''The Chase and Sanborn Hour'' is the umbrella title for a series of American comedy and variety radio shows sponsored by Standard Brands' Chase and Sanborn Coffee, usually airing Sundays on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. during the years 1929 to 1948.

''The Chase and Sanborn Choral Orchestra''

The series began in 1929 as ''The Chase and Sanborn Choral Orchestra'', a half-hour musical variety show heard Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on NBC. When Maurice Chevalier became the show's star, he received a record-breaking salary of $5,000 a week. Violinist David Rubinoff (1897–1986) became a regular in January 1931, introduced as "Rubinoff and His Violin."

Eddie Cantor

When Chevalier returned to Paris, Eddie Cantor was chosen as his replacement and the new 60-minute program, ''The Chase and Sanborn Hour'', was launched on September 13, 1931, teaming Cantor with Rubinoff and announcer Jimmy Wallington. The show established Cantor as a leading comedian, and his scriptwriter David Freedman as “the Captain of Comedy.” When Jimmy Durante stepped in as a substitute for Cantor, making his first appearance on September 10, 1933, he was so successful that he was offered his own show. Then the world's highest paid radio star, Cantor continued as ''The Chase and Sanborn Hours headliner until November 25, 1934. This version of the program was sometimes referred to as ''The Eddie Cantor Show''. Durante was one of many entertainers who substituted for Cantor, who was often absent while making films or on tour. George Jessel,

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of ...

Georgie Price George Edwards "Georgie" Price (January 5, 1901 – May 10, 1964) was an American vaudeville singer and comic who performed in Vitaphone shorts in the 1920s and 1930s. Early life, family and education Price was born on the Lower East Side of ...

, and Harry Richman were others who took Cantor's place on the show.

''The Opera Guild'' and other replacements

With a new format, ''The Opera Guild'', hosted by

Deems Taylor Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Earl ...

, began December 2, 1934, Sundays at 8 p.m., on ''The Chase and Sanborn Hour'', and that concert series continued until March 17, 1935. Wilfrid Pelletier was the director. '' Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour'' had the slot from March 24, 1935, until September 11, 1936, followed by ''Do You Want to Be an Actor?'', with Haven MacQuarrie, broadcast from January 3, 1937, until May 2, 1937, a series that continued Sundays at 10:30 p.m. as a half-hour show from December 5, 1937, until February 20, 1938.

Edgar Bergen

Meanwhile, Chase and Sanborn found a gold mine with a wooden dummy when Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy began an 11-year run, starting May 9, 1937. Initially this incarnation of the program also featured as regulars master of ceremonies Don Ameche, singers

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...

and

Nelson Eddy Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclub ...

, and for the first 16 weeks, comedian W.C. Fields, accompanied by a different guest star each week. Perhaps the most infamous of the latter was

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

, whose appearance on the December 12, 1937 program was highlighted with a sexually suggestive "Adam and Eve" sketch that caused a public outcry and resulted in West being banned from the radio airwaves for many years. On October 2, 1938,

Judy Canova Judy Canova (November 20, 1913 – August 5, 1983),Although one source gives her birth date as November 20, 1916, (DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland ...

and her siblings, Annie and Zeke, became regulars on the program. Beginning on January 7, 1940, the regular cast, apart from Bergen and McCarthy, were dropped and the show was cut to a half-hour and retitled ''The Chase and Sanborn Program''. Ameche was replaced by his younger brother Jim Ameche. Also beginning in 1940, the program went on hiatus for a number of weeks each summer. NBC (and the sponsor) filled its airtime with a different summer replacement show each year, including '' The Bishop and the Gargoyle'' (1940), ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'' (1941), ''Star-Spangled Vaudeville'' (1942), ''

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...

Presents'' (1943), ''The Gracie Fields Show'' (1944), ''The

Frances Langford Julia Frances Newbern-Langford (April 4, 1913 – July 11, 2005) was an American singer and actress who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and made film and television appearances for over two decades. She was known as the "GI Nightinga ...

Show'' ka ''The Chase and Sanborn Program''(1945), and ''

Alec Templeton Alec Andrew Templeton (4 July 1909/1028 March 1963) was a Welsh composer, pianist, and satirist. Templeton was born in Cardiff, Wales. There is some confusion concerning Alec Templeton's year of birth. Most published and Internet biographies g ...

Time'' (1946–47). In the fall of 1948, Chase and Sanborn announced it would terminate its contract with Edgar Bergen at the end of the year. The remaining Bergen/McCarthy programs eschewed guest stars in favor of regular sketches featuring Don Ameche and Marsha Hunt as '' The Bickersons''. In 1949, Bergen moved to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, with a new weekly program (''The Charlie McCarthy Show'') sponsored by

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

. Although the series ended December 26, 1948, it was followed by a compilation show on NBC, ''The Chase and Sanborn 100th Anniversary Show'' (November 15, 1964), assembled by writer Carroll Carroll and narrated by Bergen. This became an annual event with ''The Chase and Sanborn 101st Anniversary Show'' (November 14, 1965), a

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist, topically pointed radio program ''The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and for ...

tribute, followed by ''The Chase and Sanborn 102nd Anniversary Show'' (November 13, 1966), which turned out to be the last of the series.

References

External links

Listen to

''The Chase and Sanborn Hour'' with Eddie Cantor (excerpts)OTR Network Library: ''The Chase and Sanborn Hour'' (six 1937–46 episodes)
*W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy's first show for th
''Chase And Sanborn Hour'' 1937-05-09 (01) Guest – Ann Harding
– with a new introduction