Radio Premiums

The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen is an American radio adventure serial broadcast from 1933 until 1937. The 15-minute syndicated program was created by writers Bob Burtt and Bill Moore, both of whom were from Kansas City, Missouri.

Soon after the first broadcast, seven more radio stations were added to the Jimmie Allen show's roster, and Skelly Oil found itself involved in one of the great promotions of early radio. A Jimmie Allen Flying Club was created: all a kid had to do was apply at any Skelly station. Applicants received many radio premiums, highly treasured today --- a set of wings, a membership emblem and a "personal letter" from Jimmie Allen. Other giveaways included a Jimmie Allen picture puzzle (a Skelly truck refueling a light airplane), a "secret service whistle" and a Jimmie Allen album. The club newspaper was sent to 600,000 listeners a week, and Jimmie Allen Air Races --- attended by tens of thousands of people --- were held in major Midwest cities where the show was heard. Because of John Frank's age, 16-year-old Murray McLean stepped in when personal appearances of Jimmie Allen were scheduled. Skelly had to hire a special staff just to answer the mail. Flying lessons, model planes and other promotions were part of the mix, available to listeners who displayed their club credentials at their Skelly Oil station.

One of the all time favorite and best remembered radio comedy programs ever.  The country stopped to listen when AMOS 'N' ANDY was on the air.  Beginning as SAM 'N' HENRY over WGN Chicago on January 12, 1926, the series became so popular that the name had to be changed when Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll left two years later, and was last heard on December 18, 1927.  WGN owned the name and would not let Gosden and Correll take it with them when they moved to WMAQ.  After three months worth of development they were ready on 03/19/28.  Their new station was to be the CBS outlet for the Chicago area and as history now knows the new name became AMOS 'N' ANDY, five days a week.  The series was first heard over NBC RED for Pepsodent beginning on August 19,1929, continuing as a six day a week broadcast until 1932.  It continued as a five day a week program for Pepsodent over NBC until January , 1938 when Campbell became the new sponsor.  The program moved to CBS, with Campbell as sponsor, on April 3,1939 and continued as a 5 day a week program until February 19,1943 when it again returned to NBC on 10/08/43 but this time as a 30 minute program sponsored by Rinso.  The broadcasts continued on NBC until July 6, 1948.  After a summer vacation the CBS network, with Rinso as sponsor, again captured the program.  The Rinso sponsorship continued until May 8,1949.  Rexall took up the shows sponsorship starting October 9, 1949 and continued until May 23, 1954.  From September 26, 1954 until it left the air on May 22, 1955, the series had a number of different sponsors.  At the same time, from September 13, 1954 09/13/54 until November 25, 1960, another series entitled AMOS AND ANDY MUSIC HALL was heard as a 5 day a week, 25 minute program.

Ann of the Airlanes was a syndicated radio adventure drama series broadcast between 1932 and 1935.

The story focused on Ann Burton, an airplane hostess employed by Interstate Airlines.
She also worked with the Secret Service, as did her romantic interest, pilot Jack Baker.
Gerald Mohr portrayed Secret Service agent and co-pilot Art Morrison.
Also in the cast was John Gibson who portrayed Pete.

There were more than a few radio aviation dramas during the 1930s, but this was the only one with a female lead.

The Baby Snooks Show was an American radio program starring comedian and Ziegfeld Follies alumna Fanny Brice as a mischievous young girl who was 40 years younger than the actress who played her when she first went on the air. The series began on CBS September 17, 1944, airing on Sunday evenings at 6:30pm as Post Toasties Time (for sponsor General Foods). The title soon changed to The Baby Snooks Show, and the series was sometimes called Baby Snooks and Daddy.

Big Jon and Sparkie. Sparkie, "the little elf from the land of make-believe, who wants more than anything else in the world to be a real boy,” was actually the recorded voice of Jon Arthur played at a fast speed.

Black Flame of the Amazon is a children's adventure story from the 1930s. The show follows world famous explorer, Harold Noice and his friends as they face the perils of the Amazon. Noice and his crew faced wild animals, rebels with guns, natives and many other strange characters.

