Uncle Ezra was an offshoot of The National Barn Dance. Pat Barrett had made the Ezra char- acter famous on earlier Barn Dance seasons, on The National Farm and Home Hour, and in local radio beginning at WTMJ, Milwaukee, in 1930. His character was so successful in Milwaukee that he was hired by WLS, Chicago, and went from there to NBC.

Barrett, a real-life Illinois farmer, came to ra- dio from vaudeville. His series, also known as Station E-Z-R-A, was sponsored by longtime Barn Dance client Alka-Seltzer.
_{John Dunning}