITH MACKIE QUAVE," sparked Mackie's lifelong interest in children'sentertainment.  Quave moved to Columbia, SC, in the mid-1940s to work for Station WKIX.  In the studio Mackie poked fun at the flying saucer craze of the times.  In 1946, Quave was the driving force behind the creation of WUSC at the University of South Carolina where he taught a class in radio announcing.

 

In 1947 Quave joined WIS radio where he worked as chief announcer, director, writer and supervisor. Quave is shown with then Gov. Strom Thurmond, 2nd from left, and future Gov. James F. Byrnes, 3rd from left, broadcasting a SC Democratic Party Meeting.

 

 

With WIS Quave is best remembered as "Cactus Quave," the proprietor of the "Bar Ranch 56," on his daily radio show during the 1940s and 1950s.  The Cactus Quave Show drew higher ratings in Columbia than "The Lone Ranger."

 

 

 

When WIS expanded into television, Cactus Quave moved to the screen and the "Bar Q Ranch" where he battled enemies such as "JP Sidewinder" and other members of the Sidewinder clan.

 

 

 

 

The comical cowboy was a favorite of Columbia audiences. Fans were thrilled to see Cactus Quave in person.

Many of Quave's shows, such as, "THE OLD TOYMAKER" on WIS-TV in 1959, featured children.  Mackie was always a favorite on children's quiz shows and contests.  Behind the scenes, he was active as a writer, producer and director.  A series he produced on the fledgling United Nations in the 1940s earned him the nationally recognized George Foster Peabody Award for radio.  Quave wrote, produced and directed the nationally broadcast show, "THE INVESTIGATORS,"  a dramatic series based on the case histories of the Internal Revenue's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division.  His work on a series focusing on and commissioned by the FBI won praise from its director, J. Edgar Hoover.

In the 1960s and 1970s he continued to work in broadcasting at SC-ETV, WIS, WOLO and other stations.  He had a helping hand in the establishment of the South Carolina Educational Radio Network, garnering support for the new network from business and legislators.  At station WAXL Quave interviews SCETV founder John Cauthen.  At SC-ETV, he hosted "OFF THE CUFF," a talk show, narrated the national PBS special "OUR VANISHING TOWN," and was the scriptwriter for the nationally broadcast PBS show "LOWELL THOMAS REMEMBERS."  With WIS-TV, he acted as historian-writer for the series "CAROLINA YESTERDAY."

During the 1970s Quave hosted "INQUIRY," a public affairs talk show.  Quave interviews then Gov. James B. Edwards for WOLO.  In 1989, the SC Broadcaster's Association awarded Quave its first Masters Award for his life-long contributions to broadcasting.  Mackie Quave died in January, 1990.