The Dinah Shore Show Radio Program

Background

Chevrolet was no newcomer to Radio. Chevrolet had been sponsoring several variety program over Radio as early as 1932, beginning with its Big Six of the Air program.

Some of Chevrolet's more successful programs during the Golden Age of Radio follow:

• 1932 Big Six of The Air
• 1932 Presenting Al Jolson
• 1933 The Chevrolet Program with Jack Benny
• 1934 The Jack Benny Program
• 1935 Gang Busters
• 1935-1937 The Rubinoff Orchestra
• 1937 Romantic Rhythms
• 1953-1955 The Dinah Shore Show
• 1957 Chevrolet Spotlights in The News

By no means comprehensive, the list above nonetheless illustrates both Chevrolet's earliest and latest involvement in Radio spanning the entire Golden Age of Radio era. Chevrolet also funded a long-running series of highly entertaining and informative promotional shorts--Chevrolet Leader News--produced and directed by legendary Ad Man and short film producer Jam Handy. In fact many of the hundreds of Jam Handy shorts produced for Chevrolet between 1935 and 1961 featured Radio Broadcasting, Technology, and History.

Volume 1, No. 1 of the Jam Handy-produced Chevrolet Leader News from 1935. Watch it here or play or download it here

Here's an example of one of Chevrolet's informative shorts on Radio from 1937:

The Jam Handy-produced 'On the Air' from 1937. Watch it here or play or download it here

Needless to say, given the extraordinary output--and popularity--of Chevrolet's Jam Handy short features, Chevrolet had little incentive to continue to sponsor Radio features between about 1937 and the 1950s. But with the rise of Television, Chevrolet reentered both Radio and Television with Dinah Shore and their "See the U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet" promotions of 1949 through the late 1950s. Interestingly enough, it was Peter Lind Hayes and his wife Mary Healy that wrote "See the U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet" in 1949. Peter Lind Hayes had been Dinah Shore's 'second banana' over both Radio and Television. Chevrolet's relationship with Dinah Shore ultimately lasted over fifteen years on and off.

Chevrolet celebrated its extraordinarily successful collaboration with Dinah Shore in this Jam Handy short from 1953:

The Jam Handy-produced 'A Great New Star' from 1953. Watch it here or play or download it here

There's no question that the collaboration between Dinah Shore and Chevrolet was a highly influential--and profitable--one for all parties. Chevrolet had introduced its ground-breaking American sportscar, the Corvette, in 1953. Then it rolled out its most successful engine, the 265 cubic inch Turbo-Fire V8 in 1954. That same basic engine design has been employed by Chevrolet in one form or another to this day--one of the greatest success stories in American automotive history.

Dinah Shore returns to Radio after Television and Film triumphs

Between 1938 and 1953 Dinah Shore had exploded onto the music scene quickly becoming one of the most popular singers in North America. Beginning with weekly appearances over independent New York station WNEW in 1938, Dinah Shore soon appeared with Paul Whiteman, Paul Lavalle and entertainment industry legend Eddie Cantor. It was Eddie Cantor that aggressively promoted Dinah Shore over his It's Time to Smile program. By 1941 Dinah Shore began appearing in a long-running series of popular Radio programs of her own:

• 1941 Songs By Dinah Shore for Bristol Myers' Sal Hepatica and Minit-Rub
• 1942 In Person: Dinah Shore for Bristol Myers' Mum Deodorant
• 1943 The Dinah Shore Program for Birds Eye Frosted Foods
• 1944 Birds Eye Open House Starring Dinah Shore
• 1946 The Ford Show for Ford Motor Corporation
• 1948 Call For Music for Philip Morris
• 1950 The Oxydol Show
• 1953 The Dinah Shore Show for Chevrolet

Over that same period, Dinah Shore was repeatedly voted America's most popular female singer. As she became more comfortable leading her own programs her poise, timing and extemporaneous delivery skills improved with each new feature program. As noted above, Dinah Shore's fifth solo outing over Radio was for the Ford Motor Company and The Ford Show (1946). But it was with Ford's arch rival Chevrolet that Dinah Shore established one of the era's longest-running on-air relationships--and one of the era's most successful.

NBC and Dinah Shore sing to the U.S.A. for Chevrolet

When The Jack Benny Program premiered over CBS-Television in October of 1950, it was Dinah Shore that was one of Benny's featured guest stars. Dinah Shore appeared in another twenty guest appearances on Television between 1949 and 1952 before getting her own Television program for Chevrolet in 1951, The Dinah Shore Show. The Dinah Shore Show premiered on NBC on Tuesday, December 11th 1951 in a fifteen-minute, twice weekly evening format (Tuesday and Thursdays at supper time).

An almost instant sensation, the series ran over Television for the next three years in the same timeslot. Here's a John Crosby review of The Dinah Shore Show from the December 26th 1951 edition of the Marion Daily Star:

In a rare move for networks of the era, NBC took The Dinah Shore Show to Radio for Chevrolet on March 23rd 1953, almost fifteen months after the premiere of her NBC-Television program of the same name. Similar to the format of the NBC-Television series, The Dinah Shore Show over NBC-Radio aired in a fifteen-minute format, twice weekly; first on Mondays and Fridays then on Tuesdays and Fridays and ultimately on Wednesdays and Fridays. Thus, Dinah Shore's most ardent fans could get an hour of Dinah Shore every week in fifteen-minute segments over both Radio and Television.

The Dinah Shore Show over NBC-Radio was a somewhat more relaxed format as compared to Miss Dinah's Television program. Written by legendary Choral Director and organist Bob Mitchell, Dinah Shore was supported by multitalented Frank De Vol and his orchestra and Dinah's personal arranger Ticker Freeman. The Radio series was produced and directed by Dick Mack and, as in the Television program, Art Baker was her announcer and Chevrolet spokesman.

Produced and recorded in Hollywood, The Dinah Shore Show broadcast portions of several productions from New York City where Dinah Shore enjoyed a triumphal engagement at the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel for five weeks. The Dinah Shore Show's first season was populated with several noteworthy guest stars. As the series progressed the guest stars for the Radio rendition of The Dinah Shore Show began to wane. That trade off resulted in increasing utilization of multi-talented Frank De Vol with expanded patter, skits, and reminscences with Dinah. That formula was aided by Dinah Shore's increasing comfort with impromptu patter before the mike. And of course Dinah Shore continued to sing between five and seven of the popular songs of the era.

One might reasonably assume that the Radio rendition of The Dinah Shore Show would have attracted far less of an audience during the mid-1950s. But clearly the solid formula, format and popularity of Dinah Shore throughout the era kept the audiences, sponsor, and cast of The Dinah Shore Show very happy indeed. Dinah Shore's last solo outing over Radio may have been a bit more humble than her previous star-studded productions, but it was her longest running and most successful series over Radio; even more remarkable for acheiving that success during the growing dominance of Television.

Series Derivatives:

Notes on Provenances:

The most helpful provenances were the log of the RadioGOLDINdex and newspaper listings.

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