That lame attempt at a witticism in the title of this post is spawned by the knowledge that November 3 is the birthday of Charles Louis Fleischmann (1835-1897), who, along with his brother Maximillian, gave his name to the Fleischmann Yeast Company. In working on my new book about radio and television variety programs it occurred to me that posts centered on corporate broadcasting sponsors could make for a fruitful content stream. (We tested the waters recently with one on Lux Soap. Get it? Water? Soap?) But as you'll find, the major companies that sponsor programs are inextricably linked with American pop culture, if behind the scenes. And this is how, in this crazy country, we get entertainment programs that are named after yeast.
The Fleischmann Brothers were Jewish immigrants from Silesia in Moravia, a Czech region in Austria-Hungary (how's that for a geographical mouthful?) They brought their baking techniques to the U.S. and quickly realized there was a niche in the market for their Viennese know-how. In 1876, they made a stir (ha!) at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, with an exhibit called "A Model Viennese Bakery", which set them on their path.
In 1924, Fleischmann's nephew Raoul backed Harold Ross in the founding of The New Yorker magazine, one of numerous ways the company would expand its cultural reach beyond what happened in the kitchen and on the dinner table.
Old Time Radio fans know what's coming next. In 1929, NBC launched The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour (also known as The Rudy Vallee Show, as well as variations such as The Fleischmann Yeast Hour, and The Fleischmann Hour). This was one of the first major variety shows in the new broadcasting medium, and it made an enormous star out of its host, New England crooner Rudy Vallee. Regulars on the show included Olsen and Johnson, Tom Howard, George Shelton, "Bard of the Byways" Will Aubrey and Henry Armetta. Future radio stars like Milton Berle, Burns and Allen, Alice Faye, the Mills Brothers, Joe Penner, Kate Smith, Red Skelton, and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy made their debuts on the show, and there were early appearances by the likes of Fanny Brice, Ray Bolger, and Bert Lahr. In 1937, Louis Armstrong became the first black host of a national radio show when he stood-in for Vallee during the summer break.
In 1936 the name of the show became The Royal Gelatin Hour, though the sponsor hadn't really changed. Fleischmann's and Royal Baking Powder had merged in 1929. I am going to guess that the focus on Royal Gellatin had to do with the fact that Jell-O had had a major sales success after sponsoring The Jack Benny Program starting in 1934. Guests during the Royal era included Ed Wynn, Noël Coward, Bob Hope, Willie Howard, Gertrude Lawrence, and Carmen Miranda. The company ended its sponsorship in 1939, right at the decade mark, and Vallee continued his show with a variety of other sponsors thereafter.
Fleischmann's also sponsored a different radio show called The Baker's Broadcast from 1933 to 1938, with hosts including Joe Penner, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson (then still Hilliard), Robert Ripley of Ripley's Believe it or Not, and sports cartoonist Feg Murray.
For more on show business history please see No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and keep an eye out for my upcoming Electric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.
No comments:
Post a Comment