Radio Soap Opera

Painted Dreams (WGN)/Today's Children (NBC)

The message of Today's Children was that of Painted Dreams: marriage is a woman's finest career.

When Frances, the elder daughter and an aspiring artist, complained that she did not see why a wedding ring should interfere with "the realization of the dream that I've been painting almost all my life," Mother Moran replied: "Frances, you are paintin' your dreams, yes. And you hold the brush and must be choosin' the colors to use. But when you're paintin' your dreams, be careful of the colors you're goin' to be usin', 'cause sometimes you make a mistake, and the colors that you think are goin' to look good don't look so good in the finished picture. Now, Frances, darlin', let me be sayin' just one more thing to ya. There are three colors that have stood the test of all time. They are the colors that are the foundation of all dreams of all the men and women in the world—the colors of love . . . family . . . home."

Mother Moran explained her principles to a feminist this way:

"In your plan, women wouldn't be havin' time to be havin' children and keepin' a home . . . I'm thinkin' that a country is only as strong as its weakest home. When you're after destroyin' those things which make up a home, you're destroyin' people."

Our Gal Sunday

Our Gal Sunday announced itself as "the story of an orphan girl named Sunday, from the little mining town of Silver Creek, Colorado, who in young womanhood married England's richest, most handsome lord, Lord Henry Brinthrope. The story asks question, "Can this girl from a mining town in the West find happiness as the wife of a wealthy and titled Englishman?"

QuickTime file.

Radio Soap Opera Dialogue (pdf format)

Bibliography:

Edmondson, Madeleine and David Rounds. From Mary Noble to Mary Hartman: The Complete Soap Opera Book (New York: Stein and Day, 1976).

Last revised: April 11, 2007