Nostalgia USA March 2016 Nostalgia USA MARCH ISSUE | Page 10

MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN RADIO

March 5, 1940 Fibber McGee & Mol l y
Cl oset Door Opens For First Time

Kings Voice Heard Around The Worl d
March 1930
The picture below shows King George V of England
before the microphone officially opening the Naval Arms
Concurrence in London. Short waves and chain hookups
carried his voice into every section of the globe. Once
again radio engineering triumphs in spanning oceans and
continents, bringing these meetings to the humblest
subject.Men pioneering in Radio today have the
satisfaction of knowing that they are playing a part in one
of the greatest movements in history

Seventy-six years ago, one of radio?sbest-remembered running gags
was introduced? and it was as simple as opening up a closet door. The
March 5, 1940 broadcast of The Johnson Wax Program with Fibber
McGee & Molly introduced a radio sound effect that was rivaled only by
the creaking door heard on Inner Sanctum Mysteries. By the time of this
broadcast, Fibber McGee & Molly was one of the most popular comedy
programs, easily holding its own among such competitors as Jack
Benny, Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy and Bob Hope. But, writer Don
Quinn was looking for a gimmick to give the show a creative shot in the
arm? and the inspiration came from a running gag that star Jim Jordan
remembered from he and his wife Marian?s early days of broadcasting
on The Smith Family in 1925. On that show, a sofa with a loose spring
produced a funny BOING!!! sound whenever anybody sat on it. And with
that, Quinn created ?Fibber McGee?s closet?? an audio effect that
saluted those millions of listeners who had stored away piles of junk in
their own storage spaces for so many years.
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Listen to this historic show