Aired: July 10, 1946

This episode of Proudly We Hail marks the premiere broadcast of the series, starring Clark Gable in a rare postwar radio performance. In First Choice, Gable plays Duke O’Hara, a powerful political figure on the brink of securing his party’s nomination for governor. On what should be the triumphant night of his career, an unexpected revelation threatens both his ambitions and his marriage.

As pressure mounts and loyalties are tested behind closed doors, the drama explores the collision of personal relationships, public image, and political power. Set against the backdrop of a lavish nomination celebration, the story unfolds in real time, with emotions running high and consequences looming just beyond the next decision.

Produced by C. P. McGregor for the U.S. War Department, Proudly We Hail blended dramatic storytelling with contemporary concerns, and this opening episode sets the tone for the series’ focus on character under strain. Gable’s performance brings intensity and authority to a role that hinges as much on restraint as on force.

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This episode of Old Time Radio Snack Wagon celebrates Public Domain Day with a special record party featuring some of the most popular and influential recordings of 1925, which have now entered the public domain in the United States.

The program revisits a remarkable year in American music, when recordings that would later become standards first reached the public. Featured selections include performances by Marion Harris, Gene Austin, Al Jolson, Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong, and early recordings of songs that would echo through radio, film, and popular culture for decades. By hearing these records as contemporary listeners first experienced them, the episode highlights how many familiar melodies began before the era of network radio, later finding new life through performers such as Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, and others.

It’s a reminder of how deeply early recordings shaped the soundscape of the Golden Age of Radio—and how much remains to be rediscovered as more works enter the public domain.

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Aired: December 31, 1948

This New Year’s–themed episode from The Red Skelton Show features one of Skelton’s most popular characters — Junior, the Mean Little Kid — as he welcomes 1949 in his own mischievous way.

While Junior’s parents head out to celebrate the holiday, Junior remains behind, delivering wisecracks, mangled logic, and unexpected moments of warmth as the old year gives way to the new.

Originally broadcast on New Year’s Eve, this sketch blends slapstick, verbal humor, and gentle sentiment, capturing Skelton’s gift for turning childhood mischief into something both hilarious and oddly reflective.

As Junior spars with the adults around him and contemplates resolutions in his own crooked fashion, the program offers a snapshot of postwar comedy — lighthearted, chaotic, and full of heart. The episode also showcases Skelton’s skill at live performance, where small missteps become part of the fun, reinforcing why his radio work remains so enduring more than seven decades later.

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Aired: Christmas 1939 This episode of Old Time Radio Snack Wagon features a rare holiday broadcast, Season’s Greetings from the Hardys, a special radio program created at the height of the Hardy family films’ popularity. Produced by MGM for syndication, the broadcast brings together the beloved screen family to offer a Christmas message to listeners across the country.

 Set in the Hardy household on Christmas Eve, the program reflects the warmth, optimism, and sense of shared national culture that made the Hardy films so influential during the late 1930s. With Judge Hardy, Mother Hardy, Andy, and other family members gathered around the hearth, the broadcast captures the idea of the “American family” at a moment when audiences were deeply attached to these characters through years of moviegoing.

The program also includes a musical performance by Judy Garland, who had appeared as Andy Hardy’s love interest in the film series. More than a piece of entertainment, this broadcast stands as a cultural artifact from a time when fictional families helped shape Americans’ understanding of home, community, and the meaning of Christmas on the eve of a turbulent decade.

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Aired: May 21, 1931

This episode of The Story Behind the Song tells the moving history of the beloved hymn “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds.” First broadcast in 1931 and syndicated by Transco, the program dramatizes the life of Reverend John Fawcett, the English pastor who wrote the hymn after facing a defining choice — whether to leave his small Yorkshire congregation for a prominent London pulpit.

The production, recorded more than a century and a half after the hymn’s creation, captures the spirit of devotion and fellowship that inspired its words. Blending dramatization with gentle narration, it shows how one act of faith and love became a lasting expression of community for generations of churchgoers.

