Click HERE to listen to the Thrivo jingle,
sung by the Moylan Sisters!

Most recent update: Sept. 26th 2017

Peggy Joan Moylan passes away at age 85 on Sept. 6th, 2017
Read her full obituary here.

 



WATCH THE MOYLAN SISTERS ON YouTube!

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Moylan Sisters with their mother, in rehearsal for their radio program

(Added 6/10/07) Treasury Star Parade radio program #245
August 23, 1943
  
(Click record above to listen)


Films:
The Backyard Broadcast (1936)
Starlets (1937) - Directed by Joseph Henabery
Toyland Casino (1938) - Directed by Joseph Henabery
World's Fair Junior (1939) - Directed by Joseph Henabery

Radio Broadcast:

 

 Listen to the Moylans on another one of 1943's
Treasury Star Parade! (Click Here.)

 (DSL line or Cable Modem connection recommended.)
This program is 12 minutes long and uses RealOne© streaming software. (Free download.)

 1943 Wartime Calendar
(Click to enlarge)

Article:
Radio Parade Magazine, Jan.'41
Decca Records "School Days" 78 album brochure

Advertisements:
1941 Variety Ad

1947 Theater Performance Flyer

Photos:
Candid Photo of the Moylan Sisters, in rehearsal for their radio show
The Moylans with Ed McMahon, host of the Philadelphia television show
"Strictly For The Girls," in April 1951

Earliest known photo of the Moylan Sisters, ages 2 and 4
Promotional photo: circa 1942
Photo, promoting WWII War Effort

Photo, promoting the Moylan Sisters' 3rd year in radio
Photo from Song Hits Magazine, January 1942 issue

Photo from Radio Mirror Magazine, April, 1943 issue
Candid 1939 Photo at Sagaponack Beach, NY 
1949 Photo of the Moylans as teenagers
Sisters in Bonnets with Rascal
1940 Christmas Wishes Photo

Sheet Music:
Maybe

Mairzy Doats
The Woodpecker Song
Ferryboat Serenade
LIttle Sweetheart of the Valley
Lazy Lack-a-Daisy Melody
(Thanks to Arnie Feder)

This web page was created because there is virtually no information on the internet about the Moylan Sisters
- two talented little girls who sang on the radio back in the '30s and '40s.
Peggy Joan: 1/?/1932 -
Marianne: 7/16/1930- 7/25/1990
The sisters were first featured on the radio program: The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour,
and were soon give their own 15-minute network show at ages 5 and 7.
When they made their network debut with their own radio program in 1939,
they were 5 and 7 years old. The girls continued to perform through the WWII years, and stopped performing sometime after 1951.
At the height of their success, they had the #2 most popular show on radio, the first being "The Shadow".

The sisters appeared in four short films, "The Backyard Broadcast" (1936), "Starlets" (1937) (release #B33-34),
"Toyland Casino" (1938), and "Worlds Fair Junior" (1939) (Release #253-254), all for the Vitaphone Corporation.
The Moylan's had an amazing blend and uncanny pitch, with nary a trace of adult-like vibrato.
They were allowed to SOUND like children, unlike singing show-biz kids to come decades later, in musicals like "Annie".

People who remember the Moylans from their radio show, always seem to remember their Thrivo (dog food) commercial best:
" We feed our doggie thrivo - he's very much alive-o
Full of Pep and Vim
If you want a Peppy pup, you had better hurry up
Buy Thrivo for him."
Broadcast history:
Oct. 15, 1939-June 18, 1944 Blue Radio Network., 15 minutes
Sundays at 5 pm, 1939-43
Sundays at 12:45, 1944-45
Sponsored by Thrivo Dogfood, 1939-41.
Peggy Joan is still alive and living in New York State, but Marianne passed away in 1992.
The aim of this web page is to fill this void on a little-remembered singing duo from the past that deserves recognition.
This is just the beginning, so check this page regularly for more updates.
ABOUT Horn and Hardart Children's Hour

The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour (later known as The Children's Hour) was a variety show with a cast of children, including some who later became well-known adult performers.
Launched in 1927, the program was initially broadcast on WCAU Radio in Philadelphia, hosted by Stan Lee Broza, and was later aired on NBC Radio in New York during the 1940s and 1950s. The original New York host was Paul Douglas, followed by Ralph Edwards and finally Ed Herlihy.
The program was sponsored by Horn & Hardart, which owned automats in New York and Philadelphia. A number of performers became quite successful after their work on the Philadelphia TV series, including Ted Arnold (musical director for Glenn Yarbrough and José Feliciano), Frankie Avalon, Rosemary Clooney, Buddy DeFranco, Eddie Fisher, Kitty Kallen (1940s-1950s vocalist), Ann Sheridan, comedy actor Arnold Stang, Bernadette Peters, and Ezra Stone (radio's original Henry Aldrich).

Click HERE to listen to the Thrivo jingle, sung by the Moylan Sisters!

Moylan Sisters Decca 78 Discography:

3301A   A LAZY LACK-A-DAISY MELODY (1940)
3301B   LITTLE SWEETHEART OF THE VALLEY (1940)

3915A   SCHOOL DAYS / LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE (1941)
3915B   I DON'T WANT TO PLAY IN YOUR YARD / SMARTY (1941)   

3916A   HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1941)
3916B   FRECKLES (1941)

3917A   M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I (1941)
3917B   SIX TIMES SIX IS THIRTY SIX (1941)

251  Decca 78 Album No. 251 "Decca Presents SCHOOL DAYS"
( 3915, 3916, and 3917 are gathered in this 3-record set.)


If you have any other information about the Moylan Sisters, or information on more of their recordings, please contact me.
Contact webmaster Dana Countryman

Downloadable Mp3 Files

Musically, the songs that were chosen for the Moylans, smack of old-school vaudeville
and you can hear that turn-of-the-century style in these, their 78 recordings.

Download these MP3 files and have a listen for yourself.

Please take a listen to Peggy Joan and Marianne Moylan, 5 and 7 years old:

"Schooldays / Little Red School House"
"I Don't Want To Play In Your Yard / Smarty"
"Six Times Six IsThirty Six" (Thanks to Michele Caywood)
"M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I"    (Thanks to Michele Caywood)
"Little Sweetheart of the Valley"
"Lazy Lackadaisy Melody"
"Huckleberry Finn"
"Freckles
Moylan Fan Counter - You are visitor Number
Do you have Moylan Sisters memorabilia to share with others fans?
Contact webmaster Dana Countryman

Visit Dana Countryman's Web Page of Happiness

© 2004 Dana Countryman
Thanks to Michele Caywood, Michael Desky, Ray Flatow, Arnie Feder, Peter Muldavin: The Kiddie Rekord King, and Wayne Collins.

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