Editing Fibber McGee and Molly (section)

==From vaudeville to ''Smackout''==
<!-- Some of the refs indicate they went on the air first in Peoria, but they name the radio station as WIBO. A check of the history for long-defunct WIBO shows it was always in Chicago from its start to the end of the station. Unless/until I can find the name of the Peoria station they are said to have started at, I won't be referring to this. Found the WIBO connection now and added it.-->
''Fibber McGee and Molly'' originated when the small-time husband-and-wife [[vaudeville|vaudevillians]] began their third year as [[Chicago]]-area radio performers. Two of the shows they did for station [[WENR (Chicago)|WENR]] beginning in 1927, both written by Harry Lawrence, bore traces of what was to come and rank as one of the earliest forms of [[situation comedy]]. In their ''Luke and Mirandy'' farm-report program, Jim played a farmer who was given to [[tall tale]]s and face-saving lies for comic effect.<ref name=Air/> In a weekly comedy, ''The Smith Family'', Marian's character was an Irish wife of an American police officer. These characterizations, plus the Jordans' change from being singers/musicians to comic actors, pointed toward their future; it was at this time when Marian developed and perfected the radio character "Teeny".<ref name=Star/><ref name = "Barndance">{{cite web |url=http://www.wlshistory.com/NBD/ |title=WLS History-National Barn Dance-the Jordans |author=Childers, Scott |publisher=Childers, Scott |access-date=April 26, 2010 |archive-date=December 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208224421/http://www.wlshistory.com/NBD/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was also at WENR where the Jordans met [[Donald Quinn]], a cartoonist who was then working in radio, and the couple hired him as their writer in 1931. They regarded Quinn's contribution as important<ref name=QuinnNYT>{{cite news
   |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/12/31/archives/don-quinn-dead-top-radio-writer-creator-of-fibber-mcgee-and-molly-a.html
   |title=Don Quinn Dead; Top Radio Writer; Creator of 'Fibber McGee and Molly,' a 17-Year Hit
   |page=44
   |date=December 31, 1967
   |access-date=July 20, 2022
   |archive-date=July 20, 2022
   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720162218/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/12/31/archives/don-quinn-dead-top-radio-writer-creator-of-fibber-mcgee-and-molly-a.html
   |url-status=live
   }}</ref> and included him as a full partner; the salary for ''Smackout'' and ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' was split between the Jordans and Quinn.<ref name=Air/><ref name=Time/>

While working on the WENR farm report, Jim Jordan heard a true story about a shopkeeper from Missouri whose store was brimming with stock, yet he claimed to be "smack out" of whatever a customer would ask him for, though he always had tall tales in stock.<ref name=BritSmack>{{citation
   |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]
   |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Smackout
   |title=Smackout: American radio program
   |access-date=July 20, 2022
   |archive-date=July 21, 2022
   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721010332/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Smackout
   |url-status=live
   }}</ref> The story reached the halls of nearby [[Columbia College Chicago|Columbia College]], and the students began visiting the store, which they called "Smackout", to hear the owner's incredible stories.<ref name=Air/>

For station WMAQ in Chicago, beginning in April 1931, the trio created ''[[Smackout]]'', a 15-minute daily program that centered on a [[general store]] and its proprietor, Luke Grey (Jim Jordan), a storekeeper with a penchant for tall tales and a perpetual dearth of whatever his customers wanted: He always seemed "smack out of it".<ref name=Time>{{cite magazine
   |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,763865,00.html
   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310181935/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,763865,00.html
   |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 10, 2007 |title=Radio: Fibber & co. |date=April 22, 1940
   |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time magazine]] |access-date=March 5, 2011}}</ref> Marian Jordan portrayed both a lady named Marian and a little girl named Teeny, as well as accompanying the program on piano. During the show's run, Marian Jordan voiced a total of 69 different characters.<ref name=Air/> ''Smackout'' was picked up by NBC in April 1933 and broadcast nationally until August 1935.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/jordans/smackout.html
|title=Description of "Smackout" and downloadable audio files
|author=Samuels, Rich
|publisher=Samuels, Rich
|access-date=April 25, 2010
|archive-date=November 28, 2010
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128222137/http://richsamuels.com/nbcmm/jordans/smackout.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

One of the [[S. C. Johnson & Son|S. C. Johnson]] company's owners, Henrietta Johnson Lewis, recommended that her husband, John, Johnson Wax's advertising manager, try the show out on a national network. The terms of the agreement between S.C. Johnson and the Jordans awarded the company ownership of the names "Fibber McGee" and "Molly".<ref name=Time/>