Arthur Godfrey Collection

Arthur Godfrey
(1903 – 1983)

Comedy/Amateur Talent Show (1945 - 72)

We all can agree that things are better said straight than garbling up the truth. Arthur Godfrey felt the same way. Arthur grew up in the early parts of the 20th century, where radio waves were the staging grounds for advertising companies to wage their "wars." It was probably Arthur's youth that help him look beyond the "war" and talk directly to people that these advertising companies where dehumanizing.

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Arthur Godfrey was born in the "School of Hard-Knocks," in New York City, in 1903. Not a very bright child, even all the way up to his death in 1983, Arthur learned all his "skills" on the hard streets of the Big Apple. In 1921, Godfrey joined the Navy and worked as a radio operator when on sea duty. It was at sea where he learned how to play his famous instruments that identified him throughout his career, the Ukulele and the Banjo. After his duty was up in the Navy, Arthur went off to live in Detroit, where he got a job selling cemetery lots. It was here that Arthur noticed that he was good at selling things (he must have been really good at selling lots if he could sell to a bunch of sad family members who were looking to bury their loved ones)!

After a brief stint as a cab driver, Arthur joined the service, AGAIN, but this time, in the Coast Guard. One day, when he and his fellow guardsmen were listening to a Radio amateur hour show on WFBR, Arthur said, 'I can do that!" After showing up at the radio station with his buddies, the manager of the show squeezed them into a time slot on the show. After their performance, the manager decided to keep them on for future shows. This served as a launching pad for Arthur's career.

In the 1930s, Arthur's popularity was growing exponentially. This method other announcers sold their sponsors' products, which was to appeal to a larger group instead of one singular "person," fueled his popularity. Godfrey was once quoted saying, "If there are more than two people in a room, they've got better things to do than listen to the radio." In doing so, Godfrey was viewed as the "guy next door." Coupled with his natural humor and informality, Godfrey landed his own show, "Arthur Godfrey Time."

Here, he would have regular talents, "non-stars" he would call them, come on to the show and showcase their talent for the audience. At the end of the show, the audience and Arthur would serve as the judges. If they liked any of the talents, they would ask them to come back to the next show and compete against the next influx of talent. If that same talent kept on winning, then they were invited to join the show's band, nicknamed the "Little Godfreys." It was from here that the McGuire Sisters and the Chordettes originated from.

After many successful seasons, the Network decided to build a mini-studio inside Arthur's 800-acre farm in upstate Virginia, mainly to convey a sense of reality to the audience. From here, Arthur would do his shows, while Arthur chatted with the rest of his cast who were stationed all over the country, usually doing so while eating his breakfast and reading the daily newspaper. This was the format of the show until its run was ended in 1972, by Arthur Godfrey himself.

For more talent scount excitement, see also: Major Bowes and Talent Show Collection.