1 April 1939 – Clellan hosts the “Second Annual Doughnut Dunking Jamboree” on Almanac of the Air. 2,000 people attend the radio show at 7:00 a.m. in the ballroom of the Nicollet Hotel.
13 May 1939 – The musical variety program Saturday Open House premieres on WCCO Radio from 9:15 to 10:00 a.m., with Clellan and Ed Gallaher as the announcers. Clellan is with the program for at least three years.
24 July 1939 – Clellan and Marion’s third (and last) son, Michael Satterlee Card, is born.
September 1939 – The Card family moves to 4814 Colfax Avenue South in Minneapolis, where they live until 1958.
25 September 1939 Clellan begins as host of the WCCO program Curfew Time, heard Mondays through Fridays at 10:15 p.m. The show always ended with a “Lars Lonelihearts” sequence in which Clellan – as Lars, with a heavy Scandihoovian accent – gave comic advice to the lovelorn.
3 November 1939 The afternoon program Ladies First is cancelled.
1 December 1939 The 1,000th broadcast of Clellan’s radio show Almanac of the Air is celebrated.
22 December 1939 – Clellan hosts the “Third Annual Christmas Serenade” on Almanac of the Air.
28 December 1939 Clellan performs “Sillyisms” at the Northrup, King & Co.’s Salesmen’s Dinner.
circa 1939 – 1940 CBS offers Clellan a job as a network announcer — but he declines, preferring to remain in his hometown of Minneapolis.
February 1940 The Minneapolis and St. Paul Shoppers conduct contests in which readers vote for their favorite local radio personalities. Clellan comes in a strong second (behind Cedric Adams) with 6223 votes.
Yep, that’s right! It’s a paper napkin from one of Clellan’s Donut Dunking Jamborees, held every year around April Fools Day. At the height of Clellan’s popularity in the late 30s and early 40s, these events attracted more than 2,000 people at 7:00 a.m.
30 March 1940 Clellan hosts the “Third Annual Doughnut Dunking Jamboree” on Almanac of the Air.
circa 1 April 1940 Clellan Card’s Laugh Book, a collection of jokes, is published by Northrup, King. Orders for it begin coming in at the rate of about 1,000 per day!
24 May 1940 It’s announced that the entire print run of more than 40,000 copies of Clellan Card’s Laugh Book is sold out.
circa June? 1940 Curfew Time is cancelled because Land O’ Lakes drops its sponsorship due to the cost of the show; WCCO is unable to find another sponsor.
circa late 1940? Clellan begins doing his “Birdie with a Yellow Bill” bit.
? December 1940 Clellan hosts the “Fourth Annual Christmas Serenade” on Almanac of the Air.
February 1941 It is announced that Clellan will be a member of the “Special Events and Features” committee for the 1941 Aquatennial.
1 April 1941 Clellan hosts the “Fourth Annual Doughnut Dunking Jamboree” on Almanac of the Air.
November 1941 Visitors to the Almanac of the Air program receive a membership card in “Ye Ancient Order of Chestnut Chasers” as a souvenir, often personally autographed by Clellan.
December 1941 Clellan records the “Kingscrost Lecture” in the WCCO Radio studio for a sales presentation by Northrup, King & Co. The transcription disc contains the earliest known surviving recording of Clellan as Axel.
24 December 1941 Clellan hosts the “Fifth Annual Christmas Serenade” on Almanac of the Air.
29 October 1942 Clellan and Cedric Adams head the Homecoming Rally evening program at the College of St. Thomas.
5 December 1942 Transcription discs of this Saturday Almanac of the Air program (and probably others) are recorded and sent to military radio stations for airplay. Soldiers later wrote letters describing how much these reminders of home meant to them.
10 February 1943 The 2,000th broadcast of Clellan’s radio show Almanac of the Air is marked, and it’s noted that Clellan has missed only 14 shows to date.
1943 Visitors to the Almanac of the Air program receive Just a Yawn at Dawn, a small joke booklet, as a souvenir.
circa 4 September 1943 Win with Vimms begins, a five-minute program with Clellan playing the top tune of the day.
circa 26 February 1944 Gab Session, “Clellan Card’s good humor show,” begins on Saturday mornings.
18 March 1944 Almanac of the Air is broadcast from the ballroom of the Nicollet Hotel for the benefit of the WAVES.
29 April 1944 The CBS network usurps the 7:00 a.m. time slot for a daily news program, and so Almanac of the Air is cancelled. Cedric Adams is a guest on this final program.
circa May 1944 Clellan is the host of the Super-Mix Vocal-Aires program on WCCO Radio, Wednesday – Friday from 6:45 – 7:00 p.m.
29 July 1944 Clellan is the Master of Ceremonies for the Saturday evening program of the Aquatennial Music Festival at the Lake Harriet Bandstand.
circa Autumn 1944 Clellan quits WCCO Radio and becomes a freelancer. WCCO’s arch-rival, KSTP Radio, quickly makes a deal for his services.
16 October 1944 Clellan Card and the News begins on KSTP Radio, airing Monday – Saturday from 12:30 – 12:45 p.m.
11 November 1944 Clellan is a guest on the Saturday Smorgasbord program on KSTP Radio, probably to promote his new morning program, Dunking at the Card Table, beginning the following Monday.
13 November 1944 Clellan begins as the host of the morning program Dunking at the Card Table on KSTP Radio at 7:45 a.m. Monday – Friday. The “Birdie with a Yellow Bill” and a Scandinavian character named “Lars Olson” are heard on the show.