Originally part of a series that explored the origins of America’s most cherished sacred and popular songs, this broadcast reminds listeners that behind every hymn lies a human story of conviction, compassion, and calling.

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Aired: Late 1950s–Early 1960s

This segment of The Army Hour takes listeners inside the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where scientists and technicians demonstrate one of only three “whole-body counters” in existence — a machine designed to measure the natural radioactivity within the human body.

In this rare field recording, Army reporter Lieutenant Paul Weinman undergoes the test himself while Sergeant Arnold Mansky explains how the instrument detects gamma radiation from both natural and man-made sources.

Their conversation captures a moment when America was still learning to live with the atomic age — balancing optimism in scientific discovery with unease about what radiation meant for human health. The result is a fascinating slice of mid-century radio journalism: part science education, part quiet reflection on humanity’s first steps into the nuclear era.

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This episode of Old Time Radio Snack Wagon spotlights one of radio’s most entertaining announcers — Bill Goodwin, whose witty, in-character commercials for The Burns and Allen Show turned advertising into comedy.

 From the early Swan Soap broadcasts to the later Maxwell House Coffee Time and Amadent Toothpaste sponsorships, Goodwin’s playful delivery and clever integration of product pitches blurred the line between story and salesmanship. His exchanges with George and Gracie were not interruptions, but seamless parts of the show — moments where humor, charm, and promotion worked hand in hand.

 These clips reveal how Goodwin’s voice and timing made even an ad read feel like a punchline — a reminder that in the right hands, the commercial could become an art form.

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Aired: November 26, 1946

This week’s Old Time Radio Snack Wagon brings a Thanksgiving classic by O. Henry, adapted for radio by the Illini Radio Guild. The story follows Stuffy Pete — a down-on-his-luck New Yorker whose Thanksgiving tradition involves more than just a good meal — and an elderly gentleman determined to uphold a charitable custom.

Set in the heart of turn of the 20th Century New York, this campus radio production captures both the warmth and the irony that made O. Henry famous. It’s a story about generosity, ritual, and the peculiar ways people show kindness — all with the twist you’d expect from one of America’s great short-story writers.

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This January 2, 1938 episode of Captains of Industry tells the story of John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia merchant who transformed American retail. Beginning as an ambitious young salesman, Wanamaker dreamed of a store built not just on commerce, but on fair dealing, trust, and hospitality.

His innovations — fixed prices, money-back guarantees, employee education, and designing stores as places of experience rather than mere counters — reshaped how Americans shop. From a rented storefront to a grand emporium filled with marble galleries, tea rooms, and music, Wanamaker’s vision turned buying and selling into something more human — a relationship between merchant and community.

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Related:
John Wanamaker: A Retailing Innovator

http://www.maykuth.com/Archives/wana95.htm

A Short History of the Life of John Wanamaker:

https://web.archive.org/web/20181014181113/http://wanamakerorgan.com/john.php

Stories of Great Christians: John Wanamaker:

https://moodyaudio.com/products/john-wanamaker



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This May 19, 1953 episode of Adventures in Research tells the story of John James Audubon — the artist and naturalist whose devotion to studying and painting birds resulted in one of the most celebrated works in American scientific and artistic history: Birds of America.

From his early fascination with woodland songbirds to the years he spent traveling, sketching, and refining his craft, this broadcast traces Audubon’s lifelong effort to capture birds as they truly appear in nature — vivid, life-sized, and full of motion. His determination would carry him across continents and through hardship, driven by a belief that the beauty of the wild should be preserved and understood.

This short dramatization blends biography with atmosphere, presenting Audubon not only as a painter but as a man who saw the natural world with both precision and awe.

