Radio stars (Oct 1937-Sept 1938)

RADIO STARS THRUIER^ ^^^fePicic Up Sticks TRy your luck and skill at this (ascinal.ns, intriguinj new 9ame. It's the big entertainment (ecture oi sotherings of every kind. Nothing can equal it fo sheer enjoyment, laughable tun. Play It at home. Lei the whole Family join. Try it on your friends. And get your set today, wherever toys ore sold. 25c, 50c, SI. Put 4-'i-6 on your Chriitmai List Manufoctored by T,fa IHhtr Hits O.SCHOENHUT r^^"^"'^iis INCORPORATED Philadelphia, Pa. THROUGH A WOMAN'S EYES fortunes 2 1* . . game of chance SI. 50 "Hard work's a pleasure," soys Allan Jones. Read his story in January RADIO STARS, out December first. Seni&tton&l SEND COUPON FOR ^LIPSTICKS AND REJUVIA MASCARA CREAM \ It's our treat! Let us you 3 full trial sizes ol^t famous FLAME-GL"0^^ Triple Indelible Lipsticks"' TREE . . . each in a different fascinating shade, so you can discover the color most becoming to you. To introduce our newest achievement, we will also send you a tube of REJUVIA Mascara Cream, with brush. It's Guaranteed Waterproof and Smear-proof; perfectly Harmless! Just send 10c in stamps to cover mailing costs. For beautv's sake, send coupon TODAY! TRIPLE "indelible 80 (Ciiiiliiuicd from f^ai/c 44) far all iiuman beings. The.sc traits not only give character to her face but also are responsible for the triumphs of her career. They account for the role of Mother Confessor which has been forced upon her h\ unseen enthusiasts, and for her hol)by. which is peoflc. She went on to elucidate it, sitting very erectly. \et without strain, as if she and correct ixisture had come to an understandins; lung ago. "If they give me half a chance, 1 can't resist trying to make people over. Girls, especially. Learning to dress according to their types, learning self-confidence, discovering chances to bmaden their lives — are what they need. The Cdst is little, the rewards so great. YiHi can't imagine how some of them improve !" in a hostess gown of dull blue lace, a shade darker than her eyes, she faced me across a low tea-table before the fireplace. The script of a recent broadcast la\' iin her lap. "There i> really nothing in my programs 111 incite personal revelations from my ;mdieiKe. Hut they do. It mystifies me, s. mu tinies. I am very impersonal. Now, take tlii^ unc." She lifted the typewritten p.'iges : "Man's inliuinanily to man is also iinin's inliiimanit\ to cliUdrcn. Today, at lulhao ■" 1 did ncit listen closely to her words, for 1 was making a discovery — her voice, as much as her phrases, I realized, charmed the invisible listeners. It mingles the wistfulness of Alexander Woollcott with the throaty sincerity of Aimee Semple McPherson in her " I-lcnozc-just-lum'yoii-fccl, dcav-jricud" mood. In moments iif restrained emotion. Miss Cravens' tones sink to a rich throb, a contagious throb. Beneath it all, one feels her great zest for living. Miss Cravens speaks in pictures. There is no need for her listeners to concentrate, to climb a fatiguing stairway of logic or reason. The script ripples on, a bit like a Mavch of Time, interspersed witli nidving human interest stories. Inf(>rniati(in and entertainment blend so sniiMiilily that the fifteen minutes seem a scant live. She laid tlie script upon the ivorynphiilstcnd (Ia\'cnp(irt upon wdiich she was sitting. It (iintinued tlie taupe, ivory and ureen-lihii cilor plan <jf the apartment. We spolve of Dcirolhy Thompson, aniillur wniiian v lio lias made a place for liersidf in a man's vocation. "I don't pretend t(i understand the politics behind the day's news. I am as puzzled as the next pci siin alxint the economic crisis, so I don't discuss it. Tlie abdii .aioii .Miss Thompson saw as affecting '.lie destiny of the r.ritisli I-'.mpire. I covered it from Queen Mar>'s point of view, a mother disappointcfl in her favorite son. All women can uiKlerstand that. My angle is always llie average woman's. "Women want to cry a little. They like human interest, first and last. Odd bits i)f information, touching the topics of the day, please them. Men, too. I am sur prised by the number of fan letters fror men, .And cliiklren. . . . After all, wh' doesn't like 'good theatre?' I try to giv it in every broadcast." Through the archway connecting th drawing-room with the entrance hal strolled a grave and slender young Iad> whom Miss Cravens introduced as he . niece. Her aunt is educating (and prob ably "making over") this nineteen-year old. While she searched the bookshelve beside the fireplace for a volume, we sa in musing silence. Why, I pondered, did Miss Craven bother to read each of the thousands o m fan letters, place herself in the positioi of the writer, and then conscientious!} dictate a lengthy answer? Older w-omen less attractive, acquainted with adversity might distress themselves with unknowns problems — for business reasons or froir sheer mellowness of heart. Miss Craven; appeared too young for such mellowness \\'hen her niece had found the desirec book and departed, I asked : "What route did \ou travel from a Western town of three hundred to an Eastern metropolis of millions? Why do you care, as I know you honestly do, what happens to these people \du never see? In other words, what explains r(7;<?" For a moment she paused in meditation, turning with a thumb the huge antique ring on her third finger. This was her only aimless motion of the evening. The topaz, reaching beyond the first joint, caught the light in pale yellow flashes. The story commenced in Burkett, Texas, then a small village circled by cotton fields. Kathryn's parents cared for the majority of the townspeople's needs. Her father, the sole physician, shared with her mother the responsibilities of the drug i and general dry goods stores. They maintained the post-oflSce. There were seven children, only one of whom had left home to support himself. Every penny was precious, yet the family was an unusually happ\ one. From her mother ( of Dutch-English strain, a descendant of Henry Hudson), Kathryn inherited her limitless reservoir of physical strength and determination. They are both blonde. Her mother was and still is a competent business woman. (Later in life, this mother of seven children ventured into connnercial photography. At fifty-three she investigated the joys of real estate, earning two thousand, five hundred dollars one month. Miss Cra\eiis related pridefully.) Courage to explore new fields has run throughout the daiigliter's career. Ilcr fatlur, ,i dark Irishman with Scotch blood, dcliglitcil in dramatic oratory and in philosophizing over the strange ways of the human species. During lengthy rides en route to his patients, he gave elo(|uent voice to his thoughts for his daughter, riding with him. In a venerable buggy the two traveled the flat roads of Texas, the little girl with yellow braids and sunburned fair skin, the gentle man with contemplative eyes of purple-blue.