left, Capt. Midnight Decoder Badge During the time that

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

s were the dominant medium in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, some programs advertised "souvenirs" of the various shows, which were sometimes called radio premiums. The first of these were generally cast photographs and the like, but eventually, these evolved into novelties that many children collected. By the 1930s, a wide range of novelties appeared as premiums, most obtained by sending the sponsor's agency a

proof of purchase Proof of purchase is often required for sales promotions and manufacturer rebates as evidence that the customer purchased the product. When multiple purchases are required to redeem these rewards, it is referred to as a premium incentive or colle ...

, such as a

boxtop A boxtop, in the context of being a proof of purchase, is understood to be the upper portion of a product box, detached, and mailed as part of a claim for a radio premium or other advertising offer. Betty Crocker was a leader in the mail-in box ...

or jar's inner seal, and frequently a small amount of cash, such as a dime. One amusing address was for Chief Lone Wolf who was strangely on the 14th floor of the Wrigley Building in Chicago. Many "one size fits all" accessories were multifunctional, having a feature beyond just being jewelry. Quite a few had "secret compartments," and others had built-in siren whistles. Some rings were composed in whole or in part of luminous materials. A premium from ''

Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy ''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy'' was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC. Backgr ...

'' program, offered in 1940, was a ring called the Dragon's Eye Ring, with images of crocodiles supporting a greenish "stone" made of Tenite. The molds for the ring were later used for two other premiums, one for ''

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily American newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, b ...

in the Twenty-Fifth Century,'' issued in 1947. The new ring was called the Buck Rogers Ring of Saturn, and had a red "stone" rather than the green one in the original. About the same time, a third ring, but with a black stone, was issued by Carey Salt for their sponsorship of ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

'' (another sponsor, Blue Coal, offered an entirely different luminous-plastic ring). Some rings had a hidden mirror for a "look behind" feature. Programs that offered such Look-Around rings included ''

Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western (genre), Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were s ...

Ralston Straight Shooters,'' ''

Captain Midnight ''Captain Midnight'' (later rebranded on television as ''Jet Jackson, Flying Commando'') is an American adventure franchise first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938 to 1949. The character's popularity throughout the 1940s and into the mid-19 ...

'', and ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

''. Other rings had spinners, photo viewers, ballpoint pens, magnifiers, signal blinkers, flashlights, etc. Besides rings, there were many pocket items, including sundial "watches," compass-and-magnifiers, pedometers, truth detectors, and signaling devices. Premiums demanding many boxtops included cowboy outfits, a set of cooking equipment for camping, and special badges such as "Chief Inspector", "General", etc. A genre of cryptological radio premiums included "

secret decoder ring A secret decoder ring (or secret decoder) is a device that allows one to decode a simple substitution cipher—or to encrypt a message by working in the opposite direction. As inexpensive toys, secret decoders have often been used as promotional ...

s", "decoder pins," or "decoder badges", mostly based on cipher disks. Brand sponsor

Ovaltine Ovaltine, also known by its original name Ovomaltine, is a brand of milk flavouring product made with malt extract, sugar (except in Switzerland), and whey. Some flavours also have cocoa. Ovaltine, a registered trademark of Associated British ...

issued decoders for ''

Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and print syndication#Comic strip syndication, syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James ...

'' and ''

'' : secret messages were broadcast at the close of an episode, each invariably a preview of the forthcoming episode. Secret messages could be deciphered with one of the decoder premiums, as notably spoofed in the 1983 comedy ''

A Christmas Story ''A Christmas Story'' is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on the 1966 book '' In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash'' by Jean Shepherd, with some elements from his 1971 book ''Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories ...

''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, restrictions were placed on manufacturing materials, notably copper and brass. As a result, virtually all premiums manufactured during the war were made of "noncritical" materials, such as wood, paper (including cardboard and card stock), and cloth. Some items made of luminous material were made into items to help in blackouts. At least one show offered a "Plane Spotter" premium, showing silhouettes of various types of allied and enemy aircraft, like those used by

Office of Civilian Defense Office of Civilian Defense was a United States federal emergency war agency set up May 20, 1941, by to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency. Its two branches supervised protective function ...

personnel. Radio premiums got more multifunctional over the years, and by 1950, some of them had as many as four separate features. The ''

Sky King ''Sky King'' is an American radio and television series. Its lead character was Arizona rancher and aircraft pilot Schuyler "Sky" King. The series had strong Western elements. Cattle rancher King usually captured criminals and spies and found ...

'' radio program had several of the most innovative premiums. But by that time, the radio shows were phasing out because of the increasing influence of television. In September 2006, Bill McMahon offered a presentation entitled "Old Time Radio Premiums" explaining in detail why premiums were offered and constructed. The presentation was among the events held at the annual Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Aberdeen,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

External links

Radio Premium Exchange

Radio Premium History
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Old-Time Radio Convention, OTR Premiums Presentation, September 2006
category:radio in the United States

See also

Further reading

External links