Back in 1919 Buck Rogers was in the lower workings of an abandoned mine near the city of Pittsburgh when suddenly the walls caved in and a peculiar gas caused him to be held in a state of suspended animation for five hundred years. Finding himself in the strange and exciting world of the 25th century Buck quickly adapted him self to the use of rocket powered spacecraft and other marvellous scientific developments that would seem almost impossible in our present day. With Wilma Deering and Dr Huer Buck has visited Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and even far off Pluto. His life has been just one amazing adventure after another.

Sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company, the Captain Midnight radio program was the creation of radio scripters Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M. Burtt, who had previously scored a success for Skelly with their boy pilot adventure serial The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen.

Developed at the Blackett, Sample and Hummert advertising agency in Chicago, Captain Midnight began as a syndicated show on October 17, 1938, airing through the spring of 1940 on a few Midwest stations, including Chicago's WGN. In 1940, Ovaltine, a product of The Wander Company, took over sponsorship. With Pierre Andre as announcer, the series was then heard nationally on the Mutual Radio Network where it remained until 1942. It moved to the Merchandise Mart and the NBC Blue Network in September 1942. When the U.S. Government broke up the NBC Red and Blue Networks, Ovaltine moved the series back to Mutual, beginning September 1945, where it remained until December 1949. Many well remembered premiums were offered to the listening audience during years of these broadcasts.

The show was known for the imaginative use of exciting technological advancements to create narrative thrills, inspiring young audiences to dream of future advances.

Challenge of the Yukon is an American radio adventure series that began on Detroit's WXYZ and is an example of a Northern genre story. The series was first heard on January 3, 1939. The title changed from Challenge of the Yukon to Sergeant Preston of the Yukon in September 1950, and remained under that name through the end of the series and into a television adaptation.

The program was an adventure series about Sergeant Frank Preston of the North-West Mounted Police and his lead sled dog, Yukon King, as they fought evildoers in the Northern wilderness during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. The serial began on radio in 1938 and continued through 1947, after which the series moved to television. The original television program ran from 1947 through 1949 on ABC and was sponsored by Quaker Oats. In January 1951, the radio version was resurrected, running until 1955 , when the show moved once again to television as Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. The show starred Richard Simmons.

The theme music was Emil von Reznicek's overture to Donna Diana, an old opera, though the overture remains a concert staple to this day. The show's episodes ended with the official pronouncement, Well, King, this case is closed.

Chandu the Magician is an American supernatural radio drama which originally aired from 1931–1936. A revival on a different network took place 12 years later, airing from 1948–1950. The series was created by Harry A. Earnshaw (1878–1953) and Raymond R. Morgan. The two series starred Frank Chandler, also known as Chandu, an American who had learned mystical arts, such as astral projection, which he used to fight criminals and villains, including the evil Baron Roxor.

Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen made their radio debut on NBC's The Chase and Sanborn Hour (sponsored by a noted coffee brand) in 1937, supported by singer Nelson Eddy (a role later filled by Dale Evans, amongst others). After a famous feud with W. C. Fields in the 1930s (during which Charlie often vowed to the comedian that he'd "mow him down"), the dummy became a true icon.

The Cisco Kid came to radio October 2, 1942, with Jackson Beck in the title role and Louis Sorin as Pancho. With Vicki Vola and Bryna Raeburn in supporting roles and Michael Rye announcing, this weekly series continued on Mutual until February 14, 1945. It was followed by a thrice weekly series on a Mutual-Don Lee regional network in 1946, starring Jack Mather in the title role, who continued to head the cast in the syndicated radio series of more than 600 episodes from 1947 to 1956. For this version, Pancho was originally played by Harry E. Lang. Following Lang's death in 1953, Mel Blanc played the role until the series ended.

