10-2-4 Time
The Show Behind the Slogan
Dr. Pepper's famous "10, 2, and 4" campaign had a scientific backbone. Dr. Walter H. Eddy, a Columbia University professor of Physiological Chemistry, had found that energy and blood sugar tend to drop at 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. The slogan "Drink a Bite to Eat at 10-2&4 O'Clock" grew out of that finding, coined through an internal agency contest at Tracy-Locke-Dawson, Inc. of Dallas — the winning entry earning its author Earl Racey a $25 bonus. When Dr. Pepper decided to put that campaign into radio, they built a 15-minute musical variety program around the same hook, airing it across the Southern states and other regions where the soda was distributed.
The show began as 10-2-4 Ranch, leaning into Western imagery to match the cowboy musical acts on the roster. It was later retitled 10-2-4 Time to broaden appeal past the ranch-and-range theme. Both versions were produced by Tracy-Locke-Dawson and recorded by Radio Recorders of Hollywood. The earliest known broadcast dates to March 8, 1944, and the run continued through April 30, 1945.
The Performers
The Sons of the Pioneers anchored much of the show's musical identity. The group, co-founded in 1933 by Roy Rogers — then known as Leonard Slye — was by the early 1940s billed as "Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers," with founding member Bob Nolan prominently out front. The Pioneers brought a polished Western harmony sound that fit the show's original ranch theme, and they were a genuine draw: the group was later inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and designated a National Treasure by the Smithsonian Institution.
Dick Foran, described as one of the first singing cowboys in Hollywood, was featured alongside the Sons of the Pioneers for most of the show's run. When 10-2-4 Ranch needed a replacement for Foran, that role went to Dave O'Brien. Singer Martha Meers also appeared as a featured performer. The cast gave the show a mix of Western credibility and broader popular entertainment that matched what Dr. Pepper needed from a regionally syndicated program.
What the Music Actually Sounded Like
Despite the Western branding, the music on 10-2-4 Time was never strictly country. Episode titles in the surviving catalog include "Brazilian Moon," "I'll Be Seeing You," and "What a Difference a Day Makes" — none of them cowboy songs. "Red Sails in the Sunset," "South of the Border," and "Cuddle Up a Little Closer" also appear alongside more traditionally Western titles like "Old Buckaroo." The 15-minute format kept things tight: one or two performances, the Dr. Pepper message woven in, and done. The promotional slogan — "Keep time in mind and drink Dr. Pepper daily at 10, 2, 4 o'clock, or anytime you are hungry or tired!" — was part of the fabric of every broadcast, not just a tag at the end.
Dr. Pepper had been active in radio variety before this show, sponsoring Dr Pepper Parade and the 1939 program Dr. Pepper's Treasure Hunt. 10-2-4 Time fit into that pattern: music as a delivery mechanism for a consistent brand message, syndicated regionally rather than carried on a national network.
What Survives
The combined run of 10-2-4 Ranch and 10-2-4 Time reportedly produced at least 500 episodes. Of those, OTR cataloguers estimate somewhere between 50 and 80 have survived. This catalog holds 28 episodes from the 10-2-4 Time portion of the run — a modest but representative cross-section of what the show offered during its wartime broadcast years.