Old Radio

  January 25, 1937: For the first time The Guiding Light was broadcast on NBC. Sponsored by the Proctor and Gamble, Irma Phillips'  The Guiding Light   was the longest-running radio soap opera of all time. It started as a 15-minute radio show from 1937 to 1947, and was then adopted as television drama in 1956. For some time, it was simultaneously heard on radio and watched on television. The television series lasted up to 2009. The story was said to be based on Phillips' life experiences.  When she was aged 19, she gave birth to unfortunately a still-born baby, after which she found comfort by listening to the sermons of a preacher named Preston Bradley. Those sermons formed the basis of " The Guiding Light  ," which she created 27 years later. She also published them through her best selling book. The " Right to Happiness " was a spin-off series generated from " The Guiding Light  ."

January 24, 1930: On this day Ben Bernie (Benjamin Anzelwitz) started his weekly remote broadcast from Roosevelt Hotel in New York. Ben Bernie was an American jazz violinist and radio personality, also known as The Old Maestro. He was very popular with his showmanship and memorable bits of snappy dialogue. Bernie recorded his orchestra from 1920 - 1930 in various City. In 1925 Ben Bernie and his orchestra recorded the Sweet Georgia Brown. In 1930 Bernie made his debut in musical variety radio shows, titled, Ben Bernie. The Old Maestro' broadcast, reached high rating and placed him among radio's top ten programs. He started his debut on radio in the early 1923 on WJZ and the NBC Blue Network in 1930-31, sponsored by Mennen. In 1931-1932 his program run on CBS, sponsored by Pabst Beer and then heard Tuesdays on NBC from 1932 to 1935, also with Pabst and Jimmy Wallington as the announcer. Listen to an old time radio sample: H Link, Keller S "

  January 23, 1937: In Literary Digest's article, Edgar Bergen stated that he paid $10,000 (equal to $150,200 in 2010) insurance for his wooden dummy Charlie McCarthy for ensuring his dummy still in a good condition. The radio ventriloquist duo  Bergen and McCarthy 's last appearance was on "The Muppet Movie." Shortly after filming that movie , Bergen died of kidney disease. The movie was then dedicated in his memory. At present, his dummy  Charlie McCarthy , which was still in good condition, is on display at the Smithsonian Institution at Washington D. C.

January 22: Happy Birthday, Ann Sothern The Adventures of Maisie crackled from radio speakers nationwide from 1945 to '52. It starred the vivacious Ann Sothern , who was born on this day in 1909. Star of film, television, and radio, Sothern may be best known for her Maisie character. Maisie originated in the 1939 film of the same name. Maisie is a New York dancer who finds herself in adventures in Wyoming. The movie spawned a few sequels and then Sothern got to play the role in a radio adaptation of Maisie Was a Lady, produced by Lux Radio Theatre . A small empire was born, and the comic actress became a radio staple. Like many talented lookers of the day, Sothern entertained the WWII troops and appeared at military hospitals. Reportedly, a plane was named Sothern Comfort in her honor. She was a good friend of comedienne Lucille Ball . Ball once remarked, "the best comedienne in this business, bar none, is Ann Sothern ." Late in her life, Sother

January 21, 1927: On this day, national radio network broadcast the first opera that plays in Chicago,IL. Selections of Faust was performed for the listeners. Faust was wrote by Charles Gounod and was a grand opera in five acts to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite. Faust was played for the first time at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris on 19 March 1859. For additional classical and opera radio shows, see also: Andre Kostelanetz Show Bell Telephone Hour Encores Chicago Theater of the Air Concert Hall Enchanted Hour Hour of Charm Metropolitan Opera Telephone Hour (Music From America) The Magic Key Lauritz Melchoir Collection Voice of Firestone

  January 20, 1954: The National Negro Network was founded on this day and started its transmission with forty other classic radio stations as its network members. The National Negro Network was the first black owned and operated radio show network. It had up to 45 affiliates. While the network tried its best to fill air-time, but it fell apart with the rise of the television.