Clara, Lu, 'n Em is a radio soap opera, which first aired on June 16, 1930, over WGN-AM Chicago, Illinois. The show was picked up by the NBC Blue radio network and premiered at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on January 27, 1931. Thus, it became the first nationally broadcast radio soap opera. When Clara, Lu 'n Em was moved to a regular daytime time slot on February 15, 1932, it became the first networked daytime soap opera.

Clara, Lu, 'n Em continued in various forms through the 1930s and early 1940s on the NBC Blue Network and CBS, finally airing as a syndicated series in 1945.

Dick Tracy on radio, from 1934 weekdays on NBC's New England stations to the ABC network in 1948. Bob Burlen was the first radio Tracy in 1934, and others heard in the role during the 1930s and 1940s were Barry Thomson, Ned Wever and Matt Crowley. The early shows all had 15-minute episodes.

On CBS, with Sterling Products as sponsor, the serial aired four times a week from February 4, 1935 to July 11, 1935, moving to Mutual from September 30, 1935 to March 24, 1937 with Bill McClintock doing the sound effects. NBC's weekday afternoon run from January 3, 1938 to April 28, 1939 had sound effects by Keene Crockett and was sponsored by Quaker Oats.

Don Winslow of the Navy was an American old-time radio juvenile adventure serial. It was broadcast on the Blue Network from October 19, 1937, until May 26, 1939, and was revived for a second run from October 5, 1942, until January 1, 1943.

Gang Busters was an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered on January 15, 1936, and was broadcast over 21 years through November 27, 1957.

The Green Hornet is an American radio adventure series that debuted in 1936 and introduced the character of the Green Hornet, a masked vigilante.

The series originated on January 31, 1936, on WXYZ, the same local Detroit station that originated its companion shows The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon. Beginning April 12, 1938, the station supplied the series to the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network, and then to NBC Blue and its successors, the Blue Network and ABC Network, from November 16, 1939, through September 8, 1950. It returned from September 10 to December 5, 1952. It was sponsored by General Mills from January to August 1948, and by Orange Crush in its brief 1952 run.

Distinguished by its use of classical music for themes and for bridges between scenes, The Green Hornet was "one of radio's best-known and most distinctive juvenile adventure shows". The series detailed the adventures of Britt Reid, debonair newspaper publisher by day, crime-fighting masked hero at night.

With his faithful valet Kato, Britt Reid, daring young publisher, matches wits with the Underworld, risking his life so that criminals and racketeers within the law may feel its weight by the sting of the Green Hornet!

Hop Harrigan is an American old-time radio juvenile adventure program. It was broadcast on ABC from August 31, 1942, until August 2, 1946, and on Mutual from October 2, 1946, until February 6, 1948. General Foods began sponsoring the program on October 2, 1944; it had previously been unsponsored.

Howie Wing is an American old-time radio juvenile aviation adventure serial. It was syndicated by the World Broadcasting System and distributed initially to stations in Canada, beginning on January 31, 1938. The Don Lee Network began carrying it in the western United States on February 12, 1938. The program was broadcast weekdays on CBS from October 3, 1938, until June 30, 1939.

Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC.

Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy was a creation of General Mills, a pioneer in the development of unique and compelling advertising under the stewardship of Vice-president of Advertising, Samuel Chester Gale. Gale later served as President of the Ad Council. Intending to promote breakfast cereal Wheaties, Gale developed the character of Jack Armstrong as a fictitious "everyboy" whom listeners would emulate: If Jack ate Wheaties, boys across the nation would, too. Early popularity led to commissioning of a radio serial broadcast.

The first sung commercial was for Wheaties in 1926. It was a spectacular hit and was sung on the Jack Armstrong show. Lyrics were

Have you tried Wheaties?

They’re whole with all the bran. Won’t you try Wheaties?

For wheat is the best food of man.

Junior G-Men was an American boys club and popular culture phenomenon during the late 1930s and early 1940s that began with a radio program.

