TUNING IN

In the 1940’s, radio was our major form of entertainment, it provided hours of joy, it kept you company and informed. Whatever your taste: comedy, drama, mystery, soaps, quiz shows, westerns, music, variety you could find it on your dial. Originally our family had a cabinet radio with a little window for the dial and two knobs for switching stations or the volume. There were only AM stations, there was no FM. The radio had glass tubes that brought the shows into our homes. Periodically a tube would go out and you’d go to a radio store to have it tested and/or replaced. Our radio picked up police calls. They weren’t clear, but they made you wonder what evil lurked in the neighborhood.

Being of ethnic parents our day normally started by listening to a Polish broadcast of The Early Morning Show it was introduced by the cockle cockle doo of a hen. The show was hosted by a husband and wife team presenting news, weather, music and information. It competed against the Don McNeil Breakfast Club which entertained women in the early morning. Our radio was normally off for most of the morning and afternoons hours. Once in a while I would listen to some of the afternoon shows. I remember in the early afternoon they had soaps like The Guiding Light and variety shows like: Tommy Bartlett’s Queen for A Day, Ladies Be Seated and a Perry Mason mystery.

The soaps were big in the 40’s. They were called soaps because they were sponsored by soap companies: Oxydol, Dreft, American Family, Rinso, Ivory, Camay and other brands. Sometimes after school I would catch Young Widder Brown, Stella Dallas, Young Doctor Malone, and One Man’s Family. The ones that hooked me were Portia Faces Life, the story about a female lawyer. This show was memorable because Portia’s husband, Walter Manning, had amnesia twice during the series. Just Plain Bill followed Portia and was about Bill Davidson the local barber. It was followed by Front Page Farrell . I liked Lorenzo Jones because of its theme song, Harken, Harken Music’s Everywhere Tra la la la. The insertion of the organ and sound effects added excitement to the shows. During the war years I enjoyed Hop Harrigan, a story about the army air force. I don’t know what happened to this show, but one day it was gone. Most of the soaps were 15 minutes. With commercials and sound effects the story line covered about 10 minutes. No wonder they went on forever.

By 5 o’clock the Kid Shows would come on: Captain Midnight, Sky King, Cisco Kid, Jack Armstrong, Lone Ranger and Sgt. Preston and his dog Yukon King. My father would interrupt my shows to listen to the Polish news at 6. At 6:30 it was time for The Lone Ranger or Jack Armstrong. They were on WLS 890 and sponsored by Kix or Cherrios. Interest in the shows was promoted by promotions such as the Lone Ranger Silver Bullitt Ring or Captain Midnight’s decoder. You’d save up and send in 25 cents and wait in anticipation of receiving this important toy. It became a part of discussions and excitement “did you receive it yet?’ Once received it never lived up to the hype.

The Cinnamon Bear was an annual treat. It came on around Thanksgiving and ended just before Christmas. It was broadcast Monday thru Friday at 5 and sponsored by Wielboldts Department Stores. The Cinnamon Bear was a story about Judy, Jimmy and Patty O’Cinnamon and their search for their silver star. It had such wonderful characters as the Crazy Quilt Dragon, Santa Claus, The Wintergreen Witch and the Princess of the North, The story took them on adventures to the Root Beer Ocean and Maybe Land in search of their beloved silver star. Another annual treat was the Mercury Theatre’s presentation of A Christmas Carol, starring Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge. It was hosted by Orson Wells. .

The 7 o’clock hour rang in the prime time shows. I remember Monday night featured the Lux Radio Theatre which presented radio versions of current movies. They starred leading role actors and actresses. On Tuesday I enjoyed Big Town and Bob Hope. Wednesday it was the District Attorney, “and it shall be my duty as district attorney “. Thursday it was Baby Snooks and the Aldrich Family with the famous call,” H e n r y - Henry Aldrich”.” Coming Mother”. Friday was a big night; it had The Fat Man,” Stepping On The Scale, Fortune DANGER”. Bill Stern presented sports stories, Ozzie and Harriet was a comedy with sons David and Ricky Nelson.

In the morning you could catch the local news with John Harrington, Alex Drier, John Holtman Lowell Thomas and Bon Hurleigh. Paul Gibson presented the social gossip and items of interest. Two Ton Baker the music maker presented tunes on the piano and Arthur Godfrey and Friends provided lively morning entertainment. By afternoon the soaps were in full swing: Life Can Be Beautiful, When a Girl Marries, Young Widder Brown, Ma Perkins, and Second Mrs. Burton. WLS was known as the Prairier Farmer Station targeting the agricultural community with information throughout the day. WGN also presented agricultural news. The Kid Shows started around 4:30/5 o’clock and ran to seven. Besides the shows already mentioned there was: Superman, The Green Hornet, Terry and The Pirates, Tom Mix, and Dick Tracey. Many of the shows were fashioned after famous comic characters.

