Smackout

The radio show Smackout revolves around a general store in Chicago and its customers. Outside of its customers, Smackout mainly stars Jim Jordan's character of Luke Gray who is known affectionately as Uncle Luke. Luke is the grizzled old proprietor of the general store located in the small community of Smackout Corners.[3] In their exhaustive biography of Jim and Marian Jordan, historians Tom Price and Charles Stumpf describe the character of Luke; "His favorite pastimes were whittling and pitching horseshoes, which he would rather do than tend to the store. Frequently, Luke would deny that the store was open, and almost always told customers he was 'smack out' of whatever it was they were asking for ..... However, he was always well-stocked with a goodly supply of tall tales, such as the one about the time he taught some woodpeckers to tap out messages into Morse code, and another one about the time he grew square tomatoes to use in bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches.[4]"

In addition to playing Luke, Jim Jordan also played the radio version of himself, a young Smackout Corners regular known only by the name of "Jim". Jim would enliven the episodes by singing while his girlfriend Marian, played by his real-life wife Marian Jordan, accompanied him on the store's piano. Jim and Marian Jordan provided voice of all the characters on the series. Jim's larynx contained such personalities as Augie Pigmeyer, the German immigrant farmer, village idiot Perky McSnark; local conman Squire Lovejoy; and Luke's old crony, Mort Toops. In addition to playing Marian, Marian Jordan also played the roles of Teeny, a young girl who always "bothered the whey out of" crusty old Luke, Mrs. J. High-Hat Upson, Widow Wheedledeck, and Bertha Boop. It was estimated that during the four-and-a-half-year run of the series, between the Jordans provided voices for 150 characters during the series.[5]

In 1931, the Jordans hired Donald "Don" Quinn to serve as their writer for The Smith Family. Quinn was an out of work cartoonist who was then working in radio for WENR. And it was 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. The story reached the halls of nearby Columbia College, and the students began visiting the store, which they called "Smackout", to hear the owner's incredible stories.[6]

Quinn and Jordan decided to take their idea of Smackout to Chicago station WMAQ which had just recently became an affiliate of the National Broadcasting Company.[14] Smackout premiered on March 2, 1931 under the title Smackout – The Crossroads of the Air.[15] The series was set in a rural hamlet and revolved around the operation of a general store and its owner who always refuses services to his customers but never refuses to tell the customers a good tall tale.[16]

The series was broadcast on a sustaining basis. However, the ratings were just as good as if the show was sponsored. Ratings were so good that NBC decided to syndicate it nationally over its Blue Network beginning in April 1933.[17]

In 1933, Mrs. Henrietta Johnson Lewis (or Louis depending on certain sources) took an interest in Smackout and, more importantly, Quinn and the Jordans. Lewis was the daughter of an executive at the Johnson Wax Company and saw potential in the power trio. At that same time, Johnson Wax was looking for a new program to sponsor. Lewis saw potential in the Jordans and decided to give them a show of their own entitled Fibber McGee and Molly with Quinn serving as head writer.[18][19][20] The character of Luke Gray was the basis of the Fibber McGee character and the character of Teeny was brought on to the series virtually unchanged. The start of Fibber McGee in April 1935 was the end of Smackout which broadcast its last episode on August 31, 1935.[21]

Jim and Marian Jordan played and provided voices for all the characters on the series. It is estimated that they provided voices to over 150 characters during the entire run of the series. Below is a list of all the main and supporting characters they portrayed during the course of the series;

Jim Jordan:

• "Uncle" Luke Gray[note 1][22] - The main protagonist of the series, Luke Gray, affectionately known as Uncle Luke, is the proprietor of the Smackout Corners General Store. Luke usually claims that the store is smack out of whatever a customer would ask for sometimes even claiming the store was closed when it was obviously open.[23]
• Augie Pigmeyer- A German immigrant farmer and regular customer.
• Perky McSnark - The village idiot.
• Squire Lovejoy - A notorious con-man.
• Mort Toops - A recurring character of the series. Toops is an old crony of Luke's.[note 2]

Marian Jordan:

• Teeny[note 3] - A little girl and a regular customer of Luke's. Teeny is Luke's precocious[24] and incredulous[25] little friend.
• Mrs. J. High-Hat Upson - A regular, who saw herself as upper-class and superior to the rest of the community.[note 4]
• Widow Wheedledeck - A recently widowed regular.
• Bertha Boop - A regular.
• Mrs. Bedelia Thomas[26]
• Geraldine[26]

In addition to the litany of fictional characters, Jim and Marian also appeared as semi-fictional versions of themselves, portraying themselves as regulars at the store. It was under their own identities that the duo often performed musical pieces, with Jim singing and Marian at the piano.

During its whole run, Smackout was broadcast Monday through Saturday at 2:30 pm EST, 1:30 pm Chicago time.[27]

Author Laura L. Enright in her book Chicago's Most Wanted™: The Top 10 Book of Murderous Mobsters, Midway Monsters, and Windy City Oddities ranked Smackout The number 8th Chicago-based radio show of all time.[28]

• Cheese Shop sketch
• “Olympia Café”