June 16, 1930…The First Ever “Soap Opera” Debuts On WGN Radio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWH8Xo6FclU
“Clara, Lu ’n Em” is thought to be the first soap opera ever to appear on radio in the US. It started as a local Chicago evening show on WGN on June 16, 1930, and moved to NBC Blue Network on Jan. 27, 1931. (At the link above is a few minutes of a 1936 show).

On Feb. 15, 1932, NBC moved it moved to a midday slot at 10:15 AM, and this made it the first ever daytime network serial, and set the precedent of serials for women sponsored by soap companies.

Colgate-Palmolive’s, Super Suds, dishwashing soap, was the sponsor when it moved to daytime on NBC Blue, but Colgate-Palmolive had sponsored the local and network evening shows too with ads for their Chipso Flakes laundry detergent.

Procter and Gamble eventually became the biggest sponsor of soap operas, but Colgate-Palmolive is thought to be the first.

Speaking of firsts, “Clara, Lu ’n Em” also is thought to be the first network radio show to run a contest. You could send in two Super Suds 10 cent box tops, or one 20 cent top, and hope to win a new Packard automobile worth $1,000.

The show is also thought to be the first radio program written by, performed by and managed by an all female company.

“Clara, Lu ’n Em” was developed in 1925 as a skit by sorority sisters at Northwestern University, Louise Starkey, Isobel Carothers and Helen King. When the three couldn’t find jobs during the Depression they took the skit to WGN in 1930.

The show came to an end in 1936 when Isobel Carothers died from pneumonia at the age of 32. The others decided not to continue, though they revived it on CBS in 1942 with another former sorority sister, Harriet Allyn. It didn’t last long. Allyn went with the show into syndication with another Chicago radio personality, Fran Allison, but the 1945 effort didn’t thrive either. Hats off to “Clara, Lu ‘n Em”! Well done ladies! -Bobby Ellerbee

Source