The name Ginny Lynne is a spoof of opera singer Jenny Lind (1820-1887), aka the Swedish Nightingale, who toured North America in the early 1850s. At one point, Dudley, in his typical clueless fashion, describes Ginny Lynne as "a little old Florence Nightingale," confusing the Swedish singer with the British medical reformer.
Major Snidely's Amateur Hour is a parody of Major Bowes' Amateur Hour, an American radio show in the 1930s and '40s.