Lum and Abner, an American radio comedy which aired
as a network program from 1932 to 1954, became an American institution
in its low-keyed, arch rural wit. One of a series of 15-minute serial
comedies that dotted American radio at its height as America's number
one home entertainment—others included Amos 'n' Andy, Easy Aces,
The Goldbergs, and Vic and Sade—Lum and Abner included various elements
of each and became somewhat of an institution.
Lauck and Goff had known each other since childhood
and attended the University of Arkansas together. They performed
locally and established a blackface act which led to an audition
at radio station KTHS in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Prior to the audition,
the two men decided to change their act and portray two hillbillies,
since there were already an overabundance of blackface acts at the
time. After only a few shows in Hot Springs, they were picked up
nationally by NBC, and Lum and Abner, sponsored by Quaker Oats,
ran until 1932. Lauck and Goff performed several different characters,
modeling many of them after real-life residents of Waters, Arkansas.
After the Quaker contract expired, Lauck and Goff continued to
broadcast over two Texas stations, WBAP (Fort Worth) and WFAA (Dallas).
In 1933, Ford Motor Company became their sponsor for approximately
a year. Horlick's Malted Milk, the 1934-37 sponsor, offered a number
of promotional premium items, including almanacs and fictional Pine
Ridge newspapers. During this period, the show originated from Chicago's
WGN, one of the founding members of the Mutual Broadcasting System.
In 1936, an act of Congress changed the name of Waters to Pine Ridge.
Postum cereal sponsored Lum and Abner in 1938-39, before Alka-Seltzer
picked up the duo for eight years. Over the course of its life,
Lum and Abner appeared on all of the major radio networks, CBS and
ABC (formerly NBC Blue), in addition to NBC and Mutual.
This collection of Lum & Abner Greats includes 1653
different shows and appearances for a total of 348+ hours of listening
enjoyment.
This product is a DVD collection of Old Time Radio mp3s. It is
designed to be played on your computer DVD drive with standard mp3
software - like Windows media player or its equivalent on Macintosh
computers. The mp3 files on the DVDs can be copied onto CDs for
play in your car stereo, home entertainment center, etc so you can
take your favorite shows with you anywhere you go.
|
