First Aired: October 1st, 1952
Status: Ended
Genre: Drama
Network: ABC
Summary: Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, the series pioneered the use of anthology drama for company audio advertising. Cavalcade of America documented historical events using stories of individual courage, initiative and achievement, often with feel-good dramatizations of the human spirit's triumph against all odds. This was consistent with DuPont's overall conservative philosophy and legacy as an American company dating back to 1802. The company'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.
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# of Episodes: 131
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Season 4
Episode 2: The Texas Rangers
Air Date: September 27th, 1955
Summary: A phase of the work of the Texas Rangers in the late nineteenth century is described in a dramatization about J. L. Armstrong, the ranger who captured John Wesley Hardin on a train in Florida and thwarted the prisoner's efforts to escape during the long train journey from Florida to Texas.
Episode 4: Disaster Patrol
Air Date: October 18th, 1955
Summary: The work, organization, and purpose of the Civil Air Patrol is described in a dramatization about a CAP pilot in California who risks his life to fly doctors and emergency supplies into a canyon community seriously damaged by an earthquake.
Episode 5: The Swamp Mutiny
Air Date: October 25th, 1955
Summary: A historical drama showing how General Francis Marion, a colonial officer during the American Revolution, won the admiration and eventually the support of a young British officer who witnessed the general's tactical suppression of a mutiny among colonial volunteer soldiers. Setting: Georgetown South Carolina, in 1780.
Episode 7: One Day at a Time
Air Date: November 15th, 1955
Summary: This is the true story of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. The principals in the organization were two alcoholics, one a financial genius, the other a doctor. Both men's lives and careers were threatened by their drinking problem, until they found that by working together they could cure each other and other victims.
Episode 8: Crisis in Paris
Air Date: November 29th, 1955
Summary: A drama showing how Benjamin Franklin, an inexperienced diplomat and member of the American Commission to France, negotiated a treaty providing for French aid to the Colonies in their war with England. Setting: Paris, during the American Revolution.
Episode 10: Barbed Wire Christmas
Air Date: December 20th, 1955
Summary: A documentary drama about life in a German prison camp. When a group of GIs in a German prison camp in 1944 pool their resources in order to hold a Christmas Mass, the prison commandant not only permits the service to continue but, with the guards, joins the prisoners in their worship.
Episode 11: Postmark: Danger
Air Date: December 27th, 1955
Summary: The work of a postal inspector is described in a dramatization about two postal inspectors who expose the civilian supervisor of a prison mail room as an extortioner who has been using the mails to defraud the parents of servicemen reported missing during the Korean War.
Episode 13: The Prison Within
Air Date: January 17th, 1956
Summary: A girl is overcome with remorse when the soldier she refused to marry is killed in Korea. Her unusual guilt complex leads her to commit a series of crimes, for which she is imprisoned. Convicted forgery when she is paroled, her parole officer is troubled by her inexplicable behavior.
Episode 23: Who is Byington?
Air Date: May 22nd, 1956
Summary: Dramatized incidents portray the activities of newspaper correspondents in covering the battles of the Civil War, the rivalry which spurred them on, and the efforts of Homer Byington of the New York Tribune to follow the Battle of Gettysburg and telegraph the news to his paper.
Episode 24: The Boy Nobody Wanted
Air Date: May 29th, 1956
Summary: Billy Brandon's father is a good man, but also a professional gambler who doesn't have much time for his son. Left alone one day, he gets into a fight with a neighbor's boy who taunts him about his father being a gambler. The boy is accidently killed when he falls and hits his head. The boy's father, editor of the local newspaper, takes revenge by smearing Billy's dad in his paper. As a result, Nick Brandon is soon imprisoned and Billy is sent to an adoption agency. Luckily, he is adopted by an older couple and his life becomes filled with love. He grows to be an A student and a war hero. When his father is finally released from prison, Billy must make a hard decision.
Episode 25: The Major of St. Louis
Air Date: June 5th, 1956
Summary: Major Thomas D. Howie of the 3rd Battallion, 116th Infantry, 29th Division. He lies at rest between a Private and a General in the American Cemetery in Normandy, overlooking Omaha Beach. He was loved by his men, though an enigma to some, and loved reading verses from Edgar Lee Masters ""Spoon River Anthology"", ""These are the ghosts from the desolate coasts...would you go to them...only pursue them...whatever enshrined is within you ..is you.""
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