Episodes
Thursday Dec 10, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 51
Thursday Dec 10, 2009
Thursday Dec 10, 2009
There's trouble brewing in Centerville as we drop in again on the continuing serial, "American Family Robinson", syndicated in the mid 1930s by the National Industrial Council (aka the National Association of Manufacturers).
As program 51 begins, Windy Bill and Miss Timmons are having a spat, so Luke and Mrs. Robinson are still stuck with Windy Bill living in their house. Luke tries having a little talk with Bill to see if things can be patched up, then Bill stops by the construction site for the new factory to offer his advice. The show was transferred from an original World Broadcasters Inc acetate transcription, matrix number SS 8955-1.Friday Dec 04, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 50
Friday Dec 04, 2009
Friday Dec 04, 2009
Now, back to the continuing drama of "American Family Robinson", syndicated in the mid-1930s by the National Industrial Council to influence public opinion on economic policies.
In program 50, Windy Bill and Miss Timmons go for a walk today and Windy tells her that he's been appointed "Contact Manager" at the shoe company, unaware that he's a simple office boy. Then, Gus Olson shows up and throws a monkey wrench into Luke's plans to get Miss Timmons to take Windy Bill off his hands. The show was transferred from an original World Broadcasters Inc acetate transcription, matrix number SS 8954-1.
Thursday Nov 26, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 49
Thursday Nov 26, 2009
Thursday Nov 26, 2009
Once again we drop in on the "American Family Robinson", a continuing drama about a small town newspaper editor, his wacky relatives, and the evils of FDR's New Deal and socialism. The show was created and syndicated to about 300 stations in the mid-1930s by the National Association of Manufacturers operating under the moniker "The National Industrial Council".
This week, in program 49, Windy Bill is continuing his speech about human progress. It's so ... impressive ... that Mr. Jason offers him a job at his company. So Bill starts making big plans about his role in the company, leading to an analysis of Windy Bill's views on socialism by Luke Robinson. The show was transferred from an original acetate World Broadcasters Inc. transcription, matrix number 8912-1.
Wednesday Nov 18, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 48
Wednesday Nov 18, 2009
Wednesday Nov 18, 2009
And now, this week's installment of "American Family Robinson", a syndicated 1930s serial sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers to influence public opinion on Roosevelt's New Deal economic policies.
We've skipped ahead a few episodes, since I'm missing some discs in the series. In program 48, the story picks up with the dedication of a new factory in town and Luke Robinson, editor of the paper, has gotten a speaking slot at the event for Windy Bill and tries to get a job for him at the factory. The show was transferred from an original World Broadcaster's acetate transcription, matrix number 8911-1.
Wednesday Oct 28, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 43
Wednesday Oct 28, 2009
Wednesday Oct 28, 2009
It's back to Centerville now and the adventures of the "American Family Robinson", a syndicated mid 1930s serial paid for by the National Industrial Council (the National Association of Manufacturers) to influence public opinion about FDR's economic policies.
Betty and Dick returned from their honeymoon last week. This week, in Program 43, they find Windy Bill camping out in their house. Will the young couple be able to get rid of their unwanted house guest so they can have some time alone? The program was transferred from an original World Broadcasting acetate transcription, matrix number SS 8723-2.
Friday Oct 23, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 42
Friday Oct 23, 2009
Friday Oct 23, 2009
Now we return to Centerville for "American Family Robinson", a serial drama on the life of a small town newspaper editor and his wacky family, sponsored by the National Industrial Council as part of their mid-1930s propaganda efforts to combat FDR's New Deal economic policies.
