Old Time Radio Shows

Valentine's Day is Benjamin Kubelsky's birthday. “There will be a slight pause while you say 'Who cares?'” Old Time Radio fans will recognize the quote as the second sentence uttered on the radio by Kubelsky's alter-ego, Jack Benny . The path from becoming Benjamin Kubelsky to Jack Benny is pretty typical for a vaudevillian on the radio. That is if there is anything typical about a 42 year career at the top of radio and TV. Little Ben Kubelsky was born to a Polish immigrant saloon owner in Chicago and grew up in Waukegan, Ill. Little Ben was given a violin at the age of six, and his parents had high hopes that he would become a concert violinist. Ben loved the violin, but the little boy lacked the discipline to practice seriously. He was able to use the violin to gain pocket money, playing with local dance bands by the time he was 14. A poor student, Ben was attracted to Vaudeville. In 1911, Minnie Marx invited Ben to join her son's act, but his parent would...

A working definition of Christian Missionary work is "One who is to witness across cultures." The term Missionary comes from the Latin term  missionem,  "to send forth". Many churches have sent their representatives out into the world to spread their message and to do good works in the name of the church. Radio has always been a valuable missionary tool. There is anecdotal evidence that radio sets came into the homes of many  Fibber McGee and Molly ,  Buck Rogers , and  Suspense!  fans so that a senior member of the family could enjoy the gospel music and sermons of a favorite radio preacher. And in many cases these religious were very entertaining, although there are cases where the spiritual leaders found themselves embroiled in scandal. It is not the purpose of this article to pass judgment on these scandals, but merely to report where appropriate. Father Coughlin The Catholic Hour  became part of the NBC line-up in 1936 with the c...