Golden Age of Radio

The Milwaukee Journal – Nov 8, 1942      Radio Stock Troupe Does Well SEVEN actors, an actress and a director are today earning a place in dramatic history. They are radio’s first and only stock company, heard on the Cavalcade of America ” and known as the Cavalcade Players. Since that day in the dim past when men first entertained their fellows with ballads and play, actors have banded together to form “stock companies” that left their mark on theatrical history. From Euripides of Greece to America’s famous chautauquas, groups of actors have traveled together, worked together and suffered together. Today the Cavalcade Players form another noteworthy of radio. The hardships of travel, the tribulations of the road, the grease paint and footlights, the irregular work are replaced by an NBC microphone and a luxurious, air conditioned studio. Aside from somewhat unusual working hours, the players live normal lives—more like businessmen then the ba...

Say Hello To- MARY YOUNG—a former ZiegfeldFollies girl who is now bringing glamor to the role of Lily, the Creole, on Arnold Grimm’s Daughter, heard today on NBC . Mary began her theatrical career as a dancer in a Russian ballet, switch to the Follies, and then in 1935 successfully auditioned for a radio job in Detroit. Two years later she married radio writer Charles Gussman, and they moved to Chicago to live. Mary was born in Chestnut Mound, Tenn., 22 years ago, and was educated in Detroit. When she isn’t acting in the Chicago radio studios she’s very busy being the mother of a little daughter who arrived in the world just six months ago.

SAY HELLO TO . . . ALBERT WARNER – CBS ’s Washington reporter, whom you’ll hear this afternoon at 6:05, and whenever there’s important news from the nation’s capital. Warner was born in Brooklyn, and was editor of his school papers both in high school and at Amherst, from which he graduated in 1924 . He’s been a successful newspaperman ever since, and has covered all presidential campaigns since 1928 . He gave up newspaper work early in 1939 to join CBS. By unanimous election, he’s president of the Radio Correspondents Association in Washington; and he’s a close friend of many important personalities in both parties.

He was the most popular member of Jack Benny 's supporting cast. He was a fixture of American popular culture for more than thirty years. He was one of the wealthiest African-Americans of his generation. And, he was a pioneer in promoting racially-integrated employment in the United States defense industry. He was Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, a man of many accomplishments who is practically unknown to anyone under the age of forty-five...unless they happen to be Old Time Radio enthusiasts. Eddie Anderson never set out in life to be a pioneer in anything. All he ever wanted to do was entertain, and that was an ambition he came by naturally. His parents had greasepaint in their blood -- his father was a minstrel-show comedian of many years' experience, while his mother was a circus acrobat, specializing in tight-wire tricks. Even his older brother Cornelius earned his show-biz spurs as a singing comedian. Eddie might have thought about being a singer himself, had ...

1930's Radio  Soap Operas Radio emerged as a vehicle for mass communication and entertainment during the 1920s but did not begin to dominate and influence American culture until the 1930s. During this decade America's radio programming, advertising and influence over the American public flourished since ownership of radios increased dramatically. While once considered an avenue for public service, radio programming of the 1930s sought to satisfy Americans' needs for  Escape  , community and connection to others all the while selling American products. This phenomenon was best illustrated through  Soap Operas  . Denounced by critics as low-culture, neurotic, crude and irrational, daytime  Serials  were a medium for advertising a myriad of products aimed at female consumers, often acknowledged by researchers as the primary purchaser of household goods. "Soaps" were largely written and produced by women for women and focused on realistic...