Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #122
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 3/21/2003 4:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

    ------------------------------

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 122
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      "The Hitchhiker" script               [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
      Did You Know?                         [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Re: "Radio Fights Jim Crow"           [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Bob Elliott's 80th Birthday           [ Larry Josephson <larry@[removed] ]
      Re: Today in radio history 3/19       [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      March 21st Birthdays                  [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      REPS convention vendors               [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
      OT now phone quality                  [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
      Deal on John Dunning's "On The Air"   [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
      Sorry, Wrong Conversation             [ "konibaloni" <konibaloni@[removed] ]
      Tom Brown and the First Generation R  [ "Gary Yoggy" <yoggy@[removed]; ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 13:28:17 -0500
    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "The Hitchhiker" script

    In case anybody's curious, I found the Mercury Theater radio script of the
    show, "(c) 1946, Lucille Fletcher, Mercury Theatre" at
    [removed]
    You can read it there.

    Herb Harrison

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 13:28:30 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Did You Know?

    This probably comes as no surprise to most people subscribing to this list,
    but I came across this in my readings just recently. I think that it is
    something that I knew, but forgot. DID YOU KNOW: Leslie Neilson's uncle is
    Jean Hersholt (Dr. Christian).

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 13:29:04 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: "Radio Fights Jim Crow"

    On 3/20/03 11:16 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     Speaking of racial issues in OTR: American Radio Works
>     produced a documentary a couple of years ago, called
>     "Radio Fights Jim Crow." I haven't heard the entire
>     thing yet, but I caught the end of it on our local NPR
>     station a few weeks ago. It focuses on racially
>     progressive OTR shows such as "New World A'Coming" and
>     "Destination Freedom."

    This was a very interesting series -- I heard it when it first aired, as
    a "Black History Month" feature, and thought it was quite well
    researched, especially in that it acknowledged that racial progressivism
    in broadcasting was not exclusively a post-war phenomenon. Mention was
    made of two very important early efforts that are often overlooked by
    media historians: the 1938-39 CBS series "Americans All -- Immigrants
    All," co-produced by the Office of Education of the U. S. Department of
    the Interior, and the 1941-42 NBC series "Freedom's People."

    "Americans All -- Immigrants All" focused each week on the story of a
    specific ethnic or racial group: how members of that group first came to
    the US, and how they've contributed to the growth of the nation.
    Advocates of modern ideas of group identity politics would probably be
    appalled by the assimilationist point of view expressed in this series,
    but for 1938-39 it was an earnest, intelligently-presented effort at
    exploring racial and ethnic subject matter. CBS was so proud of this
    series that it distributed transcriptions of the program to school
    systems for classroom use for several years after the series aired.

    "Freedom's People" focuses specifically on African-American history and
    culture. Each program focused on the contribution of black citizens to
    specific areas of American life -- science, commerce, technology, the
    arts, and so forth. There was an impressive roster of guests on this
    series -- just about everyone who was anyone in Black America circa 1941,
    from A. Philip Randolph to Fats Waller. It wasn't quite as
    self-importantly full of itself production-wise as "Americans
    All--Immigrants All,"  but like the earlier series, NBC distributed
    recordings for classroom use. Like any depiction of blacks in the mass
    media during this period, the program walked a very fine line in order to
    avoid offending the sensibilities either of northern blacks or white
    southerners, so a lot of issues that should have been addressed --
    segregation, voting rights, racial violence -- were glossed over or not
    mentioned at all.

    It's interesting to listen to these series and compare them with "New
    World A'Comin'" and "Destination Freedom." Both of these later series are
    widely praised in discussions of racial progressivism in broadcasting --
    perhaps excessively so, because one should keep an important fact in
    mind: these were NOT network programs. "New World" was heard exclusively
    in the greater New York area, over WMCA, and "Destination Freedom" was a
    local WMAQ production heard in Chicago and the surrounding areas of the
    midwest. Because of that restricted audience, the producers of these
    programs had far more freedom than they would have had -- there was no
    need to blunt the programs' message to avoid offending southern racial
    attitudes, or more specifically the racial attitudes of the men who were
    in positions of authority in the corporations that ran Southern radio
    stations.

    One more comment -- I strongly recommend Roi Ottley's 1944 book "New
    World A'Comin'," which was the inspiration for the radio series of the
    same name. Aside from being an evocative portrait of Harlem in the 1930s
    and 1940s it's an interesting window into how African-Americans
    themselves viewed their position in society during the OTR era.

    Elizabeth

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 19:11:03 -0500
    From: Larry Josephson <larry@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bob Elliott's 80th Birthday

    Bob Elliott (half of Bob & Ray) will celebrate his 80th Birthday on March 26th.

