Editing Fibber McGee and Molly (section)

==Husband and wife in real life==
The stars of the program were husband-and-wife team [[Jim Jordan (actor)|Jim Jordan]] (1896–1988)<ref name="Ancestry 2000">Ancestry.com. ''California Death Index, 1940–1997'' [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.</ref><ref name=Fib91NYT /> and [[Marian Driscoll Jordan]] (1898–1961),<ref name="Ancestry 2000"/><ref name=MJordanNYT>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 8, 1961 |access-date=May 10, 2023 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/04/08/archives/marian-jordan-radio-star-dies-won-fame-with-husband-as-fibbermcgee.html|title=Marian Jordan, Radio Star, Dies; Won Fame With Husband as Fibber-McGee and Molly -- Show Ran 21 Years|page=19}}</ref> who were natives of [[Peoria, Illinois]].

Jordan was the seventh of eight children born to James Edward Jordan, a farmer, and Mary (née Tighe) Jordan, while Driscoll was the twelfth of thirteen children born to Daniel P., a coalminer, and wife Anna (née Carroll) Driscoll.<ref name=BritFibs/>

Jim wanted to be a singer, and Marian wanted to be a music teacher. Both attended the same Catholic church, where they met at choir practice. Marian's parents had attempted to discourage her professional aspirations. When she started seeing Jim Jordan, the Driscolls were far from approving of either him or his ideas. Jim's voice teacher gave him a recommendation for work as a professional in Chicago, and he followed it. He was able to gain steady employment, but soon tired of the life on the road. In less than a year, Jim came back to Peoria and went to work for the Post Office. Marian's parents now found Jim (and his career) to be acceptable, and they stopped objecting to the couple's marriage plans. The pair married in Peoria, August 31, 1918.<ref name="Air">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22Fibber+McGee+and+Molly,+comedy%22&pg=PA245|title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio|last=Dunning|first=John|author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author)|year=1998|pages=245–252|publisher=Oxford University Press US|isbn=0-19-507678-8|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>

Five days after the wedding, Jim received his draft notice. He was sent to France, and became part of a military touring group which entertained the armed forces after World War I.<ref name="Air"/> When Jim came home from France, he and Marian decided to try their luck with a [[vaudeville]] act.<ref>''Oakland Tribune'', November 10, 1935.</ref><ref name=Star>{{cite news|url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fibber-molly-mc-gee/|title=Hollywood Star Walk: Fibber McGee and Molly|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=5 March 2011|archive-date=June 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610045705/http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fibber-molly-mc-gee/|url-status=live}}</ref> They had 2 children, Kathryn Therese Jordan (1920–2007) and James Carroll Jordan (1923–1998). Marian returned home for the birth of Kathryn, but went back to performing with Jim, leaving her with Jim's parents. After Jim Jr. was born, Marian stayed with the children for a time, while Jim performed a solo act. Marian and the children joined him on the road for a short time, but the couple had to admit defeat when they found themselves in [[Lincoln, Illinois]] in 1923 with 2 small children and no funds. The couple's parents had to wire them money for their return to Peoria. Jim went to work at a local department store, but still felt an attraction of being in show business. He and Marian went back into vaudeville.<ref name=Air/>

While staying with Jim's brother in Chicago in 1924, the family was listening to the radio; Jim said he and Marian could do better than the musical act currently on the air. Jim's brother bet him $10 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|10|1924|fmt=c}} today) they could not. To win the bet, Jim and Marian went to WIBO, where they were immediately put on the air. At the end of the performance, the station offered the couple a contract for a weekly show, which paid $10 a week. The show's sponsor was [[Oh Henry!]] candy, and they appeared for 6 months on ''The Oh Henry! Twins'' program, switching to radio station WENR by 1927.<ref name=Air/><ref name=Star/>

When it seemed to the couple they were financially succeeding, they built a home in Chicago, which was a replica of their rented home, complete to building it on the lot next door. For their 1939 move to the West Coast, the Jordans selected an inconspicuous home in Encino. Some of Jim Jordan's investments included the bottling company for [[Hires Root Beer]] in Kansas City.<ref name=Time/>