This week, Luke and Mrs. Robinson rush to greet newlyweds Betty and Dick at the railroad station as their daughter and new son in law return from their honeymoon. Of course, this fun little comedic episode quickly turns into a conversation about how farmers don't like socialism. The show was transferred from an original World Broadcasters, Inc acetate transcription, matrix number SS 8722-2.Thursday Oct 15, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 41
Thursday Oct 15, 2009
Thursday Oct 15, 2009
Well, last week, we heard a kind of instant romance develop between "Gus the Gorilla", Windy Bill's bodyguard, and Luke Robinson's secretary on the National Industrial Council (American Manufacturers Association) 1930s syndicated series, "American Family Robinson". This week, in program 41, Mr. Robinson's secretary has talked him into putting Gus to work at the paper so Luke has to find something for him to do.
The curious thing about this disc is that it appears to be a program in the series you weren't supposed to hear - the disc's pressing plate on this side has been scratched out in a definite spiderweb pattern. It's hard to tell if this was done before the series was first distributed or later in the run. But, based on the contents, one can see why. Luke goes into a diatribe about "boondoggling" - the government creating useless jobs for the unemployed. It's one of the more heartless little talks in the series, considering the high level of unemployment during the Depression and how many people that might have heard the show were either themselves working on a WPA or CCC job or had a relative that did. I have a friend from the small town of Graham, NC, that recalls his parents and grandparents talking about one of his aunts who was an organist at the local movie theater. At that time, small theaters couldn't afford the upgrade to sound, so even into the late 1930s, the theater was still showing silent movies - you had to drive thirty miles or more to the big city of Greensboro to see a sound picture. His aunt received WPA support to accompany films and the theater and give music lessons. This episode of the series was transferred from an original World Broadcasting red acetate transcription, matrix number S 8686-2. The file was compiled from two passes of the disc and was run through click reduction software - I had to reconstruct the program, since the disc skipped so much.
Thursday Oct 08, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 40
Thursday Oct 08, 2009
Thursday Oct 08, 2009
We continue our look at "American Family Robinson", a syndicated serial from the mid-1930s sponsored by the National Industrial Council (the National Association of Manufacturers) to promote free enterprise and educate the public about the dangers of the New Deal.
In program 40, crazy schemer Windy Bill visits his brother-in-law, Luke, to bemoan the fact that he's loosing the patent to his house car to Miss Timmons. Gus "The Gorilla" Olson, Windy Bill's bodyguard, shows up and gets to know Luke's secretary - could we have a budding romance here? Of course, we can't have an episode of "American Family Robinson" without some speechifying; in this case, the topic is how big business isn't bad just because it's big. The show was transferred from an original red acetate World Broadcasting system transcription, matrix number SS 8652. Next week ... the episode of "American Family Robinson" you weren't supposed to hear...Friday Oct 02, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 39
Friday Oct 02, 2009
Friday Oct 02, 2009
A listener wrote to me last week and mentioned that her husband came into the room as she was listening to last week's episode of "American Family Robinson". "When did Ayn Rand get a syndicated talk show?" he asked. That pretty much sums up this odd mix of serial drama and comedy from the National Industrial Council (aka the National Association of Manufacturers) that includes at least one diatribe against FDR's New Deal policies in each episode. Perhaps the show influenced Ayn Rand's writing style.
I found out a couple more interesting tidbits about the show from the Museum of Broadcast Communication's "Encyclopedia of Radio". The idea for the show came from Harry A. Bullis, the vice president of General Mills and chairman of the NAM's public relations committee. Scripts for the show were originally submitted to both NBC and CBS, with the National Industrial Council hoping that one of the networks would carry it as a sustaining feature. Not only did the networks turn them down, but NBC prohibited their owned and operated stations from carrying the show after seeing more of the scripts. The Encyclopedia notes:"Reviewing the series’ first three episodes, NBC script editor L.H.Titterton hardly knew what to make of the Robinsons, or the direction the story might take. An outline for the rest of the series and a script of the last episode received three days later confirmed Titterton’s suspicion. After meeting with Selvage and Douglas Silver, the scripts’ author, Titterton reported that the American Family Robinson proposed “to take on a definitely anti-Rooseveltian tendency.” “You would probably not find in the entire series any specific sentence that could be censored,” Titterton wrote to his network superiors, “but the definite intention and implication of each episode is to conduct certain propaganda against the New Deal and all its work.”Probably the last thing the networks wanted was to antagonize the Roosevelt administration and, by extension, the Federal Communications Commission. Program 39 in the series is more typical of the series, focusing on Luke, editor of the local paper, and his dealings with crazy relative Windy Bill. It seems that Windy Bill is has a plot going to get some property that belongs to Miss Timmons, so she and Luke work out a scheme to thwart his plans. Somehow, this quickly turns into a discussion of social welfare in European countries. Don't you have conversations like this every day? My thanks to the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group for their donation of these discs to my collection. By the way - I recently obtained the First Generation Archive's "Little Orphan Annie" set that includes shows dating from the mid-1930s. The "American Family Robinson"'s Luke sounds like the same actor that appeared on "Little Orphan Annie". Anyone else think so?
