BW - EP157—001: Thanksgiving 1944—Mail Call With Groucho Marx And Lionel Barrymore

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

Support Breaking Walls at https://www.patreon.com/thewallbreakers Mail Call began airing on August 11th, 1942 over the Armed Forces Radio Service to entertain troops with songs, skits, and questions (via the mail) answered by celebrities in order to boost the morale of soldiers stationed far from their homes In 1944 Lt. Col. Thomas A.H. Lewis, commander of the Armed Forces Radio Service, wrote that "The initial production of the Armed Forces Radio Service was 'Mail Call,' a morale-building half hour which brought famed performers to the microphone to sing and gag in the best American manner." Lewis added, "To a fellow who has spent months guarding an outpost in the South Seas, Iceland or Africa a cheery greeting from a favorite comedian, a song hit direct from Broadway, or the beating rhythm of a hot band, mean a tie with the home to which he hopes soon to return.” The show was produced from AFRS’s California headquarters at 6011 Santa Monica Boulevard. On Thanksgiving Day in 1944, the program’s guests were Groucho Marx and Lionel Barrymore.