Lights Out
Originally broadcast on NBC, 11 May 1938. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
The run
- Network
- NBC
- Years active
- 1935–1953
- Surviving broadcasts
- 1729
- Genre
- docudrama
The Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, then later changing to NBC, the series pioneered the use of anthology drama for company audio advertising.
1938 · 21937 · 41936 · 41935 · 2
Restoration quality — measured from the surviving files
Listenable · 45 of 45
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
Every broadcast below carries its own provenance sheet — transfer quality, file source and rights.Archive record: OTRR_Cavalcade_of_America_Singles
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
12 dated broadcasts across 19 years on the air, with 15 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
JFMAMJJASOND
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1935, in original transmission order.
- 1. CALV No Turning Back Sponsored by Bell Telephone · 6 Oct 1935
- 2. CALV Defiance of Nature · 18 Dec 1935
- 3. CALV Songs That Inspired the Nation · 4 Mar 1936
- 01
CALV No Turning Back Sponsored by Bell Telephone
6 Oct 1935 · 59 min
Broadcast 6 October 1935. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
- 02
CALV Defiance of Nature
18 Dec 1935 · 30 min
Broadcast 18 December 1935. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
- 03
CALV Songs That Inspired the Nation
4 Mar 1936 · 30 min
Broadcast 4 March 1936. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
- 04
CALV Hardiness
20 May 1936 · 30 min
Broadcast 20 May 1936. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
- 05
CALV The Evolution of Dance Music in America
26 Aug 1936 · 29 min
Broadcast 26 August 1936. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
- 06
CALV 060 The Story of Christmas Seals
9 Dec 1936 · 30 min
Transferred from the Internet Archive item “OTRR_Cavalcade_of_America_Singles”, part of the Old Time Radio Researchers public-domain collections.
- 07
CALV 072 National Parks Pioneers
2 Mar 1937 · 30 min
Transferred from the Internet Archive item “OTRR_Cavalcade_of_America_Singles”, part of the Old Time Radio Researchers public-domain collections.
- 08
Cavalcade Of America 083 Thomas AEdison The Man
19 May 1937 · 29 min
Broadcast on NBC. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Same night on the air
11 May 1938
Everything else the archive still holds from the night of 11 May 1938.
The Lone Ranger
Broadcast 11 May 1938. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Also on NBC
NBC in 1935–1953
Other series the network carried while Cavalcade of America was on the air.
Same seasons
docudrama on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The broadcast desk
Wartime correspondence and Cavalcade of America established the daily explainer and the narrated history hour long before either had a feed.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Cavalcade of America
Modern series carrying this form forward.
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