Lolly, Jack and Rochester

You never really know what’s going on in the world of Hollywood gossip but, on the surface, Louella Parsons and Jack Benny got along fine.

Yes, she had a reputation of being able to make or break careers through the Hearst press, but it would have been extremely difficult for someone of her stature to badmouth one of the most popular stars of radio, both with the public and within the entertainment industry.

Parsons appeared on the Benny radio show twice, where she got to plug her latest efforts (and got covered with potatoes to shut down the conversation). Parsons, in turn, wrote about Jack a number of times, at times giving him her blessing on his latest film.

Here she is in a column published April 15, 1940. In her own inimitable style, she doesn’t report; she inserts herself into the story. Lolly enjoyed talking about herself.

She was one of several columnists who mentioned Jack and Mary were going to adopt a boy. It never happened. Parsons’ column of April 14 claims the boy had the measles so they hadn’t brought him home. I don’t want to go off the top of my head but my recollection in my research is the two decided they didn’t have the time to devote to a second child.

The only thing that strikes me as odd in this story is Jack being quoted as calling his writers "William" and "Edmond." They were never credited on the air that way and any time I’ve heard Jack talk about them, he calls them "Bill" and "Ed."

Jack Benny Is Becoming Almost As Great A Movie Star As He Is on Radio Program
By LOUELLA O. PARSONS
Motion Picture Editor, International News Service
Hollywood, April 20. — What has happened to Jack Benny almost overnight? All of a sudden he has become as great a movie star as he is a radio favorite. I'll tell you what I think happened to him. The whole world knows Jack Benny, his gags and his faculty for making fun of himself and letting others ridicule him. When he plays a fictional character he is just too well established as himself to make a dent as anyone else.
In "Buck Benny Rides Again" Jack is surrounded by all of his familiar characters: Rochester, the delightful Negro comic, Phil Harris, Carmichael, the polar bear, Don Wilson, and although Mary Livingston [sic] isn't actually seen we hear her voice coming over the ether as part of the Benny setup.
I spoke to Jack after I had seen "Buck Benny Rides Again" to tell him how thoroughly I enjoyed this comedy.
"You know, Jack," I said, "You almost got me believing that you are the stingiest man in town." He laughed and said: "You know, this tightwad nonsense has me embarrassed and self-conscious. The other day," he continued, "I went into a drive-in place for a sandwich and after I got the bill I forgot to tip the boy. I was practically home when I remembered it and, believe it or not, I drove back the ten miles to give him a tip. I could just hear him say, 'Benny is just as tight as everyone says he is in the movies and on the radio.’”
Benny is pictured in his skit as always driving a defunct Maxwell car just about to fall to pieces. One of the funniest incidents in "Buck Benny Rides Again" is the old Maxwell car, just three jumps ahead of the junk-heap; to make it even funnier, Rochester, who plays Jack's valet, his cook, his chauffeur and maid to Carmichael, drives a sporty expensive roadster.
You might think that Benny would have a few pangs of jealousy over Rochester's enormous popularity and the big part he plays in his picture. But not Benny—he is too glad to have an actor of Eddie Anderson's ability (Rochester's real name.)
"Why," said Jack, "that boy is so popular that they are planning big doings for him in Harlem. I don't believe any Negro who has ever visited Harlem caused more excitement with the exception of Joe Louis, of course."
I know Jack speaks the truth, for my own servants are crazy about Rochester and never miss him. I took my chauffeur with me to see "Buck Benny Rides Again" and he not only thought Rochester was the best actor he had ever seen, but he fell for Theresa Harris who plays Rochester's girl friend and who can dance and sing with that rhythm and ease peculiar to this talented race.
My talk with Jack took place just before he and his troupe left for the East.
"I will be in New York," he told me, "for a personal appearance for 'Buck Benny Rides Again' and of course, Mary is excited. Like all women, she plans to buy clothes, have herself some fun and we will enjoy seeing all the new shows. I am planning now," he continued, "to see if I cannot do my last two broadcasts on this season's program in Honolulu in order to give us a longer vacation there. You see, I go to work at Paramount in June with Fred Allen."
"Got some good gags with Fred?" I asked him.
"Well, with William Morrow and Edmond Beloin turned loose, I think we ought to fare pretty well. You see, when the boys made ‘Buck Benny Rides Again,’ they were working on the radio at the same time. But I won't be on the air when we do the Fred Allen picture so they should have some time to dream up pretty funny gags. I give them most of the credit for 'Buck Benny.’
The story of Jack Benny and Mary Livingston is one of the most interesting in Hollywood. Successful in vaudeville for years, he never dreamed of making any such money as he earns now. He has been able to build a beautiful home where he and his wife and little Joan live. Soon there will be a little brother for Joan.
"We have been looking," he told me, "for a little boy for a long time for a playmate for Joan and we think now we have one who is just what we want. He is three and a half and alone in the world and needs a home and, of course, we feel we need him too."
All I can say is that, the little boy is lucky for no child in the world has ever had more love showered on her than little Joan who is the apple of her adopted parents' eyes.

