The American Melody Hour

The American Melody Hour was an American old-time radio program. The American Melody Hour was designed as a musical variety show. The program showcased a half-hour playing and singing "the tunes of yesterday and tomorrow..." mostly sung by baritone Bob Hannon.^[1]

The program was hosted by lyric soprano Vivian Della Chiesa.^[2] Other regular performers on the program included conductor Frank Black, vocalist Frank Munn and baritone Conrad Thibault.^[3] The program was produced by daytime radio monarch Frank Hummert.^[4][5][6]

The American Melody Hour originally could be heard on the Blue Network on Wednesday nights from October 22, 1941–April 15, 1942. The program than moved to CBS Tuesdays at 7:30 pm on April 21, 1942. In 1947, the program moved to Wednesdays at 8 where it ended its run on July 7, 1948. The program was sponsored by Bayer aspirin its entire six-year run.^[7]

References

1. "The Biggest Show in Town: American Melody Hour!". The Milwaukee Sentinel. March 31, 1946. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
2. Rayno, Don (2012). Paul Whiteman: Pioneer in American Music, 1930-1967. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-8108-8204-1. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
3. Terrace, Vincent (1998). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4766-0528-9. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
4. Cox, Jim (1999). The Great Radio Soap Operas. McFarland. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-4766-0414-5. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
5. Cox, Jim (2005). Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas. Scarecrow Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-81-086523-5. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
6. Cox, Jim (2009). The A to Z of American Radio Soap Operas. Scarecrow Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-8108-6349-1. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
7. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-1950-7678-3. Retrieved September 25, 2015. the american melody hour.

External links

• Four episodes of The American Melody Hour available for download at Radio Echoes