Hop Harrigan (radio program)
{{Short description|American radio program for children}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name = Hop Harrigan
| image =
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| format = Juvenile adventure serial
| runtime = 15 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| home_station =
| television =
| presenter =
| starring = Chester Stratton
Albert Aley
Mitzi Gould
Ken Lynch
Jackson Beck
| announcer = Glenn Riggs
Dresser Dahlstead
Vic Perrin
| creator =
| writer = Albert Aley
Bob Burtt
Wilfred Moore
| director = Jay Clark
Jack Johnstone
Allen Ducovny
Jessica Maxwell
| senior_editor =
| editor =
| producer = Harry Ingram
| exec_producer =
| narrated =
| rec_location =
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| first_aired = {{Start date|1942|08|31}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1948|02|06}}
| num_series =
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| sponsor = General Foods
| website =
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}}
Hop Harrigan is an American old-time radio juvenile adventure program. It was broadcast on ABC from August 31, 1942, until August 2, 1946, and on Mutual from October 2, 1946, until February 6, 1948.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22Hop+Harrigan,+juvenile%22&pg=PA328 |last=Dunning|first=John|title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-19-507678-3|page=328|edition=Revised|access-date=2019-11-17}} General Foods began sponsoring the program on October 2, 1944; it had previously been unsponsored.{{cite news|title=G.F. Buys a Strip|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1944/Billboard-1944-08-05-OCR-Page-0030.pdf|accessdate=28 April 2018|magazine=Billboard|date=August 5, 1944|page=30}}
Format
The Hop Harrigan character originated in All American Comics, and the radio program was adapted from that publication.{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Kurt |last2=Thomas |first2=Roy |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944 |date=2019 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490892 |page=141}} Harrigan was a young aviator, and most of the show's plots dealt with his battles with the Axis powers during World War II. At age 18, Harrigan was not much older than the show's target audience of young listeners.
{{cite book|last1=Tuttle|first1=William M. Jr.|title="Daddy's Gone to War": The Second World War in the Lives of America's Children|date=1993|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199772001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CjgLHG82ZXUC&dq=%22Hop+Harrigan%22&pg=PA148|accessdate=24 April 2018|language=en}} In his book, Radio Crime Fighters: Over 300 Programs from the Golden Age, Jim Cox wrote that Harrigan's "detecting and crime fighting enthralled the adolescents for whom it was intended, creating a loyal following that clung to every new action-packed crisis."
The program was produced in cooperation with the Air Training Corps of America and was endorsed by the Office of the Adjutant General of the Army.{{cite news|title=Sky Adventure|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/42-OCR/1942-09-07-BC-OCR-Page-0025.pdf|accessdate=28 April 2018|work=Broadcasting|date=September 7, 1942|page=25}}
Personnel
Chester Stratton initially had the title role in the program. Albert Aley played Harrigan later. Mitzi Gould played Harrigan's girlfriend. The only other character appearing regularly was Tank Tinker, Harrigan's mechanic, who was played first by Ken Lynch and later by Jackson Beck. Announcers were Glenn Riggs,{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows|date=1999|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7864-4513-4|page=156}} Dresser Dahlstead, and Vic Perrin.{{cite news|title=Roundup: Sponsors, Agencies, Stations, General|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1943/Billboard%201943-02-27-OCR-Page-0007.pdf|accessdate=27 April 2018|magazine=Billboard|date=February 27, 1943|page=7}} Directors included Jay Clark,{{cite news|title=Agencies|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/43-OCR/1943-01-11-BC-OCR-Page-0038.pdf|accessdate=28 April 2018|work=Broadcasting|date=January 11, 1943|page=38}} Jack Johnstone,{{cite news|last1=Little|first1=Mary|title=Death Valley Days Moves to New Stations|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19538523/the_des_moines_register/|work=The Des Moines Register|date=July 3, 1941|location=Iowa, Des Moines|page=15|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = April 24, 2018}} {{Open access}} Allen Ducovny, and Jessica Maxwell. Writers included Aley, Bob Burtt, and Wilfred Moore.{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=Jim|title=Radio Crime Fighters: Over 300 Programs from the Golden Age|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-4324-6|pages=131–132}} Producers included Harry Ingram.{{cite news|title=Y & R Lists New Fall Assignments|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/44-OCR/1944-08-28-BC-OCR-Page-0118.pdf|accessdate=28 April 2018|work=Broadcasting|date=August 28, 1944|page=114}}
Popularity
In the program's second month on the air, the staff of Hop Harrigan received 124,264 letters as people wrote in for premiums that were offered to listeners.{{cite news|title=Sponsors Still Love Mail|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1943/Billboard%201943-08-07-OCR-Page-0010.pdf|accessdate=27 April 2018|magazine=Billboard|date=August 7, 1943|page=10}} The program had two organizations for young fans—the All American Flying Club and the American Observation Corps.
References
{{Portal|Radio|}}
{{Reflist}}
External links
=Logs=
- [http://www.otrsite.com/otrsite/logs/logh1025.htm Log of episodes of Hop Harrigan from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs]
- [http://www.otrr.org/FILES/Logs_txt/Hop%20Harrigan.txt Log of episodes of Hop Harrigan from Old Time Radio Researchers Group]
- [https://radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu/Home/RadioGoldin_Records?searchString=Hop%20Harrigan&type=Programs Log of episodes of Hop Harrigan from radioGOLDINdex.com]
=Streaming=
- [http://www.dumb.com/oldtimeradio/radio/126/dramas/Hop_Harrigan.html Episodes of Hop Harrigan from Dumb.com]
- [https://archive.org/details/otr_hopharrigan Episodes of Hop Harrigan from Internet Archive]
- [http://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/H%20Series/Hop%20Harrigan/ Episodes of Hop Harrigan from Old Time Radio Researchers Group Library]
- [http://zootradio.com/Hop_Harrigan.php Episodes of Hop Harrigan from Zoot Radio]
Category:1942 radio programme debuts
Category:1948 radio programme endings
Category:1940s American radio programs
Category:Mutual Broadcasting System programs