Aunt Mary (radio series)

Despite the name of its genre ("soap opera"), Aunt Mary, like some other daytime serials, apparently never was sponsored by a soap company. When it began, it was a sustaining program. On Feb. 19, 1945, Safeway Stores, Inc. took over sponsorship. By 1948, Albers Brothers Milling Company had become the sponsor. When the show spread to eastern regions of the United States, Hudson Pulp & Paper Corp. sponsored broadcasts in New York City, Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia beginning January 14, 1946. == Networks, schedule and distribution ==

Aunt Mary began on a small scale, carried "on 8 NBC California and Arizona stations (KFI, KMJ, KPO, KFSD, KTAR, KVOA, KGLU, KYZM) Monday-Friday, 10:30-10:45 a.m. (PWT)." By the program's first anniversary, "20 NBC Pacific stations" broadcast Aunt Mary in that same weekday afternoon time slot. Wider distribution was in the works, however. An article in Broadcasting in 1945 reported that the "show also will be released via transcriptions on a list of stations in eastern centers...". An item in the May 31 issue of Broadcasting that year noted: Release of more than 600 transcribed quarter-hour episodes of "Aunt Mary," daytime serial on NBC Western Network is slated by network's radio-recording division. Series, sponsored by Albers Div. of Carnation Co., and bought in January from C. & F. Productions Inc., will be available as an NBC syndicated program in the U.S. and Canada, except in the area served by the Western NBC stations. As late as March 1961 (17 years after the program's launch), Aunt Mary was still listed ("605 serials, five a week series") among the programs offered by R.C.A. Recorded Program Services, the syndication arm of NBC. Aunt Mary even had an international aspect. A story in the April 4, 1949, issue of Broadcasting reported that Aunt Mary "is also heard in Australia, where it is performed live by an Australian cast, using scripts sent from Hollywood." == Cast ==

In addition to Jane Morgan in the leading role, other cast members were as follows: Additional cast members, whose roles were not specified, were Tom Collins, Cy Kendall and Betty Gerson. == References ==