| Radio was the way America and the world found out what was going on in the news the moment, it’s where the kids listened to their favorite programs, such as “Little Orphan Annie”, and Mom listened to her favorite soap opera, and dad would tune in the sports and other events. I remember my sisters would come home from school and make a cup of tea and listen to their favorite soap opera, and I remember hearing “Hi-yo Silver” from the from the Long Ranger program in the early 1950’s! It’s where the family would gather around the radio to do their homework, while Mom and Dad read a book, magazine, or the daily newspaper. Have a look back! |
| 21st Precinct ~ (aka Twenty-First Precinct and Twenty First Precinct) was a police drama broadcast on CBS radio from July 7, 1953, to July 26, 1956. |
| ABC Mystery Theater ~ also known as just simply Mystery Theater or Mystery Theater, was an American radio Crime and Mystery and mystery series from the 1950’s. |
| The Adventures of Philip Marlowe ~ was a radio series featuring Raymond Chandlers private eye, Phillip Marlowe, Robert C. Reinehr and Jon D. Swartz, in their book, The A to Z of Old Time Radio, noted that the program differed from most others in its genre: “It was a more hard-boiled program than many of the other private detective shows of the time, containing few quips or quaint characters. |
| The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective ~ was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character Sam Spade, created by writer Dashiell Hammett for The Maltese Falcon. The show ran for 13 episodes on ABC in 1946, for 157 episodes on CBS in 1946–1949, and finally for 75 episodes on NBC in 1949–1951. |
| Alka-Seltzer Time (aka The Alka-Seltzer Show ~ was a 15-minute radio series broadcast weekdays on both CBS Radio and the Mutual Broadcasting System (not to be confused with an earlier Alka-Seltzer Time that was renamed Herb Shriner Time. |
| Backstage Wife ~ is an American soap opera radio program that details the travails of Mary Noble, a girl from a small town in Iowa who came to New York seeking her future. Curt Massey starred with Martha when the program, sponsored by Allka – Seltzer began in 1949 as Curt Massey Time (sometimes advertised as Curt Massey Time with Martha Tilton, with a title change to highlight the sponsor’s product by 1952. The announcer was Ford Pearson. |
| Beyone Tomorrow ~ (aka Beyond This World ) was an American radio program series developed for CBS in the spring of 1950. Beyond Tomorrow was meant to be CBS’s first science fiction radio program. The show was announced in newspapers but it is not known if any episodes were actually broadcast. An audition show and three additional shows were transcribed to disk. |
| Beulah ~ is an American situation comedy that ran on CBS Radio from 1945 to 1955 and on ABC Television from 1950 to 1953. The show is notable for being the first sitcom to star an African American actress, “Hattie McDaniel” for being ABC TV’s first hit situation comedy, and the first hit TV sitcom without a laugh track. The show was controversial for its caricatures of African Americans. |
| The CBS Radio Workshop ~ was an experimental dramatic radio anthology series that aired on CBS from January 27, 1956, until September 22, 1957. Subtitled “radio’s distinguished series” to man’s imagination. |
| Charlie Wild, Private Detective ~ is an American old time-radio detective mystery drama. It was broadcast on NBC September 24, 1950 – December 17, 1950, and on CBS January 7, 1951 – July 1, 1951. The episodes broadcast on CBS were also carried on six stations of the Alaska Broadcasting System. |
| Gunsmoke ~The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961 John Dunning wrote that among radio drama enthusiasts, Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time. It ran unsponsored for its first few years, with CBS funding its production. |
| Hallmark Playhouse ~ is an American old-time radio dramatic – anthology. It was broadcast on CBS from June 10, 1948 until February 1, 1953, and was described by one author as “a program that consistently produced the highest levels of production quality and value.” Beginning on February 8, 1953, the program underwent changes of title, host, and format. It was broadcast as The Hallmark Hall of Fame until March 27, 1955, still on CBS. |
| Hopalong Cassidy ~ is a radio western in the United States, featuring the character Hopalong Cassidy created by writer Clarence E. Mulford. It was syndicated via electrical transcription, beginning in 1948 and continuing into 1950. Its network broadcasts began on Mutual January 1, 1950, and ended on CBS December 27, 1952. |
| Hollywood Star Playhouse ~ is a radio dramatic anthology series in the United States. It was broadcast April 24, 1950-February 15, 1953, appearing on ABC, and NBC over that span, As the name implies, Hollywood Star Playhouse featured movie stars, as did a number of other old-time radio programs. A news brief announcing the premiere broadcast noted that the program would feature “a different top screen personality each week in original stories of mystery and adventure by leading Hollywood writers. |
| The Jack Benny Program ~ starring Jack Benny, is a radio and television comedy series, which ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th -century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and television career, a caricature of himself as a minimally talented musician and penny-pincher who was the butt of all the jokes. The show’s producer, Hilliard Marks, was the brother of Benny’s wife, Mary Livingstone |
