Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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HEAVENLY DAYS FOR THE JORDANS Cool Organdy for Midsummer Dance Marion and Jim—Tibber McGee and Molly’ to You—Hit the Top in Radio After Years of Labor, Love and Laughter. / By WILLIAM C. UTLEY CCYTTHY don’t you forget VV about that guy Jordan?” a suitor asked Marion Driscoll, about 18 years ago. “He’ll never amount to anything. If you marry him, you’ll be living out of a suitcase all your life.” That settled it. For there was nothing Marion Driscoll would rath er have done for the rest of her life than live out of a suitcase—with her Jim. It was a good thing for you and me, too. If this swell romance hadn’t blossomed into happy and lasting marriage, we would have had to do without two of the most good-humored and welcome visitors who “call” at our homes—Fibber McGee and Molly. Marion and Jim Jordan "lived out of a suitcase" and worked like the dickens for a good many years be fore, as Fibber and Molly, they be came one of the five or six top- ranking radio teams. In the rural areas and small communities they rank first. "We’ve got a bigger audience than even Jack Benny has," is the way Jim puts it. Fibber Born on Farm. No wonder, either. They’ve al ways been "small town folks," even though they’ve lived in Chicago for a long time. Like Fibber and Mol ly, the Jordans themselves are as genuine as the eggs in a home-made cake. One indication is sufficient: During the leaner years when they sometimes worked for $35 a week, the Jordans and their two children —Katherine, seventeen, and Jim, Jr., thirteen—lived in an unpreten tious residential district on Chi- fcago’s northwest side, where they had a lot of friendly neighbors, plain, ordinary folks like them selves. When they suddenly found themselves in the "big money" class at last, did they buy a fine man sion on the Gold Coast, with more servants than closets? TH&y did not. They built a little seven-room house right in their old neighbor hood; it was HOME to them, and that was important. Fibber (or Jim, if you prefer) was born on a farm near Peoria, ELI., and worked on it until he was twelve; he had seven brothers and sisters to help him out. Marion was a Peoria girl, the youngest save one of a family of 13. Now there hardly lives a gal who doesn’t like to look into a mirror once in a while, and Marion was no exception. At sixteen she was a very pretty girl and had a voice good enough to land her-in the church choir. It was at choir prac tice one day that she caught her self sneaking a peek into the glass above the piano. And when she Fibber McGee . . . and Molly. for the one hundred twenty-second engineers, but sickness prevented his seeing service, and he was in a hospital when the Armistice was signed. Meanwhile, was Marion, back home in Peoria, merely twid dling her thumbs, awaiting his re turn? "Heavenly days I" says she. "I was that busy teaching piano to 50 pupils, some good and some bad, I didn’t have a moment to myself!” They decided to get out of the show business when Jim came back, but it was no go. Jim wasn’t very successful finding steady work and, with his brothers-in-law con stantly taunting, "When are you go ing to get a job?" he soon found himself behind the footlights again. He and Marion had real success with their concert company, and no one complained that he was shift less any more. An Agent Gets Fired. Billed as a 15-piece ensemble, the company was literally that—a 15 piece affair—but there were only six people in it; some of them played several instruments. This led to complications. An advance man preceded them on tour and arranged for their billing. When they arrived they usually met a stage crowded with 15 chairs and a manager stirred With indignation at finding only six musicians. At this point Jim would become highly incensed at the au dacity of his agent in permitting so gross a misrepresentation. Loudly and righteously, in the sight of all concerned, he would discharge the agent. Marion and Jim estimate that this hardy soul was "fired" in such a manner twice a week for four years. There followed more success, this time as a harmony team in vaude ville. Then the night which was to open up new and miraculous vistas to them. They were playing cards with friends in Chicago in 1924. An old Marion says these candid camera shots of Jim and her are typical of a Jordan day at home. saw a slim youth of seventeen look ing over her shoulder her heart beat like a studio gong; she decided right there that Jim Jordan (for that’s who it was) was the man for her. It must have been a two-way mir ror, for Jim Jordan decided the same thing. Jim sang with a quartet which was rehearsing with the choir. They had their first date on