Premier Collections:
Christmas - On The Air!,
Volume 2
Liner notes written by Elizabeth McLeod

Click to listen to an audio sample

Enjoy your Christmas this year with a selection of some of radio's most entertaining holiday favorites -- newly restored by the First Generation Radio Archives. The emphasis is on yuletide variety in this Premiere Collection, with a galaxy of broadcasting's top stars getting in the seasonal swing: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante, and other radio favorites send along Christmas greetings with music, comedy, and all around good cheer.

A Christmas Sing with Bing
The 1958 edition of this annual holiday songfest makes perfect listening around the family Christmas tree, or background melody for your family's holiday dinner. Taken directly from CBS network master tapes, the show features Bing Crosby, Katherine Crosby, and announcer Ken Carpenter.
Wednesday, December 24, 1958 - 60:00 - CBS, sponsored by the Insurance Company of North America

The Elgin Christmas Party
The third annual Christmas program, brought to you by the Elgin Watch Company, with master of ceremonies Don Ameche -- two full hours of Christmas entertainment with the usual holiday suspects, joined by performers you don't run across quite so often. The program features Ginny Simms, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Jack Benny, Louis Silvers and His Orchestra, Manny Klein, The Swing Wing, The Charioteers, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Carmen Miranda, Joseph Szigeti, The Les Paul Trio, Barbara Jo Allen, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and announcer Ken Carpenter.
Monday, December 25, 1944 - 120:00 - CBS, sponsored by the Elgin Watch Company

Command Performance Christmas Special
The first post-war Christmas is observed in grand style by the Armed Forces Radio Service, with the ubiquitous Hope and Crosby headlining a bill of your favorite mid-forties radio personalities including Dinah Shore, Herbert Marshall, Harry James, The Pied Pipers, Jimmy Durante, Ginny Simms, Cass Daley, Kay Kyser, Francis Langford, Judy Garland, Johnny Mercer, Frank Sinatra, Ed "Archie" Gardner, Eddie Jackson, Joe Lilley, and a special message by President Harry Truman.
Recorded in December 1945 for broadcast Tuesday, December 25, 1945 - 120:00 - AFRS

The Judy Canova Show: Exclusive Brentwood Society Party
Radio's queen of the hillbillies offers a mountain-flavored holiday treat, as Judy is invited to a fancy holiday party. Series regulars include Mel Blanc, Verna Felton, Ruby Dandridge, vocalist Eddie Dean, and announcer Ken Niles.
Saturday, December 22, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Colgate Palmolive

The Raleigh Cigarette Program Starring Red Skelton: Christmas Trees
In "The Skelton Scrapbook of Satire, Chapter 35," Skelton takes a cockeyed look at one of the most beloved holiday traditions, with his gallery of off-center characterizations - including Clem Kadiddlehopper and the Mean Widdle Kid - presented in top form. The program also features Anita Ellis, Pat McGeehan, GeGe Pearson, Verna Felton, Arthur Q. Bryan, David Forrester and his Orchestra, and announcer Rod O'Connor.
Tuesday, December 25, 1945 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Raleigh Cigarettes

The Jack Benny Special Christmas Show
An unusual compilation program highlighting some of the Benny program's most popular Christmas-themed routines - including a very funny visit to the department store for Christmas shopping. In addition to regulars Bob Crosby, Dennis Day, Mary Livingstone, Mel Blanc, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, The Sportsmen Quartet, and announcer Don Wilson, the program also features Artie Auerbach as "Mr. Kitzel," Benny Rubin, Sam Hearn, Charlie Bagby, Elliott Lewis, Joseph Kearns, Herb Vigran, and special guests June Allyson and Frances Bergen.
Original network broadcast December 1956; AFRTS rebroadcast December 1957 - 45:00 - AFRTS

Eddie Fisher: Christmas Day Program
A Yuletide musical interlude with one of the most popular crooners of the 1950s, edited from his long-running "Coke Time" syndicated series.

Original syndicated broadcast date: Tuesday, December 25, 1956 - 15:00 - AFRTS
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The American Melody Hour: Christmas Program
One of the long-running musical features in the Frank and Anne Hummert radio production stable, the "American Melody Hour" featured semi-classical and concert music in a format designed to appeal to a small-town, Middle American audience -- a format ideally suited to the straightforward presentation of traditional Christmas melodies, including "Silent Night," "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" and "Gather 'Round The Christmas Tree." The program features regulars Bob Hannon, Evelyn MacGregor, The Knightsbridge Chorus, The American Melody Orchestra under the direction of Victor Arden, violin soloist Raimo Bolognini, announcers Howard Claney and Ford Bond, and, from "The American Album of Familiar Music," tenor Donald Dame as guest artist.
Wednesday, December 24, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Bayer Aspirin & Lyon's Tooth Powder
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Music From America (The Telephone Hour): Christmas Eve Program
By any other name, the "Telephone Hour" presented a long-running Monday night showcase for concert music of all sorts -- with the emphasis here on holiday classics presented with the dignity and restraint which was long the hallmark of this series. In this special broadcast, mezzo soprano Mildred Miller joins Donald Voorhees and the Telephone Orchestra in presenting a cavalcade of traditional Christmas favorites and "Passing Parade" host John Nesbitt tells the story of the Nativity.
Original network broadcast Monday, December 24, 1956; AFRTS rebroadcast 1957 - 30:00 - AFRTS
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No School Today, with Big Jon & Sparky
The favorite Saturday morning playmates of a generation of postwar tots, Jon Arthur and his elfin alter ego celebrate Christmas with fun and music appealing to the kid in everyone. Taken from many different shows, this AFRTS compilation program was intended for broadcast on Tuesday, December 25, 1956 - 55:00 - AFRTS
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The Bing Crosby Show
When Christmas comes around you can never have enough Bing, so here's an interesting precursor to his familiar family Christmas specials of the 1960s and 1970s. The spotlight here is on Crosby's first family: wife Dixie Lee and their four sons, Gary, Philip, and the twins Dennis and Lindsay. The program also features John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra and announcer Ken Carpenter.
Wednesday, December 20, 1950 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes.

The Bob Hope Show: Special Pre-Christmas Show
An excellent specimen of late-radio-era Hope, here's a chance to hear Bob straying into Jack Benny territory, as he goes shopping for a present for wife Dolores and has an unforgettable encounter with the ever-corrosive Frank Nelson. The program also features vocalist Margaret Whiting, Sheldon Leonard, Jim Backus, announcer Bill Goodwin, and Les Brown and his Band of Renown.
Original network broadcast Thursday, December 23, 1954; AFRTS rebroadcast 1957 - 30:00 - AFRTS

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