Sometimes it was difficult to choose a show because of a conflict between 2 good shows being on at the same time. Everyone had their favorites... Sunday was a big day with Funnies in the morning, where someone read the Sunday comics with you. Around noontime The Morris B. Saks Amateur Hour spotlighted local competing talent. During the years shows changed days and times. I Remember Sunday as the day for Jack Benny, The Shadow, Edgar Bergen., Walter Winchell, Gene Autry, Philo Vance, Bulldog Drummond and Quiz Kids. On Monday; Burns and Allen, Lux Radio Theatre, Inner Sanctum, Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts. On Tuesday Big Town with Steve Wilson and Loreil Kilbourn , Fibber McGee and Molly ,Bob Hope, Mr. And Mrs. North and the friendly immigrant Luigi Bosco in Life With Luigi. Wednesday brought us Jack Carson, Eddie Cantor, Dr. Christian, The Amateur Hour, Great Gildersleeve and Duffy’s Tavern. On Thursday we listened to Mr. Keen, The Aldridge Family, Suspense, Al Jolson, Bing Crosby and Casey Crime Photographer. Friday it was Amos and Andy, FBI, Red Skeleton, Life of Riley, Thin Man, and Jimmy Durante. The week ended with Truth or Consequences, Gang Busters, Dennis Day, Grand Ole Opry, The Barn Dance .FBI In Peace and War, .and The Hit Parade.

Music was a big part of the radio schedule. Music was played throughout the day featuring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, the big band sounds of Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Xavier Cugat, Harry James, Lawrence Welk We could listen to the songs of Jo Stafford, Perry Como, Dinah Shore, and Vaughn Monroe. Late into the night you could hear local favorites such as Eddie Howard and Dick Jurgens. Some of the well known disk jockeys were Linn Burton and Al Benson.

Sports were readily available on the radio dial. WIND featured Cub baseball. Games were played during the day and broadcast live from Wrigley Field. Away games were carried on ticker tape, it was slow and you could hear the tick of the ticker tape... Bert Wilson called the games. He was great. It’s too bad people forget so quickly what we had. Bob Elson announced the Sox games on WJJD. WGN carried Bears football while WCFL carried the Chicago Cardinals. The Cards had a great announcer in Joe Boland who also announced the Notre Dame games. On Saturdays most stations carried college football, I enjoyed listening to Northwestern on WIND and Notre Dame on WCFL. Friday night was Fight Night sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. The announcers Ben Bentley and Don Dunphy brought the action to life with their calls. Some of my favorite fighters were: Sugar Ray Robinson, Kid Gavilan, Tony Zale, Rocky Graziano, Jake LaMotta, and of course Joe Louis. the Brown Bomber. The big fights were Louis vs. Conn, and Zale vs. Graziano.


My family also listened to ethnic radio. WGES and WEDC carried most of the ethnic voices. My father listened to the Volga Boatman Russian Show on Sundays. It was announced by Maria and J.J. Vronko. One of the features was that it announced the passing of people in the Russian community. .I believe the show was on for over 50 years. On Saturday afternoon my father listened to The Ukrainian Hour. During the week my parents listened to John Nieminski’s morning show and sometimes his evening Polish Barn Dance Show. On Wednesday they tuned to the Sierkerka Family which featured comedy skits about The Sierkerka’s and their son Junior. Junior was played by Bruno Junior Zielinski. The name Junior stuck with him for the rest of his life. The show also featured the life music of Joe Durlak, Eddie Zima and other top polka bands. On Sunday afternoons the radio was tuned to the Father Justin Rosary Hour. Marisa Data was a weekday and Saturday favorite with her Polish songs and comedy.

Commercials were original and creative. Everyone had a theme: Maxwell House Coffee- Good To The Last Drop, I Walk A Mile For A Camel, Jell-O Spells J-E-L-L-O, Chiquita Banana and I Come to Say, Wheaties Breakfast of Champions, and Schiltz- When You’re Out Of Schiltz You’re Out Of Beer. Some theme songs were: Lone Ranger’s William Tell Overture, Arthur Godfrey- Seems Like Old Times, Bob Hope- Thanks For The Memories, Eddie Cantor- Ida and One Hour With You, and Bing Crosby- When The Blue of the Night.

Old time radio was all imagination. You let your mind see pictures from the sounds and words... The thundering hoofs of the great white horse silver, backed with the music of the William Tell Overture, Hi Yo Silver The Lone Ranger. What a sound. .It was exciting and brought the character to life. Voices such as Brace Beemer, The Lone Ranger, were deep and strong. The speech was clear and never mumbled. The characters were well defined; there was no doubt who was a good guy or bad guy. The insertion of organ cords added to the excitement and meaning of each and every story. It was the best of times.

Hope you can join me, on The Front Porch, next week as we conclude our discussions of the 1940’s.

Sasiad