Marine Major William Hendrick and a group of Los Angeles Marine reservists began the Toys for Tots program in 1947. In civilian life, Hendrick was the Director of Public Relations for Warner Brothers Studio, so it wasn’t hard for him to get celebrities to record messages for the program, or to have Warner Brothers records release these messages to radio stations. The first appearance of Jimmy Stewart that we have been able to document was on this early 1960’s 7-inch, 45 RPM disc (Warner Brothers PRO 119/120):
Appearing with Mr. Stewart were Bob Conrad, Will Hutchins. Connie Stevens, Clint Walker, Jack Webb and Natalie Wood.
Here is Jimmy’s message:
