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November 1, 1937: 'Hilltop House,' 'Terry and the Pirates' first radio broadcast


 
November 1, 1937: On this date, the first transmission of Hilltop House took place on CBS. Also, the action-adventure comic strip Terry and the Pirates was aired for the first time. 

Hilltop House was a radio soap opera that aired from 1937 to 1957. It starred Bess Johnson, who played as a dedicated case worker on an orphanage called the Hilltop House in Glendale. In the latter part of this series, it was shown that Johnson left the orphanage to begin her new job as superintendent of a boarding school. She was replaced as orphanage supervisor by Julie Erickson. Hilltop House was the first radio program sponsored by Palmolive.

Terry and the Pirates, on the other hand, was a radio series based on the comic strip created by Milton Carniff. It featured the main character Terry Lee played by different actors such as Bill Fein, Owen Jordan, Cliff Carpenter, and Jackie Kelk. Terry Lee was a teenager who lived during the war years. The series lasted until 1948.

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