Great Living Cincinnatians: Honorees

Ruth Lyons, a native of Cincinnati, was best known for her radio and television shows and the Ruth Lyons Children’s Christmas Fund.

Lyons began her career in broadcasting in 1929 as a pianist for WKRC radio after attending Withrow High School and the University of Cincinnati. By 1931 she had two hour-long shows a day: “Woman’s Hour” and “Open House.”

Lyons moved to WLW radio in 1942 and hosted “Morning Matinee,” “Petticoat Partyline” and “Consumer’s Foundation.” She began “50 Club” in 1946. The show was named “50 Club” because she performed, on radio, before a daily studio audience of 50 people. Later the show moved to a larger studio and was renamed “50-50 Club.”

Lyons moved “50-50 Club” to television in 1949. Because of the success of the show, it was expanded to a 90-minute format and broadcast in Dayton, Columbus and Indianapolis in addition to Cincinnati. In the summer of 1952, the show was televised live over the NBC television network. The “50-50 Club” became Ohio’s first regularly scheduled colorcast in 1957. Lyons retired from the show in 1967.

She began her now-famous Christmas Fund in 1939. The fund, which is still operational today, was organized to collect contributions from listeners to aid and comfort hospitalized children. The first Christmas, she raised $1,000 and since then, the fund has raised $12 million to purchase toys, televisions and therapy equipment for nearly 100 hospitals in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.