The series was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert with scripts by Robert Hardy Andrews,[1] Orin Tovrov,[5] and others.

"America’s mother of the air" was portrayed by actress Virginia Payne, who began the role at the age of 19 and never missed a performance during the program's 27-year run.

Kindly, trusting widow Ma Perkins had a big heart and a great love of humanity.

[7] Ma owned and operated a lumber yard in the town of Rushville Center[2] (population 4000),[citation needed] where the plotlines pivoted around her interactions with the local townsfolk and the ongoing dilemmas of her three children, Evey, Fay and John.

[1] Ma's daughter Fay was played by Marjorie Hannan,[9][10] Isabelle Krehbiel and Rita Ascot.