Premier Collections:
Little Orphan Annie
Liner notes written by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.

Click to listen to an audio sample

"Leapin’ Lizards!"

August 5, 1925 marked the auspicious debut of one of the most popular comic strips ever to appear in newspapers: "Little Orphan Annie", created by cartoonist Harold Gray. It was originally titled "Little Orphan Otto" before Chicago Tribune owner Joseph M. Patterson ordered Gray to change the gender of the character, after observing that Otto looked "like a pansy." "Put skirts on the kid," Patterson barked and, lo and behold, "Annie" was born.

When the strip premiered, Annie had recently escaped from an orphanage. With her dog Sandy as her only companion, she was making her way through the world by sheer pluck and determination when she crossed paths with Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, a "self-made man" who had acquired his vast wealth in munitions during the First World War. The Warbucks character was one of the most fascinating to appear in the 'funny pages'; creator Gray tried to present him as a symbol of "rugged capitalism" but oftentimes he came across as a two-bit gangster. He was ruthless in his quest for money and influence - the crash of 1929 had knocked him somewhat off his pedestal - and would brook no dissension with "the rabble"; he even had a pair of cold-blooded assassins, Punjab and the Asp, to deal with any potentially threatening opposition. Cartoonist Gray was so conservatively libertarian in his politics (attitudes which eventually leaked into the strip) that he even killed off the Warbucks character at one point and brought him back only after the passing of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (If Gray had lived to see the 1982 film adaptation of the popular stage musical loosely based on his strip, the sight of FDR and Warbucks singing and dancing together surely would have killed him on the spot.)

By the time "Little Orphan Annie" was adapted for radio, premiering on WGN in Chicago in 1930, the comic was among the top five newspaper strips in the country. Annie would become one of the first radio serials to appeal directly to kids by focusing on adventures featuring kids. The Annie of the comic strips always seemed ill-at-ease among her peers but, on the radio show, she enthusiastically participated in kid-type behavior; in fact, one of the characters from an early continuity of the strip, Joe Corntassel, would continue to be featured as Annie’s sidekick long after he disappeared from the newspaper version. (Corntassel was originally played by actor Allan Baruck, but the most famous individual to tackle the role was none other than "The Velvet Fog" himself, Mel Torme.) Many of the radio series’ plots featured Annie and Joe being whisked away from their Simmons Corners surroundings to chase gangsters, pirates, cannibals and other nefarious types. "Daddy" Warbucks was also integral to the stories, but most of the time Annie was the responsibility of Ma and Pa (Byron and Mary) Silo, a rustic couple who kept an eye on young Annie while Warbucks was out concentrating on his ruggedly capitalistic pursuits. The head writer of the radio series, Frank Dahm, had a free hand in that he could either choose to follow Gray’s strip or create situations of his own. By the time of Annie’s radio debut, however, the strip had become a bit more geared to adults...and the parents of Annie’s listeners expressed concern that the plots were a bit upsetting for younger ears, which forced him to tone down the stories.

"Little Orphan Annie" moved nationwide onto the Blue network beginning April 6, 1931, and for two years the role of radio’s adventuresome waif was played by two young actresses: Shirley Bell, who did the East Coast broadcast in Chicago, and Floy Margaret Hughes, who did the West Coast show in San Francisco. With the introduction of a coast-to-coast hookup in 1933, Bell became the solo Annie, though a young actress named Bobbe Deane took over for a short time during 1934-35 when Bell was engaged in a contract dispute. Bell, as well as announcer Pierre André, even provided the thespic "Arf!" of dog Sandy from time to time, though that job was usually left to animal imitator Brad Barker (and yes, that is his real last name). Jerry O’Mera and Henrietta Tedro were Ma and Pa Silo, and among the many actors who essayed the role of "Daddy" Warbucks was Stanley Andrews, who later became a television immortal as "The Old Ranger" on the long-running "Death Valley Days". "Little Orphan Annie" was heard on the Blue network six times a week at 5:45pm, but the show wangled a day off when it moved to NBC on November 2, 1936, airing five times weekly. During that time, the program was sponsored by Ovaltine, one of the sweetest match-ups between advertiser and show in the history of radio. Annie plugged Ovaltine like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, sometimes forcing the audience to listen to announcer André rhapsodize over the product for three full minutes. The show became one of the first to handout premiums in the form of badges, code devices, whistles, and periscopes; the most famous of the Annie premiums was the Shake-Up Mug, described as being made of "genuine Beetleware" and holding "8 full ounces":

"It’s Little Orphan Annie’s very own Shake-Up Mug...with a beautiful, new and different picture of Annie and Sandy right on it. You put the special orange shake top on it when you shake up your ice-cold Ovaltine, then lift the top off, and presto! You have a special Little Orphan Annie to drink right out of. Here’s the way to get it: take out all of the thin aluminum seal you find under the lid of a can of Ovaltine and mail it, together with ten cents — one dime — to cover the cost of mailing and handling, to the Wander Company, 180 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Then, in a few days, the postman will bring you this brand new Little Orphan Annie Shake-Up Mug to have and to keep for your very own."