| Lassie ~ is an American old – time radio juvenile adventure program. It was broadcast on ABC from June 8, 1947 until May 30, 1948, and on NBC from June 5th, 1948, until May 27,th 1950, Although the program was titled Lassie, the dog’s name varied from episode to episode because she wandered from place to place helping both people and animals, and the people the canine encountered used various names. Episodes of the show captured the essence of Eric Knight’s book, Lassie Come – Home. The sponsor was Red Heart Dog Food. |
| The Lineup ~ is a half-hour American radio police drama that was broadcast on CBS from July 6, 1950, until February 20, 1953. It began as a summer replacement for The FBI in peace and war, Following a trend begun by the radio series Dragnet,The Lineup strove to portray realism in a police drama. The title indicated the show’s focus, as each story began and ended with a lineup of suspects in a police station in San Francisco Sergeant Matt Grebb, who was heard giving instructions to participants in each lineup, was “quick-tempered and often bored”, while his boss, Lieutenant Ben Guthrie, was “soft-spoken and calm.” The program portrayed most act Activities of the police as part of the job with “few heroics”. Episodes were “fast, furious, and realistic. |
| Academy Award’s ~ (also listed as Academy Award Theater) is a CBS radio anthology series, which presented 30-minute adaptations of plays, novels, or films. Dramas in which actors recreated their original film roles included, Henry Fonda in Young Mr. Lincoln, Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon, Cary Grant in Suspicion, Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom, an Ronald Colman in Lost Horizon. Only six actors recreated their own Oscar-winning roles: Fay Bainter, Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, Victor McLaglen, Paul Muni, and Ginger Rogers. |
| Adventure Parade ~ was a 15-minute daily radio anthology series which was broadcast on Mutual Broadcasting System from 1946 to 1949, produced and directed by Robert and Jessica Maxwell. The show opened with announcer George Hogan calling, “Adventurers attention! Fall in for Adventure Parade!” With liberal doses of action and adventure, the program adapted such classics of literature as Moby-Dick, The Last Mohican’s, and Swiss family Robinson, with each tale lasting about a week. |
| The Adventures of Superman ~ is a long-running Radio serial that originally aired from 1940 to 1951 featuring the DC Comics character Superman. The serial came to Radio as a syndicated show on New York City’s WOR on February 12, 1940. On Mutual, it was broadcast from August 31, 1942, to February 4, 1949, as a 15-minute serial, running three or, usually, five times a week. |
| Bold Venture was a syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall that aired from 1951 to 1952. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart’s Santana Productions. Salty seadog Slate Shannon (Bogart) owns a Cuban hotel, Shannon’s Place, sheltering an assortment of treasure hunters, revolutionaries, and other shady characters. With his sidekick and ward, the sultry Sailor Duval (Bacall), tagging along, he encounters modern-day pirates and other tough situations while navigating the waters around Havana. Aboard his boat, the Bold Venture, Slate and Sailor experience “adventure, intrigue, mystery and romance in the sultry settings of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean. |
| Cloak and Dagger is an NBC radio series, a foreign intrigue adventure adapted from the book Cloak and Dagger by CoreyFord and Alistair McBain. Ford also was host of the series. Cloak and Dagger was broadcast from May 7th to October 22nd, 1950, as part of “a mystery block with several other shows of far inferior quality”. The program was sustaining for all 22 episodes. |
| The Colgate Sports Newsreel was a radio program focusing on sports. It has been called “one of the most successful and most listened-to shows in radio history”[ and “one of radio broadcasting’s most entertaining and engaging programs.” However, much of the information reported as fact was actually fiction. The program was first broadcast in October 1939, on NBC Blue. Although Colgate dropped its sponsorship in June 1951, the show continued on NBC as Bill Stern’s Sports Newsreel through September 1953. It then switched to ABC, where it ran until June 1956 During World war two, the Newsreel was among the programs that NBC rebroadcast by transcription to members of the United States armed forces stationed abroad. |
| he Chase and Sanborn Hour ~ Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy with W.C. Fields on The Chase and Sanborn Hour.His first performances were in Vaudeville, at which point he legally changed his last name to the easier-to-pronounce “Bergen”. He worked in one-reel Movie Shorts, but his real success was on the radio. He and Charlie were seen at a New York party by Elsa Maxwell for Noel Coward who recommended them for an engagement at the famous Rainbow Room. It was there that two producers saw Bergen and Charlie perform. They then recommended them for a guest appearance on Rudy Vallee’s program. |
| Father Knows Best ~ began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by Ed James, Father Knows Best follows the lives of the Anderson’s, a Middle- class family living in the town of Springfield. The state in which Springfield is located is never specified, but it is generally accepted to be located in the Midwestern United States, Starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy gray, and Lauren Chapin. Information by Wikipedia! ~ illustration licensed by: RetroClipart.com |
