My six-year-old daughter came up to my wife the other evening while doing her homework, and asked her to help spell Hal Stone’s name. Now for those of you not immersed in Old-Time Radio lore, Hal is the actor who portrayed the character of Jughead in The Adventures of Archie Andrews. Annie, always the curious sort, asked her why she needed to spell his name, whereby the Katester handed her the booklet she was writing in. The question written there was:

What famous person would you like to meet? Why?

My wife reminded her that she already met Mr. Stone (thick as thieves, the two of ‘em, after about five minutes), and Kate wandered off back to the table. After a bit of thinking, she called to Annie, “Have I ever met Bob Hastings?” Bob is probably best-known as Elroy Carpenter on McHale’s Navy, or for his long-running stint on General Hospital, but among his radio roles was the title role of Archie Andrews. When told that she had not yet met Mr. Hastings, she proceeded to sound out his name and write it in her book. Her answer to “Why?” “Because I think I would like him.”

So don’t let anyone kid you that Old-Time Radio is only for the over-fifty crowd. There’s at least one cute little redhead who thinks Archie and Jughead are pretty hot stuff.