Though the program was slavishly devoted to peddling as much Ovaltine as their Shake-Up Mugs could hold, the show discovered in early 1940 that the fickle Ovaltine was seeing other series behind its back. The popular children’s drink mix had decided to hook up with "Captain Midnight" and "Little Orphan Annie" moved to Mutual on January 22, 1940, where it had appeared briefly between 1937-38, for Quaker Puffed Wheat Sparkies...originally at its 5:45 PM time slot, but soon moved to 5:00 PM. To add insult to injury, Annie ended up taking a backseat to the program’s new main character, Captain Sparks (an aviator in the Midnight mold) and ended up as a merely a stooge/cheerleader for his daring wartime exploits. By this time, Janice Gilbert had replaced Shirley Bell in the Annie role and, because the Sparks character was simply a Captain Midnight clone, the program found itself unable to compete with the original. The show rang down the final curtain on April 26, 1942.

Continuing our efforts to seek out and preserve the best, rarest, and most desirable broadcasts from radio's past, Radio Archives is pleased to offer this outstanding Premier Collection featuring the exploits of Annie, Joe, and all of her friends at Simmons Corners: 23 complete fifteen-minute episodes dating from 1936 and 1937, freshly transferred from excellent condition 16" World Syndication electrical transcriptions and professionally restored for outstanding audio quality. Radio Orphan Annie shows are extremely rare and, up to now, only a handful of shows have been available to collectors. We’re very excited to be able to offer these recently discovered original broadcasts to collectors – broadcasts that haven’t been heard in over seventy years!

By the way, five of the Little Orphan Annie broadcasts in this Premier Collection contain secret coded messages intended only for members of Annie’s Secret Society. You can decode these messages by printing out and assembling your own personal 1936 decoder badge by clicking here.

Here’s the complete content of this historic Premier Collection:

Mr. Flint is Selling Stock in the Toll Bridge (#1018)
Daddy Warbucks has delivered Annie, Sandy, and Joe back to the farm, where Ma and Pa Silo tell the children about Caleb Flint, the big promoter who is building a bridge in Simmons Corners. Ma Silo, however, has reservations about Flint and his "big-city ways".
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19363.jpg

Mr. Flint Tries to Sell Stock to Jake Levy (#1019)
Annie and Joe meet up with their old pals Squinty and Potato Face, who tell them about the fun they’ve had at the bridge site. The two children then pay a visit to their friend Jake Levy, who gets a "shakedown" from Flint about investing in the bridge.
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19364.jpg

Watching Bridge Being Built (#1020)
On their way to the bridge site, Annie and Joe find an abandoned baby crawling around and return the youngster to his mother, a woman named Mrs. Renelli. Both Annie and Joe are familiar with the family, having met Mrs. Renelli's son Caesar in school.
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19365.jpg

Second Grade Logs Used to Build Bridge (#1021)
Annie and Joe are introduced to Amos Strong, the chief engineer on Caleb Flint’s bridge project. When it's discovered that inferior timber is being used to build the bridge, an unknown assailant pushes the logs onto Strong!
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19366.jpg

Tony is Arrested for Robbery (#1026)
Since Bill Corwin has reported that the man responsible for the payroll robbery had an Italian accent, Caesar Renelli is concerned that his father, Tony, will be accused of the theft. When the pay envelopes from the robbery are discovered in the Renellis’ backyard, it looks the jig is up for Tony.
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19367.jpg

Light in the Mysterious Deserted House (#1027)
Annie and Joe are still unconvinced that Tony Renelli is the man responsible for the payroll robbery at the bridge site, so our two heroes vow to find the individual responsible. Their only clue is a scarred stranger they’ve spotted lurking around the old Carson house.
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19368.jpg

Bill Corwin Has Disappeared (#1038)
Annie and Joe are concerned that something has happened to missing paymaster Bill Corwin, who was warned by the masked stranger to leave town. The marshal has been called in to investigate, but Annie isn’t so sure she and Joe should tip their hand since there appears to be a connection to the payroll robbery and the falsely accused Tony Renelli.
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19369.jpg