Jack mentions to Louella that there was a big party planned for Eddie Anderson in Harlem when Buck Benny Rides Again. Rochester was incredibly popular; listen to the cheers he gets on any of Benny’s broadcasts from military camps. Articles in the black press (newspapers and magazines) laud him and respect him. Here’s an indication from one of them, an April 20, 1940 story in the New York Amsterdam News about the coming celebration for Anderson.

Harlem’s Reception for ‘Rochester’ At Film Premiere Tues., Will Top All Previous Ones
By Dan Burley
Not since Jesse Owens came back from conquering the Nazis at the Berlin Olympics has an event intrigued Harlem as has the coming world premiere of Paramount’s “Buck Benny Rides Again,” the film that stars Jack Benny and his radio pal, Eddie (Rochester) Anderson, and the fact that Rochester is coming here for a personal appearance with the film, next Tuesday at 9 p.m., makes the event of prime importance in the theatrical firmament.
Also expected, previous commitments allowing, are Jack Benny, himself, Andy Devine and Phil Harris of the cast of “Buck Benny Rides Again.” They have signified their intention of coming here if possible.
The “Hollywood” premiere will be the first ever staged in Harlem of a major production and is scheduled for Loew’s Victoria Theatre where a first night audience of celebrities representing the social, political, industrial, theatrical[,] sports and literary life of Harlem headed by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, Lieut. Gov. Charles Poletti and Judge Myles Paige, is expected to outdo the famous film openings at Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Burley, Others on Committee
Details for a “Welcome Rochester” day to honor the film and radio comedian on the date of the premiere are being worked out by a newspaper delegation headed by Dan Burley, Bill Chase, Isadora Smith, William Clarke, Major Robinson, Ludlow Werner, Joe Christian and Ted Yates.
“Rochester,” enroute from Hollywood, will arrive in New York on Thursday morning, April 18, at 10 o’clock and will be met by the welcoming committee at the East 125th street New York Central Harlem station.
Cissy Bowe, the glamorous “Miss Harlem—1940,” will present the Keys to Harlem to the star during the ceremonies at the depot where police officials are prepared to handle the biggest crowd ever to assemble there to greet a celebrity. Trade and civic associations are cooperating fully to make the day a memorable one in Harlem history.
Street Parade Carded
A colorful street parade will be held Tuesday night, with many famous bands and uniformed marchers taking part in the torch-light spectacle, headed by “Carmichael,” the famous bear of the Benny-Rochester radio program. The parade will start at the Savoy Ballroom on Lenox avenue at 8 p.m. sharp, proceed south to 135th street, west to Seventh avenue to 125th street, ending in front of Loew’s Victoria theatre, where a reviewing stand is to be erected.
A coast-to-coast radio hookup will carry a description of the proceedings. Hollywood klieg lamps and all the pomp and ceremony associated with such a major spectacle will be witnessed by thousands of Harlemites.
Guest At Savoy
“Rochester,” after his personal appearance at the Victoria theatre, will also be the guest of honor at a testimonial reception at the Savoy Ballroom that night.
At the Savoy fete to the star, over 135 radio and stage stars are scheduled to appear on the NBC and Mutual network microphones which will carry the coast-to-coast tribute to the beloved comedian.
Jack Benny, Andy Devine, Phil Harris and others who appear in “Buck Benny Rides Again,” are expected at the testimonial at the Savoy.
Following the Harlem showing, the film, with “Rochester” making a personal appearance, will open an unlimited engagement at the Paramount theatre in Times Square.

