Soap Operas

Aunt Mary is widely considered to be one of the best examples of radio soap operas, as it features pretty much every dramatic plot you would expect of a soap - and a lot more besides! Love triangles, long-buried secrets, betrayal, lies, jealousy all woven intricately alongside warm friendships, romance, chivalry, and a little comedy too.

Aunt Mary was the title character, a warm, motherly lady, who is the heart of the community - but who equally shouldn't be trifled with! She was played by Jane Morgan, who you might recognise as the voice of Our Miss Brooks nosy landlady, Mrs Davis. Also in the show were Jane Webb, who played Mary’s niece Peggy and Fred Howard as the mysterious Lefty Larkin.

Broadcast History: 5 August 1935 to 2 January 1959
Theme Tune: Stay as Sweet as You Are (1930s), Rose of Tralee (1940s)

The story of Mary Noble and what it means to be the wife of Larry Noble famous Broadway star.

Broadcast History: 20 November 1929 to 24 June 1950
Theme Tune: Toselli's Serenade

Broadcast History: January 1937 to June 1956

Broadcast History: 1933 to 1960

From 1933 - 1960 listeners tuned in daily to listen to the drama that Ma Perkins, America's mother of the air, offered.

Ma Perkins was a widow and the owner of a lumber yard. She was the center of the town she lived in, always ready to hand out her wise advice, take care of those in need, and defend those who were in trouble.

The character of Ma Perkins was probably in her 60s, but in 1933 when the show debuted, the actress Virginia Payne who played her was only 23. This fact was kept hidden for much of the show’s run. In fact, she even appeared in wigs and glasses when she was photographed for publicity.

Over the years the show had many melodramatic story lines. From family troubles to episodes where Ma protected a political refugee from Russia, there was no shortage of ups and downs in the plot lines. There were marriages, divorces, and murders. and even a black market operation to sell babies! Yet with all of this drama, the show centered on our salt-of-the earth heroine, and her life in a small town.

Somehow the pace of the show made it believable that Ma Perkins’ small town could have so many strange situations, and one of the reasons the show worked so well was the pacing. There were usually two or three major plot twists or events every year, but the rest of the time the episodes focused more on daily life. For example, holiday celebrations and front porch conversations which could fill entire episodes!

The cast of the show was fairly stable with the main characters remaining the same for most of the show’s run, but other supporting cast members revolved as necessary with the story lines. Listeners grew to love the stable and familiar characters, while the supporting cast helped to keep things interesting.

The show was one of the most popular to ever air, and had a very long run of 27 years! It was heard in virtually every state in the United States and was even broadcast in Canada and Europe before it was replaced by the many soap operas that began appearing on the small screen during the emerging television era.

Incredibly, Virginia Payne never missed an episode of the show in her 27 year run. She passed away in 1977, 17 years after the show she spent most of her adulthood on ended, and in 1988 both she and Ma Perkins were inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

Broadcast History: 1931 to 1946
Theme Tune: Poor Butterfly

Soap opera inspired by the life of Myrtle Vail who was herself a 43 year old vaudvillian star when she began writing the serial.

Broadcast History: 29th April, 1932 - 8th May, 1959
Theme Tune: Destiny Waltz 1932-41. Then Waltz Patrice by Paul Carson

The Barbour's were the family at the center of the longest running dramatic serial in the history of American radio.

A simple drama of American family life, One Man's Family, was written by perhaps the greatest old time radio show creator of them all, Carlton E. Morse, who also wrote series such as I Love A Mystery.

With most of the actors sticking around throughout its entire 27-year run, the quality of the performances from the cast was superb. The main character, Henry Barbour was played by J. Anthony Smythe for the whole series, and the plots centered on his career as a stockbroker, his wife Fanny and their five children Paul, Hazel, the twins Clifford and Claudia, and Jack.  

There were literally millions of listeners, and thousands of episodes, and each day brought stories of the Barbour family's loves, sorrows, adventures and joys, as believable dramas with 'real' people.