“The Romance of the Ranchos” was one of the more unusual series to be broadcast during the Golden Age of Radio.  Each episode traced the history of a certain district of Southern California, from the Days of the Ranchos – when everything was still owned by Spain and Mexico in the 1700s – up to then-contemporary times, the 1940s. Tonight, the vignettes center on Newhall, Saugus, and Santa Clarita.  Then, on “The Jack Benny Show,” the gang tells their own version of Old California, complete with rancho, Jack as a wealthy Mexican land-owner, and Don Wilson as 500 head of cattle.

Episodes

 The Romance of the Ranchos

November 26, 1941 

“The Newhall Region and the Rancho del Valle”

4:16

The Jack Benny Show

May 16, 1943 

“Rancho Benny”

34:13

“Vic and Sade” is the driest of domestic comedies.  We present two 15-minute visits to “the small house half-way up on the next block.”  Young Rush wants to host a party that will make you swallow your shoes (so to speak) and Sade gets the guys to move two tons of coal from a neighbor’s cellar to theirs.  Then, on the dramatic anthology show “Family Theater,” the cast of a radio crime drama are moving to television as part of a summer replacement experiment.

Episodes

Vic and Sade

March 3, 1938 

“Official Host”

July 5, 1939 

“Two Tons of Coal #1”

02:08

Family Theater

December 1, 1954 

“Summer Replacement”

28:42

Monty Woolley, the actor, writer, radio and movie star, is probably best known as the star of “The Man Who Came to Dinner.”  But he also headlined his own radio comedy, “The Magnificent Montague.”  He played Edwin Montague, once the leading light of the legitimate theatre, now reduced to acting in a radio melodrama.  In these two episodes Montague goes to Hollywood.  He’s supposed to star in a film version of “Macbeth,” but neither Tinseltown nor he are ready for each other.

Episodes

The Magnificent Montague

January 19, 1951

“Lost in Hollywood”

3:22

The Magnificent Montague

January 26, 1951

“The Screen Test”

34:21

"Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" ran 15 minutes a day, five days a week.  The tales of the freelance insurance investigator, who had an action-packed expense account, were full of action, cleverness, and style.  In this binge-listen of a full week’s adventure, Dollar is hired to protect a very special laird, one with four legs and a tail.

April 9-13, 1956

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar

“The Laird Douglas-Douglas of Heatherscote Matter”

3:11

Eve Arden returns, or perhaps premiers, in “Our Miss Brooks,” as we present the very first episode of that comedy classic.  There’s a new principal, and Miss Brooks just can’t stop bumping into him.  Then on “Gunsmoke,” Marshal Matt Dillon tries to help a family from being unfairly run off their land.

Episodes

Our Miss Brooks

July 19, 1948

“The First Episode”

2:07

Gunsmoke

October 24, 1952

“The Mortgage”

33:00

This month marks the 124th birthday of radio legend Fred Allen.  Though best known for his “feuds” with fellow comedian Jack Benny, Allen had a long and prolific career.  We present tonight a classic episode of “The Fred Allen Show.” First, Fred takes us on a walk down Allen’s Alley to meet the colorful characters who live there, then Frank Sinatra drops by songs and laughs.  Then, on “Information Please,” Fred starts out as a contestant and ends up as host.

Episodes

The Fred Allen Show

October 21, 1945

“Hillbilly”

5:15

Information Please

February 15, 1943

“Guest: Fred Allen”

34:10

First up on “You Bet Your Life,” Groucho Marx interviews a female Air Force sergeant and the parents of triplets.  Then on “Dragnet,” a brightly-colored car leads detectives Friday and Romero all around Los Angeles, from its mean streets to an amusement park.

Episodes

You Bet Your Life

June 27, 1951

"The Secret Word is Table"

1:47

Dragnet

November 30, 1950

“The Big Car”

31:52

First up, on “Fibber McGee and Molly,” two duo race around town trying to reclaim a very valuable coin accidentally spent on some cigars.  The comic coincidences and tongue-twisters will leave your head spinning.  Then we present, for the first time, an episode of “Boston Blackie.” Blackie is a righter of wrongs, a reformed safecracker and jewel thief.  He first appeared in 1914, and his tough-but-clever style has taken him from magazines to films, television, and, of course, radio.  This is a baseball-themed episode.

Episodes

Fibber McGee and Molly

April 15, 1947

"1880 Quarter"

Boston Blackie

April 29, 1947

“Baseball and Gambling”

“Vic and Sade” is the driest of domestic comedies.  We present two 15-minute visits to “the small house half-way up on the next block.”  First, Sade may have at last found a place to store all of her husband’s fraternal lodge regalia that’s always cluttering up the house.  Then, what did people do for entertainment at the height of the Depression?  Rush’s pal Rotten makes performance art out of a collapsed porch.  Finally, on “Escape,” we all escape to Kafiristan, via an adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling classic story, “The Man Who Would Be King.”

Episodes

 Vic and Sade

[1939]

“Mr. Gumpox Offers Sade a Stall”

 June 13, 1939

“Porch Collapses, Rotten Takes the Blame”

2:37

Escape

August 1, 1948

“The Man Who Would Be King”

29:18

Bing Crosby leads “The Kraft Music Hall” with special guest, Lucille Ball.  Before she was “Lucy,” the comedy legend, she was a would-be glamour girl with a knack for comedy.  Then on “The College Quiz Bowl” students from Barnard College and Syracuse University tackle topics as diverse as mythology, anatomy, and politics.

Episodes

The Kraft Music Hall

March 2, 1944

“Guest: Lucille Ball”

2:40

The College Quiz Bowl

October 20, 1954

“Syracuse vs Barnard”

33:04