Old Time Radio Snack Wagon|Rare Historic Radio Programs

The Old Time Radio Snack Wagon serves up its third sampler of vintage commercials, featuring five memorable advertisements from the 1940s through the 1960s. From beloved radio personalities to singing cereal mascots and science-fiction comedy, these commercials offer an entertaining look at how advertisers captured audiences' attention during radio's golden age and beyond.

The collection begins with a 1968 Texaco commercial featuring Jack Benny and Dennis Day, making good use of Benny's legendary reputation for thriftiness. Next comes an unusually apologetic 1945 Wrigley's Spearmint advertisement, reflecting the shortages and manufacturing challenges that continued after World War II.

The sampler also features a 1950s Crest toothpaste commercial emphasizing scientific research, a musical appearance by Snap, Crackle, and Pop promoting Rice Krispies, and a wonderfully unusual 1959 Lysol advertisement featuring visitors from outer space.

Together, these commercials reveal how advertising reflected the concerns, humor, popular culture, and changing consumer expectations of mid-20th-century America.Subscribe to the Old Time Radio Snack Wagon at https://www.snackwagon.net

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Long before generations of children knew Paul Frees from his work for Disney and Jay Ward, his extraordinary versatility made him an ideal performer for radio. The Player gave Frees a particularly impressive showcase: a one-man theater in which he portrayed every character.

In “They Do It in Books,” that talent is put to work in an offbeat gangster comedy. sw0138Gang boss Steve Paddy is frustrated with his outfit's lack of success until one of his henchmen discovers an unexpected source of criminal inspiration: classic literature.

Beginning with Hamlet, the gang starts looking to the great books for ideas, soon turning to everything from The Count of Monte Cristo to Machiavelli while baffled investigators try to figure out why Paddy's formerly unimaginative gang has suddenly become so clever.

Written by Jerome Lawrence, who would later co-write Inherit the Wind with Robert E. Lee, “They Do It in Books” combines crime-story conventions with increasingly absurd comedy while giving Frees plenty of opportunities to demonstrate why he became known as “The Man of a Thousand Voices.”

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Show Notes

Aired: 1937 (The Family Doctor)

In “Glass Houses,” the seventh episode of The Family Doctor, hardware-store owner Jess Rankin comes to Doc Adams with a problem no medicine can cure. Years earlier, Jess served time in prison, but since then he has rebuilt his life, married, established a successful business, and become a respected citizen of Cederton. Now, newspaper editor Amos Day is threatening to reveal Jess's past—not out of concern for the community, but because Jess took some of his advertising business elsewhere. 

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Aired: May 21, 1944 (Philco Radio Hall of Fame)

Before Jackie Gleason became a television icon as Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, he was building his reputation in nightclubs, movies, Broadway, and radio. This 1944 appearance on Philco Radio Hall of Fame catches Gleason during his successful run in the Broadway musical Follow the Girls, more than a decade before The Honeymooners reached television.

Asked to introduce himself to listeners who might not know his name, Gleason responds with a comic autobiography that quickly abandons any concern for accuracy. He takes the audience from his supposedly difficult infancy through school, romance, burlesque, nightclubs, and some decidedly unsuccessful adventures in radio, delivering a rapid succession of jokes along the way.

It's an entertaining opportunity to hear the distinctive comic personality of Jackie Gleason years before his best-known television work—and a glimpse of a performer whose biggest successes were still ahead of him. Subscribe to the Old Time Radio Snack Wagon at https://www.snackwagon.net















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Original Air Date: 1936 or 1937

Long before Eddie Albert became familiar to television audiences through Green Acres, he displayed a very different side of his talents on radio. This episode features two recently surfaced recordings from The Honeymooners, a series of brief romantic musical sketches pairing the young Albert with a female singing partner. In these charming slices of 1930s radio, a young couple tries to enjoy life's simple pleasures on a limited budget.

A picnic in Central Park provides an excuse for songs including “The Best Things in Life Are Free” and “Side by Side,” while another sketch finds domestic tranquility threatened by an excessively health-conscious dinner—and the irresistible prospect of steak and apple pie.

Mixing popular music, romance, and gentle comedy, these rediscovered recordings offer a rare glimpse of Eddie Albert near the beginning of his long career—and reveal talents that audiences who know him primarily from film and television may never have encountered.

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Join Adam Graham in a special edition of The Old Time Radio Snack Wagon, where we take a nostalgic journey back to 1924. As records from this year enter the public domain, Adam shares some of the era's most iconic tunes, starting with Al Jolson's lively "California Here I Come." Experience the rich baritone of John Charles Thomas with "Smilin' Through," and enjoy the soulful voice of Marion Harris on "It Had to Be You." Delve into the gospel roots with Homer Rodeheaver's "Carry Your Cross with a Smile," co-written by the prolific Charles Hutchinson Gabriel. Finally, savor the timeless classic, George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," performed by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra, featuring Gershwin himself on piano. Relish this unique musical retrospective as Adam highlights these newly accessible treasures before we return to our regular Old Time Radio programming.

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In this 1936 episode of Unsolved Mysteries,  listen in on the discovery of a real-life locked room mystery where a prominent bridge whist expert is found murdered under unusual circumstances.

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Dive into the lore of Davy Crockett, Tennessee's beloved son, shortly before the Disney-fueled Crockett craze hit the airwaves. In this June 15, 1954 broadcast, explore the lesser-known tale of young Davy's romantic pursuits and his human struggles, a narrative that paints a vivid picture of the man behind the legend.  

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This January 4, 1947, excerpt from the Police Athletic League program features none other than the legendary Joe DiMaggio. Listen in as young PAL baseball players interview the Yankee Clipper, uncovering his thoughts on the game, training tips, and memorable moments from his illustrious career. 

DiMaggio's insights and down-to-earth advice shine through in this captivating segment. Experience the charm and wisdom of one of baseball's greatest icons in this nostalgic journey. 

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We take a listen to an episode of Lassie where a dog named Jumpy, who a Fatherless boy owns, gets taken to the pound when a misunderstanding erupts over his attempt to protect a baby from a feral one-eyed cat.

Original AIr Date: January 14, 1948

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