Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy

Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC.

The storylines centered around the globe-trotting adventures of Armstrong (played by Jim Ameche until 1938), a popular athlete at Hudson High School, his friends Billy Fairfield and his sister Betty, and their "Uncle Jim," James Fairfield, an industrialist. Frequently, "Uncle Jim" Fairfield would have to visit an exotic part of the world in connection with his business, and he would take Jack Armstrong and the Fairfield siblings along with him. Many of the adventures provided listeners with the equivalent of a travelogue, providing facts about the lands they were visiting. The show was created by writer Robert Hardy Andrews. Sponsored throughout its long run by Wheaties, the program was renamed "Armstrong of the SBI" when Jack graduated high school and became a government agent in the final season, when it shifted from a 15-minute serial to a half-hour complete story format. Throughout its broadcast span, the program offered radio premiums that usually related to the adventures in which Jack and his friends were involved.

In the "Jack Armstrong" movie serial of 1947, ace science whiz Armstrong (John Hart) must escape from an island fortress after he is kidnapped by a villain who wants the secrets of atom-powered motors. That same year the Parents Institute began publishing their "Jack Armstrong" comic book which had a 13-issue run. Leslie N. Daniels, Jr. wrote the Big Little Book, "Jack Armstrong and the Ivory Treasure" (1937). Daniels' tale was based on a 1937 Talbot Mundy radio script which Mundy had first written as his novel "The Ivory Trail" (1919).

A short "Jack Armstrong" animated TV pilot was developed by Hanna-Barbera for a proposed television series. However, when negotiations for rights to the characters collapsed, the planned series was reworked into what became the animated adventure "Jonny Quest" (1964). Some of the "Jack Armstrong" footage survived in the closing credits for "Jonny Quest". [http://www.classicjq.com/info/JQFAQ.shtml#show.8] Timothy Bottoms portrayed Jack Armstrong in the action-adventure film, "American Hero" (1997).

"Jack Armstrong" entered the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989.

References

* [http://www.genericradio.com/show.php?id=5e80b8e759ba461a Generic Radio Workshop Script Library: "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy" script (October 1, 1940)]

External links

*rhof|id=285|name=Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy
* [http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=607&si=128 Mondo Media: "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy"]
* [http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/13/cereal.html Great Moments in Kiddie Marketing]