Little Orphan Annie 2

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Little Orphan Annie, Volume 2

Little Orphan Annie plus Captain Midnight

Original radio broadcasts
A George Garabedian Production
Mark56 Records
685

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Side One:

Little Orphan Annie
Produced by George Garamedian

Original Radio Broadcast
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Side Two:

Captain Midnight
Produced by George Garamedian

Episode One
Episode Two
© 1975 Sandoz-Wander, Inc.

Original Radio Broadcasts
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To Little Orphan Annie, those of us who grew up in the thirties, forties and fifties owe an incalculable debt of gratitude. Annie was responsible for the eventual existence of all adventure shows for kids on radio. Without the adventures of Annie and her dog, Sandy, and without her Ovaltine Shake-up Mug, there would have been no adventures of Tom Mix and his Ralston Straight Shooters, and no Tom Mix wooden guns, whistling rings, magnet rings, and all the other wonderful radio premiums. If Annie had flopped, there might never have been any hearty “Hi-Yo Silver” from the Lone Ranger. Jack Armstrong would have never taken a vacation from Hudson High to travel down the Amazon. Terry Lee would never have taken to the air to visit China and meet those pirates. No Dick Tracy, Superman, Captain Midnight, Don Winslow, Straight Arrow or Sky King on radio. It would have been a fate too horrible to contemplate. Life would hardly have been worth living.

At first, Annie only hung around Simmons Corners, a small mid-Western town, with her boy sidekick, Joe Corntassel, and the story might concern the theft of a pri ze pig. But soon after Annie’s foster father, Daddy Warbucks, came on the scene and whisked Annie and Joe off to distant parts of the world in one of his airplanes or yachts. (Daddy was really stinking rich.) Annie soon found herself doing what any ten-year-old girl (or boy) in the radio audience wanted to do--being chased by headhunters, shipwrecked on the high seas, and various other fun things.

To promote the radio series, the sponsor began issuing a premium offers--the Shake-Up Mug (to mix something resembling a chocolate milk-shake, in case you are too young to remember), a map of Annie’s home town, badges and rings and manuals for Annie’s club. In later years--the forties--Annie teamed up with an aviator hero, Captain Sparks, who seemed to be bucking for major by trying to take over the show himself (which he just about did). Together, Annie and Sparks offered a variety of aviation-inspired premiums, the most notable of which was the Aviation Trainer, a cardboard cockpit that could be used to teach you how to operate an airplane. (You were advised not to attempt to pilot a real airplane, however, without a qualified adult present.)

For some twelve years, Little Orphan Annie was part of radio broadcasting--until others replaced her on the afternoon schedule. Her replacements were more adult than she, more action-oriented, more violent, if you will. And they tended to all be male. But in our time of Women’s Liberation, we could note that a very young girl led the way on radio for all those high-flying, hard-riding heroes who made our childhood afternoons magic.

- Jim Harmon

author of The Great Radio Heroes and The Great Television Heroes
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NOTICE: Little Orphan Annie is one of the rarest of all radio programs to find on existing recordings. Only after years of searching MARK56 Records was able to locate this third and only recording on Side One. The contents of Side One is not of the quality of sound we have generally been able to offer you, but we feel its rarity and interest make up for that. In order that you will enjoy an additional rarity - we have included the first two episodes of Captain Midnight. -
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A George Garabedian Production
Product of Mark56 Records
Post Office Box One
Anaheim, California, 92805

For Home Use Only - Not Licensed For Radio Broadcast. Duplication of this album in any manner, sound or otherwise, is strictly forbidden by copyright of the producer.

(C) 1975 Mark56 Records