Looking For Bill Corwin (#1039)
Not only has Bill Corwin turned up missing, but so has the rowboat belonging to the Wigglesworths! The marshal laughs off the incident, thinking Corwin just went fishing, but Annie, Joe, and Walter aren’t so easily convinced...especially when they find the missing boat!
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19370.jpg

The Bridge is Destroyed (#1066)
Caleb Flint confesses to the payroll theft, but has escaped from the marshal. The marshal is joined by Mr. Silo, Mr. Caslin, Annie, and Joe in looking for Flint and his henchmen in the fields surrounding Simmons Corners...while a torrential rain threatens to destroy the bridge!
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19371.jpg

Telegram for Mr. Silo (#1067)
Flint meets his doom at the bridge, which collapses due to a combination of rotten cement and flooding. The bridge will be rebuilt but, in the meantime, Mr. Silo receives a mysterious telegram from his brother, who’s kept a low profile for the past twenty years.
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19372.jpg

Mr. Silo Prepares for Trip (#1068)
Since his brother Jed has sent him a telegram informing him that he’s in trouble, Mr. Silo feels obligated to make the trip to Fairhaven to see him. Mrs. Silo insists on preparing her husband’s things and is also determined to accompany him as well - but who’ll take care of the farm?
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19543.jpg

Annie and Joe are Going to Mississippi (#1069)
Mr. Silo can’t believe the various items Mrs. Silo insists on bringing along on their trip to the Mississippi. Meanwhile, Annie and Joe discuss the possibility of going along, too, and are preparing to make their case to the Silos.
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19544.jpg

Wright Brothers 33rd Anniversary (#1164)
Entrusted with the secret that the two scientists are working on a special plane for the U.S. Government, Annie and Joe pay a visit to their friend Mr. Bond at the Gregory barn. He continues to tell Annie and Joe the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s invention of the airplane.
Tuesday, June 16, 1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/14030.jpg

Who Shot Tom Baines Dog (#1165)
The watchdog known as Blood has been shot by a mysterious assailant. While Annie didn’t get a real close look at the man responsible, she’s almost certain it was the foreign spy known as Nicholson. (Annie’s secret decoder message is worked into the plot.)
Wednesday, June 17, 1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/14031.jpg

Spies Have Stolen the Plans For An Experimental Silent Airplane (#1196)
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
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Flying East in New Silent Airplane (#1197)
1936 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/25328.jpg

Building A Radio Transmitter (#1534)
Shipwrecked on the island, Annie is convinced that a radio transmitter can be built from the metal parts that she, Joe, and Mr. Wilcox salvaged from the ship. Mr. Wilcox explains to Joe how it’s possible to build a radio without electricity.
1938 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19545.jpg

Daddy Warbucks Searches for Annie (#1535)
Captain Steel is planning yet another attack on Annie’s island, as Daddy Warbucks frantically continues the search for his ward. In the meantime, Annie, Joe, and Mr. Wilcox continue their project to build a radio transmitter from the ship’s spare metal parts.
1938 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19546.jpg

Queen of the Island (#1536)
Annie and her friends continue to work on the radio transmitter, but it’s a race against time as Daddy Warbucks is giving serious consideration to giving up the search. The island dwellers then get a visit from the native known as Zapete, who crowns Annie and Joe queen and king of the island!
1938 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19547.jpg

Diamonds (#1537)
Joe is uncomfortable about being made king of the deserted island that he, Annie, and their friends are shipwrecked on...particularly since they don’t speak the natives’ language. Zapete insists the royal couple be bedecked in feathered cloaks...and real diamonds!
1938 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19548.jpg

Testing the Diamonds (#1538)
Saunders is convinced that the clasps on Annie and Joe’s cloaks are genuine diamonds. To prove their authenticity, he decides to use Mr. Silo’s gold watch to test the stones. When the test proves the gems legitimate, Saunders has visions of wealth dancing in his head.
1938 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19549.jpg

Daddy Warbucks Hears Radio Signals (#1539)
The radio transmitter has finally been built, and while Mr. Wilcox and Joe frantically try to make contact with anyone within radio range, the two men and Annie discuss how Saunders’ lust for diamonds played a part in his giving up Mr. Silo’s gold watch. Just when all hope seems lost, Daddy Warbucks picks up the islanders’ distress message!
1938 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19550.jpg

Temple in the Jungle (#1554)
After assisting Zapete and his warriors in their retreat from the attack by Captain Steele, Annie and her friends follow him to a secret stronghold Zapete identifies as "the temple of his fathers." The adventurers end up at an enormous stone temple the size of three city blocks!
1938 – 15:00 – NBC, sponsored by Ovaltine
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/19551.jpg

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