The run
- Network
- Mutual
- Years active
- 1940–1950
- Surviving broadcasts
- 82
- Genre
- mystery
(82 Episodes) UPDATE 2011-03-14: 14 additional episodes UPDATE 2010-07-13: 19 additional episodes "Five Minute Mysteries" was broadcast on the MBS (Mutual Broadcasting System) from 1947-08-10 thru to 1950-03-27. Listening carefully to every word spoken about these terrific (but brief) mysteries was essential, as each mystery was very well written. Digitised by the Old Time Radio Researchers and streamed from the Internet Archive item “FiveMinuteMysteries”; these recordings are in the public domain.
Source collection
Internet Archive audio collections
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
0 dated broadcasts across 11 years on the air, with 11 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from NaN, in original transmission order.
- 1. Min #025 Signal Block · Date unknown
- 2. Min #051 Broken Wheel · Date unknown
- 3. Min #006 (Update) Murder on Diamond Row (aka Allure on Diamond) (aka #106 Murder in Blue) · Date unknown
- 01
Min #025 Signal Block
Date unknown · 5 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 02
Min #051 Broken Wheel
Date unknown · 4 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 03
Min #006 (Update) Murder on Diamond Row (aka Allure on Diamond) (aka #106 Murder in Blue)
Date unknown · 5 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 04
Min #067 (Update) The Scientific Clue (aka Daughter Murders Father)
Date unknown · 4 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 05
Min #111 Murder n Cairo
Date unknown · 5 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 06
Min #126 Murder Under Tent
Date unknown · 4 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 07
Min #292 (Update) The Chloroform Murder
Date unknown · 2 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 08
Min #045 (Update) Lady Garage Mechanic (aka #044 Methodical to a Fault) (aka Squealing Gearshift)
Date unknown · 5 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Also on Mutual
Mutual in 1940–1950
Other series the network carried while Five Minute Mysteries was on the air.
Same seasons
mystery on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The twist in the last minute
A tidy situation, a slow tightening, and one line at the end that rearranges everything. The Whistler and The Unexpected built the whole architecture around the reveal.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Five Minute Mysteries
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
More to explore
Chosen by the same editors.
