On This Day, August 23: The Whistler and Pearl S. Buck
Also featured: Ma Perkins.
August 23 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 23 across American network broadcasting history (1943–1953):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Ma Counsels Fay in Rushville (Oxydol Soap Powder)" | CBS (WCBS) 1949-08-23 1:15 PM EDT |
Procter & Gamble Oxydol Soap Powder |
Virginia Payne (Ma Perkins), Charles Egelston, Rita Ascot (Fay) | Orin Tovrov (Writer), Dan Donaldson (Announcer) | ["Soap Opera", "Drama", "Family", "Small Town"] |
Rushville lumber yard owner Ma Perkins offers compassionate motherly counsel to daughter Fay when a financial dispute threatens her marriage, while Shuffle Shober discovers discrepancies in the yard's ledger. |
| "Shuffle Investigates Sylvester's Real Estate Scheme (Oxydol)" | CBS (WCBS) 1950-08-23 1:15 PM EDT |
Procter & Gamble Oxydol Soap Powder |
Virginia Payne (Ma Perkins), Charles Egelston, Murray Forbes | Orin Tovrov (Writer), Philip Bowman (Director) | ["Soap Opera", "Drama", "Family", "Small Town"] |
Shuffle Shober warns Ma Perkins about Sylvester's questionable real estate speculation scheme, prompting Ma to investigate the background of the out-of-town promoter targeting Rushville residents' life savings. |
| "Guess Who: Peter Donald with the Mystery Voice of John Barrymore (Sheffield Milk)" | WOR / Mutual 1947-08-23 9:00 PM EDT |
Sheffield Farms Sheffield Milk & Dairy |
Peter Donald (Host / Quizmaster), archival John Barrymore | Roger White (Producer), Carl Warren (Announcer) | ["Game Show", "Quiz", "Comedy", "Historical"] |
Quizmaster Peter Donald challenges home listeners and studio contestants to identify famous celebrity voices from historical archival recordings, leading off with a rare phonograph transcription of Shakespearean actor John Barrymore. |
| "Pearl S. Buck's The Big Wave (Starring Macdonald Carey — Bromo-Seltzer)" | CBS (KNX) 1951-08-23 8:00 PM EDT |
Emerson Drug Co. Bromo-Seltzer |
Macdonald Carey (Starring), Lurene Tuttle, Herb Vigran | Pearl S. Buck (Author), Jack Johnstone (Director) | ["Drama", "Anthology", "Action", "Adventure"] |
Macdonald Carey stars in an adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's The Big Wave, dramatizing the courage and spiritual resilience of Japanese coastal fishermen and their sons rebuilding their lives after a catastrophic tidal wave reviews away their seaside village. |
| "The Case of the Counterfeit War Stamps (Tootsie Rolls)" | Blue Network 1943-08-23 5:00 PM EWT |
Sweets Co. of America Tootsie Rolls & Tootsie V.M. |
Matt Crowley (Dick Tracy), Jackie Kelk, Howard Smith | Chester Gould (Creator), Sidney Slon (Adapter) | ["Detective", "Police", "Adventure", "Children"] |
Ace detective Dick Tracy and Junior uncover a syndicate printing counterfeit war savings stamps in an abandoned warehouse basement, engaging in a rooftop pursuit to trap the master engraver. |
| "Red, Hot and Cold (Starring William Conrad — Signal Oil)" | CBS (KNX) 1953-08-23 9:30 PM EDT |
Signal Oil Co. Signal Gasoline & Motor Oil |
Bill Forman (The Whistler), William Conrad, Betty Lou Gerson | Joel Malone (Writer), Sterling Tracy (Director) | ["Mystery", "Thriller", "Psychological", "Suspense", "Noir"] |
An ambitious insurance salesman schemes with his greedy mistress to murder his wealthy wife for double-indemnity insurance, staging her demise in an industrial walk-in freezer only for an unexpected heat wave and a locked safety latch to trigger poetic retribution. |