On This Day, August 24: Ty Cobb and Walter Huston (Peter Cooper)
Also featured: Fibber McGee.
August 24 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, serial multi-part narrative arcs, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 24 across American network, baseball history, biographical docudrama, and classic comedy radio history (1936–1949):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Giant in the Meadow: Peter Cooper (Starring Walter Huston — DuPont)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1942-08-24 8:00 PM EWT |
E.I. du Pont de Nemours Better Living Chemistry |
Walter Huston (Peter Cooper), Jeanette Nolan | Robert Tallman (Writer), Homer Fickett, Clayton Collyer | ["Historical", "Biography", "Drama", "Americana", "Anthology"] |
Academy Award winner Walter Huston stars as industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper, chronicling his invention of the 'Tom Thumb' steam locomotive and the construction of Cooper Union to provide free higher education to working-class Americans for DuPont. |
| "The Georgia Peach: Interview with Ty Cobb (Bill Stern — Colgate)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1945-08-24 10:30 PM EWT |
Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Colgate Shave & Halo |
Bill Stern (Host), Ty Cobb (Baseball Legend) | Ted Collins, Joseph Mansfield, Jimmy Wallington | ["Sports", "Talk", "Interview", "Baseball", "Americana"] |
Legendary sports commentator Bill Stern welcomes baseball hall-of-famer Ty Cobb ("The Georgia Peach") for an unforgettable interview recounting his record-setting 4,189 career hits, fierce rivalries with Babe Ruth, and classic Detroit Tigers pennant races for Colgate. |
| "Five Whodunits: Inspector Hearthstone's Cases (John Griggs — Mutual)" | Mutual (WOR) 1947-08-24 5:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining Interactive Mystery |
John Griggs (Inspector Hearthstone), Mandel Kramer | George Lowther (Writer), Leonard Bass, Carl Caruso | ["Mystery", "Detective", "Interactive", "Quiz", "Whodunit"] |
Inspector Hearthstone presents five distinct mini-mysteries featuring cryptic clue deductions, challenging armchair radio sleuths at home to identify the culprit in each case before the final commercial reveal. |
| "Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral? (Guest Benny Leonard — Twenty Questions — Ronson)" | Mutual (WOR) 1946-08-24 8:00 PM EDT |
Ronson Art Metal Ronson Pocket Lighters |
Bill Slater (Host), Benny Leonard (Guest), Fred Van Deventer | Gary Stevens (Producer), Del Sharbutt, Frank Waldecker | ["Quiz", "Game Show", "Panel", "Sports", "Comedy"] |
"Is it Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?" Quizmaster Bill Slater and the regular panel welcome boxing legend Benny Leonard to identify mysterious subjects in twenty questions or less for Ronson Pocket Lighters. |
| "Prince for a Day (Starring Raymond Burr & Jack Moyles — International Airport)" | ABC (WJZ) 1949-08-24 9:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining Aviation Thriller |
Raymond Burr, Jack Moyles, Lurene Tuttle | William Froug (Writer), Bill Rousseau, Don Lowe | ["Adventure", "Aviation", "Drama", "Action", "Anthology"] |
Tension mounts at a bustling international airport terminal when a visiting Middle Eastern prince escapes royal bodyguards and disappears into the crowds, drawing airport police and federal agents into a high-stakes search before an international flight departs. |
| "Solving the Murder Mystery (Jim & Marian Jordan — Johnson's Wax)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1936-08-24 8:00 PM EDST |
S.C. Johnson & Son Glo-Coat & Auto Wax |
Jim Jordan (Fibber), Marian Jordan (Molly), Bill Thompson | Don Quinn (Writer), Cecil Underwood, Harlow Wilcox | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Domestic", "Americana", "Vaudeville"] |
Fibber McGee becomes convinced he has the forensic genius of Sherlock Holmes after reading a dime-store detective novel, leading Molly and the Wistful Vista neighbors on an absurd amateur sleuthing investigation for Johnson's Wax. |