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Related links: 
The National Audubon Society
https://www.audubon.org

Birds of America Digital Collection
https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america

John James Audubon Biography:
https://www.nps.gov/people/john-james-audubon.htm

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The Old Time Radio Snack Wagon celebrates its 100th episode by returning to one of its very first subjects — the incomparable Jimmy Stewart. This time, we catch the beloved actor in a rare comedic turn from a March 10, 1948 episode of Philco Radio Time with Bing Crosby. In this lighthearted broadcast, Bing and Jimmy spar over Stewart’s bachelor status, trading sharp quips about marriage, women, and independence. 

The exchange soon gives way to Stewart’s own tongue-in-cheek musical number, “The Wolf of Wolf Creek Pass,” offering listeners a playful look at the legendary actor’s sense of humor and self-deprecation.

Though Stewart was considered one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors at the time, life had other plans — he would marry Gloria Hatrick McLean the following year, remaining devoted to her for 45 years.

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This week’s Old Time Radio Snack Wagon features a chilling episode of Guest Star, a U.S. Treasury Department program promoting savings bonds. In this 15-minute broadcast, acclaimed actress Ida Lupino stars in Fear, a taut psychological drama about a woman convinced that someone is following her—though no one believes her story. As her terror mounts, listeners are drawn into a suspenseful world where reality and delusion blur until the truth is revealed in one unforgettable moment.

Produced as part of the Defense Bonds campaign, Guest Star often spotlighted top film and radio talent in short dramas or light comedies. This episode stands out for its dark tone and Lupino’s commanding performance, demonstrating why she became one of the era’s most respected and versatile actresses.

Original Air Date: August 2, 1953

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In this episode of The Adventures of Babe Ruth, the Bambino faces one of his toughest opponents — not a pitcher, but an umpire. When a long-simmering feud between Babe Ruth and umpire Tim Daly boils over during a crucial late-season game, tempers flare, fans riot, and the “Sultan of Swat” finds himself caught between pride and responsibility. What follows is a tale of sportsmanship, humility, and redemption — told with the flair and energy that made this U.S. Navy–produced series a hit among young listeners.

Though inspired by real headlines, Feud with Tim Daly is pure radio fiction — a dramatized look at the legend of Ruth as a moral hero and ambassador for the game. The episode captures the spirit of baseball’s golden age, where the crack of the bat echoed alongside lessons in fairness and self-control.

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In this 15-minute mystery from The Unexpected, Lyle Talbot stars as deep-sea diver Tom Stevenson, a man drawn into a web of deception and greed when a mysterious widow offers him a fortune to recover lost treasure from a sunken ship off the coast of Hawaii. But as the dive grows darker and the truth rises to the surface, Stevenson learns that fate—and fortune—can turn in the most unexpected ways.

Produced in Hollywood and syndicated across the country, The Unexpected ran during 1947–1948, offering compact dramas with twist endings reminiscent of Suspense and The Whistler. Cargo Unknown is a sharp example of the series’ flair for irony and moral surprise, delivered with brisk pacing and atmospheric sound design.

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In this episode of The Family Doctor, titled Once to Every Boy, mischief finds the Maynard twins when they decide to buy a cigar, pretending it's for their father. What begins as a seemingly innocent errand from the local drugstore quickly spirals into a secret experiment gone wrong. Soon, both the town doctor and minister must step in as the boys learn firsthand the consequences of their actions.

Produced in 1937, The Family Doctor was a syndicated drama series that combined gentle humor with small-town lessons, reflecting everyday dilemmas of American life. This episode shows how even common missteps were handled with compassion and understanding in the world of old-time radio storytelling.

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This April 1, 1943, segment of Kraft Music Hall pairs Bing Crosby with a rising comedy talent who would one day become one of television’s most iconic stars—Lucille Ball. At this point in her career, Ball was a hardworking film and radio actress, known for her quick wit and growing comedic presence.