After leaving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a brief stint in Hollywood, Melvin Purvis hosted a children's radio program called "Junior G-Men" in 1936. Purvis had become a national hero for his record as an FBI agent during the so-called "war on crime" in the early 1930s, most notably for leading the manhunt that ended with the death of John Dillinger. As a result of this fame, Purvis was seen as a real-life counterpart to the fictional detectives, such as Dick Tracy, that proliferated in the popular culture targeting boys during this period. As part of the radio program, listeners could join a "Junior G-Men" club and receive badges, manuals, and secret agent props. Shortly thereafter, Purvis became the face of breakfast cereal Post Toasties promotional detective club. The cereal company's fictional "Inspector Post" and his "Junior Detective Corps" metamorphosed into an image of Purvis inviting boys and girls to become "secret operators" in his "Law and Order Patrols."

This is the story of U.S. Marshal Lightning Jim Whipple, his trusty horse Thunder, and his deputy, Whitey Larson. The shows are stereotypical portrayals of Native Americans, the history of the Union-Pacific Railroad, and other Western related subjects.

The program originated in the 1940s and was called The Adventures of Lightning Jim. At this time, it was a West Coast program. The program returned as a syndicated ZIV series in the 1950s and a total of 98 radio programs were produced

Little Orphan Annie is an American radio drama series based on the popularity of the comic strip Little Orphan Annie. It debuted on Chicago's WGN in 1930, then moved to the NBC radio network Blue Network on April 6, 1931. It aired until April 26, 1942.

The show was initially sponsored by Ovaltine, a flavored milk supplement, and its scripts were written by Ovaltine's Chicago ad agency staff. They shunned the overt political themes of Gray's newspaper strips and concentrated instead on pitching Ovaltine, using almost seven minutes of each broadcast to do so. Fans could redeem Ovaltine proofs of purchase for a secret decoder badge that decoded brief messages airing in the last moments of the show. Contrary to Jean Shepherd's assertions, the messages were never advertisements for Ovaltine, but were usually related to the following episode. In 1940, Quaker Puffed Wheat Sparkies became the show's sponsor and brought fictional aviator Captain Sparks to the show. Sparks eventually became the star, relegating Annie to secondary player.

The show featured product placement and exploitation of premiums to retain and attract new listeners. Among those items were secret decoders, shake-up mugs for drinking Ovaltine (the show's sponsor product) and secret decoders for the Little Orphan Annie secret society. The 1934 fan club's member's handbook included a simple substitution cipher with a resulting numeric cipher text. This was followed the next year with a membership badge or pin that included a cipher disk - enciphering the letters A-Z to numbers 1-26. Announcer Pierre Andre often talked about the virtues of the shows' products, sometimes stretching towards three minutes in length.

The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend, Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture.

He first appeared in 1933 in a radio show on WXYZ (Detroit), conceived either by station owner George W. Trendle or by Fran Striker, the show's writer. The radio series proved to be a hit, and spawned a series of books (largely written by Striker), an equally popular television show that ran from 1949 to 1957, comic books, and several films. 

The creators of the character were George Trendle (manager of WXYZ radio station) and writer Fran Striker.

The first of 2,956 radio episodes of The Lone Ranger premiered on WXYZ, a radio station serving Detroit, Michigan, on January 31, 1933.

The show was an immediate success. Though it was aimed at children, adults made up at least half the audience. It became so popular, it was picked up by the Mutual Broadcasting System and, on May 2, 1942, by NBC's Blue Network, which in time became ABC. By 1939, some 20 million Americans were listening to the program.

Lone Wolf Tribe only aired on CBS radio for one season, but it made a huge merchandising impact. Sponsored by Wrigley's gum, this children's series offered dramatized perspective on American Indian life. The narrator was the head of the tribe, Chief Wolf Paw, who prided himself on communicating to the listeners with "the voice that flies.

Lum and Abner was an American network radio comedy program created by Chester Lauck and Norris Goff that was aired from 1931 to 1954. Modeled on life in the small town of Waters, Arkansas, near where Lauck and Goff grew up, the show proved immensely popular. In 1936, Waters changed its name to Pine Ridge after the show's fictional town.