While Buck Benny Rides Again got good reviews at the time, I suspect 80-plus-years after its release, it would only be appreciated by Benny fans.

The entertainment world changed in the 1950s. Radio, as it had been for two decades, died. The Hollywood studio system died, too, thanks to television and independent productions. Lolly still had her column but she seemed to be more of a part of the past than the present. Her life story was dramatized on the CBS series Climax! on March 8, 1956. Among the “special guests” appearing was Jack Benny. He—and Eddie Anderson—simply shifted from radio to television and remained fan favourites until they passed away in the 1970s.

Toiling With Leon

One of the wonderful things on the internet is scans of old movie, radio and trade magazines. And one of the annoying things on the internet is the same thing.

The annoying part is many of these were posted years ago in days of low bandwidth and low resolution. There are many, many wonderful photos in these publications that are maddening because they are poorly reproduced.

Here’s an example from Motion Picture Herald of January 11, 1936. It’s from the Leon Schlesinger Christmas party of 1935. I don’t believe it was published anywhere else.



Yes, you can click on the picture to enlarge it, but you’ll see a lot of dots and smudges. Grrrr.

I haven’t tried to identify everyone in the picture, but I’ll point out ten people below. I do not guarantee accuracy.

1. Standing in front of the Christmas tree is Leon Schlesinger.
2. This is Bernie Brown, who got a rotating musical credit but was in charge of the sound department. Still, Brown had been a musician in the 1920s.
3. None other than Ray Katz, Leon’s brother-in-law.
4. This murky head unmistakably belongs to Friz Freleng.
5. Charles Martin Jones.
6. My guess is this is Bob Clampett.
7. The incomparable Tex Avery.
8. The partial head of Bob McKimson.
9. The Pride of Portis, Kansas, Tubby Millar.
10. Bugs Hardaway.

I think I can spot Jack King, Norman Spencer and Art Loomer but am not certain, so I’ll leave them alone.

Trade publications featured full and half-page ads for the various studios, including those that made cartoons. We’ve featured a number of them over the years on this blog; Schlesinger took out a full-page ad for Old Glory. No doubt you have seen others on animation sites. Here are a couple of examples. It’s a shame they were cut off when scanned. The only colour is red because, I understand, it was cheaper for magazines to use red ink instead of other colours.



Some half-page ads. If only Buddy were this interesting on screen.



Old publications are pretty much where animation history can be found today. The people who made the cartoons can’t speak. They’re dead. (Okay, with a few fortunate exceptions from the later years). Articles on studios, biographies, release dates, reviews, they all have information (the most handy things are studio and union newsletters). That isn’t including government data—census reports, World War One and Two draft cards, birth, marriage and death certificates—that wasn’t readily available until the internet came along. Even city directories can supply historical data. We’ve reprinted all kinds of information from those sources on this blog. The only regret is not all of it is on-line.

Here’s an example to round out this post. The Film Daily published a year book containing almost everything you wanted to know about the North American film industry for a particular year. Let’s focus on the Warners cartoons and see what we find.



This is for 1933, before Leon Schlesinger and Harman-Ising had their falling out. While Schlesinger isn’t mentioned (he was the go-between from Warner Bros. and H-I), his brother-in-law Ray Katz is. Because cartoons in the early ‘30s were singing/dancing affairs, Hugh and Rudy employed a dance director. Keith Scott has written about him elsewhere (back east, Jack Ward performed the same duty at Van Beuren and, later, Fleischer).



1934. Schlesinger had set up his own studio on the Warners lot. Ferd Horvath, later of Disney, is “art director.” What that entailed is unclear; if he designed characters or oversaw backgrounds and layouts. And while King, Duval and Freleng all got supervisory credit on screen, King, perhaps oversaw in-betweeners and other aspects of animation.



1935. Bugs Hardaway was directing some cartoons; he had come over from Ub Iwerks. Art Loomer was also one of the studio’s background artists (Chuck Jones wasn’t enamoured of him). Tom Armstrong ended up working for Disney.



Tex Avery is here! He bumped Bugs Hardaway back to the story department. This is from 1936.



