Vox Pop was derived from the term "vox populi," meaning "popular sentiment" or "voice of the people." This was the premise of the long running radio show: impromptu interviews with random passersby on location in hotel lobbies and on streetcorners.

It was initiated at KTRH, Houston, a few days before the 1932 presidential election. Parks Johnson and Jerry Belcher, ad salesmen, took portable microphones into the street to talk to people about the Hoover-Roosevelt race. The answers they got were spontaneous, sometimes humorous, occasionally hilarious. They continued this idea after the election and developed it into a running series. This mushroomed in popularity, got on the regional Southwest Broadcasting System, and came to the attention of a J. Walter Thompson talent scout, Richard Marvin. Marvin sold the show to Standard Brands as the summer replacement for Joe Penner: Johnson and Belcher were brought to New York, and, after a successful summer, the show went into the regular schedule.

The charm of Vox Pop was largely due to the agile interviewing abilities of the two hosts. Both were able to converse warmly with strangers and draw from them answers that were unexpected, witty, and delightful. One young woman, asked by Johnson what she wanted for Christmas, simply replied, "You." _{John Dunning}