The Answer Man

The Answer Man is a United States 15-minute radio program that aired from 1937 to 1956 on the Mutual Broadcasting System and also in syndication.

The program's offices were located across the street from the New York Public Library, which helps to explain how Chapman and his staff (along with 40 helpers)[1] were able to deal with a constant flow of nearly a million[1] questions a year.

They also kept their own specialized library of several thousands of volumes, and they created a card index of 20,000 authorities who could be consulted when all research avenues failed.

Mitchell would often close an episode with a short poem that was relevant to a previous question and which provided a thoughtful and tranquil conclusion for the listener.

Mitchell died October 4, 1954[citation needed] The series was satirized on television by Ernie Kovacs and Steve Allen.

The offices of The Answer Man were across the street from the New York Public Library , a source for many of the answers.