Herald and news., June 22, 1958, Page 40, Image 40

The
Man
Who
Came
to Breakfast
tj
cms
by Alfred Balk
When the depression made laughter at any hour difficult,
a young man in Chicago set out to make sleepy
radio listeners chuckle over their morning coffee. Few
sponsors or anyone else thought he could do it But
Don McNeill got laughs and listeners and sponsors on
long-term contracts. So many, in fact, that on Monday
the American Broadcasting Company will salute the silver
anniversary of Don McNeill's Breakfast Club the oldest
daytime show in broadcasting.
In that time, McNeill, 50, has hardly changed his recipe
of corn, droll Americana, and touches of plain-folk senti
ment and religious inspiration. Skits, interviews, music,
verse, gags, human interest Don and his cast use them
all and will do anything, if it's clean, for a laugh.
Paunchy, sad-eyed Sam Cowling, McNeill's chief heckler,
has been around for 20 years. He will dress in a nightshirt,
dive against a drum, sit on women's laps, or pretend to
shave with a hand mike. Almost every day, a highlight
of the show is a trumpet blare announcing "Fact and
Fiction from Sam's Almanac." Such as:
"Fifty per cent of the married people in Denver are
women." Or, "The distance from the head of a fox to its
tail is a fur piece."
Another veteran is Fran Allison (of Kukla, Fran, and
Ollie fame) who carries on as the homespun spinster, Aunt
Fanny. The largely daffy atmosphere of the Breakfast Club
Don conducts interview with
nimble inverted gymnast.
McNeill presents gifts from his many
listeners to Salvation Army colonel.
Portrait of the emcee as a young
man: Don made many smile in 1933.
it fs
Another veteran who has contributed to the perennial success of
the B 'akfast Club is Sam Cowling, who'll do anything for a gag.
McNeill with a side-kick of many a fun-provoking program
over the years Fran Allison in her role as Aunt Fanny.
draws about two million listeners each week-day morning.
Among them, in addition to the housewife in Davenport,
la., are Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, FBI
chief J. Edgar Hoover, and Texas oilman Glenn McCarthy.
This vast listening audience has made the program the
most valuable daytime property in radio, good for $5 mil
lion annually in advertising revenue.
Over the years McNeill and his show have put many per
formers on the road to stardom. Among them have been
Fibber McGee and Molly, Bill Thompson (Mr. Wimple),
the Merry Macs, the Songfellows, and Homer and Jethro.
Though the Breakfast Club preserves a high degree of
spontaneity, some of it is plotted in advance. The studio
audience turns in information cards, which are sifted for
odd occupations, strange requests, or other unusual items
by producer Cliff Peterson and writer Eddie McKean.
When McNeill arrives in Chicago's Loop from suburban
Winnetka, he selects several of the most promising cards,
and when the show is ready to go on the air, he knows
whom he'll call for interviews and has already mack up
a few gags about them.
The program has its serious moments, such as "Memory
Time," a two-minute segment of homay verse want in fey
a listener; or a "Sunshine Shower," in which McMoIll
suggests sending cards and leMtrs to varioa rant-hno
residents or hospital patients.
But the feature with the most impact probably ia th
"Moment of Silent Prayer." Begun as an inter-faith pryer
fConlinned on page 14)
4
Family Wrrklv. June 21. 1951