Box 13 Radio 1948 (ep01) The First Letter

"Adventure wanted -- will go anywhere, do anything -- Box 13."
The premise of the program was that Dan Holiday was an author who wrote mystery novels. To get ideas for his novels he placed an advertisement in a newspaper saying "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything, Box 13." The ads always brought fun adventures of all kinds: from racketeer's victim to psychotic killer looking for fun. Most of the episodes were based on Dan Holiday replying to a letter he received at Box 13.

He would generally solve a mystery in the process, and return to his office in time to enjoy a hearty laugh at the expense of Suzy, his amusingly stupid secretary. He would certainly not meet the strictest requirements for private eyes (not licensed, collected no fees from clients), but the definition should stretch to sneak him in under the rope.

In total there were 52 episodes of this radio program created. It was heard over the Mutual Broadcasting System as well as being syndicated. The series was produced by Mayfair Productions.

Box 13, starring Alan Ladd as Dan Holiday. Sylvia Picker played Suzy, Dan Holiday's secretary and Edmond MacDonald as Lt. Kling. Other stars in the series were Betty Lou Gerson, Lurene Tuttle, Alan Reed, Luis Van Rooten, John Beal and Frank Lovejoy. Music was by Rudy Schrager and the writer was Russell Hughes. Announcer/Director was Vern Carstensen. The series was produced by Richard Sanville with Alan Ladd as co-producer.