Edgar Bergen first came to the attention of American audiences on Rudy Vallée’s NBC Royal Gelatin Hour on December 17th, 1936. How could ventriloquism work on radio? Perhaps Rudy Vallée himself put it best the night Bergen debuted.

Five months later NBC gave Bergen his own show on Sundays at 8PM. He was an instant smash hit. Don Ameche worked with Bergen in those years. He was emcee on December 12th, 1937 when Mae West was the guest for an innuendo heavy skit called “Adam and Eve.”

Over the next six seasons his show was never rated lower than fourth. Twice it was the country’s top program. On April 9th, 1944 Bergen’s rating was 27.1. Roughly twenty million people were tuned in live, coast-to-coast from WEAF in New York at 8PM eastern and 5PM pacific over KFI. This is that entire Easter Sunday broadcast.