In this sketch, she plays a regal “Queen Lucille” in a playful routine filled with wordplay, royal suitors, and plenty of laughs. Lucille Ball’s radio appearances like this one helped showcase her timing and charm long before I Love Lucy made her a household name. These performances built the foundation for her future reign as the “queen of comedy.”

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Aired: 1956–57 (Episode 42 of Greatest Sports Thrills)

On this episode of Greatest Sports Thrills, listeners are treated to the story of Frank Gifford, the versatile halfback of the New York Giants, who helped lead his team to the 1956 NFL Championship. Narrated by Harry Wismer, the program explores Gifford’s rise from USC standout to one of the most celebrated players of his era. Gifford himself shares the moments he considers his greatest sports thrills, from college glory to his years in the NFL spotlight.

 The series, originally produced as a U.S. Air Force recruiting program, combined profiles of athletic legends with messages of service and opportunity. This episode captures both the excitement of mid-century professional football and the personality of one of the sport’s enduring figures.

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Learn More

• Pro Football Hall of Fame: Frank Gifford– Career highlights and legacy.
• NFL.com: Remembering Frank Gifford – A look back at his impact on the game.
• ESPN Classic: Frank Gifford Biography – From his USC days to broadcasting fame.
• Monday Night Football and Frank Gifford – His long second career as a broadcaster.

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On this episode of Front Page Drama, drawn from the files of The American Weekly, a reporter sets out to interview a man who has just turned one hundred years old. What begins as a standard feature story soon takes an unexpected turn when the centenarian makes a startling declaration about his future. The encounter sets off a chain of events that reverberate far beyond the man’s modest home.

First broadcast on August 28, 1948, this program was the 801st episode of Front Page Drama. Produced to promote The American Weekly, the series dramatized stories ranging from the sensational to the heartfelt, reflecting both the anxieties and aspirations of postwar America. Subscribe to the Old Time Radio Snack Wagon at https://www.snackwagon.net Learn More

• The American Weekly: A Brief History (American Heritage) – How the Sunday supplement shaped public tastes.
• Hearst’s American Weekly Magazine – Publisher background and cultural role.
• Collecting The American Weekly – A look at its artwork, stories, and legacy.

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On this episode of Old Time Radio Snack Wagon, we feature an installment of Behind the Story narrated by Marvin Miller: The Crypt of Civilization. This fascinating program, originally broadcast by the Armed Forces Radio Service, explores one of the most ambitious time capsule projects in history.

Conceived in 1936 by Dr. Thornwell Jacobs, president of Oglethorpe University, the “Crypt of Civilization” was designed to preserve a record of human culture and knowledge for 6,000 years. Sealed in 1939, the crypt holds microfilm books, recordings, everyday artifacts, and even devices meant to help future civilizations understand English. This episode dives into the origins, challenges, and aspirations of the project, raising timeless questions about what we choose to preserve and how we imagine the distant future. 

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Relevant Links

• Oglethorpe University: The Crypt of Civilization – official background on the project.
• Smithsonian Magazine: The World’s First Time Capsule – an in-depth look at the crypt’s history and significance.
• New Georgia Encyclopedia: Crypt of Civilization – historical context and details of what was included

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On this special episode of The Old Time Radio Snack Wagon, we're ringing in Public Domain Day (and New Year's too) and for once we're not bringing you old time radio. We've got our virtual record play out and are ready to ring in the New Year with some tracks from '23 (1923 that is) that've entered the public domaikn.

Among the '78 RPM recordings you'll hear:

Paul Whiteman's Orchestra brings us., "March of the Wooden Soldiers."

Then, next up 1923's biggest earworm, "Yes, we have no Bananas!" from Billy Jones.

Then, Radio Hall of Famer Eddie Cantor offers his response to the hit, ""I've Got the Yes! We Have No Bananas Blues."


Then we wrap up with composition from another Radio Hall of Famer, Jimmy Durante with, "I Ain't Never Had Nobody Crazy Over Me"

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