Little Orphan Annie (radio)
| Genre | Children's radio serial |
|---|---|
| Running time | 15 minutes. |
| Country | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Syndicates | NBC radio |
| Starring | Shirley Bell Cole, etc. |
| Announcer | Pierre Andre |
| Written by | Frank Dahm, Roland Martini, Wally Norman, Ferrin Fraser, Day Keene. |
| Directed by | Alan Wallace |
| Air dates | April 6, 1931 to April 26, 1942 |
| Sponsored by | Ovaltine, Quaker Puffed Wheat |
Little Orphan Annie was 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.
Together with Skippy (1932–1935) it is seen as the oldest US children's radio program. Radio historian Jim Harmon attributes the show's popularity in The Great Radio Heroes to the fact that it was the only radio show to deal with and appeal to young children.
"Little Orphan Annie" was based on Harold Gray's eponymous and equally popular comic strip series Little Orphan Annie. The show debuted on WGN/Chicago in 1930, but only became a national hit when it moved to NBC radio's Blue Network in 1931. It was broadcast in the late afternoon and ran for twelve successful years.
In 1931, when the show debuted, radio had yet to establish coast-to-coast networks so two separate casts performed—one in San Francisco starring Floy Margaret Hughes and the other in Chicago starring Shirley Bell as Annie, Stanley Andrews as "Daddy", and Allan Baruck (and later Mel Tormé) as Joe Corntassel. When coast to coast networking was established in 1933, the Chicago cast became the permanent one.
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 an urban legend made popular by the film A Christmas Story, 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.
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