The Chase and Sanborn Hour

December 11 was the birthday of a distant relative of mine, Caleb Chase (1831-1908), who, with partner James Solomon Sanborn (1835-1903) formed the Chase and Sanborn Coffee Company in 1862. They’re the first coffee company to sell their product in those tin coffee cans! or so they claim.

But this ain’t a coffee blog, even though we did do a Maxwell House post two days ago (and I assure you, that stimulating fluid does indeed make the blog possible). In 1929 Chase and Sanborn was acquired by Standard Brands, who very savvily sought to promote the C & S brand over the airwaves through the medium of radio. The first incarnation of their new show The Chase and Sanborn Choral Orchestrawas hosted by Maurice Chevalier and featured some musical acts as David Rubinoff and His Violin. Apparently Chevalier’s thick accent was not an impediment to success on American radio, although he did turn over the reins to Eddie Cantor in 1931 at which point it became The Chase and Sanborn Hour. The weekly broadcast presence intensified Cantor’s demand in other media, while other major entertainers such as Jimmy Durante, George Jessel, Bert Lahr, Georgie Price, and Harry Richman filled in during his absences. He moved on in 1934, though he was to remain a big star in radio another 20 years after that.

1937 saw the advent of The Chase and Sanborn Hour’s longest serving host(s), ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, with his wooden partner Charlie McCarthy. At first blush the notion of a ventriloquist on the radio sounds a cheat – you never see the dummy or the guy’s lips. But looked at from another perspective, it’s not a handicap either. If you consider that Bergen purely as a talented comedian and voice-over artist, it’s the same net effect. And besides, the live studio audience was privy to the ventriloquial illusion and, by their reactions the home listeners could conclude that this vaudeville and screen veteran was doing a fine job. Some of radio comedy’s most notorious exchanges happened on this program. Comedian W.C. Fields was at the center of many. Fields had conquered Broadway, vaudeville and movies but he never had his own radio show. It was as a frequent guest on the Bergen show that Fields made his splash in broadcasting, the running gag consisting of a trade of insults between Fields and McCarthy (immortalized also in the 1939 film Never Give a Sucker an Even Break). Sexy comedienne Mae West came on the show as well, provoking an angry letter campaign from Christians offended by their Adam and Eve sketch. Bergen hosted the show through its conclusion in 1948. It was high water mark as a national entertainer.

As for the sponsor, the company changed hands so many times beginning in the 1980s you’d think they sold cooties instead of coffee. In turn they were acquired by: Nabisco (1981), The General Coffee Company (1982), Hills Brothers (1984), Nestle (1985), Sara Lee (1999), and finally the Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group (2006). Say! That really puts the “Chase” in “Chase and Sanborn”!

For more on show business history,please see my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous; and keep an eye out for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.