Radio: Boston’s Bonds

Gruff F. P. A. (Franklin Pierce Adams) opened his mouth, beat out a section of the William Tell overture on his teeth with a pencil. Rumpled John Kieran murmuring “where do you find the bass?” tremoloed Sleepy Hills of Tennessee on a borrowed accordion. Oscar Levant, somewhat nervous, sashayed through a couple of Gershwin preludes on the piano. Clifton Fadiman played pitchman.

For the first time in its four and a half years, Information Please went on the road last week. Its four wise men plugged war bonds before 2,700 Bostonians at Boston’s Symphony Hall. As usual, the troupe breezed through their question-&-answer broadcast with scarcely a miss, as did their Bostonian guest star, beaming young U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.

The beautifully bred audience, which filled the house at $50 (in war bonds) to $5,000 a seat, responded by laying $4,036,000 on the line without a murmur—radio’s biggest war-bond take for a one-night stand. Average purchase: $1,495. One enraptured dowager shelled out $70,000.