ILLUSTRATIONS

1.Benny and cast members Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Eddie Anderson, and Don Wilson broadcasting. Fortune, April 1939. Author’s collection.

2.Jack Benny and his wife and co-star Mary Livingstone on cover of Radio Mirror, April 1935. Author’s collection.

3.Bandleader George Olsen and vocalist Ethel Shutta, the original draws for the Canada Dry Ginger Ale radio program, New Movie Magazine, September 1932. Author’s collection.

4.Jack Benny working closely with his current young script writers, Bill Morrow and Ed Beloin, while former Benny show writer Harry Conn is depicted working solo, Radio Mirror, November 1938. Author’s collection.

5.Mary Livingstone in an advertisement for Philco radios, Saturday Evening Post, December 1935. Author’s collection.

6.Mary Livingstone is given the glamorous cover girl treatment as befits one of radio’s most popular stars. Radio Guide, October 19, 1935. Author’s collection.

7.Fred Allen and Jack Benny cleverly extended their feud long after its 1937 beginnings. Here in 1943, Fred reacts to the supposed rotten smell of Jack’s poor jokes. Tune In, May 1943. Author’s collection.

8 and 9.  The humor of Jack Benny’s 1941 film adaptation of the old farce Charley’s Aunt was promoted by local theaters as the surprise of a man dressed in women’s clothing. Colonial Theater (location unknown) souvenir, 1941. Author’s collection.

10.Even before Benny performed his Gracie Allen routine on television, fan magazines were obsessed with reporting the details with which Benny transformed himself for private stage performance with women’s clothing and makeup. Radio Best, October 1949, 34–35. Author’s collection.

11.The new celebrity scandal magazines seized on images of Jack Benny in makeup for his Gracie Allen impersonation as headline-worthy outré sexual behavior to exploit. Uncensored, November 1955. Author’s collection.

12.A rare appearance of Eddie Anderson as Rochester in a print advertisement for Jack Benny’s radio sponsor’s product, Jell-O. Life, circa Winter 1942, unknown date. Author’s collection.

13.By the 1940s, Eddie Anderson had become the most prominent African American star in Hollywood, and tourists sent home postcards of his elegant home. Circa 1942. Author’s collection.

14.Eddie Anderson and Jack Benny parlayed their radio popularity into film successes. Movie Radio Guide, December 20, 1941. Author’s collection.

15.The pairing of Jack Benny and Eddie Anderson on the cover of Look magazine, one of the first nationally prominent representations of black celebrity and interracial equality. Look, May 1950. Author’s collection.

16.Unlike previous sponsors’ unease with Jack Benny’s thorough mixture of impertinent mentions of the product into his comedy, Jell-O was pleased to promote his ratings and product sales success. Plymouth Theater program, Boston, November 26, 1934. Author’s collection.

17.Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone are transformed into cartoon characters happily consuming the playful product in this popular Jell-O giveaway recipe booklet, 1937. Author’s collection.

18.Young and Rubicam, the advertising agency for the Jell-O program, not only made the Benny program highest in the ratings but also brought awards for commercial writing and sold the product at extraordinary rates. Young and Rubicam ad, Fortune, February 1937, 121. Author’s collection.

19.Fan magazines were anxious to give their readers the inside scoop on what a live broadcast of a popular radio show like Benny’s looked like, so they could imagine joining in with the studio audience. Radioland, March 1935, 8. Author’s collection.

20.Jack Benny created invaluable intermedia marketing synergy by playing up the radio cast’s experiences on the set at Paramount producing their film Buck Benny Rides Again. Movie Radio Guide, February 1940. Author’s collection.

21.The Sportsmen Quartet, who could only hum in response to Jack Benny’s questions, sang parodies of popular songs that turned into delightfully nonsensical Lucky Strike cigarette commercials. Radio Best, March 1948, 10. Author's collection.

22.The studio audience’s view of Jack Benny’s live radio broadcast, featuring, left to right, Eddie Anderson, the Sportsmen Quartet (Bill Days, Mac Smith, Marty Sperzel, Gurhey Bell), Don Wilson, Phil Harris, producer Hilliard Marks, Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, musical arranger Mahlon Merrick (seated behind Mary), and Dennis Day. Mel Blanc is at far right. Radio Mirror, November 1948, 34. Author’s collection.

23.The American Tobacco Company marketers achieved a brand promotional trifecta in this print ad, combining grinning caricatures of their stable of radio and TV stars, awkward product placement and brash ad slogans into an over-the-top holiday sales pitch. LIFE Magazine, December 1950. Author’s collection.

24.Local television program guides promoted Jack Benny’s first TV program as a special event in October 1950. TV Forecast, Chicago, October 28, 1950. Author’s collection.

25.This joke magazine reflects the inseparable nature of Jack and Rochester’s bond, and Rochester’s fearless criticism of the Boss’s failings. 1000 Jokes, March 1956. Author’s collection.

26.The biggest star in radio, when radio was the most prominent mass medium in the United States. Radio Stars, February 1938. Author’s collection.

27.Jack Benny attempted to build the market for fans to purchase recordings of his best radio comedy routines so that they could collect and savor examples of his humor when was not broadcasting live on air. The Jack Benny Album, 1947. Author’s collection.

28.The Top Ten series of record album releases were early, unsuccessful attempts to provide consumers with permanent copies of ephemeral live broadcasts. The Jack Benny Album, 1947. Author’s collection.