"Howdy, Evvabuddy"

The Eighth Street Theatre in Chicago was once a jinx theatre, but in the past seven years it has become a national institution. By last Saturday night, when as usual its 1,200 seats had been filled and emptied by two consecutive paying audiences, no fewer than 860,013 people had given 35 to 75-c- to get in and watch a freestyle, catch-as-catch-can radio show on a stage representing a hayloft. Station WLS's Barn Dance is a corny five-hour jamboree, radio's longest* and oldest in continuous operation, tops in Crossley ratings in its class. Last week this program, begun a week after Station WLS first took to the air and its mainstay ever since, celebrated its 16th birthday.

Not on hand for the celebration was the chief character of the Barn Dance, spry, crackly-voiced, cotton-chin-whiskered Uncle Ezra (dapper little Pat Barrett, 52), who greets the audience with "Howdy, evvabuddy," warms evvabuddy's heart with his cracker-barrel philosophy. Uncle Ezra was in Hollywood, to play in Bob Burns's forthcoming Comin' 'Round the Mountain. So Widow Winnie Whipple, whose ineffectual attempts to land Uncle Ezra furnish continuity of a sort for the program, exclaimed "Hollywood my left hind foot!" and wept that he should turn out to be "nothin' but a Gay Lombardo"--to which Master of Ceremonies Joe Kelly, to make sure everyone got it, rejoined: "You mean a gay Lothario, don't you?" And so on and so on, no chestnuts barred in a script whose humor formula runs like this: "I just bought a farm." "Where is it?" "Hawaii." "I'm fine, how are you? But where's this farm?" "Hawaii." "I'm fine, but where's this farm?"

The WLS Barn Dance goes on the air at 7 p.m. (C.S.T.), is sponsored in pieces of 15 minutes and more by Alka-Seltzer, Keystone Steel & Wire Co. (fences), Murphy Products Co. (poultry and livestock feeds), Woodmen Accident Co. (insurance), Edward Funk & Sons (hybrid seed corn).

Station WLS (standing for World's Largest Store) was launched in 1924 by Sears, Roebuck & Co. A bevy of guests sounded forth, among them Chicago's Mayor William E. Dever, Jane Addams, the Duncan Sisters. Actress Ethel Barrymore was led up to the mike and, affrighted, throbbed "Oh my God!," was then led away. Piped from Manhattan to Chicago were the congratulatory voices of Rudolph Valentino, Arthur Brisbane and Ring Lardner.

In 1928 WLS was sold to a giant (6 ft. 3 in., 235 Ib.) newspaperman, Burridge Davenal Butler, owner of The Prairie Farmer, oldest (99 years) of its kind in the U. S. Owner Butler made WLS a public servant in the Midwest. Most famed alumnus of WLS programs is Gene Autry, who once sang on the Barn Dance. So did Ruth Etting, at first for nothing and then for $5 a night. Tony Wons read poetry and streamlined Shakespeare for the station. Fibber McGee & Molly worked there before they adopted those names, as did Charles J. Correll and Freeman F. Gosden, now known as Amos 'n' Andy. For ten years the station has received more than 1,000,000 letters annually, a record.

Big B. D. Butler was not in Chicago for WLS's anniversary shindigs during the past fortnight. He has bought Station KOY in Phoenix, Ariz, and another agricultural paper, the Arizona Farmer, and at 72 tinkers happily with these properties.

*Barring record programs.

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