The Better Half was created bhy WOR soundman Jack Byrne and his interest in the work women were doing in munitions factories, aircraft plants, and elsewhere on the home front. Byrne was so impressed with their performance in jobs that had always been filled by men that he wondered how they would do against men in a radio quiz. This wasn't an original idea - Frank Crumit and Julia Sanderson had been doing the same thing on Battle of the Sexes as early as 1938 - but it was entertaining, and it resulted in scores so close that neither side could claim a clear victory.

Four married couples were brought onstage and were subjected to various stunts involving traditional concepts of "manhood" and "womanhood" and built around old prejudices: Do women take longer to dress? Is a woman's place in the home? In one stunt, a husband was blndfolded and kissed by his wife, a French poodle, and a sound effects man. While he struggled to guess which had been which, the audience roared. _{John Dunning}