”The family that prays together stays together.”

Family Theater, an anthology drama created by Father Patrick Peyton of the Holy Cross Fathers as an effort to promote family prayer, made its debut over Mutual Radio (“the world’s largest network”) on February 13, 1947 and left the airwaves after an eight-year-run on July 4, 1956. Family Theater, despite its religious affiliation (strictly non-denominational, of course), was virtually indistinguishable from many of the other dramatic anthologies prevalent on radio at that time.

The program attracted much of Hollywood's big-name talent—Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck, Jack Benny, and Shirley Temple, to name a few—all freely donating their time, thus eliminating the need for hefty star salaries. It would have been difficult to pay all those performers, anyway—the show featured no commercials, only a weekly appeal touting the power of prayer. (“Family Theater…brought to you by PrayerCo…”)

The show frequently began with a famous quote by Alfred Lloyd Tennyson: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” Other taglines associated with the program include “A world at prayer is a world at peace” and “The family that prays together, stays together.” Both of these slogans were created by a man named Al Scalpone.

Loretta Young is probably the most well-known Hollywood performer associated with Family Theater, appearing on not only the show’s debut broadcast but making twenty-nine additional appearances as well (easily the program’s record). I tuned in to one of those performances last night, as Loretta was the narrator of “The Littlest Angel,” a pleasant semi-dramatization of the Charles Taswell story about a misfit cherub whose simple birthday gift to the Christ Child is more valuable than any of the other gifts offered by his angelic brethren and sistern. The program was originally broadcast December 21, 1949, and includes some gorgeous-to-hear choral numbers (“Carol of the Bells,” “What Child is This?”) orchestrated by Harry Zimmerman.

I enjoyed “Angel” so much that I listened to a second Family Theater afterward, a December 15, 1948 broadcast entitled “A Daddy For Christmas.” Hosted by Shirley Temple, it tells a sweetly simple story of a boy (Bobby Driscoll) who desperately wants a father as a Christmas gift. The story kicks off as he and his mother (Linda Johnson) are at a department store—the young boy sees Santa Claus and remembers there’s something important he needs to ask him: