Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #90
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 3/11/2004 7:25 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 90
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      PALADIN                               [ Gsgreger@[removed] ]
      The Clock                             [ JayHick@[removed] ]
      King For A Day/building radios        [ jodie <raisingirl@[removed]; ]
      Pure Crystal!                         [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      buying your first television set      [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      RE: Bergen and McCarthy on TV         [ "Tim Lones" <timl2002@[removed] ]
      RAY ERLENBORN, Actor on Roy Rogers S  [ Gsgreger@[removed] ]
      radio construction                    [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      Halls of Ivy Episode                  [ Lilah60@[removed] ]
      ed (lower case)                       [ Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@telu ]
      Dragnet Copyright                     [ "Austotr" <austotr@[removed]; ]
      Bob & Ray                             [ "Robert Blume" <bblume@foxinternet. ]
      Rolling your own (AM radios)          [ danhughes@[removed] ]
      News from Around                      [ seandd@[removed] ]
      This weekend with Walden Hughes       [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
      Benny/Burns vs. Stern                 [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 10:40:09 -0500
    From: Gsgreger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  PALADIN

>     >From the radio series, Have Gun Will Travel, we actually know very little
>     about Palatine?

    We learn that he was a former [removed] Cavalry Captain educated at West Point.

    In the 5 Apr 1959 episode entitled Maggie O'Bannion, ranch owner Maggie
    questions  Palatine:  "Who are you?" she asks, to which he replies, "Would
    you believe the eldest son of an English nobleman?" [Harry Bartell plays
    Margaret "Maggie" O'Bannion's crooked foreman, Cyrus]

    In the 27 Mar 1960 episode They Told Me You Were Dead, we learn that Palatine
    served in the 112th Illinois in the Civil War.

    Another episode (forgot to note which one) finds Palatine stating that he was
    raised on a farm.

    We never learn his name, age, or birthplace.  He is mysterious and evasive.
    He is Palatine.

    We do know Hey Boy's name.  In the 1 Mar 1959 episode Hey Boy's a Revenge
    (and at other times), we learn that his name is Kim Chang.

    Much, much more (all you could ever want to know) about Palatine, the TV
    series, the radio series, Richard Boone, John Dehner, Ben Wright, etc, etc,
    can be learned from the fine book by Martin Grams, Jr. and Les Rayburn, The
    Have Gun-Will Travel Companion, published in 2000.  It contains complete
    (!!!) episodic logs of both the radio and TV series, with plots, players, and
    character names. It's a gem!

    Gordon Gregersen
    La Grande, Oregon

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 11:43:51 -0500
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Clock

    According to the New York Times, The Clock was broadcast in the US from
    11/3/46 to 5/23/48.  Jay

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 12:01:50 -0500
    From: jodie <raisingirl@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  King For A Day/building radios

    hello all --

    Laura Leff wrote:

>     infer that he did.  The show ends in chaos, with Jack trying to get his pants
>     back.  The classic capper was Jack saying, "Allen, you haven't seen the end
>     of
>     me!" and Fred retorting, "It won't be long now!"

    To this day, if somebody gets a little impatient with me, I'll still say
    "Keep your shirt on, King!" as a result of being exposed (oooh, bad
    choice of words) to part of this skit on a "best of Jack Benny" tape I
    had when I was 10 or 11.  Very few people have any idea of what I'm
    referring to when I do it!  :)

    Deric wrote:

>     Tell me if you guys get this feeling. My real concern about hobbies these
>     days is that, some people see them as "work" and don't have a desire to
>     extend much energy toward them.  .   Personally, I find my many hobbies
>     quite interesting and enjoyable.

    We have the same discussions in one of my other hobbies (plastic
    aircraft/ship/car modeling), and, there's no question that hobbies
    aren't what they used to be.  Witness all the "pre-built" kits you can
    buy now.  I don't know if it's because people don't have time for
    hobbies any longer, or if it's successive generations wanting more and
    more instant gratification, or preferring to interact with computers
    rather than making something with their hands, or what it is.

    (The paradox is, the model kits and related products you can buy now are
    about the finest there's ever been, and are very labor-saving, but
    they're getting more expensive and the number of people entering the
    hobby seems to be getting smaller.)

    Jodie Peeler

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 14:56:00 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Pure Crystal!

    Deric writes,

>     A program I was listening to referred to making your own radio with an
>     oatmeal box, a piece of wire and an earphone, which, I take it, was what
>     amatuers did to hear radio transmissions before or in the early days of
>     commercial broadcasting.

    Even after.  Through the 1940s, there were "build crystal set" projects
    in some boys' magazines.  One could buy crystal-set kits in some
    department stores, but that was cheating.

