Lincoln, Me. (DG)--

Halo Shampoo had always been a favorite product since its introduction.  It was known as the shampoo that "Glorifies" the hair.  Halo was also the shampoo that contained a whopping 0% soap, and yet it provided a rich, abundant lather to wash away dirt, grime, and many other forms of gunk from the hair.  Halo did this all by its little lonesome--- no need for lemon or vinegar after rinse.  The result was clean, shiny hair--- and the lemon and vinegar could be used for lemonade and cucumbers, respectively.  It was the best of everything--- Halo glorified the hair while saving money in the process of doing it.

Of course, radio helped to sell Halo with commercials on various radio programs under the sponsorship of Halo and other Colgate-Palmolive-Peet products.  The commercials at that time achieved its purpose as the announcers convinced the listeners to buy Halo, but they weren't exactly the type of commercials that could be considered memorable.  In order to jump-start the routine commercials, a musical jingle was created.  When it was all said and done, this new jingle ranked among the most popular jingles in advertising history.  Not only that, it did something no other jingle could do.  It cheerfully greeted every radio listener with a friendly "Halo, Everybody, Halo."

On Tuesday, July 4, 1944, THEATER OF ROMANCE introduced its new co-sponsors on its first broadcast for CBS Radio.  They were Colgate Tooth Powder ("for a breath that's sweet") and our hero, Halo Shampoo ("to glorify your hair").  Let's move ahead a year to describe what took place on a typical broadcast.  When it was time for the Halo commercial, a singing group known as "The Smart Set" sang the "Halo, Everybody, Halo" jingle--- or part of it, anyway!   The singers began with:

Without any warning, the singers and the music abruptly stopped at that point, while announcer Frank Graham described the good things Halo did for the hair.  When Graham was finished, the singers closed out the commercial with the last 2 lines of the jingle,

The abbreviated jingle proved to be an effective way to sell Halo on the air.  After THEATER OF ROMANCE went off the air, the jingle continued to be used on future Halo commercials on other radio programs.  Not only was "Halo Everybody Halo" heard on the commercials, the jingle was also used as the theme music for MR. & MRS. NORTH, when Halo and Colgate Tooth Powder co-sponsored the program on CBS Radio, and as the closing theme music for THE MEL BLANC SHOW, also on CBS.

The Smart Set singing group sang the Halo jingle the most on radio, but there were also some famous people who displayed their talents in singing "Halo, Everybody, Halo" on radio and early TV.  Some of the celebrities who sang the jingle were Eddie Cantor, Peggy Lee, Spike Jones (yes, he sang it with other members of "The City Slickers" and singer/actress Gail Robbins), and many others.  There was also an up and coming singer named Frank Sinatra who added the Halo jingle to the long list of songs he sang during his distinguished musical career.

Joe Rines, the creator of the "Halo Everybody Halo" jingle, made an appearance on a 1951 telecast of NBC-TV's COLGATE COMEDY HOUR with Spike Jones & The City Slickers. He pointed out how ironic it was that he came up with a jingle for a shampoo, since he was bald headed.  Rines described how the jingle and the words came to him, while remembering the shiny, sparkling, easy-to-manage hair Halo provided--- for the ladies who used it, that is!  His recollection on how the jingle was created was perfect material for the Halo commercial that was to be presented on the program.

Now we know the Halo jingle had a beginning and an ending, but was there anything in between?  The answer to that question is "Yes."  I don't know conclusively if the entire jingle was ever sung on radio (it may have been, but I don't have any radio programs to prove it), but it was sung in its entirety on several Halo commercials seen on TV.

After cheerfully greeting the listeners over the airwaves for over a decade, "Halo, Everybody, Halo" would eventually be phased out.  Halo continued to glorify the hair as always, but the demise of the jingle marked an end of an era.  Luckily for us old time radio enthusiasts, it's not forgotten.  When cassette tapes featuring "Radio's Greatest Commercials" were available to the public, "Halo, Everybody, Halo" was one of the commercials on the tapes.