Friday Sep 25, 2009
American Family Robinson - Pgm 38
Friday Sep 25, 2009
Friday Sep 25, 2009
Since the "Grantland Rice Story" and "American Family Robinson" were the two most popular series in the poll, I'll be running all the episodes I have of each series in blog each week.
"The American Family Robinson", first syndicated in Fall 1934, was a program produced by the National Industrial Council, a group set up by the National Association of Manufacturers. Disturbed by the policies of the Roosevelt administration, the show was designed to use the medium of radio and the popular format of continuing serials to "sell" the public on more conservative economic polices. It was part of a larger effort, including texts for speeches, leaflets, films for schools and other materials, by the NAM to organize owners of manufacturing business to influence public opinion in their local communities about New Deal economics. Hmm ... sounds like some of the information campaigns going on about health care and the economy today, doesn't it? On the surface, the concept sounds rather dry, but the show has some fun characterizations and good writing as we follow the Robinsons dealing with hard times during the Depression. The program was quite popular, running on about 300 stations, with the air time paid for by local sponsors. It was controversial in its time - the National Association of Broadcasters issued a memo to stations encouraging them to inform audience that the program was sponsored and didn't necessarily represent the views of station management or owners. No doubt, the NAB was concerned about the FCC clamping down on the series and requiring equal time for opposing viewpoints. The show was also referenced in Congressional testimony in a subcommittee on labor rights and free speech, with one source noting that the first 19 programs in the series did not include any attribution to who was sponsoring the program and, with program 20, the show credited to the National Industrial Council, a name that would have been unfamiliar to the public at the time - the implication being that the NAM was misleading the public about their propaganda efforts. You can view some of the testimony at Google Books. (And, by the way, would someone mind explaining why Google Books is restricting viewing of publications from the Government Printing Office and the Copyright Office, which are public domain?) Despite the broad distribution of the program, few episodes are known to exist. It's been written about by many scholars, but the shows themselves seem to have been neglected and lost over the years - they were pressed on an experimental plastic primarily made of acetate, which probably hasn't helped them survive. The discs I have were won at auction by the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group, which donated them to my collection and I obtained an additional disc from another collector. The discs in my collection cover a significant portion of the storyline with some shows missing, but there's still enough to follow what's happening with the characters and to give you a flavor of the story and propaganda elements. I have over 25 episodes of this original series and another 15 from a second "American Family Robinson" series produced in 1940, following the same characters and dealing with the theme of how industry is preparing for War. I'll be presenting all of them, in order, each week on the blog over next few months. We begin our look at the series with Program 38. The father of the family owns a newspaper and has some wacky relatives that are always involved in crazy "get rich quick" schemes. This episode focuses on the newlywed couple in the family, Betty and Dick, on their honeymoon at Devil's Gulch, a dude ranch. While Betty goes out riding and enjoying herself with the ranch foreman, husband Billy teaches a thing or two about capitalism and American industry to the ranch hands. The show was transferred from an original red acetate World Broadcasting System transcription, matrix number SS 8619-33. Again, my deepest thanks to OTRR for donating the "American Family Robinson" discs to my collection.