Wednesday, December 5, 2018

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 4: Early Christmas Presents with Fibber McGee and Molly (1944)



Christmas 2012 (Saline, Michigan)
A present that does not require you to guess - my beloved Flappy back in 2012

Well that did not take long to fall behind a day.  Busy weekend - so it will get worse before it gets better.  ANYWHO....lets get in the car and visit our friends at 79 Wistful Vista. The residents of this address have been stars on radio almost throughout the Golden Age.  While we have not featured this particlar episode, I have a number on the blog over the past few years that include - Painting the Christmas trees white (1945),  Mailing Packages with Fibber McGee and Molly (1940),  Looking for a Christmas Tree with Fibber McGee & Molly (1943) & Fibber McGee and Molly's Phonograph (1940).  There will be many opportunities to catch Christmas and holiday themed episodes from the Golden Age of Radio on the web and on Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148).  But these all have the joy of not needing anything other than a web connection to enjoy.  If you want to see all of my previous entries, please click here - OTR Christmas (or drop to the bottom of this message).

Fibber McGee & Molly had one of the most famous addresses in all of popular culture. 79 Wistful Vista was their home for the entire run. I heard that they never bothered to give Fibber McGee or Molly a job - so they could use artistic freedom to put them in any scenario possible! This series is one of the all-time classic radio comedies, running from 1935 through the fifties. 1935 was also when Fibber McGee and Molly started - and they received some good reviews right off the bat:

Fibber McGee and Molly - Billboard - April 27, 1935 (page 10)
Fibber McGee, aided by his wife and heckler, Molly, Contributes a funny and enjoyable program, one, in fact, that is likely to send the name of the team into the higher bracketed radio field. In common with other radio acts, the Fibber isn't actually a new wrinkle - he is sort of an Irish Baron Munchausen - but with the combination of a good delivery with good materials insures success. First show was well paced and liberally sprinkled with laughs.

From the WMAQ studios in Chicago, Jim and Marian Jordan starred in over 1600 shows as their alter egos, though only a fraction survive today. During the early years, they were sponsored by Johnson Wax, headquartered in nearby Racine, Wisconsin. They were a staple of the NBC Network and one of the most famous voices from Old Time Radio.

On December 19, 1944 over the NBC Network, the Fibber McGee and Molly show featured some of the anticipation that was taking place at 79 Wistful Vista, and houses all over the country. Fibber is tempting fate by going into the front closet and looking for presents...what is he going to get this year.
Boyohboyohboyohboy. . . look at all these Christmas presents! "From Molly to Fibber, with Love" "To Fibber from Molly, with best wishes" "To the best husband a woman ever had". . . I wonder who that's for?
I thought I was the only husband she ever . . . . . oh well. OH OH! An envelope . . . "DO NOT OPEN BEFORE CHRISTMAS!" Hm, looks like it might be a War Bond . . . Hmmm . . . flap isn't sealed very tight, either. If somebody's thumb ever got caught in there, it'd flip open like a . . .
But what catches his eye is a white package with a blue ribbon.  It has no label.  Who could it be fore? Fibber McGee is on the hunt to get an answer.  This fun episode will hopefully get you in the spirit of the holidays, but maybe encourage you to do a better job of labeling your packages.  The show also features Marian Jordan singing (as Teeny) their well known and requested son, "Twas The Night Before Christmas." The show features the regular cast of characters including Jim Jordan and Marian Jordan in their lead roles, Billy Mills and His Orchestra, The King's Men, Harlow Wilcox, Don Quinn (writer), Phil Leslie (writer), Shirley Mitchell, Arthur Q. Bryan, and Marlin Hurt. 

Fibber McGee and Molly. December 19, 1944

Fibber McGee and Molly. December 19, 1944 (Script)
25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2018) & Other Links
Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2017) 
25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) 

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)
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