Ma Perkins was a radio serial which was heard on NBC from 1933 to 1949 and on CBS from 1942 to 1960. Between 1942 and 1949, the show was heard simultaneously on both networks. When Oxydol dropped its sponsorship in 1949, the show moved solely to CBS.
The show ran for 7,065 episodes and Ma Perkins was played the entire time by actress Virginia Payne. The character owned and operated a lumber yard in the small town of Rushville Center. The drama which resulted between her interactions with townsfolk, as well as the dilemmas of her three children, were much of the stories in the serial.
When the show finally ended on Thanksgiving Day, 1960, it was one of only eight entertainment shows still on the CBS radio network.
MaPerkins (sometimes called Oxydol's Own MaPerkins) was a radio soap opera which was heard on NBC from 1933 to 1949 and on CBS from 1942 to 1960.
Ma's daughter Evey Perkins was played by Kay Campbell, who later became known for playing Grandma Kate Martin on the television soap opera All My Children.
Early in the drama’s run Ma was portrayed as quite combative and spiteful, but her character soon developed (and softened) into the kindhearted sage and conscience of the entire community.
MaPerkins was the story of “America’s mother of the air,” a benevolent, self-sufficient widow who owned and managed a lumber yard in the fictitious town of Rushville Center.
As played by Virginia Payne, MaPerkins was kind and sometimes trusting to a fault.
MaPerkins and Virginia Payne were inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.
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