Henry Morgan Show

The Joe Hehn Memorial Collection

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Late in his career, humorist Henry Morgan would be known for appearances on television quiz programs such as I’ve Got a Secret, What’s My Line , and others. He was also a regular on NBC Radio’s news series in the late 1950s and 1960s, Monitor. But it was his humor and biting satire that made him popular in the 1940s, especially they way he made fun of sponsors. Adler Shoe Stores was a sponsor of one of his programs, a 15 minute show with off-the-cuff commentary. Morgan kept referring toe the company’s president as “Old Man Adler.” It did not go over well, and the company complained, but changed their mind once sales were increasing. The barbs seemed nasty, but Adler learned to play along. About a new line of shoes, Morgan said “he wouldn't wear them to a dogfight.” Adler demanded a retraction on the air, to which Morgan told listeners: “I would wear them to a dogfight.” Adler was happy. Morgan moved to a half-hour program on ABC which allowed him to expand into skits and other productions. He opened the show with “Hello, anybody” as a lampoon of Kate Smith’s opening to her show with “Hello, everybody.” The rare program in the Hehn collection is from October 23, 1946. The program is sponsored by Eversharp, maker of writing pens, and their other brand, Schick shaving blades. Morgan would make fun of both brands. In this recording, he makes fun of the supposed innovation behind the Schick product. He lost the sponsor in 1947. In 1946, Morgan won a Peabody Award. They said he was “a humorist who learned radio as an office boy, disc jockey and announcer, and whose skill in burlesque, mimicry and deadpan makes him a delightful one-man show. In going big time, we hope he will not lose the surprise and impertinence with which he started.” * * * These recordings are part of the Joe Hehn Memorial Collection. Mr. Hehn (1931-2020) was a pioneering collector of radio recordings when the hobby emerged in the 1960s. Digitizing his collection of reel tapes and discs is the effort of a wide range of North American volunteers, and includes assistance of some international collectors. The groups supporting this effort with their funds, time, technology and skills are the Old Time Radio Researchers and a small group of transcription disc preservationists who refer to themselves as the "The Knights of the Turning Table."

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.