DuPont's motto, "Maker of better things for better living through chemistry," was read at the beginning of each program, and the dramas emphasized humanitarian progress, particularly improvements in the lives of women, often through technological innovation.[6][7][8]
DuPont's image problems led the company to promote some pacifist and socialist ideals. DuPont stipulated several topics would be taboo on the show, such as gunfire of any kind, which attracted writers such as Norman Rosten and Arthur Miller, who had signed the Oxford Pledge while at University of Michigan. For scripts, the program was also able to attract such prominent writers as Maxwell Anderson, Stephen Vincent Benét, Carl Sandburg and Robert Sherwood. Although Yale University historian Frank Monaghan signed on as an advisor to ensure historically accuracy of the scripts,[21] listeners were quick to point out anachronisms; trains did not use air brakes in 1860 instead used brakemen,[22] and Washington's troops could not have sung O Tannenbaum while crossing the Delaware since it was written forty-eight years after that event[23] making the program not have continuity.[5]
Cavalcade of America offered something different than the escapist entertainment, the sensationalized cries of soap operas, or the hard-boiled dialogue of crime thrillers. It offered a look back at American History.[10] Producers made careful decisions on scripts deliberately trying to avoid offending the affluent audience and not including people of color.[5] The show gained a wider audience giving producers confidence to do different story material. This produced stories from Hollywoodscreenwriters, film adaptions, and original works. SingerWoodie Guthrie performed on an episode titled Wild Bill Hickok: The Last Of Two Gun Justice in 1940.[24] In June 1944, producers thought about changing the program to a folksy serial and sought out stars and stories for its upcoming season.[25][26]
The premiere episode of Cavalcade of America titled No Turning Back starred Walter Hampden as Edward Winslow in part one and a farmer, a descendent of Winslow, in South Dakota in part two on October 9, 1935.[28]
In the summer of 1936 Cavalcade of America deviated from its normal storytelling to air music starting with The Development Of Band Music In America, Part 1: The Small Bands: Sousa, Gilmore And Pryor and ending with Music Of The Movies.[7] The September 1, 1936, episode opened with Gypsy Love Song from Victor Herbert's The Fortune Teller and featured from the Broadway plays On Your Toes and Florodora.[29]
The May 20, 1937, episode, the life of Thomas Edison, "Wizard of Menlo Park" aired. The Don Voorhees orchestra played.[30]
The February 28, 1950, episode Young Man In A Hurry told the story of Heinz Joseph Gerber's immigration to the United States, his determination to go to high school and graduate, go to college, and inventing the rubber ruler.[55][56] The December 17, episode titled Spindletop with stars Robert Cummings and Teresa Wright.[57]
Notable cast
This is the cast listing according to The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio.[58] Actor, announcer, and Game show host Bud Collyer remembered his time on the show.[59] Other announcers were on the show.[60] Hans Conried was in eight radio performances.[61]
DuPont, a chemical corporation that did not sell public goods, sponsored Cavalcade of America and integrated their company slogan and agenda into the inspirational and pro-American achievement themes of each episode.[62]
A world-class PR firm helped DuPont shake the “merchant of death” label, and it remained a sponsor for a top radio program.[63]
Cavalcade of America was an early exercise in corporate image-building. DuPont promoted itself as a hero for America. This type of propaganda was shrewd but effective; it put a corporate image behind the real-life heroes that lived a century before. One way DuPont was able to emphasize its own products in episodes of Cavalcade of America was by having health-related episodes that promoted the use of chemical-compound products manufactured by DuPont. This was not necessarily advertising, since individuals could not go to the store and purchase these chemical items.[62]
According to DuPont public relations executives, the goal was not to directly sell their products, but rather to explain the company's goals and foster the confidence, respect and goodwill of the public. By recreating little-known events in the lives of historically respected Americans through dramatizations, Cavalcade of America caused listeners to associate DuPont's products with patriotism and self-reliance. The series also gave history and chemistry more prestige than it would have otherwise had. By making the show thrilling, but not over-sensationalized, DuPont was able to better its own branding and get away from being perceived as a military-only company.[64]
Nylon show
At the World's Fair in New York City in 1939, DuPont introduced nylon women's hosiery.[65] On May 15, 1940, DuPont made nylon women's hosiery available to the public and began an advertising blitz. The day was designated "N-day" by DuPont's marketers, and an entire episode of Cavalcade of America was markedly different: DuPont selected a "typical" housewife to interview G.P. Hoff, Director of Research of DuPont's Nylon Division. In the rigged interview, Hoff expounded at length on the virtues of nylon. Eager to purchase nylon hose, thousands of women waited in lines for department stores to open the following morning. 750,000 nylons had been manufactured for N-Day, but all were sold on the first day they went on sale.[66][67]
September 29, 1953 (1953-09-29)– March 30, 1957 (1957-03-30)
In the 1950s, DuPont switched its advertising strategy from radio to television, and Cavalcade of America became a television series mainly produced by Jack Chertok. One hundred and thirty-one episodes were aired over five seasons between 1952 and 1957. During a six-month period, the television and radio series overlapped. The show was telecast on both NBC (1952–53) and ABC (1953–57). It was renamed DuPont Cavalcade Theater in August 1955, and it was known as DuPont Theater during its last year. In the 1957 fall season, it was replaced by DuPont Show of the Month, a 90-minute live dramatization of popular novels and short stories or abridged versions of films and plays. That series ran until 1961.[citation needed]
While hiding a messenger beneath the floor of her cabin in Georgia, Nancy Hart (Blake) is forced to protect the messenger when tories come to her cabin.
A school principal (Picerni) goes out of his way for a student accused of robbery even when the school's lunch line register has money come up missing.
Story by: William E. Barrett, William Koenig, & Richard Bluel Teleplay by: Gabrielle Upton
February12,1957(1957-02-12)
When a bony college student forces himself too much and ends up dead, his mother tells the star athlete they were friends when in reality they were not.
Martin Grams, Jr.'s history of Cavalcade of America was published in 1998.
During the late 1930s, Dixon Ryan Fox, Arthur Meier Schlesinger, and William Sanderson edited a series of books based on the series published by Milton Bradley Company.[77] In 1956, the series was adapted into a book, Cavalcade of America: The Deeds and Achievements of the Men and Women Who Made Our Country Great. Chapters covered such historical figures as Abraham Lincoln, telegraph organizer Hiram Sibley, engineer James Eads, John Quincy Adams fighting the gag rule and Clara Barton's career that led her to head the American Red Cross.[78]Martin Grams, Jr.'s The History of the Cavalcade of America features episode guides for both the radio and TV series.[79]
↑ Alatzas, Trif (April 29, 1999). "DuPont touts 'miracles'". The News Journal. Gannett. We need to get away from the word 'things,' " DuPont Chairman and Chief Executive Charles O. Holliday said. "Because we're also about providing knowledge.
↑ Mebane, Bob (April 1, 2012). "Remembering a Forgotten Legend"(PDF). The Citadel Memorial Europe. The Citadel Memorial Foundation. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
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