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Thanks

Mail Call from the United States of America was primarily played to the American soldiers of WWII and featured an amazing array of celebrities. Some of the best and brightest stars of radio came out to entertain our men in uniform when they needed it most. The guest stars include comedians Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Tito Guizar and Groucho Marx; starlets Dinah Shore, Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis, and Judy Garland; and comic duos Burns and Allen, among others.

Then men who served in the military during WWII could request stars that they wanted to hear on the show. The show is primarily comedy to help the soldiers forget about their wartime woes and remember the America they were fighting to preserve.

See also the Command Performance and Request Performance.

Click here to read more about Mail Call

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Please enjoy these 49 old time radio episodes:

Air Date	Title	Synopsis
04.25.1949	frances gifford danny thomas	+ Program #340. AFRS origination. The first tune is, "Temptation." Danny Thomas does a comedy routin...
10.13.1948	peggy knutson orson welles betty grable	+ Program #320. AFRS origination. The King Sisters start the show with, "The Isle Of Capri."
01.22.1947	gloria dehaven groucho marx bing crosby	+ Program #231. AFRS origination. The program sounds like a series of recordings from earlier broadc...
06.03.1946	yvonne de carlo fred macmurray david street
05.20.1946	george murphy virginia obrien burns and allen
03.27.1946	groucho marx kenny baker kathryn grayson	+ Program #188. AFRS origination. Kenny Baker starts the program with, "With A Song In My Heart." Gr...
05.16.1945	betty grable george jessel mills brothers	+ Program #145. AFRS origination. Betty Grable sings, "Acapulco."
05.01.1945	bob hope clark gable may whitty margaret obrien	+ Program #143. AFRS origination. Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra start the program with, "Till Tomo...
04.25.1945	betty hutton frank sinatra king sisters	+ Program #142. AFRS origination. Betty Hutton starts the program with, "Stuff Like That There." Fra...
04.18.1945	ginny simms robert benchley harold peary	+ Program #141. AFRS origination. Ginny Simms sings, "In The Still Of The Night." Robert Benchley le...
04.11.1945	judy garland merry macs bob hope	+ Program #140. AFRS origination. Judy Garland sings, "Love." Judy wishes for Clark Gable to visit, ...
04.04.1945	jack carson dick powell smart set	+ Program #139. AFRS origination. The first tune is, "Exactly Like You." Claire Trevor recalls "Murd...
03.28.1945	bette davis bing crosby barry fitzgerald jack benny	+ Program #138. AFRS origination. A program featuring winners of the 1944 Academy Awards. The first ...
03.21.1945	frank morgan harpo marx burns and allen rita hayworth	+ Program #137. AFRS origination. Joan Merrill appears for the first time on the program and sings, ...
03.14.1945	nelson eddy cass daley andrews sisters	+ Program #136. AFRS origination. Nelson Eddy sings, "Rise and Shine." Jerry Lester, the famous surg...
03.07.1945	jack benny paulette goddard claudette colbert	+ Program #135. AFRS origination. The Smart Set sings, "El Rancho Rio Grande." Jack gets four dates ...
02.28.1945	dick haymes king sisters jimmy durante	+ Program #134. AFRS origination. A tribute to the Seabees. Dick Haymes sings, "Accentuate The Posit...
02.21.1945	jack carson frances langford jerry colonna	+ Program #133. AFRS origination. Frances Langford sings, "There Goes That Song Again."
02.07.1945	edgar bergen ingrid bergman marion hutton	+ Program #130. AFRS origination. Marion Hutton sings, "Let's Do It." The Eddie Heywood Sextette is ...
02.01.1945	dinah shore nat king cole dorothy lamour	+ Program #132. AFRS origination. The first tune is, "The Man On The Little White Keys." The date ab...
01.31.1945	june allyson ozzie nelson danny thomas	+ Program #129. AFRS origination. The date above is the recording date. The program was released in ...
01.11.1945	afrs 126 ann rutherford lena horne	+ Program #126. AFRS origination. The date above is the recording date. The program was released in ...
01.10.1945	ann rutherford johnny mercer	+ The King's Men, The Sons Of The Pioneers,
12.27.1944	afrs 125 dinah shore jimmy durante	+ Program #125. AFRS origination. The date above is the recording date. The program was released in ...
10.25.1944	afrs 115 tallulah bankhead danny kaye	+ Program #115. AFRS origination. A salute to the British First Airborne Division. The Pied Pipers s...

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Mail Call was an American radio program that entertained American soldiers from 1942 until 1945, during World War II. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas A.H. Lewis (the commander of the Armed Forces Radio Service) wrote in 1944, "The initial production of the Armed Forces Radio Service was 'Mail Call,' a morale-building half hour which brought famed performers to the microphone to sing and gag in the best American manner." The program featured popular entertainers of that day, such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, and Dinah Shore, performing musical numbers and comedy skits to boost the morale of soldiers stationed far from their homes. Lewis added, "To a fellow who has spent months guarding an outpost in the South Seas, Iceland or Africa a cheery greeting from a favorite comedian, a song hit direct from Broadway, or the beating rhythm of a hot band, mean a tie with the home to which he hopes soon to return. Mail Call and other AFRS programs were produced in Los Angeles, California, with the organization's headquarters at 6011 Santa Monica Boulevard.

MAIL CALL