Back in the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, Aunt Jenny was what some would now refer to as a “wing woman.” As narrator and hostess of Aunt Jenny’s Real Life Stories, a radio soap opera that debuted in 1937, she not only served as a catalyst between the listener and the characters (with their rapidly advancing plotlines that usually began and ended within a five-day period), but she also nurtured a very trusting consumer-product relationship for her serial show sponsor, Spry shortening.

At the beginning of each Aunt Jenny episode, she and her program announcer, Dan Seymour, caught listeners up on the goings on between residents in the town of “Littleton.” But before segueing into the melodramatic acting sequences, she also gave her audience “recipes of the day,” all of which contained Spry shortening as a key ingredient.

The program ran for 19 years, and more than many other serials, buoyed the sales of its sponsor throughout the entire course of its run.

Aunt Jenny, played deftly by voice actress Edith Spencer, was also featured in print ads published in Ladies Home Journal, McCall’s, and Good Housekeeping. Spencer also encouraged readers and listeners to send in the cooking conundrums (problems with pie crusts, keeping cakes from sticking to their pans, etc.) and recipe requests, which would either be featured in her
print ads or on air.

As the trusted voice of Spry, Spencer as Aunt Jenny created a listener-host relationship that is enviable even today.