The Fred Waring Show is an American old-time radio musical variety program. It was broadcast in a variety of time slots from February 8, 1933, until October 4, 1957, and was heard at different times on ABC, CBS, NBC, and the Blue Network. The program was sometimes called Chesterfield Time or Pleasure Time.

Musician Fred Waring starred in the shows, which featured his orchestra and chorus. An article in the trade publication Broadcasting described Waring's programs on radio (and later on television) as featuring "friendly banter with his crew, plus renditions of old-time favorite songs and ballads by the chorus and vocalists."

The program's producers through the years included Tom Bennett. Announcers included Paul Douglas and Bill Bivens.

Waring's programs were usually broadcast from the Shawnee Inn in Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania, a facility that he acquired and renamed, transforming the venue into the center of his musical activities.

Versions Waring's broadcasts were heard on the schedule shown in the table below. Beginning Date Ending Date Network Day Sponsor February 8, 1933 January 31, 1934 CBS Wednesday Old Gold cigarettes February 4, 1934 December 29, 1936 CBS various days Ford Motor Company January 17, 1936 December 25, 1936 Blue Friday Ford Motor Company October 8, 1938 March 4, 1939 NBC Saturday Bromo Quinine June 19, 1939 June 9, 1944 NBC weekdays Chesterfield cigarettes September 7, 1944 May 31, 1945 Blue Thursday -------- June 4, 1945 July 8, 1949 NBC weekdays (daytime) American Meat Company, Florida Citrus Growers June 18, 1946 September 24, 1946 NBC Tuesday Johnson's Wax June 24, 1947 September 30, 1947 NBC Tuesday Johnson's Wax June 7, 1948 September 29, 1948 NBC Mondays and Wednesdays (daytime) Johnson's Wax October 6, 1947 September 29, 1949 NBC Mondays (1947-1948) Thursdays (1948-1949) General Electric July 16, 1949 July 22, 1950 NBC Saturday Minnesota Canning Company October 1, 1956 March 15, 1957 ABC weekdays (daytime) -------- April 9, 1957 October 4, 1957 ABC weekdays -------- Source: On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio

Transcriptions for Ford In 1935, Ford Motor Company used transcriptions from Waring's CBS broadcasts to promote the new 1935 Ford V8 automobile. The World Broadcasting System produced three 15-minute transcriptions for distribution to 300 radio stations vial local Ford dealers.

Those transcriptions were key in establishing a musical artist's legal rights with regard to recordings of performances. In 1939, A United States District court in North Carolina granted Waring an injunction against using a transcription without his authorization. Waring had sued Richard Austin Dunlea, who owned radio station WMFD in Wilmington, North Carolina, after the station broadcast an excerpt from a transcription despite the station's not being designated for use of the transcription. Judge Isaac M. Meekins' ruling said, in part: "Complainant has a property right in his performance. Complainant by mental labor creates something which is the subject of sale ... It is his work, his property ..."

The ruling in North Carolina followed a similar decision in Pennsylvania, in which a state court said that radio station WDAS had to have Waring's permission to broadcast recordings that he had made.

References

External links

Logs Log of The Fred Waring Show from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs Log of The Fred Waring Show from Old Time Radio Researchers Group Log of Fred Waring and The Pennsylvanians from radioGOLDINdex Log of Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians from radioGOLDINdex Log of The Fred Waring Show from radioGOLDINdex

Streaming Episodes of The Fred Waring Show from Dumb.com Episodes of The Fred Waring Show from Old Time Radio Researchers Group Library Episodes of The Fred Waring Show from Zoot Radio