One Man's Family is an American radio soap opera, heard for almost three decades, from 1932 to 1959. Created by Carlton E. Morse, it was the longest-running uninterrupted dramatic serial in the history of American radio.

One Man's Family debuted as a radio series on April 29, 1932 in Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco, moving to the full West Coast NBC network the following month, sponsored by Snowdrift and Wesson Oil. On May 17, 1933, it expanded to the full coast-to-coast NBC network as the first West Coast show heard regularly on the East Coast. The show was broadcast as a weekly half-hour series (1933-1950) [sustained by Standard Brands from 1935 through 1949], then shifted to daily 15-minute installments, initially originating from the studios of San Francisco radio station KPO, NBC's flagship station for the West Coast, eventually moving to Los Angeles.

Renfrew of the Mounted Police began as a fifteen-minute CBS serial about one Inspector Douglas Renfrew (House Jameson) and his close friend, Carol Girard (Joan Baker). In its first season (1936-1937), the program, which tracked Renfrew's exploits through the northern provinces of Canada, aired only on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 6:45 pm. But as listeners began to warm to the exciting tales of deadly criminals at large and defenseless children lost in the forests and mountainous regions, the show was picked up in its 1937-'38 season as a daily program. The time slot remained the same, even if the network changed. NBC Blue was the new provider.

Between 1938 and 1940, the show's popularity increased and it became a half-hour program. Even so, the show was canceled after only four seasons.

The Roy Rogers Show was a 30-minute Western radio program. It began in 1944, ended in 1955, and was carried on more than 500 stations. Because of demands on Rogers' time for personal appearances and making films, the show was one of the first radio series to be transcribed.

Sky King was an American radio and television series. Its lead character was Arizona rancher and aircraft pilot Schuyler "Sky" King.

King and his niece Penny (and sometimes her brother Clipper — first season only) lived on the Flying Crown Ranch, near the fictitious town of Grover, Arizona. Penny and Clipper were also pilots, although they were inexperienced and looked to their uncle for guidance. Penny was an accomplished air racer, rated as a multiengine pilot, whom Sky trusted to fly the Songbird.

The radio show began in 1946 and was based on a story by Roy Winsor, the brainchild of Robert Morris Burtt and Wilfred Gibbs Moore, who also created Captain Midnight. 

"Radio premiums" were offered to listeners, as was the case with many radio shows of the day. For example, the Sky King Secret Signalscope was used on November 2, 1947, in the "Mountain Detour" episode. Listeners were advised to get their own for only 15 cents and the inner seal from a jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter, which was produced by the sponsor, Derby Foods. The Signalscope included a glow-in-the-dark signaling device, whistle, magnifying glass, and Sky King's private code. With the Signalscope, one could also see around corners and trees. The premiums were innovative, such as the Sky King Spy-Detecto Writer, which had a "decoder" (cipher disk), magnifying glass, measuring scale, and printing mechanism in a single package slightly over two inches long. Other notable premiums were the Magni-Glo Writing Ring, which had a luminous element, a secret compartment, a magnifier, and a ballpoint pen, all in the crown piece of a "fits any finger" ring.

Space Patrol is an American science fiction adventure series set in the 30th century that was originally aimed at juvenile audiences via television, radio, and comic books. It was broadcast on ABC from March 1950 to February 1955. It soon developed a sizable adult audience, and by 1954 the program consistently ranked in the top 10 shows broadcast on a Saturday.

^{The radio version ran from 4 October 1952 to 19 March 1955, for 129 episodes. The same cast performed on both shows. The writers, scripts, and directors were reused between the radio and TV incarnations, but the radio broadcasts were not limited by studio sets and became more expansive in scope than the television programs. Although there was seldom any deliberate crossing-over of storylines, some of the television villains regularly appeared on the radio (notably Prince Bacarratti), and during the "Planet X" story, both the TV and radio versions explored the rogue planet's invasion of the Space Patrol universe.}

Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police was a radio adventure series written by Virginia Cooke. It was centered on the adventures of Speed Gibson, a fifteen-year-old pilot who, through his uncle Clint Barlow, becomes a member of the International Secret Police. Speed was described as “a typical American boy: interested in short wave radio, aviation and most of all - The International Secret Police.”

Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police ran weekly from January 2, 1937 to May 25, 1940. 178 Episodes of the show were produced with each episode lasting approximately fifteen minutes. Elliott Lewis may have starred in the title role of Speed Gibson but this cannot be confirmed. It is believed by some that Lewis played Splinters, one of the Octopus' henchmen. Howard McNear played his uncle Clint Barlow, and John Gibson played his sidekick, Barney Dunlap, known for using such catch phrases as “Suffering wangdoodles!” Other voice actors contributing to the series were Gale Gordon as The Octopus, Hanley Stafford, Jack Mathers, Victor Rodman and Sam Edwards. The opening theme contained the drone of an airplane and the voice of an air traffic controller urgently calling, “Ceiling zero… ceiling zero… ceiling zero!”

The series was divided into two stories. The first 100 episodes cover The Menace of the Octopus. They highlight Speed's induction into the International Secret Police and the subsequent pursuit of the Octopus and his gang throughout the Orient. The remaining 78 shows are titled Speed Gibson And The Atlantian Syndicate. This series follows Speed as he continues his adventures on the African continent and his quest to defeat the Octopus.

The series is notable in that all 178 episodes have survived intact.

The Straight Arrow radio program was a western adventure series for juveniles which was broadcast, mostly twice weekly in the United States from 1948 or 1949 through 1951. A total of 292 episodes were aired.

Although first broadcast only in California, in early 1949 it was broadcast nationally on the Mutual Broadcasting Network. All the programs were written by Sheldon Stark.

The protagonist, rancher Steve Adams, became the Comanche Indian, the Straight Arrow, when bad people or other dangers threatened. In fact, Adams was a Comanche orphan who had been adopted by the Adams ranching family and later inherited the ranch. His dual identity was known to only one friend, Packy McCloud, Steve Adams's sidekick.  Howard Culver played both Adams and Straight Arrow.

The program was sponsored by Nabisco Shredded Wheat cereal.

 The Sunbrite Junior Nurse Corps was a movement sponsored by Sunbrite Cleanser and promoted through the radio program Sunbrite Junior Nurse Corps. First launched in February 1936 it ran 3x a week for over 2 years, generally around 5pm - for 15 minutes. The host of the program was the "National President" of the Sunbrite Junior Nurse Corps Dorothy Hart, played by the young actress Lucy Gilman. Helena Ray played her trusty Aunt Jane.

     Prior to the launch of the program and during its run, mothers were assured that the programming was safe, suitable and beneficial for its audience. Famed child guidance leader Angelo Patri supervised each script. Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton and "Sa-ca-ja-wea, Indian Princess" were part of the programming.

     After pledging themselves to the aims of the Sunbrite Junior Nurse Corps, girls could save Sunbrite (and later Quick Arrow Soap Flake) labels and "buy" the official Sunbrite Junior Nurse Corps uniform that National President Dorothy Hart always appeared in, and other items such as the official ring, toothbrush, hairbrush, first aid kit and more.

    Girls were encouraged to learn First Aid, form groups of Junior Nurse Corps - and encourage their moms to buy Sunbrite Cleanser.

Terry and the Pirates was a radio serial adapted from the comic strip of the same name created in 1934 by Milton Caniff. With storylines of action, high adventure and foreign intrigue, the popular radio series enthralled listeners from 1937 through 1948. With scripts by Albert Barker, George Lowther and others, the program's directors included Cyril Armbrister, Wylie Adams, and Marty Andrews.

