''Uncle Don'' is a children's radio program that aired on WOR radio from 1928 to 1947. The host was Uncle Don Carney, a former vaudeville performer (real name Howard Rice, 1897–1954). The half-hour program was broadcast daily, five or six days a week.

History

Debuting September 1928, it was the most popular children's show of that era due to the powerful 50,000-watt power of WOR. Carney sang, played the piano, told stories and introduced a variety of features: the "Earnest Savers Club" which encouraged setting up accounts at the Greenwich Savings Bank; a "Healthy Child Contest"; a "Talent Quest" that provided screen tests for winners. Each program began with Uncle Don arriving in the imaginary

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-d ...

he called his "puddle-jumper." His opening song was widely known: "Hello, nephews, nieces mine,
I'm glad to see you look so fine.
How's Mama and how's Papa, but first
just tell me how you are.
I've many things to tell you on your radio.
This is Uncle Don, your Uncle Don.
Hello, little friends, hello." In 1938–1939, the program was carried on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

Personnel

Over the program's long run, announcers included Jack Barry, Joe Bolton,

Norman Brokenshire Norman Ernest Brokenshire (June 10, 1898 – May 4, 1965),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 42. nicknamed "Sir Silken Speech", w ...

Barry Gray Barry Gray (born John Livesey Eccles; 18 July 1908 – 26 April 1984) was a British musician and composer best known for his collaborations with television and film producer Gerry Anderson. Life and career Born into a musical family in Blackbur ...

, Arthur Hale, Frank Knight,

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan (; – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping ports o ...

, and Floyd Neal.

Books

''Uncle Don's Strange Adventures'', a 1936

Big Little Book The Big Little Books, first published during 1932 by the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin, were small, compact books designed with a captioned illustration opposite each page of text. Other publishers, notably Saalfield, adopted t ...

, retells Carney's story about a mystery cruiser.

Urban legend

For decades, a widespread rumor claimed that one night Uncle Don had inadvertently spoken into an open microphone, saying "We're off? Good, that ought to hold the little bastards." However, this has been debunked as untrue. The rumor was later resurrected in the 1950s, when an audio recording of the "mistake" turned up on a

Kermit Schaefer Kermit Schafer (March 24, 1914 – March 8, 1979) was an American writer and producer for radio and television in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for his collections of "bloopers"—the word Schafer popularized for mistakes and gaffes o ...

''Bloopers'' album, though this was later shown to be a fake recreation. (Some sources, such as John Dunning's ''Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio'', claim that Carney always denied the rumours; others say that he actually admitted the gaffe to friends, even though he knew it never happened.) Ultimately, this became attributed to later children's shows as well. This scenario, a host inadvertently talking into an open microphone at the end of a live show, was used as a comeuppance for lead character Lonesome Rhodes in the fictional film drama, '' A Face in the Crowd''. Amplifying the urban legend, a scene in that film shows two real ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' pressmen handling an issue of ''Variety'' with a headline reading "L.R. BLOOPER TOPS UNK DON'S" comparing Rhodes to Uncle Don. As a play on the urban legend, jazz musician

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

sometimes introduced himself, facetiously, as "Uncle Don", a nickname that continues to this day. On ''

A Night at the Village Vanguard A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' (Blue Note, 1957), he says, "Good afternoon everybody, boys and girls. This is Uncle Don. (laughter)...Good afternoon, my name is Sonny Rollins."''

'', "A Night in Tunisia": Sonny Rollins (ts), Don Bailey (b), Pete LaRoca (d). Blue Note: November 3, 1957.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Encyclopedia of Urban Legends''WOR History
American children's radio programs 1928 radio programme debuts 1947 radio programme endings 1920s American radio programs 1930s American radio programs 1940s American radio programs Mutual Broadcasting System programs