Fred Allen was among the most celebrated comedians of his time. U.S. Presidents, writers like Faulkner and Steinbeck, and top-comedians such as Grouch Marx, Edgar Bergen, and Jack Benny could be counted among his many admirers (and friends). From humble beginnings Allen slowly emerged to become his generation’s master of satire and dry wit; a man, who at the height of his career, presided over the top-rated program in the nation -then no more than a year later, all but disappeared from radio.

Fred Allen was born “John Florence Sullivan” on May 31, 1894 in the (fair city) of Cambridge, Massachusetts. John’s mother died when he was only three, and his father when he was fourteen. Shortly before his father’s death, Sullivan began work as a bookbinder in the Boston Public Library. After the funeral, John and his younger brother Bob, moved in with their aunt. During his days at the public library, Sullivan came across a book on juggling, took up the hobby, and in 1912 (at the age of 16) began a two-year period of traveling and performing under a variety of stage names in the New England vaudeville circuit. Gradually Sullivan began inserting more and more comedy in his acts (and less juggling), and his bookings began to pick-up. After a long stint in Australia, then in San Francisco, Sullivan moved to New York, a much-improved comedian. So-much-so that Sullivan’s agent encouraged him to choose an entirely new stage name. Sullivan decided on “Fred Allen” one night as the result of a fluke. The theater where he was playing had made an error and billed him as Fred Allen, confusing his old stage title, “Freddy James,” with the name of his manager, Edgar Allen.

It was in New York in 1922 that Fred Allen met the love of his life, Portland Hoffa, a chorus girl named for the town of her birth in Oregon. They met while performing on the same stage-show and were married in the spring of 1927. The two performed stage routines together with Portland playing the part of the comic foil and springboard for Allen’s rapier wit. In 1932 they began their first of many radio programs together, a six-month stint as The Limit Bath Club Review with Allen initially writing, then editing, all of his final material. Allen’s brand of comedy was quite unique compared to the typical slapstick humor of these early days in radio. During these early programs Allen began a “newsreel” forerunner to his satiric current-events commentary that would become his trademark.

In 1934 Allen and Hoffa hosted Town Hall Tonight, a comedy program that devoted half of its air-time to an amateur talent search, a pre-dating by several months the immensely popular talent search program Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour. There were several amateur-discoveries made over the years on Allen’s Town Hall Tonight, among these the actress Ann Sheridan and singer Frank Sinatra.

In 1936 the program got a boost when Allen began a highly publicized, long-running (and staged) feud with fellow comedian (and personal friend) Jack Benny. During a broadcast Allen openly berated Jack’s skills at the violin; one of Benny’s many skits was to play the violin for his audiences (or at least act like he was about to). The next day on Benny’s program jokes were “fired back” in Allen’s direction and what ensued was a years long “public” feud. Occasionally the two would make appearances on each other’s shows (or a neutral stage) for a little good-natured ribbing. Allen’s amazingly quick wit was matched (for the most part) by Benny’s tremendous showmanship; the verbal jousting (and laughs) between the comedic giants soon became the stuff of radio legend.

In 1939 Town Hall Tonight yielded to The Fred Allen Show, which featured much of the same comedy routines virtually unchanged. Allen’s current-events satire segment, “Town Hall News,” merely became the “March of Trivia,” but by 1942 “Allen’s Alley” emerged, a daily journey through an imaginary neighborhood of such colorful characters as “Samson Souse,” “Talulah Traub,” “Miss Prawn,” “Socrates Mulligan,” and most famous of all, the genteel southerner “Senator Claghorn.” The Claghorn character became so popular that Warner Brothers made a direct copy of the old gent as the cartoon rooster “Foghorn Leghorn.”

In 1948 “Allen’s Alley’s” popularity lifted The Fred Allen Show to become the top-rated program in the nation, ahead of such perpetual forerunners as Jack Benny, Fibber McGee and Molly and Edgar Bergen. However later that year Allen’s ratings began to slump and by 1949 the program dropped to 38th place. Part of the reason for the sudden decline may have been a big money giveaway-show that began airing in the same time-slot, while other critics felt that Allen’s formulas for humor had merely played themselves out. The show was cancelled in June of 1949, after which Allen began making guest appearances on various radio and television programs.