The studio address changes from a different spot on the Warners lot to the corner of Van Ness and Fernwood. This is the building familiar to all Warner Bros cartoon fans, featured in You Ought To Be in Pictures (1940). This is from the 1937 edition.



In the 1938 Year Book, we see the wily Leon had made two fine additions to his staff the year before. Carl Stalling replaced Norman Spencer (Milt Franklyn took over from Norman Spencer, Jr. as arranger) and Frank Tashlin was hired to direct. Rose Horsley seems to have worked endlessly to get Leon, Porky Pig, the Avery travelogue parodies and Bugs Bunny in the popular and trade press. Bob Clampett, technically with Ray Katz Productions, is listed for the first time, as is Cal Howard who, I believe, only co-directed three cartoons. He hightailed it to the Fleischer studio in Miami.



1939 is missing, so this summary is from 1940. Friz is back, Hardaway is at Walter Lantz. Steve Milman would carry on as the overseer of the in-betweeners into 1954. He was 74 when he retired. Milman had been a purser on a steamer, then joined the 354 Ambulance Co. in World War One and, afterward, became a newspaper cartoonist in San Francisco. Schlesinger hired him in 1937. He died Jan. 19, 1963 (the Year Book is correct; there is only one ‘l’ in his name).
The “Art Directors” are a bit of a puzzle as only three are listed, though there are four directors. Johnny Johnsen painted Tex Avery’s backgrounds. John McGrew was Chuck Jones’ layout artist. Bob Holdeman (who left animation before the end of the year) was with the Freleng unit. Dick Thomas was sketching the backgrounds for Clampett, but doesn’t rate a mention.



The only change in 1941 was Len Kester becoming Freleng’s background artist. He never got screen credit. Kester eventually found his way (in October 1944) to Moray-Sutherland as the studio's head designer.



The surprise, for me, in the 1942 Year Book is Don Towsley’s name. I didn’t know (as of this writing) that Towsley was there. As Johnny Johnsen was briefly with Clampett before leaving for Avery’s unit at MGM, and McGrew stayed with Jones until entering the military, I can only guess that Towsley worked with Freleng (McCabe inherited Clampett’s old unit, meaning Dick Thomas was his background artist and Dave Hilberman handled layouts). Evidently Towsley left Disney briefly then returned. His name can be found on Clampett’s It’s a Grand Old Nag for Republic in 1947, and you may have noticed his name on Jones’ Tom and Jerrys at MGM in the ‘60s (Among his TV animation was the final Huckleberry Hound cartoon, TV or Not TV in 1962). Towsley spent some time in New York in the 1950s, designing and producing for TV Graphics. He died in 1986, age 74.



1943 sees Frank Powers departing as ink-and-paint boss. The 1940 Los Angeles Directory states he was married to a woman named Calvie and was a cartoonist. The 1950 U.S. Census shows the two were in San Bernadino, where he was managing a restaurant. Matching on-line data states John Francis Powers was born Feb. 14, 1898 in Muncie, Indiana and died Nov. 22, 1980 in Bakersfield, California. George Winkler was the brother of Margaret Winkler and had been involved in cartoons his brother-in-law, Charlie Mintz, released through Columbia/Screen Gems. He was fired as General Manager and Schlesinger picked him up. The Budapest-born Winkler was gone from the studio by 1950, working for a company that sold unclaimed freight.
As for the “Art Directors,” Hilberman had been at Disney, spent some time at Screen Gems and left for Schlesinger’s studio in the middle of 1942. His time after Warner Bros., especially at UPA, is documented in Mike Barrier’s Hollywood Cartoons. Sasanoff was paired with Clampett, Julian with Freleng, putting Heineman with Jones before he moved over to the Lantz studio in June 1943. Pietro A. Shakarian notes that Jones and Heineman designed Private Snafu for the Army-Navy Screen Magazine cartoon shorts.



Another surprise for me is in the 1944 Year Book, where Curt Perkins is now the art director for Tashlin. Perkins started in the animation business with Walter Lantz in 1936. He also worked on Bob Clampett’s It’s A Grand Old Nag and later on Clampett’s Beany and Cecil TV cartoons. You can see an interview with Perkins here. Tom McKimson was in Clampett’s unit and Bernyce Polikfa (married to Eugene Fleury) collaborated with Jones.



Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in mid-1944 but continued marketing its characters. The 1945 Year Book is missing, so the blurb above is for 1946. The Art Directors are now the layouts artists—Morley with Jones, Wood with McKimson, Smith with Davis and Pratt with Freleng. Morley was the first secretary of the Alliance of Television Film Producers in 1951.



The only change in 1947 is Bob Gribbroek has replaced Richard Morley.



1948. A moment of silence for the death of the Art Davis unit.



No change at the start of 1949. There was at the end. Schlesinger passed away on Christmas Day that year, age 65.

Leon’s cartoons, sometimes despite the best efforts of their current owner, live on. And their fans who have an historical bent, dig on to find more information about them and their makers. Maybe along the way, they can find some higher-resolution photos.

Birdfish? Keyfish?

Adding Cinecolor (red and blue tints) may have improved the look of Ub Iwerks’ Davy Jones' Locker (released in January 1934) but it didn’t improve the gags at all.

Part of the short is set under the ocean, so the writers decided to drag out some pretty obvious puns.

Here we see a dogfish.



If there’s going to be a dogfish, there has to be a catfish. And if there’s going to be a catfish, there has to be a, um, birdfish?



These fish don’t actually do anything funny. Apparently the visual element alone is enough to evoke laughter in the theatre.

Then there’s a fish shaped like a key. A keyfish? Yeah, I’m laughing some more.



As it is only a plot device, the un-punny fish quickly swims out of the cartoon.

The writers find use for an octopus or squid. The old “turns it into bagpipes” routine is hauled out.



Willie Whopper also turns it into a piano stool.



I guess MGM had high hopes for this short. Not only is it in colour, but the intro and extro feature an animated version of Leo, the studio’s mascot. He was drawn in all kinds of trade ads, but I believe this was the first and only time he was animated.

Flipping the Pig

The original version of Bugs Bunny drinks a bottle of “hare remover” which removes him from the scene of Porky’s Hare Hunt (he fades away).



To make the action quicker, the animators uses speed lines, both black and white. Porky looks around for the rabbit, gets conked on the head with the hare remover bottle and flips over.



Mel Blanc claimed in his autobiography he re-named the rabbit “Bugs Bunny” after “reading the script.” Uh, Mel, don’t you mean “storyboard”? A name isn’t mentioned in the cartoon at all, only on a famous model sheet.

The guy with the writing credit on this short was Howard Baldwin, with Bugs Hardaway solo directing.

Ignorance Is Money

They may not admit it, but people like ancient groaner jokes.

Today, the internet is proof of that with the proliferation of “dad” jokes. 80 years ago, the proof was found in a radio show called It Pays To Be Ignorant.

It wasn’t really a quiz show. It was a satire on quiz shows, specifically the drab and staid intellectual ones like Information Please. There were contestants, but no competition. They were automatically paid a small sum to sit there and listen to hoary puns and cockamamie logic that masqueraded as responses to a question that really answered itself. The show raced along so there was no time to wince at the completely scripted proceedings, but time to laugh at the audacity of passing it off as humour.

Between questions, there were musical breaks clearly inspired by Spike Jones (originally by Nat Novick’s orchestra), which included commentary by emcee Tom Howard. (The music was performed seriously in later years).

It Pays To Be Ignorant attracted no less a sponsor than Philip Morris cigarettes at one point. It started on Mutual but found other networks as time moved along, jumped to television in the late ‘40s and inspired revivals in later years.

How the show came about is relayed in this feature story in the Asbury Park Press of September 24, 1944.