    However, besides wire, oatmeal box, and earphones, one also needed a
    "crystal," a detector (rectifier) made out of galena, a semiconducting
    mineral, and a "cat's whisker," which was a wire probe.  The galena
    crystal would be probed with the cat whisker until a "sensitive spot" was
    found.  This was a semiconducting region that made the crystal a
    rectifier.

    The radio engineer and science-fiction author, George O. Smith,
    speculated that Quaker Oats made a fortune by having oatmeal boxes a near
    perfect size to wind a coil for a crystal set.

    Today, one can still build crystal sets.  If you're not a classicist,
    though, it's possible to substitute a semiconductor diode for the galena
    crystal.  They work with the current frequencies, if one is appropriate
    in selection of capacitance and inductance.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 14:56:47 -0500
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  buying your first television set

>     Would you invest in a television to see Jack for half an hour once every
>     three weeks?

    <snip>

>     Probably a more accurate scenario would have been Jack, George, and others
>     moving to the new medium and making it a more compelling and solid medium.

    The histories I have read tell a somewhat bleaker story.  Apparently many,
    if not most
    initial TV sales were largely due to a man who had little radio exposure:
    Milton Berle.

    M Kinsler

    mr tuesday night

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 14:56:58 -0500
    From: "Tim Lones" <timl2002@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: Bergen and McCarthy on TV

    Purely speculation on my part:
    Despite the seeming "reality" of Charlie, Mortimer, etc. as  personalities,
    I think most people still realized they were puppets (in the back of their
    mind)  Also, Bergen and McCarthy had made some motion pictures and personal
    appearances,  so it wasnt as if some people hadnt seen Charlie before, so
    the transition to television was probably not terribly difficult.

    Tim Lones
    Canton, Ohio

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 14:57:14 -0500
    From: Gsgreger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  RAY ERLENBORN, Actor on Roy Rogers Show

    OTR convention favorite Ray Erlenborn appeared in the role of Jeff Meeker on
    the May 25, 1954 GHOST RIDERS in the SKY episode of the ROY ROGERS SHOW. As I
    recall he was in a poker-playing scene.

    Also appearing in this episode, in addition to Roy, Dale and Pat Brady, were
    Tom Holland, Eddie Marr, Paul Dubov, Ken Christy, Jack Kruschen, and
    announcer Lew Crosby.

    Gordon Gregersen
    La Grande, Oregon

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 14:58:24 -0500
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  radio construction

>     A program I was listening to refered to making your own radio with an
>     oatmeal box, a piece of wire and an earphone, which, I take it, was what
>     amatuers did to hear radio transmissions before or in the early days of
>     commercial broadcasting.

    Yep.

>     I'm sure you all been here before, but it may
>     have been before my time.  Apparently, according to some OTR listening
>     I've done it was something many boys did durring the early part of the
>     20th century, maybe some girls, who knows?

    Both.  There was a radio construction project for Cub Scouts in the 1950's.

>     My questions are related to that subject.
>     1. Is it possible to do that these days and would it be significent given
>     the frequencies today?

    Yup.  See [removed].

>     2. Are there any diagrams, like they built from in those days, or do you
>     start with prefab kits?

    Either one.  I've built both sorts, but there are certain issues that I will
    address shortly. See the website above.

>     Tell me if you guys get this feeling. My real concern about hobbies these
>     days is that, some people see them as "work" and don't have a desire to
>     extend much energy toward them.  .   Personally, I find my many hobbies
>     quite interesting and enjoyable.

    As you'll see at the website whose URL I've noted above, hobbies of all
    types have descended into what one might term "wretched excess."  I'm glad
    to see that little of this sort of obsession seems to be present amongst the
    parishioners of this list, but I'm afraid that my boomer generation has
    succeeded in making many 'traditional' hobbies ([removed], those of our
    longed-for youth) into tedium.

    Having said that, yes, it is quite possible to make a crystal or one-tube
    radio set.  The latter has vastly better performance, but the tubes are
    approximately impossible to obtain these days.

    The difficulties I had with crystal sets were two-fold:  (1) the
    galena-crystal detector was darn near impossible to deal with.  (2) the
    standards of craftsmanship necessary to make an effective tuned circuit were
    somewhat beyond my abilities (or desires, for that matter.)

    The second point can be addressed by anyone with normal manual skills, which
    I don't have.  The first is more interesting, because technology has sort of
    danced around it.  Harrumph, the lecture begins herewith:

    The 'detector' that's used to strain the music out of the radio waves is
    known technically as a 'point-contact semiconductor junction.'  These
    conduct electric current in one direction, but not the other.  They can be
    made in many ways, with many different materials.  The home-built crystal
    radios used a steel-galena junction.  Galena is a crystalline lead ore.  The
    steel is a bit of coil spring that's also known as a 'cat's whisker.'  The
    galena crystal is clamped into a stand and the cat's whisker is pressed into
    the surface of the crystal.  If all goes well, an effective, if temporary,
    semiconductor junction is formed and you hear music.  Inevitably, however,
    air gets into the junction, or the cat's whisker gets disturbed, and
    suddenly Jack Benny vanishes.