    If you'd like to send Bob a birthday message, please send it to
    larry@[removed], and I will forward it to him.  Check out the Bob & Ray
    website, [removed] for news of our latest Bob & Ray CDs, and about
    the Bob & Ray Permanent Archive.

    The text of a press release we sent to major media follows.  NPR's Morning
    Edition has scheduled a piece on Bob & Ray which will hopefully run on
    Bob's birthday, unless it is preempted by the war. Check your local
    listings, as they say in the trade.

    Hang by Your Thumbs,

    -Larry Josephson,
      Proud to have been
      Bob & Ray's Producer
      for 22 years and counting.

    ----------------------------------------------------
    BOB ELLIOTT, HALF OF THE LEGENDARY COMEDY TEAM OF
      BOB & RAY,
    CELEBRATES HIS 80th BIRTHDAY ON MARCH 26

    Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and David Letterman are among their fans. So are
    Woody Allen, George Carlin and Al Franken. Kurt Vonnegut once observed "Bob
    & Ray are funnier than anyone else, including each other." Described as
    "radio's last great comedy team," they worked together on radio, TV,
    feature films, on Broadway and in Carnegie Hall for 40 years, until Ray's
    death in 1990.  Bob kept on working in commercials, on Garrison Keillor's
    "American Radio Company" and on the Fox TV sitcom "Get a Life," as the
    father of a 30-something paper boy who lives at home over the garage,
    played by his real-life son, comedian Chris Elliott.

    In honor of Bob's 80th birthday, RadioArt(r) is re-issuing all 16 of its Bob
    & Ray cassette albums on CD, a total of 84 hours.  A new album, Bob & Ray:
    The Lost Episodes, Volume 5, will be released in May.  RadioArt has
    produced 26 Bob & Ray albums to date, which received three Grammy
    nominations. Bob & Ray won the coveted Peabody Award three times, including
    one for the Bob & Ray Public Radio Show.

    Larry Josephson, Bob and Ray's producer since 1981, also produced two
    sold-out concerts in Carnegie Hall, "Bob and Ray:  A Night of Two Stars"
    (1984), their farewell public performance, plus a weekly series on National
    Public Radio stations (1982-91). For 21 years, he's been collecting Bob and
    Ray's work for the albums and radio shows. Much of the material came from
    Bob & Ray fans, who taped the early shows by holding a microphone up to
    their radios.

    In 1991, Josephson created The Bob and Ray Permanent Archive*, to collect
    everything Bob & Ray ever did in any medium.  The Archive contains hundreds
    of hours of Bob & Ray audio & video recordings, plus artifacts like a Bob &
    Ray postage stamp, issued by Grenada, and "Wally Ballou for Mayor" buttons
    and bumper stickers.  Most of the collection was donated by fans, in
    response to requests on Bob & Ray albums, and on the Bob & Ray website,
    [removed].  The Archive will eventually be deposited with a major
    museum.

    While those who grew up during the golden age of radio know Bob & Ray well,
    Larry Josephson hopes to introduce a new generation to their wry humor,
    which holds up very well 40 years later.  "Bob & Ray are timeless: they
    satirized soap operas, commercials, experts, and self-important reporters--
    all rampant on radio and television today. They would have had a field day
    with 'Joe Millionaire', 'Survivor' and 'Entertainment Tonight' ", said
    Josephson.

    In 1946, Bob Elliott, a disk jockey and Ray Goulding, a newscaster, at WHDH
    Radio in Boston began bantering with each other to fill time when the Red
    Sox games were delayed or rained out.  Thus a unique comedy team was born.
    WHDH soon gave them their own show, "Matinee with Bob & Ray," where they
    created such memorable characters as Wally Ballou, Mary Backstayge, Noble
    Wife, Webly Webster and Mary   McGoon.  Bob was best known for his
    character Wally Ballou, the hapless reporter, "winner of 12 awards for
    diction."  Wally's opening line was often purposely upcut,:  "..ly Ballou
    reporting from Napoleon, [removed]"  Their routines satirized the idiocy,
    insincerity and pomposity that filled the airwaves. In the 80s, they poked
    fun at TV's evening soap operas, "Dallas" and "Dynasty" with "Garish
    Summit." Their commercial parodies included ads for Tingle, the dental
    floss made from spun glass fiber, Einbinder Flypaper, and Grit, the paste
    that gets your hands dirty so you can look just like a working man.

