Adventures of Danny Marsdon

Dramatized social educational series (1948)

Danny Marsdon is a (fictional) crime reporter on a newspaper who gets a series of reportorial assignments on larger issues of the day. Calling these "Adventures" is somewhat of a stretch, but Danny's got a nose for a story, and these are big stories.

He gets some doozies like "What is a Canadian," "The Triangle of Plenty," "National Unity," "Education," "Citizenship," "World Trade," and "The Farmer. And when he's warmed up to the social beat, he tackles "Free Enterprise," and "Communism ," and even, yes, "Taxes." What Danny does with taxes in 13 minutes is really something. Danny has a researcher named Nellie McCoy, and when Nellie asks what a researcher is, Danny says, "Research, honey, is just another word for asking questions." Seems Danny crime beat bravura is not completely co-opted by social concern.

Fans of old radio who are interested in education on these issues could do worse then hear these sincere shows…an educational show of this type wasn't right for American commercial network radio. The US did some, but they are not as well documented or remembered as the mystery, drama, and soaps.

Probably the closest to this type of programming we have cataloged in American commercial radio are the historical shows such as Cavalcade of America, You Are There, Adventures in Research, The American Trail, and Ripley's One Minute Shorts. Of course, real history is to be found in The World War II Collection, and it tells of citizenship and national unity.

(Please note that many of the rare recordings in this collection may be of inferior sound quality.)