23 July 1945 Clellan is the Master of Ceremonies for the evening program of the Aquatennial Music Festival at the Lake Harriet Pavilion.
25 July 1945 Clellan is the Master of Ceremonies for the Aquatennial Mayors Day banquet hosted by KSTP Radio.
12 October 1945 Clellan is the M.C. at the Homecoming bonfire at the College of St. Thomas.
31 December 1945 Dunking at the Card Table is cut to fifteen minutes, airing from 7:45-8:00 a.m., followed by Clellan Card’s Morning Gabfest from 8:15-9:00 a.m.
23 July 1946 Clellan Card and the News is cancelled, probably due to poor ratings.
circa September/October 1947 Clellan hosts the final Dunking at the Card Table program.
31 July 1947 Clellan’s return to WCCO Radio is announced.
1 September 1947 Clellan officially rejoins WCCO Radio.
September 1947 Clellan begins as the host of the WCCO Radio programs Man in the Street (broadcast Monday – Friday at 5:15 p.m.), Clellan Card’s Midnite Show, playing jazz records from 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Monday – Saturday, and perhaps Tunes and Topics, a morning music and chat show. Clellan also rejoins Open House on Saturdays from 9:30 to 10:00 a.m.
September? 1947 WCCO Radio holds a contest to rename Clellan Card’s Midnite Show, which is won by an insurance agent from Lake City, Minnesota. The new name of the show is Spinner Sanctum.
Tuesday 7 October 1947 Clellan is the co-host of the Quiz of the Twin Cities program by this time, heading the St. Paul team against Bob DeHaven who led the Minneapolis team.
Friday, 23 July 1948 Clellan joins Mayor Hubert Humphrey and other dignitaries in welcoming 36 Aquatennial Queen candidates to Minneapolis.
circa 1948 – 1950? Clellan is the host of the WCCO morning program The Marshall-Wells Show at 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. His Axel character is featured regularly on the show.
28 October 1948 The five candidates for St. Thomas Homecoming queen appear on Spinner Sanctum.
Summer 1949 Cracks by Card, another joke book, is published.
23 July 1949 Clellan is the announcer on “Aquatennial Time”, a special radio broadcast from 6:30-7:00 p.m. starring Bob Hope, Arthur Godfrey, and Cedric Adams.
July 1949 Clellan makes his first appearance on television, on KSTP-TV Channel 5. Clellan accompanies several Aquatennial Queen candidates to the studio and during the program the regular announcer, Bill Ingram, becomes ill — so Clellan is recruited to finish the show.
December 1949 Clellan is chosen to be Chairman of the Queen of the Lakes contest for the 1950 Aquatennial.
Tuesday 24 January 1950 Clellan is replaced by Stewart MacPherson as co-host of Quiz of the Twin Cities.
circa March 1950 Clellan becomes a freelancer again and begins appearing on WTCN Radio (and soon on WTCN-TV as well).
circa April? 1950 Clellan begins as co-host of the Card & Martin show, and host of Card Party and The Clellan Card Show on WTCN Radio. The Clellan Card Show is on Monday – Friday (?) from 7:30 to 7:45 a.m.
24 April 1950 Clellan begins as the announcer of The Whoopee John Show on WTCN Radio every Monday night. Card Party is heard in the same time slot Wednesday and Thursday nights.
circa 20 May 1950 Clellan hosts his last weekday Spinner Sanctum show on WCCO Radio.
circa 24 May 1950 Clellan begins hosting his first regular television show, the WTCN-TV program Stop, Look and Listen (also known as The Clellan Card Show) Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m.
1 June 1950 Clellan’s father, William H. Card, dies.
circa 23 June 1950 Clellan makes his last appearance on Top O’ the Town on WCCO Radio.
July 1950 Clellan chairs the Queen of the Lakes contest at the Aquatennial.
circa October? 1950 Clellan begins hosting another television show, the WTCN-TV program Sidewalk Interviews (also known as The Clellan Card Show) Monday-Friday at 12:15 (?) p.m.
8 January 1951 Clellan’s last Whoopee John Show as the announcer, at least for the time being.
circa January 1951? Card Party ends?
circa April -May 1951 Clellan is the emcee of the WTCN-TV program Keyhole Kalendar.
circa 8 August 1951 Clellan hosts the final edition of his WTCN-TV program Stop, Look and Listen.
May 1952 The Mel Jass Show premieres on WTCN-TV (Channel 4). Clellan probably was not involved with it at first.
11 July 1952 Clellan, Marion, and Michael go to Winona, MN, where Clellan does a show.
13 July 1952 Clellan interviews people at the Keller Golf Tournament and then goes to Shell Lake, Wisconsin, for a show.
15 August 1952 WTCN-TV Channel 4 purchases a controlling interest in WCCO Radio from CBS, and divests itself of WTCN Radio.
17 August 1952 WTCN-TV Channel 4 becomes WCCO-TV Channel 4, and Clellan remains with the renamed television station.
5 September 1952 Clellan hosts his TV program Sidewalk Interviews for the last time.
9 September 1952 Clellan and Marion’s oldest son Peter, 23, is killed in a military plane crash in Texas.
6 January 1953 Clellan and Marion’s second son John, 18, is killed in an automobile accident in Minneapolis.
The Early Days – Axel/Clellan Card timeline 1901-1938
TV Days 1953-1960 – Axel/Cellan Card timeline part 3
Photos courtesy of the Card family and the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting.