Just who sang the Jell-O jingle?

[kurt]

On the March 7, 1937 broadcast from New York, it's obvious that Don Wilson was one of the "Jell-O singers" at the top of the show.

Regular listeners to recordings of the Jell-O programs invariably observe that Kenny Baker sings the jingle, and later Dennis Day, although Baker's tenor is more prominent.

So did the entire cast sing the jingle, or was it a combination of the musicians, Kenny/Dennis/Don/Mary and occasionally Jack?

It seems the most trivial of questions, except that people who listen regularly inevitably want to know. And I don't have the answer myself.

There are some clues, though. For instance, in studio broadcasts in the 1930s and 1940s, the cast used exactly two microphones. Jack and Mary used one, everyone else used the other one. Does anyone really think Don would sprint to the mike after a chorus was finished? So that makes, at the least, Don and the tenor.

On one military base broadcast from World War II, it sounds as if the base glee club is singing it. By then, of course, the Jell-O jingle was a beloved national catchphrase.

[LLeff]

My theory is that the orchestra, and anyone else who could or wanted to sing and was standing away from a live mike, sang the Jell-O jingle. It often sounds (to me) like a larger crowd than just a quartet singing the jingle, and why bring 10 people out on stage who wouldn't otherwise be there? In the script, it is only identified as (SIGNATURE), with no line prompt for anyone in particular to perform it.

At least once, I thought I could hear Jack singing on the jingle. I think the melody is so simple and recognizable that it can sometimes inspire people jumping in on it, the way you might say the punchline of a joke with the comedian when you're familiar with the gag (e.g., "Si").

And as a side note, the Jell-O signature was written by Don Bestor.

[benny-allen fan]

on the 3/14/37 program Jack starts to sing it, Fred Allen interrupts him and they sing a parody of it at the end of the show.