Lum and Abner

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Alka-Seltzer Brings Lum and Abner Back to Radio

Lum and Abner in the movie Partners in Time in 1946 A new radio contract recently made will bring Lum and Abner back on the air again. This is expected to happen this present month of May. The pair of Arkansas-born entertainers who made Pine Ridge a nationally known postal station and changed a name from a myth to a reality are reported to have accepted a contract with the makers of Alka-Seltzer. Details of the new deal in broadcasting Lum and Abner 's humorous philosophy are lacking, but a ... (read more)

2025/07/12

My Mother Was Rosemary LaPlanche, Film Star and Beauty Queen

A lobby card for the 1946 movie Devil Bat's Daughter Many of you remember Rosemary LaPlanche by her title, Miss America 1941, representing the state of California. Others may know her as RKO star and cast member of the Lum and Abner movie Two Weeks to Live. However, I knew her best because Rosemary was my mother. Rosemary was born to Charles and Anna LaPlanche in Glendale, California, on October 11, 1923. She had a big sister, Louise, who was four years older. It was a family in every sense of ... (read more)

2025/07/09

Lum and Abner Performed at 1935 Indiana State Fair

Chester Lauck and Norris Goff at the 1935 Indiana State Fair Saturday August 31, 1935, was the beginning of the Indiana State Fair, and was also quite a gala night for two boys from Mena, Arkansas. The Indianapolis Star and the State Board of Agriculture sponsored an amateur contest, to be held in the coliseum of the fairgrounds. And out of the world of headline radio stars, Lum and Abner were the unanimous choice to act as masters of ceremony. There they were, keeping the audience laughing and ... (read more)

2023/03/14

The Audition That Changed the Lives of Chester Lauck and Norris Goff

A print ad for Lum and Abner A strange sight would have greeted the eyes of anyone entering the board of directors room of the Quaker Oats Company on a summer morning in 1931. On one side of the room you would have found all the staid and dignified directors of the company, seated with their faces to the wall. On the other side you would have seen two young men talking hillbilly dialect to a broom handle! That was the turning point in the careers of the two boys who have become famous in ... (read more)

2022/12/13

When Wendell Niles Moved to Pine Ridge, Arkansas

Wendell Niles and Marilyn Monroe on NBC Radio in 1952 Radio announcer Wendell Niles worked on several radio series at one time; by the 1939-40 radio season he was featured on not only the Al Pearce Show, in which the rotund comedian Pearce portrayed Elmer Blurt, a reticent door-to-door salesman ("Nobody home, I hope I hope I hope"), but also on Gene Autry's brand-new Melody Ranch program (for "healthful, refreshing Doublemint Gum."). By 1942, Niles had landed his longest-running stint, ... (read more)

2022/11/01