    Bob and Ray albums can be purchased on their website [removed] or
    at 1-800-LAUGH24 (1-800-528-4424).  For further information about Bob & Ray
    or Bob Elliott, contact Larry Josephson at (212)595-1837 or email
    larry@[removed].

    ___________________________
    * funded in part by The National Academy of Recording Arts and Science,
    Inc., the Grammy people, and by contributions from Bob & Ray fans.
    # # #

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 19:11:34 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Today in radio history 3/19

    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];

>     March 19, 1928 - Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll left WGN in
>     Chicago to head across town to WMAQ. They weren't able to take
>     their previously popular radio show names with them due to contract
>     limitations. So Sam and Henry were no more. However, Gosden and
>     Correll came up with a new name for the show that became even more
>     popular than the first. A year later it was the national hit: Amos and

    Andy.

    Although this is the day that the SERIES was first heard, it was not the
    first time that the characters Amos and Andy were heard on WMAQ.  That date
    was February 25, 1928.  On that night and every night thru March 18 (except
    for March 17) at about 7:11 PM there was a 20 or 30 second promotional
    recording announcing the upcoming series.  The recording(s) or script(s)
    have never been found, but it has long been my assumption that the promos
    consisted of Gosden and Correll in their Amos and Andy voices introducing
    themselves in a way that would tell the listeners that THIS is where Sam
    'n' Henry went without using those two copyrighted names.  The sound of the
    voices would tell the tale.  It should also be noted that the SnH had been
    taken off of WGN in December 1927.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 19:11:45 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  March 21st Birthdays

    If you were born on the 21st of March, you share your birthday with:

    1869 - Florenz Zeigfeld - Chicago, Illinois
    1903 - Edgar Buchanan - Humansville, Missouri
    1908 - Vincent Pelletier - Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 19:11:59 -0500
    From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  REPS convention vendors

    I have a question for any REPS convention vendor--Please contact me
    off-line

    THANKS,

    Howard Blue
    Khovard@[removed]
    [removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 19:12:08 -0500
    From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
    To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OT now phone quality

    I have heard a showroom floor demo of a product that is currently available.
    Now can I remember who makes it? Bose possibly? It was a stunning example of
    what phone quality could be. Very good voice reproduction. It used a
    conventional line, has its own base station and as many as 5 satellites I
    believe. For a complete system I didn't think it too expensive either.
    Perhaps someone else here as seen this?

    Joe Salerno

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 19:12:25 -0500
    From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Deal on John Dunning's "On The Air"

            If you need a copy of John Dunning's "On The Air,"  has its
    publisher got a deal for you!

        Oxford University Press has the book in its Spring Sale brochure for a
    jaw-dropping $[removed] plus $[removed] shipping and handling.  List is $[removed]!

        Oxford's web page is: [removed].  Click on "The Arts"
    at the bottom of the page and go to Page 2 of that category.

        Phone number is 1-800-230-3242

        The item number for the book is 0-19-507678-8

    Signing off for now,

    Stewart

    ------------------------------

    Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 11:02:29 -0500
    From: "konibaloni" <konibaloni@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Sorry, Wrong Conversation

    In Digest 121, Bhob mentioned listening in on others' phone conversations
    ala "Sorry, Wrong Number."  Up until about a month ago, whenever I called a
    friend in a certain area of Chicago, we ALWAYS heard many other
    conversations as we tried to talk.  We're both in an OTR re-enactment group
    and had recently done "Sorry, Wrong Number," so we couldn't help but quote
    lines from the script every now and then.  Did I mention that they could
    hear us as well as we could hear them?  "Aren't we devils?"  = : )

    Koni

    ------------------------------

    Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 11:02:35 -0500
    From: "Gary Yoggy" <yoggy@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Tom Brown and the First Generation Radio
     Arrchives
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I know this organization has been mentioned before in the Digest because
    that's where I learned about it.  But I would like to add my kudos to Tom
    Brown and the First Generation Archives and his colleagues.  You know about
    their excellent LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE SHOWS and now they are offering some THE
    GREAT GILDERSLEEVE and  PHIL HARRIS/ALICE FAYE SHOWS as well.  These are
    really HIGH QUALITY recordings and I urge my fellow lovers of OTR to at least
    sample them.  (They have many other programs as well AND you can RENT or buy.)
    Tom also publishes an excellent newsletter.  Contact him at
    [removed]  You'll be glad you did!!!  Gary Yoggy

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
      ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

    ------------------------------

    Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 11:02:43 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history

     From Those Were The Days --

    1925 - The voice of Lowell Thomas was first heard on radio. Thomas was
    heard talking about "Manís first flight around the world,' on KDKA in
    Pittsburgh, PA.

       Joe

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #122
    *********************************************

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