New Year’s eve. Marion can’t suppress a little giggle whenever she thinks of it. They Still Tease. "His mother went along with us, and took him home afterward!" she laughs. Even after 20-odd years this charge, still makes him hot un der the collar. "Oh, here now," he objects. "Cut that out!" Then, with a grin: "Anyway, didn’t you always bring your big brother along on our dates after that?" For three years they courted be fore they were married, and for 19 years since. Before their marriage, Jim toured in vaudeville with a musical act called, "A Night With the Poets." He sang on the Chau tauqua circuits, and later started a concert company that toured the tank towns, an experience which may have developed some of the "tank town tourist" flavor which characterizes the McGee and Molly skits. Shortly after their marriage Jim left for France as a replacement battery radio set was blatting away. Conversation was all but impos sible as what might or might not have been a harmony team strug gled with the notes in the upper ranges. Jim Wins a Bet. Jim stood it as long as he could. Then: "Dad rat it!" he cried. "We can do better than that!" His host was a doubting Thomas with a bit of sporting blood and bet Jim they couldn’t. So the next day found them seeking an audition at the sta tion to which they had been listen ing—old WIBO, "the top of the dial," in Chicago. They clicked immediately, and soon made their debut in a com mercial program on the ether waves as the O’Henry twins—at $10 a broadcast! They collected the $10 they had bet, too. Those were the days before any body got fat eating on a radio star’s salary. Marion and Jim for eight months broadcasted two hours a day for $35 a week. They were known under dozens of different names, and it is a tribute to their amazing versatility that they did not run out of things to do. They sang songs, acted out little skits, dialogs and monologs, and Marion played the celeste. But vaudeville still offered more money, and reluctantly they left the microphone for another year in the theaters. Then when WENR went on the air they returned, never to leave. The character of Fibber Mc Gee may be traced by veteran lis teners to that of an old man named Luke in one of their early broad casts. Molly is much the same character as Mrs. Smith in their old skit, "The Smith Family." They had another program called the "Smackouts," which they intend to bring back to radio some day. All this time it might be supposed that the national networks were overlooking them; in fact it has often been reported that they never had a chance at the networks until Fibber and Molly came to life. Nothing could be further from the truth, Jim insists. They simply made so much money off local broadcasts plus theater appear ances that they avoided the net works. When NBC bought WENR they went to WMAQ, where they could remain a local team, but when NBC bought WMAQ, as well, Jim had to hit the national hookup as "Mr. Twister." Marion Has Many Tongues. The first Fibber McGee and Molly broadcasts was in March, 1935. The "show" was a "natural" from the start. That it has remained so, in fact has never ceased to add to its popularity, testifies to Jim Jordan’s showmanship. The sponsor wanted to base the show on Fibber’s "fish stories" and outlandish lies, but Jim saw that the listeners would soon tire of them and refused. Instead we hear this quaint Irish couple, genuine, witty, and at all times sympathetic, surrounded by some of the funniest characters radio ever has known. Fans have learned to love and laugh at the little girl whose tiny voice can ask the most embarrassing questions on earth; Geraldine, the tittering bride; Grandma, the old lady with the chorus girl philosophy; Mrs. Weary- bottom, who always seems as if she will surely run down like an old- time phonograph before she finishes a sentence, but never does, quite; and Molly, herself, an able foil for the cocky McGee. All of these and more are played by Marion herself! Horatio K. Boomer, the small time big shot; the raspy Russian, who says “Hallo, Petrushka! Hal lo, Tovarich!’’; the Scotchman, and other dialect characters, are played by young Bill Thompson, whom Jim discovered. Silly Watson, the po litely uproarious blackface come dian, is Hugh Studebaker, who nev er acted at all until he got into radio—he was a pipe organist. Studebaker also has a show of his own, "Bachelor’s Children." Harpo, the announcer who loves to "spoil" Fibber’s favorite jokes by “sneaking in" a commercial announcement, is Harlow Wilcox, who is Harold Isbell in real life. Fibber, of course, is Jim Jordan. Coin Many ’Catch Phrases.’ You’ll find no "mother-in-law" jokes on the Fibber McGee and Molly program. " ’Taint funny, McGee!" Molly said, and that was that. And you’ll never hear any thing on the program that you wouldn’t want your children to hear; Marion and Jim have children of their own. Don Quinn, who has written the Jordan scripts for seven years, has taken a lesson from the honest-to-goodness romance that has followed the pair throughout their married life. You will never hear any serious arguments be tween Fibber and Molly; it’s very apparent that they love each other, and you love them for it. Seldom hafc any troupe in the show business coined so many catch phrases that have become by-words throughout the nation. Among all classes of people today you may hear repeated almost any time Mol ly’s “Heavenly days, McGee!” and " ’Tain’t funny, McGee!"; Fibber’s "Dad rat it!"; the little girl’s "I betcha!" and Grandma’s "Hi, Skip- py!" They’re riding on top of the world right now, the Jordans. But would they quit if they could? "Just give me a chance,” says Jim. "Boy, I’d like to go right back where I start ed. I’d like to live on a little farm by a lake and take life easy." "Heavenly days!" says Marion. "You bet," Jim replies. © Western Newspaper Union. 'Way Back When By JEANNE MOTOR EXECUTIVE WAS A DAY LABORER \\TILLIAM S. KNUDSEN, vice ▼V president of General Motors, hardly gave promise to the casual observer of being executive mate rial 30 year - ago. Born in Den mark in 1880, he came to the Unitp ed States at the age of twenty, with $30 in his pocket. His first job was as a reamer and riveter in a New York shipyard, and later he worked in the railroad shops at Salamanca, N. Y., repairing locomotive boilers. Knudsen had worked in a bicycle plant in Denmark, and he finally obtained a job as a bench hand in a similar factory in Buffalo, N. Y. The result’ In five years, Knud sen was manager of the bicycle factory, the Keim mills which Hen ry Ford bought in 1911. During the next ten years, he vorked closely with Ford in the development of mess production of automobiles. In 1921, he joined General Motors, where he steadily advanced to his present position as one of the most prominent men in the whole auto mobile industry. There is so much in liking the work you do that, even if offered more money at something 1 did not like, l think ( would stick with the thing that appealed to me more. And I would be thinking of my own success in doing that. For, when we are working on things we like, we can put in more extra hours, we take more extra pains, ro can do a better job. Doing the things we like, we tire lest easily. We are inspired toward finding better ways, and we are able to contribute so much more than we may be actually paid for at the moment that advancement cannot fail to be rapid. • a • FLIVVER KING WAS A SIMPLE MECHANIC T IME is so short, so swift in pass ing, we should never be at loss for how ‘o use it. The question should not be "How can 1 kill this evening?" but rather "Do I need to take this valuable time for fun, or is there something important I can do with it?" Consider the life of Henry Ford. He was born on a farm near Dear born, Mich., in 1863. Th3 oldest of five children, Henry helped his fa ther with the plowing, shucked corn, mowed hay, cut grain, dug pota toes, and milked cows. Time nev er hung heavily on his hands. Me chanically inclined, he rigged up a small machine shop on the fftrm and repaired watches at night for the village jeweler. After finishing the local public schools, the farmer boy left for the city to seek his for tune In Detroit, he obtaineu a job as a mechanic’s apprentice and the fortune he received was $2.50 po week. When he was twenty-four he returned to the farm and ran a sawmill, experimenting in his spare time with a steam car. There was never a question in his mind about what to do with time. His father was not in sympathy with Henry Ford’s experiments, so he again went to Detroit, and worked for a pov’er and light com pany at an engineer on the night shift. During the seven years that he was there he became general manager; and night after night, at home, he worked far into the morn ing hours in developing a gasoline motor car. Success came from his experiments at last, and in order to popularize the new vehicle, Hen ry Ford built racing cars and drove them himself in race after race. You know where Henry Ford stands today. His life is the story of time well used. It is an example worth re membering the next time you are wondering "how to kill time." (£)—WNU Service, r\ URING midsummer moments when a high-registering ther mometer gives promise that torrid weather has decided to prolong its stay even to the point of trespassing on the rights of autumn then is it that dainty cool lingerie frocks swing into the spotlight in all their glory. Especially this season the craze seems not to have abated for frocks