In 1952 Allen was about to begin a new TV show when he suffered his first heart attack. Allen had struggled with heart problems in the past; in 1944 he had to take the broadcast-season off due to hypertension. After recovering from his heart attack, Allen made a return to television, becoming a regular panelist on the game show What’s My Line. Then on March 17th 1956 Allen suffered a second (fatal) heart attack outside the West 75th Street home of a family friend.

The radio-historian John Dunning writes of Allen as an enigma in the entertainment world. Off the stage, this wry sarcastic showman was a shy, warmhearted, and simple-living man. In contrast to most “show business clichés” Allen remained happily married to his wife Portland, as the two lived quiet, modest lives in their New York apartment, never owning a car. Those who knew Allen often used such words to describe him as “decent, genial, gentle, and generous.” (Perhaps remembering his humble beginnings) it was said that Allen could be quite charitable, and even kept rolls of money in his pocket as handouts for panhandlers. During an interview he once told a reporter, “I don’t want to own anything that won’t fit in my coffin.”

For today’s Sound From the Past we bring you an episode of the Fred Allen Show that first aired on November 18th 1945, with special guest appearances by Edgar Bergen (and of course, Charlie McCarthy).

However, in her mischieviousness fun-loving spirit, she chose to change the lyrics for the entertainment of her blue hair" audience now that she was one of the group. Here are the lyrics she recited -- hum the song as you read the lines... or if you are good at patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, go ahead and sing them:

ARE THESE A FEW OF YOUR FAVORITE THINGS?

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets, and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or anything cooked with onions
Bathrobes and heat pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no fear of sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache, when the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so baaaaaaaaad.

Following this selection, Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation that lasted over four minutes and the audience demanded repeated encores. What fun. Wish I had been there.

Hebrews 11:6 The Message Bible, Navigator Press. Colorado Springs, CO.

What an incredible Scripture. And what a clearly defined principle.

Faith is that wonderful resource that is ours to practice and perfect. It's that "step into the unknown" -- the jumping off the edge of a pier into the arms of our mother or father knowing that we will be safely caught in their arms.

I really like what the Living Bible (paraphrase) says:
"What is Faith? Why Faith is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen! That what we have hoped for is waiting for us -- even though we can't see it up ahead!"

Isn't that teriffic! Do you have the two prerequisites for Faith in operation in your life? 1) By Faith you belive in Creator God and his son JC. 2) And by faith, you believe that God will respond to you.

They had the very best prizes inside the carton, “between the cardboard and the protective wax bag liner that protects the quality of Kellogg’s PEP! The prizes were mainly pin buttons. I have a collection of comic strip characters like the ones I used to wear on my “propeller, beanie cap.”

Seeing myself in that cap through movies and photos was cleara evidence that I looked quite dorky in my pre-adolescence days. Man, that dumb hat was so ugly, -- I thought it made me so tough and there was nothing better. It was a brown beanie complete with the jagged edges on the vertical brim. The pins included full color pictures of Superman, The Phanton, Perry Winkle, Sandy, Minnie Gump, Henry, Flash Gordon, and on I could go.

Back in the 1940's, cereal buying pivoted on the premium inside the box and the material printed on the box. (So what's changed in 60 years?) There was a time when cereal eatin came to a crisis in our home. My brothers and I were buying Kellogg’s Pep every chance we had but we ate Shredded Wheat, Puffed Rice (shot from guns, of course), puffed wheat, and Cheerios.

One day, Mom found the stash. “WHAT’S ALL THIS KELLOG’S PEP HIDDEN IN THE BACK OF THE PANTRY?" During the cereal eatin recovery days and mid-course correction of the "overbuy" we got so sick of Kellogg's PEP - which tasted like straw to begin with.

Kellogg's Pep seemed to give us everything else but pep -- like eating old people's bran flakes. It was like eatin sawdust! Yuck.

WE GUARANTEE YOU CAN SET ALL YOUR CLOCKS BY IT'S ACCURACY -- EVEN YOUR ATOMIC CLOCKS AND CELL PHONES! It will give you information from the time zone your computer is set on.

Norman and ChrisPlunkett

God is good -- ALWAYS!

And especially as He floods you with all the grace you need no matter what the situation. As you trust Him, God's grace is always just enough and always on time.