Ma Perkins was not the first radio program to use continuing story lines to build a loyal audience. It was not the first serial drama to be directed at housewives during daytime broadcast hours, it was not the first show whose characters dispensed "country wisdom", it was not even the first show of the sort to come from the " Hummert Radio Factory ". It was, however, one of the very first radio shows sponsored by a Proctor & Gamble product, Oxydol, and Oxydol was, that's right, soap. Formed when a candle maker and his soap maker brother in law realized that they were competing for the same resources in 1837, P&G was one of the first American companies to realize the value of branding and advertising. One of the company's major successes was supplying soap and candles to the Union Army during the Civil War. They made it a point to stamp the crates carrying their products with their 'moon and stars' logo, and soldiers from around the country...
Old Time Radio Shows from the Golden Age of Radio