On this day in fictional history – October 27, 1938

Up and coming radio star, Vivian Witchell, finds the dead body of Marjorie Fox in the station’s lounge. And Vivian may be the killer’s next victim…

I couldn’t resist.

Other (real) things happening in October 1938:

  • Passports of German Jews are declared invalid and they are required to have the letter “J” stamped onto their passports for them to become valid again.
  • The Munich Agreement was signed Sept 30 allowing Hitler to annex the Sudetenland (part of ethnically German Czechoslovakia) and prompting British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declaring “peace in our time”. It would be less than a year before Germany invaded Poland starting WWII.
  • Top radio shows are Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy, Burns and Allen, Lux Radio Theatre, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Bing Crosby, Fibber McGee and Molly, and Amos & Andy.
  • Filming has just started on The Wizard of Oz and will soon start on Gone with the Wind (though the part of Scarlett O’Hara will remain uncast until December).

Finally, here are some ads pulled from the October 27, 1938 edition of The Chicago Tribune ($1 in 1938 is worth about $16 today).

1938 ads

 

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