Golden Age of Radio

The Milwaukee Journal – Jun 10, 1938 BURNS AND ALLEN THEY SANG AND DANCED IN VAUDEVILLE BEFORE GRACIE BECAME “DIZZY.” THEY BOTH PLAY GOLD—BUT SEPARATELY. PEOPLE LAUGH AT GRACIE NO MATTER WHAT SHE SAYS, EVEN WHEN MAKING PURCHASES. IT TAKES four men to keep GracieAllen “dizzy” – George Burns and three gagmen . . .Burns did it alone till he began to talk that way himself . . .they teamed first as a song and dance act in vaudeville . . . were married after trouping together for four year . . . became famous on radio . . .Gracie isn’t funny on movie sets . . . but people laugh at her anyway . . .she refers all interviewers to George . . . won’t answer questions herself . . . George handles all business matters . . . she never reads a script . . . George teaches her the lines—believes she’ll be funnier if she doesn’t know what’s going on. . .George is an expert golfer. . . Gracie a rank amateur. . . he took her golfing one day . . . she made a hole-in-one . . . tha...

The Milwaukee Journal – Apr 4, 1943 There’s Only One Genuine Schnozzle FROM the eminence of a barker’s booth, a frantic voice shouted out over the heads of the passing Coney Island crowd: “Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen, hear the gr-r-reat JimmyDurante . Yes, it’s on a record, madam. Hear him sing his own songs. Yessir, yessir! The great Jimmy Durante !” And the person who thus gloriously advanced the fame of Jimmy Durante was none other than the Schnozzle himself, now heard regularly over NBC -WTMJ on the Garry Moore show (9 P. M., Thursday) For it was his privilege in the pauses between the piano playing and gags to step up on the stand and stimulate the sale of his own records. At Diamond Tony’s of Coney Island fame, where he wore a black turtle neck sweater and played a frenzied “ Wild Cherries Rag,” the exhilarated patrons called for more. Jimmy got $25 a week here, though he couldn’t read music except casually. But who should know anything about that e...

The Milwaukee Journal – Feb 16, 1941 George Burns Loves Gag He Pulled 3,000 Times A STATISTICIAN with a flair for adventure made a pilgrimage recently to the home of George Burns and GracieAllen . He emerged a week later, weakly muttering facts and figures which summarized something like this: George and Gracie , in the 18 years of their career together, have used up approximately 40,000 jokes. One joke which makes George laugh has been used 3,000 times, and it’s still good for laughs from George. Burns and Allen , long before they became NBC stars, played seven years of vaudeville with only two routines, titled “Sixty Forty” and “Lamb Chops.” Each act ran 14 minutes, and changes in routine were events of such importance that George and Gracie , before inserting a new joke, went to some small town to break it in. “Now,” Gracie says, “the new joke is broken in, and is still going strong on our NBC programs.” When Burns and Allen, booked on the Gus Sonn circu...

The Milwaukee Journal – May 19, 1940 Fibber and Molly Still Real Folks By Bill Porter JIM and Marian Jordan (better known to their fans as Fibber McGee and Molly ) are pretty disturbed about some untrue stories being printed about them. “Most of the stories lead you to believe that we were never successful until we became Fibber McGee and Molly ,” said Jim Jordan, “and you’d think that $10 a week was the most we made on radio before we hit the big dough. The truth is a much better story. If you’ll print it we’ll tell it to you.” I said, “Okay, I’ll print it, Mr. Jordan” And he said, “Mr. Jordan is my dad. I’m Jim.” The Jordans, prosperous now whatever  their financial condition before, live today in what you might call an estate, out Encino way. The place is surrounded by a rose-covered, brick wall. Within the walls are flower gardens, lawns, a swimming pool where Mrs. Jordan takes swimming lessons, a shop where Jim makes furniture, a small orange grove wi...

The Milwaukee Journal-Nov 16, 1947 A Stroll Down Allen’s Alley                  By ROBERT FLEMING MEET THE CHARATERS WHO TICKLE  YOUR FUNNYBONE ON SUNDAY NIGHTS EACH Sunday night, in millions of American homes, a nasal voice suggests, “Now let’s be off to Allen’s Alley .” And during 15 seconds of music, bridge games are halted, children are hushed, papers are laid aside, and people all over the nation chuckle in anticipation. Fred Allen is off to another gay adventure in neighborliness. “Allen’s Alley” users about five minutes of each Fred Allen show. Since his program currently tops the listener surveys and has been near top for season after season, it’s almost unnecessary for him to say he’s about to visit Senator Claghorn, Titus Moody, Mrs. Nussbaum and Ajax Cassidy. Regular listeners know the four. But before the conversational Mr. Allen comes into the “alley” again, let’s visit the place, look around, ...

Sunday, March 21, 1943 THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL – SCREEN and RADIO              11 The Great Gildersleeve’s Big Break If Stage Hadn’t Been Too Wide, Hal Peary Mighty Not Have Jumped to Stardom By J. D. Spiro *Picture on page 1 THE HON. Throckmorton P.Gildersleeve , water commissioner of the widely known but mythical town of Summerfield, is today a considerable sort of person in the life of this nation. When at the appointed hour each Sunday (5:30 p. m. our time) he steps to the microphone in NBC’s Hollywood studios some 28,000,000 individuals over the country cock their ears toward their radio sets and eagerly wait to learn what the Great Gildersleeve is about to do next. Yet it was only yesterday, as time goes, that the  Great Gildersleeve   was but an unsung stooge for Fibber McGee and Molly . In truth, until one night in radio New Year’s week of 1939, the  Great Gilder...