Don McNeill, the cheerful host who welcomed millions of radio listeners across the United States and Canada to a new day for more than 35 years as the creator and host of “Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club,” died Tuesday at Evanston Hospital in Evanston, Ill. McNeill, who lived in Winnetka, Ill., was 88.

Five times a week, from June 23, 1933, until Dec. 27, 1968, the genial McNeill presided over a variety show that included a generous helping of corny humor.

In a typical serving of humor, McNeill would tell his audience, “Courtship makes a man spoon, but marriage makes him fork over.”

Sam Cowling, a comic fixture on the show, would deliver “Fact and Fiction From Sam’s Almanac.” Sample: “The distance from the head of a fox to its tail is a fur piece.”