Old time radio show series available at RUSC Old Time Radio
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A Wartime Variety Show broadcast mainly to the armed forces between 1942 and 1949. It was produced for the armed forces by the War Department for short wave transmission to troops serving in overseas theatres of war.
A surprising fact about this series is that all talent was donated, in other words no one received payment – not even the stars. This was even more remarkable when you see the list of stars who contributed to the entertainment. Stars of the silver screen like Charles Laughton, Red Skelton, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, to name but a few. Anybody who was anybody got in on this act and those guys serving away from home were glad of it.
When the war ended it was decided that it would still be necessary to carry on producing the show and it continued to be broadcast to the serving men and women of the United States Armed Forces right up to the end of 1949.
In all there were more than 400 shows broadcast, some of which were half hour broadcasts whilst others were as much as two hours.
RUSC Old Time Radio (or RU Sitting Comfortably to give the site its full title) is a web site specializing in the wonderful world of old time radio. It is run by a crazy guy (that's me) who has nothing better to do than listen to old radio shows all day. To find out more visit the web site at www.rusc.com. All the old time radio shows on RUSC are understood to be in the public domain. RUSC has been on the web since January 1999 and is run on a not-for-profit basis.