The central character, Terry Lee, was portrayed at various times by Jackie Kelk, Cliff Carpenter, Owen Jordan, and Bill Fein. Terry's buddy Pat Ryan was played by Bud Collyer, Warner Anderson, Bob Griffin, and Larry Alexander. Others in Terry's Far East entourage were Flip Corkin (Ted de Corsia), Elita (Gerta Rozan), Burma (Frances Chaney), Hotshot Charlie (Cameron Andrews) and Connie the coolie (Cliff Norton, John Gibson, Peter Donald). Throughout the Orient, they encountered plenty of evildoers, including the Dragon Lady (Agnes Moorehead, Adelaide Klein, Marion Sweet, Mina Reaume), in such adventurous episodes as "Pirate Gold Detector Ring," "Deadly Current," "The Mechanical Eye" and "The Dragon Lady Strikes Back."

In 1931, George, Blanche and daughters Kathryn and Janet Hutchinson became nationwide celebrities as the Flying Hutchinsons, when they visited the capitals of all 48 United States by air. Further fame came when 'the Flying Family' attempted an around-the-world flight the next year; their Sikorsky S-38 aircraft crash-landed off Greenland, and the family were stranded for several days before being picked up by a fishing trawler and transported to the United Kingdom. George and Blanche wrote two books about their adventures - The Flying Family in Greenland (1935) and Flying the States (1937) - and the family were pictured on cereal boxes and made appearances on stage and radio.

In 1939, the family attempted another around-the-world flight in a Lockheed Electra. The stated aim of this flight was to carry a scroll with a message of peace to the '68 nations of the world' (sic), but this flight only made it as far as Mexico before it was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II. Despite the early cancellation of the flight, an NBC radio dramatisation was subsequently produced, starring the family themselves.

On September 26, 1937, The Shadow, a new radio drama based on the character as created by Gibson for the pulp magazine, premiered with the story "The Death House Rescue", in which The Shadow was characterized as having "the hypnotic power to cloud men's minds so they cannot see him". In the magazine stories, The Shadow did not become literally invisible.

The introductory line from the radio adaptation of The Shadow – "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" - spoken by actor Frank Readick, has earned a place in the American idiom. These words were accompanied by an ominous laugh and a musical theme, Camille Saint-Saëns' Le Rouet d'Omphale ("Omphale's Spinning Wheel," composed in 1872).

The Shadow, at the end of each episode, reminded listeners, "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit! Crime does not pay...The Shadow knows!"

Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of Tom Corbett—Space Cadet stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, and other media in the 1950s.

The stories followed the adventures of Corbett, Astro, and Roger Manning (originally; later, T.J. Thistle), cadets at the Space Academy as they train to become members of the Solar Guard. The action takes place at the Academy in classrooms and bunkrooms, aboard their training ship the rocket cruiser Polaris, and on alien worlds, both within the solar system and in orbit around nearby stars.

In 1933, Ralston Purina obtained his permission to produce the radio series Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters, which, but for one year during World War II, was popular throughout most of the 1930s through the early 1950s, well after Mix's death. Mix never appeared on these broadcasts (his voice, damaged by a bullet to the throat and repeated broken noses, was not fit for radio) and was instead played by radio actors: Artells Dickson (early 1930s), Jack Holden (from 1937), Russell Thorsen (early 1940s) and Joe "Curley" Bradley (from 1944). Others in the supporting cast included George Gobel, Harold Peary and Willard Waterman.

The Ralston company offered ads during the radio program for listeners to send in for a series of 12 special Ralston–Tom Mix comic books available only by writing the Ralston Company by mail.

Most of Mix's radio work has been lost over the years; recordings of only approximately 30 scattered episodes, and no complete story arcs, survive.

First broadcast in 1951, Wild Bill Hickok was a juvenile western adventure sponsored by Kellogg Cereals. Guy Madison starred as Marshal Wild Bill Hickok and Andy Devine was cast as his grainy-voiced and fun-loving sidekick, Jingles B. Jones.

 Wild Bill Hickok was a simple show, full of good-natured comic relief and a bit of not-so-good-natured gunfights to add a bit of excitement. Wild Bill was the hero – a strong and fiercely brave western Marshal along the same lines as The Cisco Kid and Hopalong Cassidy. Hickok would inevitably get into a fistfight with outlaws and emerge victorious.