Crossroads


Crossroads (sometimes referred to as At the Crossroads ) was a 1956 public service program to educate people about the Social Security program. These were real-life stories of people who have benefited from the various programs the Social Security offered for their financial welfare and security through hardships and other challenges. The host of the program was Broadway, radio, television, and movie actress Faye Emerson. She was a well-known personality, and was on television so often in the 1950s that she was called “The First Lady of Television.” From the sound of the program, it seems that the person was interviewed separately, as was Faye Emerson’s introduction and transitions, and then edited together. Charles Sho t tland, the Commissioner of Social Security, summarized the facts of the story and how people could ensure their financial futures by contributing to and later taking advantage of Social Security. The program was produced for the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare by the Center for Mass Communicatio n of Columbia University. In a strange paradox, Faye Emerson died at age 65, and was never really able to collect Social Security. * * * These recordings are part of the Joe Hehn Memorial Collection. Mr. Hehn (1931-2020) was a pioneering collector of radio recordings when the hobby emerged in the 1960s. Digitizing his collection of reel tapes and discs is the effort of a wide range of North American volunteers, and includes assistance of some international collectors. The groups supporting this effort with their funds, time, technology and skills are the Old Time Radio Researchers and a small group of transcription disc preservationists who refer to themselves as the "The Knights of the Turning Table."

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.