Autumn Radio Shows

For too many people, autumn is simply the three months between summer and winter. It would be simply to write off autumn as the time when the natural world takes a break from the gaudiness of summer and prepares for a well-deserved winter's nap, but there is so much going on in the fall that, for many, it is simply the greatest part of the year.

Pinning down the beginning of autumn can be difficult. Calendars define the season as lasting from the Autumnal Equinox when the day and the night are the same lengths until the Winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Functionally, the beginning of autumn can be judged by a number of factors, not all of them directly related to the weather. Fall is the beginning of the school year, but the millions of school kids who have to watch the still warm and glorious weather through classroom windows for several weeks, Autumn has jumped the gun.

Across America, high school athletes have dedicated the last weeks of their vacation to "Daily Double" workouts and they are now trim, strong and fit for another important harbinger of fall, football season. The beginning of the NFL's annual pageantry is creeping steadily toward mid-Summer, but gridiron action is best enjoyed at a high school stadium between young men when you can hear the grunts and smacks of their collisions over the cheers of the crowds, and if it is an evening when the crowd can see their breath as they cheer, so much the better.

Farmers have been toiling long hours under the hot summer sun and their payoff comes with autumn's harvest. A modern sign that harvest has not been forgotten is the annual appearance of Pumpkin Spice Latte in coffee shops. The annual appearance of PSL is decidedly NOT a relic of the Golden Age of Radio (when coffee was just coffee, a relatively healthy alternative to another cigarette), but it helps to remind us of the important autumnal holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving. However, there is a growing theory that PSL is part of a broader marketing scheme to soften the annual trauma of Wintery Christmas Decorations appearing in stores before Halloween!

Sunny Valley, March 16, 1937, The Southern California Network, KFWB Los Angeles. After pitching Dr. Cowan's false teeth on credit, the gang sings "When it Autumn in the Hills of California".

Fibber McGee and Molly, October 17, 1939. Autumn means falling leaves, and no one realizes it like McGee, especially when Gildersleeve is there to remind him that they keep blowing into his yard. This is an important episode because Myrt the Telephone Operator is not heard for the very first time.

The Dinah Shore Program, October 21, 1943, "The Birdseye Open House". Even though this is an autumn program, Dinah opens the show with "I'll be Home for Christmas". During the "William and Mary" skit, a feature profiling a couple in New York, Mary is convinced that the living room will look better decorated with some autumn leaves. During their weekend visit to the country, she gathers some foliage, which means that Will has no place to sit on the train.

Night Editor, NBC Syndication, Episode #28, "Autumn Fever". It is a lot like Spring Fever. George Alden spent his whole life in the wild hills of Oregon, but for the past two months, he has been stuck in his son and daughter-in-law's apartment after an operation. Smelling fall in the air, one morning he sneaks out to the nearby city park. No, there is no way he will bag his autumn buck, but he just might bring in a pair of gangsters!

Claudia, October 12, 1948. Life on the farm agrees with Claudia, even jobs like burning autumn leaves, but David is ready to get back to the architectural office. Is it really OK for her to get between David and his boss?

The Aldrich Family, October 14, 1948. Henry is organizing the big autumn wiener roast. He got the job because the kids gave him their money, but Henry keeps changing his mind about when and where it is going to happen.

The Whistler, July 22, 1951, "Autumn Song". Sidney Shelton is a washed-up publicity agent who is given a one-way ticket to New York and told to never come back to Hollywood. On the train, he overhears a studio producer on his way to the Big Apple to sign a silent film star for an upcoming project called Autumn Song. With some well-timed robbery, Sidney gets off the train and flies to New York. Now, he just needs to arrange a publicity stunt.