Children had been playing this game for years before it made the airwaves. One child would think of something, and then the other(s) would ask questions to try to narrow down and finally guess what that person was thinking about. One of the first questions usually asked was “is it animal, vegetable or mineral?”
Fred Van Deventer, a newsman on radio station WOR in New York City, adapted the game for radio. He was also a member of the panel on the program. Joining him were his wife, who appeared under her maiden name of Florence Rinard, his son, Robert, known as Bobby McGuire on the show, and sometimes his daughter, Nancy. Herb Polesie was the show’s producer and sometimes also acted as a panelist.
Jimmy Stewart was the guest on May 16, 1953. At that time the show was being sponsored by Wildroot Cream Oil and was broadcast by the Mutual Network on Saturday evening from 8-8:30 p.m. Frank Waldecker was the program’s announcer and Jay Jackson was the moderator. The panelists that evening were Fred Van Deventer, Florence Rinard, Herb Polesie and Johnny McPhee, an award winning American author.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, used a photo of Stewart in its ad for the program:
They also played up the notion that this was Stewart’s first radio appearance as a guest panelist, as did Bill Doudna in is “Spotlight” column:
It fact, this wasn’t true at all. Stewart had been on several panel shows before this, including Information Please (January 22, 1947), It Pays to Be Ignorant (January 24, 1947) and Let’s Talk Hollywood (July 4, 1948).
The preview with the most helpful information about the show appeared in the Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, WI:
This final article, from the May 13, 1953, edition of the Albany Democrat-Herald, Albany, OR, has more information about the program and several awards it would be receiving during May.
Unfortunately for Stewart fans, this program is not available. A photo of Stewart with the Van Deventers’ is included below.
