''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy'' was a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on

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, then

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and finally ABC.

Background

''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy'' was a creation of

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

, a pioneer in the development of unique and compelling advertising under the stewardship of Vice-president of Advertising, Samuel Chester Gale. Gale later served as President of the

Ad Council The Advertising Council, commonly known as Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements or PSAs on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-gover ...

. Intending to promote breakfast cereal ''

Wheaties Wheaties is an American brand of breakfast cereal that is made by General Mills. It is well known for featuring list of athletes on Wheaties boxes, prominent athletes on its packages and has become a cultural icon in the United States. Originall ...

'', Gale developed the character of Jack Armstrong as a fictitious "everyboy" whom listeners would emulate: If Jack ate Wheaties, boys across the nation would, too. Early popularity led to commissioning of a radio serial broadcast. The first sung commercial was for Wheaties in 1926. It was a spectacular hit and was sung on the Jack Armstrong show. The lyrics were: While the adventures were a product of Gale's imagination, there was a ''real'' Jack Armstrong, a member of Sam Gale's college fraternity,

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in North Am ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. Gale met Jack while serving as a young advisor to the fraternity, and being impressed by both the red-blooded name and the "wholesome nature" of the young man, he incorporated it as the name of his new invented spokesman. The adventures which captivated listeners each week were entirely fictitious, and led to good-natured ribbing throughout Armstrong's life. Another creation of Sam Gale's fertile mind was the iconic

Betty Crocker Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 to give a personalized response to consumer product questions. In 1954, Gener ...

. The radio serial maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The storylines centered on the globe-trotting adventures of Armstrong (played by Jim Ameche until 1938 and later portrayed by

Michael Rye Michael Rye (born John Michael Riorden Billsbury; March 2, 1918 – September 20, 2012) was an American actor. His decades-long career spanned radio, television, animated cartoons and video games. Aside from his voice over work, Rye also acted in ...

), a popular athlete at Hudson High School, his friends Billy Fairfield and Billy's sister Betty, and their Uncle Jim, James Fairfield, an industrialist. Frequently, Uncle Jim Fairfield would have to visit an exotic part of the world in connection with his business, and he would take Jack Armstrong and the Fairfield siblings along with him. Many of the adventures provided listeners with the equivalent of a travelogue, providing facts about the lands they were visiting. The show was created by writer Robert Hardy Andrews. Sponsored throughout its long run by

, the program was renamed ''Armstrong of the SBI'' when Jack graduated from high school and became a government agent in the final season, when it shifted from a 15-minute serial to a half-hour complete story format. Throughout its broadcast span, the program offered radio premiums that usually related to the adventures in which Jack and his friends were involved. Each episode started with a quartet quietly singing the first line of the Hudson High School Fight Song: "Wave the flag for Hudson High, boys, show them how we stand. Ever shall our team be champions, known throughout the land" (quartet continues humming)

Adaptations

Films

In the '' Jack Armstrong'' movie serial of

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, ace science whiz Armstrong ( John Hart) must free his friend from an island fortress after he is kidnapped by a villain who wants his help in building a

death ray The death ray or death beam is a theoretical particle beam or electromagnetic weapon first theorized around the 1920s and 1930s. Around that time, notable inventors such as Guglielmo Marconi, Nikola Tesla, Harry Grindell Matthews, Edwin R. Scott ...

Books

In 1936, publishers Cupples & Leon released the two volume Jack Armstrong series by Stanley J. Wallace, consisting of ''Jack Armstrong's Mystery Eye'' and ''Jack Armstrong's Mystery Crystal''.

Comics

That same year the Parents Institute began publishing its ''Jack Armstrong'' comic book which had a 13-issue run. Leslie N. Daniels, Jr. wrote the Big Little Book, ''Jack Armstrong and the Ivory Treasure'' (1937). Daniels' tale was based on a 1937

Talbot Mundy Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as th ...

radio script which Mundy had first written as his novel '' The Ivory Trail'' (1919). In 1939, Whitman released a second Big Little Book, ''Jack Armstrong and the Mystery of the Iron Key''. Bob Schoenke also drew a newspaper comic strip based on the radio series, which ran from May 26, 1947 to June 11, 1950. After three years of ''Jack Armstrong'', Schoenke replaced it with a new strip, ''Laredo Crockett'', which ran until 1964. Parents' Magazine Press also produced the comic ''Jack Armstrong Magazine'', which began in November 1947 and ran for 13 issues, until September 1949.

TV series

A short ''Jack Armstrong'' animated TV pilot was developed by

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

for a proposed television series. However, when negotiations for rights to the characters collapsed, the planned series was reworked into what became the animated adventure '' Jonny Quest'' (1964). The ''Jack Armstrong'' footage of African natives hurling spears at two people escaping by hovercraft to an airplane survived in the closing credits for ''Jonny Quest''."Was that 'Jack Armstrong' film ever broadcast?"
a
Classic Jonny Quest FAQ
retrieved 2013-11-27.

Video games

Timothy Bottoms portrayed Jack Armstrong in the video game, '' American Hero'' (1995).

Honors

''Jack Armstrong'' entered the

National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...

in 1989.

References

{{reflist

External links

Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy
at the

Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communication ...

Great Moments in Kiddie MarketingGeneric Radio Workshop Script Library: ''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy'' script (October 1, 1940)
American radio dramas American children's radio programs 1933 radio programme debuts 1951 radio programme endings ABC radio programs CBS Radio programs Fictional characters from Minnesota Mutual Broadcasting System programs NBC radio programs NBC Blue Network radio programs Radio characters introduced in 1933 Male characters in radio Radio programs adapted into films Radio programs adapted into comics Radio programs adapted into video games