Box 13
Box 13 gives Alan Ladd’s Dan Holiday a beautifully efficient reason to walk into trouble: the former newspaperman turned novelist advertises for “adventure” so he can gather material for fiction. Every letter sent to Box 13 can therefore launch a completely different kind of case.
Where to Start
Researched entry points from recordings already in the Golden Radio Hour archive.
The First Letter
This is an early surviving broadcast in the GRH holdings and gives a useful point of comparison within the surviving material.
Episode details →Flash of Light
This is a middle-period broadcast in the GRH holdings and gives a useful point of comparison within the surviving material.
Episode details →Round Robin
This is a later surviving broadcast in the GRH holdings and gives a useful point of comparison within the surviving material.
Episode details →Program History
Alan Ladd stars as writer Dan Holiday, who advertises for unusual adventures under the address 'Box 13' and turns the replies into dangerous real-life cases.
Transcribed mystery-adventure series starring Alan Ladd as writer Dan Holiday.
The run breaks into several distinct periods: West Coast Mutual run (March 15, 1948 to March 7, 1949) on Mutual Broadcasting System and East Coast WOR schedule (August 22, 1948 to August 14, 1949).
Names that turn up again and again in the surviving run include Alan Ladd (performer), Rudy Schrager (composer and conductor), Vern Carstensen (production supervisor and performer), Sylvia Picker (performer), Richard Sanville (director), Russell Hughes (writer, radio adaptor, and director), and Edmond MacDonald (performer).
Across its run, the surviving broadcasts are tied to Mayfair and Mutual Broadcasting System.
The stories often return to adventure assignment, investigation and detection, murder and homicide, fraud, theft and deception, blackmail and extortion, and treasure and valuables.
The show also sits in a wider radio history that includes Transcription syndication and multi-market scheduling, Film-star independent radio production, and Local commercial insertion.
If you are following the same actors and creative circles, related programs worth opening next include The Whistler, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Lux Radio Theatre, Screen Directors Playhouse, and Tales of the Texas Rangers.
All Episodes & Recordings
Search this program or browse in its validated catalog order.
The First Letter
Dan answers a mysterious plea and is framed for murder while uncovering a blackmail scheme.
Insurance Fraud
A doctor's seven-year disappearance leads Dan to a remote ranch and a startling insurance mystery.
Blackmail Is Murder
An eccentric woman and a vanishing corpse pull Dan into a real murder case.
Actor's Alibi
A frightened actress's death exposes a scheme involving a fading actor and a carefully timed alibi.
Extra! Extra!
A newsboy asks Dan to clear his father, who has been framed for a jewelry robbery.
Shanghaied
Dan's adventure ad lands him aboard a fishing boat being used for jewel smuggling.
Short Assignment
Impersonating a detective, Dan uncovers an uncle's plot against a young heir.
Double Mothers
A little girl with two apparent mothers draws Dan into kidnapping and dangerous family secrets.
Book of Poems
An old volume leads Dan back to a decade-old fire, murder, and a troubled wealthy family.
The Great Torino
A magician's endangered assistant draws Dan into murder, twins, and insurance fraud around a lethal act.
Suicide or Murder
A suspicious death sends Dan after a hidden network of former Nazi criminals.
Triple Cross
A casino invitation becomes a frame-up involving drugging, stolen winnings, and murder.
Damsel in Distress
A young woman's supposed kidnapping proves to conceal a surprising and deeply personal family situation.
Diamond in the Sky
Transporting a priceless diamond puts Dan inside an international smuggling operation and a murder frame-up.
Double Right Cross
A boxer's inexplicable defeat and disappearance point to foul play behind a crucial fight.
Look Pleasant, Please
A fake engagement to a wealthy heiress reveals a deadly scheme targeting her fortune.
The Haunted Artist
A painting altered overnight leads Dan to an artist's buried trauma and a dark past.
The Sad Night
A child's strange copybook starts a dangerous search for legendary Aztec treasure.
Hot Box
A sought-after teak box and a dead man's notebook lead Dan into a criminal conspiracy.
The Better Man
A cynical millionaire's treasure hunt puts Dan against dangerous rivals for a $100,000 prize.
The Professor and the Puzzle
An apparent suicide and broken engagement expose blackmail, murder, and illegal diamond cutting.
The Dowager and Dan Holiday
A wealthy dowager's unusual social experiment turns into jewel theft and an attempt to frame Dan.
Three to Die
Dan goes undercover on a hazardous tunnel project to identify the saboteur behind deadly accidents.
The Philanthropist
A missing man's death exposes an insurance scheme preying on vulnerable victims.
Last Will and Nursery Rhyme
A mansion vacation becomes a hunt for hidden inheritance clues buried in a childhood rhyme.
Delinquent's Dilemma
A youth's suspicious robbery confession hides a racketeer's plot and his mother's fearful secret.
Flash of Light
A man's missing memory and money lead Dan to a hired killer and revealing photographic evidence.
Hare and Hounds
A stolen letter puts Dan inside an espionage chase and leaves him framed for murder.
Hunt and Peck
Dan has less than two days to prove a death-row prisoner was framed for murder.
Death Is a Doll
Dan investigates an apparent bayou curse that is killing a healthy man through fear and belief.
One One Three Point Five
A missing man and stolen rare book pull Dan through deceit and murder.
Dan and the Wonderful Lamp
Winning an ugly lamp at a bazaar exposes a plot to steal a valuable diamond.
Tempest in a Casserole
Trouble at a restaurant turns out to be part of an ingenious financial crime.
Mexican Maze
Dan goes to Mexico City to prevent a murder and enters a maze of impersonation and false identities.
Sealed Instructions
A Manila errand for a mysterious package becomes a hunt involving murder and hidden wartime treasure.
Find Me, Find Death
A killer challenges Dan to identify him within four days or become his next victim.
Much Too Lucky
Impossible winning streaks at the racetrack reveal a scam exploiting delayed radio broadcasts.
One of These Four
Dan is trapped aboard a yacht and told one of the other guests is a murderer.
Daytime Nightmare
Drugged and stripped of his identity, Dan is forced into a deadly impersonation scheme.
Death Is No Joke
Escalating practical jokes at a country estate conceal fraud, identity deception, and murder.
Cast, Crew & Contributors
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Alan Ladd
Rudy Schrager
Frank Lovejoy
Gerald Mohr
William ConradMore Private Detectives Radio
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