Whole Howard Family Combines Half an Hour To Keep Him on Air Scanning
By DIANE MUNHALL
MONMOUTH COUNTY is noted for its agricultural products. Before the war Monmouth county apples were annually exported to England. The county’s tomatoes are known far and wide. But comparatively few people realized that “corn” raised right in Rumson each week goes out coast-to-coast. This particular brand of "corn" emanates from) the former Mike Jacobs estate in Rumson, which is usually associated in the popular mind with a "crop" of cauliflower ears.
The "corn" is neither boxed nor on the cob. It is raised by Tom Howard, aided and abetted by his son, daughter and son-in-law, and each Friday night broadcast over CBS on the Philip Morris show "It Pays to Be Ignorant."
"It Pays to Be Ignorant" is actually true if you mean that it pays—the Howards: Tom produces and stars in the show; Tom, jr., 21, arranges the music and plays in the supporting band; Tom's daughter, Ruth and her husband, Bob Howell—who also make their home in the Rumson menage—write the script. Bob also acts as business manager for his father-in-law, which makes the show really and truly a Rumson—and a Howard—production.
Featured on this show with Tom Howard are Lulu McConnell, George Sheldon and Harry McNaughton, all of whom are frequent visitors to Rumson.
When "It Pays to Be Ignorant" first went on the air, many critics stated it couldn't last. It was too "corny," they explained almost in unison. Now the show has passed its second year on the air, and is well on its way towards another annual milestone—a radio "Abie's Irish Rose"—as it were.
The idea for the show was Bob Howell's, but without Ruth Howell’s persistence, it might never have reached the air lanes.
"It Pays to Be Ignorant" and the romance of the small, vivacious Ruth and big, easy-going Bob were born simultaneously. Late one summer afternoon in 1933, Ruth walked into station WELI New Haven, seeking an audition for her woman's program "Your Radio Hostess." She had been referred by a friend to Jimmy Milne, WELI manager. Jimmy was homeward bound and quickly passed the buck to Bob, his time-salesman. Hot, hungry and tired himself, Bob didn't give the girl he was later to marry even a second glance. But he did notice her program and liked it so much he signed her up on the spot.
>IT WASN'T long after Bob started writing spot commercials for Ruth's show that they started seeing each other out of hours. With their mutual interest in radio they found themselves dreaming and planning of the day when they would write a really, big network show. Under Ruth's urgings Bob dusted off a sample script for his idea of “something revolutionary in radio quiz programs” and convinced it was a natural for a foresighted sponsor.
In beer parlors, parks and the New Haven railroad station, the settings for most of their dates, they would discuss Bob's brain child by the hour.
"There must be plenty of other people who are developing a terrific inferiority complex from listening to Kieran, the Quiz Kids and other such mental marvels," they reasoned. "We'll give them a program, where ignorance, not knowledge, is the pay-off and the public will eat it up."
Romance was a stranger to them. Casually they dismissed it with the view that marriage and careers did not mix well. But fate, as it usually does, had the last laugh. It wasn't three months before Ruth was jokingly mailing Bob advertising clippings on "What Are Your Intentions. Young Man?" and Bob was passing sleepless nights wondering how to pop the age-old question.
However, another two years were to elapse before Ruth and Bob stepped before the preacher and "It Pays to Be Ignorant" made its debut on the air. Meantime Ruth served a hitch in Chicago where she gained fame for introducing department store advertising to the air with her program for Sears, Roebuck, and Bob was making great strides himself as a radio writer. Ruth cut short her two-year contract in Chicago after only six months and hastened back East to New London to marry Bob and to persuade her father that they had just the program for his talents.
"Not only did he get a son-in-law," Ruth smiles, 'but an exceedingly profitable wedding gift."
RUTH'S and Bob's account of their wedding is amusing. Bob swears he had to literally drag Ruth up the last hill to their minister's house and she counters with the claim that he completely lost his voice when he should have been giving forth with a loud "I Do." On top of that they had no honeymoon, Bob scarcely having been able to take Saturday afternoon off from the war-plant job he held at the time.
Meantime the program, first called "Crazy Quiz," was changed to "It Pays to Be Ignorant" by Ann Honeycutt, who sold it to a sponsor with Tom Howard in the starring role. "It Pays to Be Ignorant" proved a lusty infant, clamoring successfully for quick popularity.
About this time, Tom Howard, who had been handling most of the script writing himself, turned it over to Ruth and Bob.
They've a system of their own. Some call it crazy, but after all that is the motif of the program. Each takes half of the questions picked from the thousands sent in by listeners as the backbone of the show and in different parts of Tom Howard's big Rumson home pounds out a version of the script. Neither sees what the other has done until the two scripts are handed in to Tom who edits, and combines them into one smooth running program. Occasionally Tom, who turns a good comic phrase himself, will substitute a crack of his own, but more often than not he is completely satisfied with the nonsense concocted by his family writing team.
