Super Photo Challenge

[shimp scrampi]

The side-by-side of Mahlon is getting me more convinced on 2.

More convinced that it IS Mahlon, Laura? I'd almost written that off as a possibility.

So I just E-mailed Jeanette to see if she can help us out.

How frickin' cool is that, folks?

[LLeff]

Now...just how frickin' cool is THIS? From Jeanette Eyemann:

> Hi, Laura.
> Yes, that's me on the right. Egad! Did I ever look that young? I
> wondered why my posture was so bad and then I noticed that I'm holding
> my briefcase which always weighed about 40 pounds with all the scripts I
> squeezed into it.
> Now for the others you wondered about. Since this was a picture of the
> cast of the radio show, I'm pretty sure that the man between Artie
> Auerback and Don Wilson is Bob Ballin who was the producer of the show.
> That was back in the days when the Advertising agency produced the show.
> I worked for Bob Ballin for a couple of years at the advertising agency
> (Ruthroff and Ryan) and he was the one who indirectly was responsible
> for my winding up as Jack's Script Secretary.
> The other man you were wondering about - between Tack and Sara is Burt
> Scott, Jack's personal secretary. He was with Jack for ages and stayed
> as his personal secretary up until he (Burt) died.
> Hope this helps a little.
> Always nice to hear from you.

[shimp scrampi]

Wow, that is so great! Please pass along many thanks and well wishes to Jeanette for us Laura! How amazing to have someone actually IN the picture chime into our discussion.

I seem to remember the name of Burt Scott and discussion of him as Jack's older personal secretary cropping up somewhere before, in a TIMES piece or chat; wonderful to see a confirmed picture of him.

And Bob Ballin's a good reminder of the role of the ad agency in production (notoriously, "Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn").

This definitely made my day!

[shimp scrampi]

I have been updating/editing the first post in a kind of sloppy way to preserve where our "blanks" were, and to give credit where it was due, but here's a clean "final" list, just pending any additional information on #21 coming to light:

1. Artie Auerbach
2. Bob Ballin (producer)
3. Don Wilson
4. Phil Harris
5. Jack Benny
6. Hilliard Marks
7. Mary Livingstone Benny
8. Dennis Day
9. Frank Nelson
10. Eddie Anderson
11. George Balzer
12. Milt Josefsberg
13. John Tackaberry
14. Gurney Bell
15. Burt Scott (Jack's secretary)
16. Marty Sperzel
17. Sara Berner
18. Bill Days
19. Sam Perrin
20. Max Smith
21. Peter Leeds ? (still some debate about this one)
22. Mel Blanc
23. Jeanette Eymann

[TheSportsmenQuartet]

I would be curious to know why Mahlon Merrick wasn't in the photo.