    It is also worth noting that a crystal radio can only be heard through a
    high-impedance headphone, which is tough to find and not the kind that comes
    with your Walkman.

    Thus, crystal detectors were improved years ago by manufacturing techniques
    that were well beyond the capabilites of the home craftsman.  The first
    improvement was the encasement of the galena crystal in a lead matrix, thus
    ensuring a proper ohmic contact with the tuned circuit of the receiver.  The
    whole crystal assembly thus became the size of a largish pain-relief tablet,
    and was nicely clipped into a factory-made stand that included the cat's
    whisker spring.

    The next improvement was to make a stable semiconductor junction by what I
    think may have been a welding process.  However it was done, the 'cat's
    whisker' was permanently affixed to the galena crystal and the entire
    assembly installed in a capsule of transparent plastic.  I've never seen one
    of these, but I've seen the catalog description.  Philmore (still in
    existence) used to make them.

    Finally, there came the 1N34A germanium diode.  These had a crystal of
    germanium semiconductor inside them with an almost microscopic cat's whisker
    welded to it.  Tiny glass enclosure.  These are insanely sensitive,
    completely stable, and you'll find them still in use inside your present
    radio.  And you can buy a rather large quantity of them at Radio Shack; if
    you look into the glass enclosure, you can see the tiny cat's whisker.

    The reason I mention this last device is because it is used as the 'crystal'
    in most nominal crystal radio kits of the present day, even though it
    utterly lacks authenticity.  On the other hand, the germanium diode made me
    a crystal radio that actually worked.  You'll find a germanium diode in the
    ever-popular Radio Shack crystal radio kit.

    I have no doubt, however, that you can now get authentic (and probably
    expensive) galena crystals along with exhaustive instructions for getting
    them to work.  Such is the competitive hobby environment.

    One aside, here.  An effective semiconductor junction can be made with
    graphite and whatever iron compound is formed in the process of
    manufacturing old-fashioned steel razor blades.  Might be iron phosphide.
    So one can make a detector by affixing a piece of pencil lead to a safety
    pin and letting said piece of graphite bear upon the surface of a used razor
    blade.  The wire for the antenna and the tuned circuit are obtained by
    unwinding the magnet coil from one set of a pair of government-issue
    headphones.

    This is the famous 'foxhole radio' from World War II.  I believe that Bill
    Mauldin wrote the best description of its construction; the first
    instruction in the recipe was to steal a pair of headphones from the nearest
    tank.

    Inevitably, the foxhole radio has found its way into the modern hobby
    machine.  You can get, believe it or not, a rather expensive kit for it at
    (I think) Antique Electronics Supply in Arizona.  Check Google for the URL.

    Please note that the original software is no longer available: after you're
    finished with your crystal radio you'll be listening mainly to Rush Limbaugh
    and them.

    Mark Kinsler

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 15:00:16 -0500
    From: Lilah60@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Halls of Ivy Episode
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Ronald Plumb wrote:

>     I recently got most of the Halls of Ivy episodes on CD.  The episode labelled
>     Faculty Frolics Pt. 2 dated 5/27/52 is, in fact, a different episode. Does
>     anyone know where I can get the real 5/27/52 broadcast?

    In my own (also incomplete) Halls of Ivy collection, the episode "Faculty
    Follies 2" is dated 5-07-52,  It makes sense, especially since it follows my
    episode (FF 1) dated 4-30-52, and itself is followed by eps dated 5-14, 5-21,
    and
    5-28-52.  I suspect there is no 5-27-52 program. Just possibly, a case of
    mislabeling syndrome, an ailment which has been discussed often on this
    forum.

    I recently found a helpful and interesting website that not only presents an
    extensive Ivy log, but also traces the various Intros and Credits formats that
    evolved on Ivy from January 1950 through June 1952.
    [removed]

     It's sometimes rewarding to compare one's collection to another's. In
    the
    above log, I found titles and dates that I had never heard of.  I wonder if
    anyone reading this message would know if these episodes are available
    anywhere:

    5-23-51    Cooks Night Out
    10-24-51   Mrs. Why
    11-14-51   The Halls Have Car Trouble
    4-16-52     The French Exchange Student

    I have to say that I'm always delighted to find more Colman fans out there!

    Claire Connelly
    Alexandria, Virginia
    Below the Beltway

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

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 15:01:01 -0500
    From: Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  ed (lower case)

    In regard to: ed (lower case) in [removed] Digest V2004
    #88.

    I always thought it was archie the cockroach who
    wrote only in lower case.

    Check out the poem at:
    [removed]

    a google (Advanced Search) on 'archie the cockroach' brought
    up lots of hits.

