Allman's career as an actress on old time radio spanned 1929 to 1979. In 1926 she was a children's story reader at KHJ in Los Angeles (another source says 1930). She also worked as a program arranger and later as a singer. The "Los Angeles Times" of the day praised her abilities as a dialectician. It was there she met her first husband, musician Wesley B. Tourtellotte, in 1930. They married on August 2, 1930, and divorced within several years. In 1933, she moved to the east coast, billing herself as the "California Cocktail" and began a musical program on NBC. On Oct. 30, 1933, the "Times" announced she was moving to KNX on a 15-minute program to be heard Tuesday and Thursday evenings. What was supposed to be a long-term contract ended March 3, 1935.