Old Time Radio Strikes Back Trivia Quiz

Answer: Let's Pretend

Nila Mack (1891-1953) created and directed "Let's Pretend" on radio from 1934 to 1954. It was extremely popular with children as well as their parents, winning a Peabody Award among other honors.

Answer: The Baby Snooks Show

Fanny Brice (1891-1951) was a singer, actress, and a star in several Ziegfeld shows on Broadway. The Baby Snooks character was originally done by Brice in a sketch in a "Ziegfeld Follies on the Air" show in 1936. The comedic character was so popular that she portrayed it on the radio in several other shows.

In 1944 the show became a regular program, first on CBS and then on NBC. The program ended in 1951 when she suddenly died two days after doing the show live (as many radio programs were done in those days).

Answer: Amos 'n' Andy

Amos 'n' Andy was a wildly popular situation comedy show airing, in various formats, from 1928 until 1960. It portrayed the two as poor black southern farm workers who were striving to better themselves by moving to Chicago to start a one car taxi cab company. The scripts, the dialog and the accents reflected the stereotypical view of blacks at that time.

If this show were proposed today, to a radio or television producer, Gosden and Correll (who created and played the characters on radio) would probably be immediately indicted for committing a "Hate" crime. Remember, America in the mid 1920s was a country where fifty thousand KKK members could march, in costume, down Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, DC (see YouTube,"Klan marches in Washington")

Gosden and Correll were white But, as far as I know, did not do the broadcast in front of a studio audience. This was one of the first to be recorded for later syndication broadcast. However, they did appear in "black face" for an Amos 'n' Andy movie; "Check and Double Check" (1930). (try and find that one on Netflix) The also made many "black face" publicity photos. (See Amos 'n' Andy in Wikipedia.)

A television version of the series, with black actors, appeared from 1951 to 1954, and again, briefly, in reruns in 1961. Both times the show was cancelled when the NAACP complained about the portrayal of blacks.

Answer: The Jot 'em Down store

Lum and Abner was a long running radio comedy (1931 to 1954) about the "adventures" of two rural, Midwestern, small town store owners constantly trying get-rich-quick schemes. They played well off each other with Lum being the practical partner and Abner proposing impractical ideas.

The show spun off five movies from 1940 to 1946. attempts to transition to television in the early '50s did not materialize.

The Rushville Lumber Yard was the corporate headquarters of the sinister, shadowy, international mega-corporation headed by Ma Perkins.

The Pine Ridge country store was made up form the name of the fictional town where Lum and Abner lived.

Answer: In a small house halfway up on the next block

Vic and Sade aired regularly from 1932 to 1944 and intermittently to 1946. It was basically a three character show with most of the shows featuring simple conversation between The father, Vic, the mother, Sade and their son, Rush. The show was popular probably because there was little or no conflict among the characters, who were talking about things a real man wife and son might talk about.

Answer: Dr. Kildare

Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore played Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie, respectively. Dr. Gillespie was Dr. Kildare's mentor at Blair General Hospital.

"Dr. Kildare" was best known as a series of Hollywood movies from 1938 to 1942, in which Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore played the same roles.

The sixty-episode radio programs aired from 1949 to 1951.

Some television programs were made after the films and radio broadcasts, but featured different actors in the major roles.

Answer: Water Commisioner.

The Great Gildersleeve was a radio situation comedy aired from 1941 to 1958. It was a early example of a "spin off" program, which came from Fibber Magee and Molly in which Gildersleeve was a recurring character.

On his own show, Gildersleeve mellowed from the bombastic character on Fibber Magee and Molly to a family man.

Answer: The Barbours

"One Man's Family" was the continuing story of Henry Barbour's extended family broadcast, continually from 1932 to 1959. With 3256 episodes, it was the longest running "soap opera" in radio history. Television versions of the program also aired in the early '50s while the radio broadcasts continued. The program was plotted as a continuous story line covering twenty-seven years of Barbour family history.

The program was created by Carlton E. Morse, who also created the long running radio mystery, "I Love A Mystery." He used the same radio actor, Barton Yarbrough on both shows..

Answer: Hudson High

If you ate your Wheaties you too could become like Jack Armstrong. Broadcast in a 15 minute format (as most youth oriented radio serials were), Jack Armstrong, "The All American Boy" was aired from 1933 to 1951 (even I didn't stay that long in high school). The plot lines involved Jack's friends, Billy and Betty Fairfield being led into exotic adventures by Jack's uncle Jim Fairfield, and which usually required Jack's ingenuity to extricate them.

A movie serial about Jack Armstrong was made in 1947.

This was not a hard question as the opening musical theme of every episode included the phase, "wave the Hudson banner high boys, show them how we stand."

Answer: Sandy

"Little Orphan Annie" was a radio version of Harold Gould's popular comic strip appearing in many newspapers. Broadcast from 1931 to 1942. It was unique in radio in that it was broadcast with two separate casts (for east and west coast airing). It was popular with younger children because they seemed to relate to the story line.

When sponsored by Ovaltine the show pushed several product related items. (You did sent for your little Orphan Annie secret decoder badge didn't you?) such as special Ovaltine cups and badges. As collectibles, these items can be worth some money today.

And lastly, Ovaltine stoutly maintains that the "secret message" from Orphan Annie never said "Drink your Ovaltine" but gave clues to the next adventure. Sorry you fans of "A Christmas Story".