    Regards to all the Group ===> ELMER

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 16:48:44 -0500
    From: "Austotr" <austotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Dragnet Copyright

    G'Day folks,

    I seem to remember a list of series known to still be protected by
    copyright, that was posted on this list quite some time ago, I think by
    Elizabeth McLeod.  I also seem to remember that Dragnet was one of them and
    it listed who the copyright holder was currently.  Could someone please
    provide me with the details of the copyright hold of Dragnet (radio series)
    and confirm that it is definately under copyright if that is known.

    Thank you.

    Ian Grieve

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 16:57:30 -0500
    From: "Robert Blume" <bblume@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bob & Ray
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Count me as a top ten Bob & Ray fan as well.

    I think Sheryl Smith brings up an interesting subject in her recent posting.
    The whole question of Tom Koch is far less interesting to me than the
    chronology of Bob & Ray's career. I've been collecting and listening to B&R
    for over 30 years and I'm still not completely straight on their resume after
    Boston. I'd rather see someone research an accurate 'map' of this great team's
    incredible and long career. That might be a more manageable and relevant
    project.

    Regarding the question of writers, we should remember that B&R had a lot of
    hours to fill. It's not as though they were doing a weekly series like Benny,
    Hope, Caesar and other contemporaries. For the most part B&R were on daily.
    Their stuff sounded so spontaneous that many of us would like to think it was
    all off the [removed] They had formidable improvisational talents (just listen to
    those loose, goofy, freewheeling local shows for WHDH ) But broadcasting eats
    up comedy in a hurry. It would have been a super human effort for these two
    guys, as great as they were, to generate that enormous volume of stellar
    material without some help. So it shouldn't be a huge shock that writers like
    Koch were heavily involved. But I have no doubt that B&R were right at the
    center of the creative process no matter who wrote the sketch or created the
    character. The end result is a body of work that, for me, is still fresh and
    funny after all these years.

    Bob Blume

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

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 16:58:01 -0500
    From: danhughes@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Rolling your own (AM radios)
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I forwarded the request for info on homemade radios to a fellow faculty
    member--here's his reply:

    A friend passed your inquiry to me.  The plans for "Oatmeal Box" and
    other Crystal Sets are easy to find on the WWW.  Here are some links:

    [removed]

    [removed]

    [removed]

    [removed]

    good [removed]

    Steve  / W9HC

    Stephen E. Brown
    Director, Speech Communication Program
    Professor,  Speech and Mass Communication
    Parkland College
    Champaign, Illinois 61821
    (217) 351 2367  / office C-127
    sbrown@[removed]

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

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 19:06:55 -0500
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  News from Around

    More Jack Benny news today.  His famous feud with Fred Allen is mentioned in
    the Cambridge Chronicle of Cambridge, Mass.

    Also, some might find this review of Sirius Radio and XM Satelite Radio from
    the Deseret Mountain-Times helpful.

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

    CAMBRIDGE history
    Cambridge Chronicle - Somerville,MA,USA
    ... March 15, 1942: Jack Benny, perhaps the greatest comedian in the Golden
    Age of Radio, and Cambridge native Fred Allen, the most erudite comic
    on the air ...
    <[removed]
    [removed];

    SATELLITE radio offers clear reception, wide range of programming
    The Desert-Mountain Times - Alpine,TX,United States
    ... wireless broadband internet and the satellite radio ... At Stuff, long-time
    friends Kelly Doyle ... Marathon Bank and felt it was time ... based business,
    the 52 year old ...
    <[removed];

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 19:07:35 -0500
    From: BryanH362@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  This weekend with Walden Hughes

    Place :  Yesterdayusa
    on the internet at [removed]
    When: Friday , Saturday and Sunday at 10:30pm Eastern /7:30pm Pacific

    Friday

    A.  topic Arthur Godfrey

    Saturday

    A.  interview with the Ava Guarnder museum

    C.  Larry King interview with Jimmy Stewart

    Sunday

    A.  Biels on the history of recordings

    B.  Laura on 3-7-37  Jack Benny  broadcast.

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

    Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 19:07:47 -0500
    From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Benny/Burns vs. Stern

    Some people may have bought TVs to see Benny or Burns, but from what I've
    read the first real programming coup for TV was the World Series in 1947 on
    NBC.  Then in 1948 came Ed Sullivan in Talk of the Town and (especially)
    Uncle Miltie. Then, in 1951, I LOVE LUCY.  If you lived in an area that had
    TV these were the things on that everyone who had a TV was talking about and
    that made people want to get a set. By the mid-1950s pracitically everywhere
    in the country was within range of TV broadcasts and virtually every family
    that could afford a set had one.

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #90
    ********************************************

    Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
      including republication in any form.

    If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
       [removed]

    For Help: [removed]@[removed]

    To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

    To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
      or see [removed]

    For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
      in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

    To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

    To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]