With the script finished and polished, there is still much to be done. Tom is the comedy star of the program, but he shares the spotlight with three other top-notch quipsters; George Shelton, his partner of many years standing, Lulu McConnell of stage fame, and Harry McNaughton, also a veteran of the trade and widely known his portrayal of "Bottle" for Phil Baker. Great care is taken to insure that each of the four gets his share of the laugh-lines, which are handed out according to who can best deliver them. It might be thought that a free-for-all would ensue when four such stars, each a headliner, sit down to decide who gets the best punch lines. Actually, there has never been any trouble, for team-work is the watchword. It Is as Tom Howard says, “What’s the difference who gets laugh, as long as the audience likes the show." To which Bob adds, "Not to forget the sponsor.”
The same close harmony and understanding is carried out into the program itself and has saved them many possible embarrassing Tom has had to cut the show while on the air. In any show of this type it is not surprising that the artists are masters of the ad-lib, but even at that, Tom's cleverness and sense of showmanship has often smoothed out the rough spots.
TOM HOWARD, as master of ceremonies of this show is well qualified thru his long and varied experience. He can wring the lasl chuckle out of any line with his sand-paper voice and his perfect timing. He also knows how to play up his colleagues to their best advantage. Tho Tom Howard and Shelton are a famous team, and are known for their ad-libbing a full six minute stint on the old Rudy Vallee show (they broke all guest records on that show) Lulu McConnell and Harry McNaughton certainly don’t suffer by comparison.
Looking in on the Howards and the Howell families at Rumson, you will find none of the "It Pays to Be Ignorant" atmosphere. The home, which Tom bought from Mike Jacobs, who had used it as training quarters for his headline fighter, is a 20-room house. Decorated in modem and period furniture, it is distinctive, yet comfortable. The two families rarely stray into the city for pleasure, as they are well-equipped with recreational facilities; a Whoopee House, a barbeque pit and a 50-foot dance floor, which once resounded with the blows of Louis and Conn.
They say most comedians are not very funny to their families. Tom Howard does not try to be. Never the clown at home, he leans towards the serious side, as attested by his hobbies. Most of his spare time, money and energy go into collecting old car nameplates, pipes and tending to his Victory garden. His pipe collection numbering more than 2,000 is said to be one of the largest and the finest in the world. It includes among other notable briars, those of the kings of Sweden and Denmark, and an early Aztec model.
Ruth and Bob, on the other hand, lay claim to no hobbies. In fact, they don't even keep a press book. Aside from writing "It Pays to He Ignorant," the Howells are writing scripts for other programs, for example, the new Sammy Kaye show with Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney. They had done the old Winchell, Mahoney show and Paul particularly requested them as his writing team. Versatile, Ruth and Bob have now branched into song writing. With Young Tom, jr., supplying the music and Ruth and Bob the lyrics, they have just had their first song published. Its name? "It Pays to Be Ignorant," of course. For relaxation the Howells prefer a good play, concert or ballet and they'll tackle any one at poker.
As to the ultimate ambilions of the Howells and Howards, Tom, sr., wants nothing more than his six acres of land, Tom, jr. aspires to be another Berlin of [or] Gershwin, and Ruth and Bob ultimately want their own radio station—they don't care whether it makes money or not, they know it will be fun. Mrs. Howard, the former Harriet Berg, of Tom Howard's old vaudeville company, is content to be a sideline spectator.
The Howards and the Howells are hard to beat professionally or personally. And they are the living proof of the fact that "It Pays to He Ignorant."
Ignorant like a fox.

The happy family described in this story didn’t stay together much longer after it was published. Bob Howell died of a heart attack on Nov. 28, 1944 at the age of 50.

Lulu McConnell, who was 60 when Ignorant debuted, passed away in 1962. Harry McNaughton, who joked about World War One on the quiz show but had in real life been a POW and a veteran of the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Ypres and Ludendorff, was 70 when he died in 1967. George Shelton outlived his old vaudeville partner, dying in 1971 at 87.

A heart attack claimed Tom Howard at the age of 69 on Feb. 27, 1955. His Associated Press obituary revealed he worked as a $6-a-week office clerk for the American Tea company in Philadelphia. His mother discouraged show business, bragging that if he stuck with tea, he’d be a superintendent making $25 a week. Instead, Howard and his family found a successful radio formula. No one could accuse him of being ignorant.