Stuart recalls -- "The Night the Feud Began."
It was during an unscripted 15-minute segment of
Fred Allen's Town Hall Tonight called "The Town
Hall Varieties" on December 30, 1936 that a young man named Stuart Canin appeared. He was a 10-year-old violinist who played Shubert's "The Bee" masterfully. Fred Allen commented, "A little fella in the fifth grade at school and already he plays better than Jack Benny." It was enough to inspire Jack to spend much of the first half of January 10, 1937 show panning Fred Allen. This started a heated comedic feud that would last, more or less, until Allen's death 20 years later. During that time, Jack and Fred always remained each other's friend and admirer.
Celebrating the Golden Age of Radio
Through events and our libraries of the classic
All-Time Favorite Radio Shows!
All the best can be heard on Cassettes and CDs.
If you do remember the golden age of radio you may recall a time when the room may have been illuminated only by the light of the radio dial and coming from the loudspeaker the greatest names in comedy like Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Edgar Bergen , Jimmy Durante , Abbott and Costello and others.
These names may evoke a rosy glow of nostalgia for you . Or perhaps you are one who is more in the mood for a good mystery with Sherlock Holmes or a great radio spine-tingling thriller with the likes of the ever popular radio classics Escape and Suspense! Hear great stories like The Time Machine or The Invisible Man by HG Wells, or Three Skeleton Key where three men are trapped in a lighthouse surrounded by thousands of rats who are trying to claw their way in. If this is too intense for you , try the comedy antics of Eve Arden as Madison High's favorite English teacher in Our Miss Brooks. For Further hilarity hear Phil Harris and Alice Faye or The Great Gildersleeve. These all time favorite radio situation comedies can be enjoyed as much today as they were back when they first aired on network radio. Also, hear the biggest stars from the golden age of Hollywood; Carey Grant, Jimmy Stewart, James Cagney ...all appearing on these classic programs!
Radio was and is tremendous entertainment! We would like to have you join us in sharing the fun as we seek to preserve and protect the best of the past, and to seek the best of radio and audio entertainment today !