of simple, inexpensive, yet fine and lovely wash materials. The young er set adore the pretty dimities, or gandies, dotted swisses for their party frocks and when they go away to school this fall many a college- faring girl will slip one,or two of her summery wash frocks into her wardrobe trunk knowing full well that she will get any amount of wear out of them ere the cool fall days come upon us. If you have never tried shadow print organdie fof your midsummer- night party frock, do it now! You can get this lovely material in pas tels or white and it makes up beau tifully, and best of all it costs such a trifle compared with luxury-type weaves, while it "looks a million." The charming gown on the seated figure is made of white shadow print organdie and we venture to say when this gown dances hither and thither on the ballroom floor or under the stars at the country club it will be voted among the prettiest. The fact that it is picturesquely and fashionably full- skirted makes it all the more en chanting. The corsage of flowers in realistic coloring is in gay contrast thus adding another beguiling note. Some there are wly> prefer stat uesque slenderizing lines rather than bouffancy. The princess gown to the left will By CHERIE NICHOLAS As if the new sheer woolens for fall were not attractive enough in themselves designers are making them even more so in the clever way they are manipulating them via elaborate shirrings, tuckings, stitchings, bandings and other in triguing workings. Sheerest navy wool makes this graceful costume. Its full cut jacket is fascinatingly shirred and banded. The frock itself, which is a slim one-piece, is also beautified with shirred bodice and slenderly fashioned skirt. tune to the liking of those who prefer the slim and tall silhouette. There is an exquisiteness expressed which reflects the new trend toward meticulous detail such as fine hand- tucking and myriads of wee self material covered buttons such as fasten this princess all the way down the front. Here is really a very charming way to make up organdie if you like to be outstand ing in distinctive dress. It is not only that delightsome lingerie materials are favored for party frocks but the tendency all the way through the season is to wear dainty frilly blouses in the daytime of exquisitely fine cotton sheers, also prettily feminine neck wear and beguiling accessories— jabots, ruffled halter fronts and oth er such flattering items. With the approach 6f fall, tailored suits are coming out in full force and the fad of the moment is to wear with them the frilliest fluttery blouses that fancy might picture. Fine hand work is lavished on the high-quality types. For these handmade blouses sheer est of fine white organdie or daintiest batiste or filmy handkerchief linen are first in favor. Popular too and heartily to be recommended are the attractive allover embroidered or gandies that are definitely practical and pretty for the making of the blouse to be worn with one’s jack- et-and-skirt tailleur. It should by all means have a sprightly frill fashioned after the manner of the model pictured in the inset to the right. Trimmed with lace edging, as is this blouse, makes the effect all the more daintily feminine and alluring. TIGHT SLEEVES ON FROCKS FALL STYLE While the designers are draping blouses, lowering waistlines and straightening out the hemlines of skirts they also are cutting out the fullness of sleeves. Advance autumn fashions which forecast the coming season’s mode have sleeves that are straight and tight. Absence of shoulder pleats is especially note* worthy and if any fullness does ap-, pear it is in the form of a draper# on the forearm. Sleek satins are the fabrics which show off the new straight sleeves and slender skirts to best advance so the shiny fabrics are the first to show the changes of fashion. Look for them not only of peren nial black but flaunting such colors as bright blue and purple. Dressmaker Details That Class as Important News The continued importance of em broidery is noted. Gold embroi dery on black is much employed; also fanciful effects on the new silk frocks. Much favor is ex pressed for appliqued felt motifs on black silk crepe day dresses. Dressmakers are making use of any amount of shirring and tuck ing and they delight in scalloped and sawtooth hemlines, thus trim ming the dark silk sheers and crepes effectively. The skirts of the newest silk print frocks are frequently pleated or vertically tucked all around. Lace-Trimmed Lingerie Black lace as a trimming on lin gerie is a prominent note in the summer season’s offerings. It is contrasted with pastel shades, par ticularly Lldes, greens and yellows, and sometimes worn with all-black. © Western Newspaper Union. SHIRRED JACKET