The Sealtest Village Store
July 8, 1943 – June 28, 1945 · 14 broadcasts
Joan Davis was one of the very few female physical clowns network radio ever produced -- tall and loose-limbed, working a deliberately flat, honking voice against impeccable timing. The Sealtest Village Store is where she became a headliner. The show grew out of the Sealtest hour Davis had joined as a comic alongside Rudy Vallee and John Barrymore; when Barrymore died and Vallee left for the Coast Guard in 1943, the sponsor rebuilt the program around a small-town general store with Davis behind the counter -- a woman forever chasing men and pining for a steady beau. NBC, unconvinced a woman could carry a comedy alone, installed Jack Haley as co-lead and on-air foil. The doubt was misplaced: the Village Store was a ratings winner across both its seasons, and by 1945 Lever Brothers had signed Davis away on a million-dollar contract that briefly made her the highest-paid comic in the business. Thirteen broadcasts survive here, several as AFRS discs cut for the armed forces.
Episode Spine
Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.
1943
1944
1945
Joan Davis was one of the very few female physical clowns network radio ever produced -- tall and loose-limbed, working a deliberately flat, honking voice against impeccable timing. The Sealtest Village Store is where she became a headliner. The show grew out of the Sealtest hour Davis had joined as a comic alongside Rudy Vallee and John Barrymore; when Barrymore died and Vallee left for the Coast Guard in 1943, the sponsor rebuilt the program around a small-town general store with Davis behind the counter -- a woman forever chasing men and pining for a steady beau. NBC, unconvinced a woman could carry a comedy alone, installed Jack Haley as co-lead and on-air foil. The doubt was misplaced: the Village Store was a ratings winner across both its seasons, and by 1945 Lever Brothers had signed Davis away on a million-dollar contract that briefly made her the highest-paid comic in the business. Thirteen broadcasts survive here, several as AFRS discs cut for the armed forces.