Fibber McGee and Molly

Fibber McGee and Molly is an American radio program from the Golden Age of radio, and one of the longest-running sitcoms on radio. The series premiered on NBC Radio on April 16, 1935, and remained popular until its demise in 1959, long after radio had ceased to be the dominant form of entertainment in American popular culture.

The show's stars were James "Jim" Jordan (November 16, 1896 – April 1, 1988) and his wife Marian Driscoll (April 15, 1898 – April 7, 1961), both of whom were natives of Peoria, Illinois.
Jordan was the seventh of eight children born to James Edward Jordan and Maria (née Tighe) Jordan, while Driscoll was the seventh and last child born to Daniel P. and Anna (née Carroll) Driscoll. The son of a farmer, Jim, wanted to be a singer; Marian, the daughter of a coal miner, wanted to be a music teacher. They both attended the same Catholic Church, where they joined in choir practice. Marian's parents had tried to discourage her from any aspirations of becoming a professional actress or singer. When she began seeing young Jim Jordan, the Driscolls were far from approving of Jim and his ideas. Jim's voice teacher gave him a recommendation to work as a professional in Chicago, and he followed. He was able to hold steady work, but soon grew tired of life on the road. In less than a year, Jim returned to Peoria and went to work for the Post Office. His profession was now acceptable to Marian's parents, and they ceased to oppose the couple's marriage plans. The couple married in Peoria, Illinois on August 31, 1918.

Five days after the wedding, Jim received his draft communication. He was sent to France and became part of a military troupe that entertained the armed forces after World War I. When Jim came home from France, he and Marian decided to try their hand at vaudeville. They had two children, Kathryn Teresa Jordan (1920–2007) and James Carroll Jordan (1923–1998), both born in Peoria. Marian returned home for Kathryn's birth, but returned to performing with Jim, leaving her daughter with Jim's parents. After Jim Jr. was born in 1923, Marian stayed with the children for a time while Jim performed as a solo act. Marian and the children joined him on the road for a short time, but the couple had to admit defeat when they found themselves in Lincoln, Illinois in 1923, with two small children and a lack of funds. The couple's parents had to send money for their return to Peoria. Jim went to work at a local store, but still felt the lure of being in show business. He and Marian re-entered vaudeville.
While visiting with Jim's brother in Chicago in 1924, the family was listening to the radio; Jim said that he and Marian could do better than the musical act currently on the air. Jim's brother bet him $10 that they couldn't. To win the bet, Jim and Marian went to WIBO,6​ where they were immediately put on the air. At the end of the performance, the station offered the couple a contract for a weekly program that paid $10 per week. The show's sponsor was the manufacturer of Oh Henry! candy and they appeared for six months on The Oh Henry! Twins Program, switching to radio station WENR in 1927.

Fibber McGee and Molly originated when the couple entered their third year as vaudeville performers on radio in Chicago. Two of the shows they performed on for WENR beginning in 1927, both written by Harry Lawrence, bore traces of what was to come and now rank as early forms of situation comedy. On their farm report show Luke and Mirandy, Jim played a farmer who told tales and lies for comic effect. On a weekly sitcom, The Smith Family, the character of Marian was an Irish wife of an American police officer. These characterizations, like the Jordans' shift from singer/musicians to comic actors, pointed toward their future; It was here that Marian developed and perfected the radio character "Teeny." It was also at WENR that the Jordans teamed up with Donald Quinn, a cartoonist then working in radio, and the pair hired him as their writer in 1931. They considered Quinn's contribution to be so important and brought him on as a full partner, the salary of Smackout and Fibber McGee and Molly being split between the Jordans and Quinn.

While working on WENR's farm report, Jim Jordan heard a true story about a Missouri merchant whose store was stocked with valuables; however, he claimed to be "smack out" of anything the customer asked for. The story reached the halls of nearby Columbia College Chicago, and students began visiting the store, which they called "Smackout," to hear the incredible stories of its owner.

For Chicago's WMAQ, beginning in April 1931, the trio created Smackout, a daily 15-minute program that centered on a convenience store and its owner, Luke Grey (Jim Jordan), a shopkeeper with a penchant for tall tales and a perpetual shortage of everything his customers wanted: He always seemed "just out of it." Marian Jordan played both a woman named Marian and a little girl named Teeny, as well as playing the musical accompaniment on the piano. During the show's run, Marian Jordan voiced a total of 69 different characters on it. Smackout was picked up by NBC in April 1933 and broadcast nationally until August 1935.

A member of the S. C. Johnson & Son ownership firm, Henrietta Johnson Lewis, married to the advertising executive who handled the Johnson's Wax account, recommended that her husband, John, should give the show a chance as a national program for the company. Part of the terms of the agreement between the Jordans and Johnson's Wax gave the company ownership of the names Fibber McGee and Molly.

When it seemed to the couple that they were financially successful, they built a house in Chicago, which was a replica of their rented house, to complete construction on the lot next door. For their move to the West Coast in 1939, the Jordans selected an inconspicuous home in Encino. Some of Jim Jordan's investments included the Hires Root Beer bottling plant in Kansas City.