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 ...
broadcast on
NBC Radio
The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...
from October 2, 1944 to March 23, 1945, and on CBS Radio from March 26, 1945 to July 1, 1955. Starring Betty Winkler as Rosemary Dawson Roberts, the program's only sponsor was
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...
, primarily for
Ivory Snow
Dreft is a laundry detergent in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and other markets. First produced by Procter & Gamble in 1933, it was the first Chemical synthesis, synthetic detergent. The Fairy (brand), Fairy brand of washing-up liquid ...
dishwashing liquid
Dishwashing liquid (washing-up liquid or fairy liquid in British English), also known as dishwashing soap, dish detergent, or dish soap, is a detergent used in dishwashing. Dishwashing detergent for dishwashers comes in various forms such a ...
,
Camay
Camay is a British brand of bar soap owned by Unilever. It was introduced in 1926 by Procter & Gamble and was marketed as a "white, pure soap for women," as many soaps of the time were colored to mask impurities. For many years, Camay's slog ...
soap,
Dash
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
and
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
laundry detergent
Laundry detergent is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) used for cleaning dirty laundry (clothes). Laundry detergent is manufactured in powder (washing powder) and liquid form.
While powdered and liquid detergents hold roughly equal share of ...
s and
Prell
Prell is a viscous, pearl-green shampoo and conditioner product manufactured by Scott's Liquid Gold-Inc through their Neoteric Cosmetics subsidiary.
History
Prell was introduced by Procter & Gamble in 1947. The original formula was a clear gre ...
shampoo. The series was created by Elaine Carrington, who had previously created ''
Pepper Young's Family
''Pepper Young's Family'' is a daytime drama series, with various format and title changes during its long run from 1932 to 1959. It was created and written by short story author and playwright Elaine Sterne Carrington.
History
With Burgess Mere ...
When the program began, it focused on 20-year-old secretary Rosemary Dawson (Winkler), who supports her mother (
Marion Barney
Marion Barney (1879 - 1968) was an American character actress known for her long association with the radio programs of Elaine Sterne Carrington.
A native of San Francisco, Barney attended the University of California, Berkeley, at the same time ...
) and younger sister Patti (Jone Allison). Rosemary marries journalist Bill Roberts (George Keane), a war veteran and amnesiac who later remembers his first wife Audrey (Allison) and daughter Jessica (
Joan Lazer
Joan Lazer ( - January 3, 2015) was an American child actress who worked primarily in radio. Although she performed on stage and on film, she said that she learned more in radio "and besides it's more exciting to do a different show every week than ...
) but forgets his present with Rosemary. The show also included Rosemary's best friend Joyce Miller (
Mary Jane Higby
Mary Jane Higby (May 29, 1909 – February 1, 1986)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 129. was an American actress in the era of ol ...
), lawyer Peter Harvey (Lawson Zerbe), and Dr. Jim Cotter (Bill Adams).
Cast
Winkler and Keane met doing ''Rosemary'' and married. When Keane was forced to leave the program due to illness, Winkler left as well, and they were replaced by
Robert Readick
Bob Readick (November 28, 1925 – May 27, 1985), also known professionally as Bobby Readick, was an American voice and film actor, best known for a run as the voice of "Johnny Dollar" in the CBS radio series ''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'' in t ...
and Virginia Kaye in the roles. Most of the other characters were also portrayed by multiple actors, including Patsy Campbell as Patti; Lesley Woods and
Joan Alexander
Joan Alexander (born Louise Abrass; April 16, 1915 – May 21, 2009) ''
''Rosemary'' was complimented for its "realistic approach to life" despite its use of plot devices like amnesia, and the program got "generally higher marks" from critics than its competition.