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''One Man's Family'' is an American radio
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
, heard for almost three decades, from 1932 to 1959. Created by Carlton E. Morse, it was the longest-running uninterrupted dramatic serial in the history of American radio. Television versions of the series aired in prime time from 1949 to 1952 and in daytime from 1954 to 1955.


Radio

''One Man's Family'' debuted as a radio series on April 29, 1932, in Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco, moving to the full West Coast
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
network the following month, sponsored by Snowdrift and Wesson Oil. On May 17, 1933, it expanded to the full coast-to-coast NBC network as the first West Coast show heard regularly on the East Coast. The show was broadcast as a weekly half-hour series (1933-1950) ustained by Standard Brands from 1935 through 1949">Standard_Brands.html" ;"title="ustained by Standard Brands">ustained by Standard Brands from 1935 through 1949 then shifted to daily 15-minute installments, initially originating in the studios of San Francisco radio station
KPO, NBC's flagship station for the West Coast, eventually moving to Los Angeles.Starr, Kevin. ''The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s ''. Oxford University Press, 1997.
/ref> The program's nationwide expansion came after NBC executives began receiving letters from people in the eastern part of the United States saying that they were staying up until 1 a.m. to hear the broadcasts from the West Coast. The network conducted a trial series of broadcasts from Schenectady, and when an episode was omitted one night, "a flood of telephone calls swamped the switchboard". Going nationawide meant adding a broadcast at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time each Wednesday while the West Coast broadcasts continued as usual.


Characters and story

The series employed a literary device with episodes divided into books and chapters. Spanning 27 years, the program presented 136 books with 3,256 chapters. Storylines were set in the Sea Cliff, San Francisco">Sea Cliff A cliffed coast, also called an abrasion coast, is a form of coast where the action of marine waves has formed steep cliffs that may or may not be precipitous. It contrasts with a flat or alluvial coast. Formation In coastal areas in whic ...
area of San Francisco, California, an area familiar to San Franciscan Carlton E. Morse. The radio plotline centered on stockbroker Henry Barbour, his wife Fanny and their five children (chronologically: Paul, Hazel, the twins Clifford and Claudia, and Jack). The dialogue included many specific references to San Francisco, including the
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...
, which the Barbours could see from their rear living room window or their garden wall. After 3,256 episodes, the radio series ceased production on April 24, 1959 (several sources give the date of May 8, 1959). ''One Man's Family'' was the longest-running serial drama in American radio broadcasting, edging out ''
Ma Perkins ''Ma Perkins'' (sometimes called ''Oxydol's Own Ma Perkins'') is an American radio soap opera that was heard on NBC from 1933 to 1949 and on CBS from 1942 to 1960. It was also broadcast in Canada, and Radio Luxembourg carried it in Europe. T ...
'' (although Ma Perkins produced over twice as many episodes). Organist Paul Carson, who played the background music and the opening theme, "Destiny Waltz" (1932–41), composed the show's later theme, "Waltz Patrice" (aka "Patricia"). Among its other trademarks, episodes were introduced as if they were chapters from books.


Overseas

Two Australian versions of ''One Man's Family'' were broadcast in Australia in the late 1930s/early 1940s; in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
on 2CH and in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
on
3XY Magic 1278 (official List of radio station callsigns in Victoria, callsign: 3EE) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Australia owned by Nine Entertainment, and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. History 1935–1991: 3XY 1935 ...
. 3XY opened in 1935 and was originally a very low rating station, until the great popularity of ''One Man's Family'' changed its fortunes. The Melbourne version featured 3XY announcer Carl Bleazby (who later featured in the
Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...
's popular TV series, Bellbird). By 1939, Doreen McKay was portraying Claudia in an Australian version.


Television

''One Man's Family'' had the rare distinction of airing both in prime time and daytime television. The first TV version (November 4, 1949 - June 21, 1952) ran in prime time once a week for a half-hour and reverted the stories back to the 1932 storylines. Hazel was a 28-year-old who yearned for marriage, Cliff and Claudia were students at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
, and Jack was ten years old. The prime time version focused on Fanny's attempts to mediate between her old-world husband and her independent-minded children. In 1965,
General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by C. W. Post, Charles William (C. W.) Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, a ...
offered to sponsor another version of ''One Man's Family'' on NBC, but NBC passed and picked up ''
Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...
'' instead.


See also

*
List of radio soaps Radio daytime drama serials were broadcast for decades, and some expanded to television. These dramas are often referred to as "soaps", a shortening from "soap opera". That term stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that h ...
* List of longest-serving soap opera actors *
Michael Raffetto Michael Raffetto (born Elwyn Creighton Raffetto; December 31, 1899 – May 31, 1990) was an American radio actor who starred as Paul Barbour (1932–1956) in the NBC Radio series '' One Man's Family'' and as Jack Packard in '' I Love a ...


References


Sources

*Walter P. Sheppard, ''One Man's Family: A History 1932 to 1959 and a Script Analysis 1932 to 1944'', University of Wisconsin, 1964 (doctoral dissertation; available through University Microfilms). "Some Notes on 'One Man's Family,'" article drawn from the dissertation, Journal of Broadcasting, Vol. XIV, No. 2 (Spring 1970).


Listen to


RadioLovers: ''One Man's Family'' (two episodes)


External links






Did You Know?
*
Meet the Barbours



"One Man's Family" short story, Radio and Television Mirror, April 1940, page 21
{{US radio soaps 1930s American radio programs 1932 radio programme debuts 1959 radio programme endings 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs 1949 American television series debuts 1952 American television series endings 1954 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings American radio soap operas American television soap operas NBC original programming Television series based on radio series Black-and-white American television shows American English-language television shows NBC radio programs Radio programs adapted into television shows Radio programs about families Television series about families Television shows set in San Francisco