One Man's Family

One Man's Family is an American radio soap opera, heard for almost three decades, from 1932 to 1959. Created by Carlton E. Morse, it was the longest-running uninterrupted dramatic serial in the history of American radio. Television versions of the series aired in prime time from 1949 to 1952 and in daytime from 1954 to 1955.

Radio
One Man's Family debuted as a radio series on April 29, 1932 in Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco, moving to the full West Coast NBC network the following month, sponsored by Snowdrift and Wesson Oil. On May 17, 1933, it expanded to the full coast-to-coast NBC network as the first West Coast show heard regularly on the East Coast. The show was broadcast as a weekly half-hour series (1933-1950) [sustained by Standard Brands from 1935 through 1949], then shifted to daily 15-minute installments, initially originating from the studios of San Francisco radio station KPO, NBC's flagship station for the West Coast, eventually moving to Los Angeles.

Characters and story
The series employed a literary device with episodes divided into books and chapters. Spanning 27 years, the program presented 136 books with 3,256 chapters. Storylines were set in the Sea Cliff area of San Francisco, California, an area familiar to San Franciscan Carlton E. Morse. The radio plotline centered on stockbroker Henry Barbour, his wife Fanny and their five children (chronologically: Paul, Hazel, the twins Clifford and Claudia, and Jack). The dialogue included many specific references to San Francisco, including the Golden Gate Bridge, which the Barbours could see from their rear living room window or their garden wall.

After 3,256 episodes, the radio series ceased production on April 24, 1959 (several sources give the date of May 8, 1959). One Man's Family was the longest-running serial drama in American radio broadcasting, edging out Ma Perkins (although Ma Perkins produced over twice as many episodes). Organist Paul Carson, who played the background music and the opening theme, "Destiny Waltz" (1932–41), composed the show's later theme, "Waltz Patrice" (aka "Patricia"). Among its other trademarks, episodes were introduced as if they were chapters from books.

Overseas
Two Australian versions of One Man's Family were broadcast in Australia in the late 1930s/early 1940s; in Sydney on 2CH and in Melbourne on 3XY. 3XY opened in 1935 and was originally a very low rating station, until the great popularity of One Man's Family changed its fortunes. The Melbourne version featured 3XY announcer Carl Bleazby (who later featured in the Australian Broadcasting Commission's popular TV series, Bellbird). By 1939, Doreen McKay was portraying Claudia in an Australian version.

Television


One Man's Family had the rare distinction of airing both in prime time and daytime television. The first TV version (November 4, 1949 - June 21, 1952) ran in prime time once a week for a half-hour and reverted the stories back to the 1932 storylines. Hazel was a 28-year-old who yearned for marriage, Cliff and Claudia were students at Stanford University, and Jack was ten years old. The prime time version focused on Fanny's attempts to mediate between her old-world husband and her independent-minded children.

In 1965, General Foods offered to sponsor another version of One Man's Family on NBC, but NBC passed and picked up Days of Our Lives instead.

Listen to

 * RadioLovers: One Man's Family (two episodes)