------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 93
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
2-28 and 2-29 Birthdays [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
OTR Sound quality (again) [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Mostly William L. Shirer [ Art Chimes <achimes@[removed]; ]
The Lone Ranger's Horse(s) [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
Turner's New Lone Ranger Movie on WB [ Paulurbahn@[removed] ]
America's Town Meeting of the Air [ "Stanford Shaw" <shaw@[removed] ]
Off Topic: Free 78 records [ "Dave Meredith" <dmkinetics@hotmail ]
The Lone Ranger - premium [ "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed] ]
Re: Monkey's Paw [ Steven Kelez <otrsteve@[removed]; ]
Re: Radio Reconditioning [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Detroit Memories [ "Bob & Lois Reynolds" <boblo1@allte ]
Random follow-up thoughts [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
The Monkey's Paw [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 13:51:32 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 2-28 and 2-29 Birthdays
If you were born on the 28th or 29th of February, you share your birthday with:
28th
1893 - Ben Hecht - New York City
1914 - Jim Boles - Lubbock, Texas
1915 - Zero Mostel - Brooklyn, New York
1923 - Charles Durning - Highland Falls, New York
1928 - Louise Erickson - Oakland, California
29th
1904 - Jimmy Dorsey - Shenandoah, Pennsylvania
1928 - Joss Ackland - London, England 29th.
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 13:57:05 -0500
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR Sound quality (again)
While I agree in general with George Coppen about not replacing the
original parts of an old radio with new parts (with the exception of
electrolytic capacitors and wiring which CAN be an important safety factor)
I thoroughly disagree with him when he says:
some people take a tape of an OTR program, they clean it up by
taking all the hisses, pops, scratches and whistles out of [removed]
....thats not OTR thats just plain entertainment and it most certainly
is not the way it sounded back when it was originally broadcast
60 and 70 years ago when I was listening,
The hisses, pops, and scratches WERE NOT in the program when it was
originally broadcast. The programs generally were done LIVE, and were done
with equipment so extraordinary that elements like the RCA 44 BX
microphones they used are still considered high fidelity equipment, and
modern recording engineers are crawling over each other in attempts to get
one.
and do you know what?? I thought it was the living end then and I still
do today.
It probably sounded better than you think. If you lived in NY or LA where
the programs originated, the transmitters were fed with a full range audio
signal. If you had an FM receiver in the late 30s or early 40s the FM
transmitters would give you static-free reception with response to at least
15,000 CPS (15 KHz.) Even the AM transmitters were capable of frequency
response to well above 10KHz. The major cities were interconnected with
phone lines capable of 10 KHz response as early as 1934, so the stations on
the main line also got a pretty good sounding signal. Remember, the ONLY
thing the radio stations had going for them was the sound, and they tried
to get it as good as was possible. For stations off the main interconnect
lines they still had the possibility of syndicated programming, and the
comments during the past week about the quality of the Little Orphan Annie
recordings taken straight off of the original World Broadcasting System
discs with their Western Electric Wide Range Vertical Recording which was
capable of 14 KHz. response as early as 1932 shows you how the programs
REALLY sounded when they were originally broadcast.
Can you imagine listening to Fibber and Molly played on surround sound
....forget it old Fibber would turn over in his grave.
Remember that Fibber, or rather, Jim Jordan, was in the studio live during
the broadcast and heard all the voices, music, and sound effects in full
live fidelity fully surrounding him on all sides of the stage. He heard it
in surround sound. And if he were to go into the control room to hear how
the rest of the performers sounded, he would have heard sound quality out
of the fantastic RCA wide-range monitor speakers that NBC used that would
still blow today's hi-fi fanatics away. And if he went down the hall to
the recording room to hear a playback he would have been hard pressed to
tell the difference between the live performance he just heard and the
first playback of the lacquer disc. I've actually held in my hands and
heard some of the Fibber discs held up in the Wisconsin headquarters of
Johnson's Wax, and in the 70s they still sounded terrific. Unfortunately
you have probably only heard copies of copies of copies of copies of copies
that have had all sorts of noise and distortions added with each new
generation of copying, filtering, mis-equalization, and other misguided
amateur attempts to "improve" sound.
A similar thing has been said about old silent movies. Most of us were
brought up seeing scratched multi-generation 16mm reduction prints shown on
TV or 8mm prints on home projectors. But, again, the only thing that
silent films had going for them when they were new was the picture quality,
and when the films were new the quality was GREAT. If you get a chance to
see a well preserved original nitrate print or a new print off an original
negative, you would be astonished at all of the minute details you can
see, with all the subtle shadings of the faces and the sets and scenery.
Sure, in small towns you might have gotten the well used prints that had
plenty of scratches and splices--this still happens today--but that is not
how the film left the production company, nor was it what the original
stars, producers, and directors saw and strived for.
And the crumby sound you seem to like on poorly made OTR copies is NOT how
the programs sounded when they were new and live and fresh. The only way
old Fibber ever heard his program was as a sparkling crisp and clean gem.
If he's been turning in his grave it is because of the crumby sound quality
some of his programs have been distributed in. And he is THRASHING at the
thought that some of you LIKE hearing all the hisses, pops, scratches, and
dullness of sound.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 13:51:44 -0500
From: Art Chimes <achimes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Mostly William L. Shirer
Bill Shirer was in Berlin for most of the year. His almost day-by-day
recounting of this critical period early in WWII, "Berlin Diary," is a
terrific read. I don't know if it's still in print, but it ought to be.
Shirer was in Berlin until June 15, when he left for Paris. He returned
on June 26. He took a week's vacation in Geneva in early July but was
back on July 8.
He flew to Belgium on August 14, "flying low at about five hundred feet
so as to be easily recognizably by German anti-aircraft crews. They
shoot down altogether too many of their own planes." He was back in the
German capital on the 18th. He remained there well into October save for
a few days in Geneva in mid-September.
Shirer had a newspaper background, but Ed Morrow, who hired him, was
more interested in getting a solid journalist. He got one.
Regards,
Art Chimes
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 22:01:35 -0500
From: Grams46@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: cbs in berlin in the summer of 1940
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who was the cbs correspondent in berlin, germany in the summer of 1940?
any other info on him would also be appreciated.
thanks from kathy
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 13:57:40 -0500
From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The Lone Ranger's Horse(s)
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I'm new to this digest business. But I can answer the question. In the Lone
Radio radio series, episode No. 401, broadcast Aug. 26, 1935, the story of how
the masked man finds Silver was first told. No recording exists of this
broadcast, but it was later re-broadcast as No. 141 of the transcription
series on December 9, 1938 (with Brace Beemer narrating!). In this episode,
Earle Graser rides a horse called "Dusty", and is heard to shout, "Hi Yo
Dusty" before Dusty meets his untimely demise at the hands of the crooks.
But that isn't all. According to Dave Holland, who has researched this
better than I, during the seven-part Silvercup Bread series, "How the Lone
Ranger Captured Silver", broadcast in 1936, again before the transcriptions
began, the Ranger was riding a horse named "Nellie", and had occasion to
shout, "Hi Yo Nellie" during one program. So there you are!
You can get a decent recorded cassette of Program 141 from Jerry Haendiges
in Los Angeles. Contact him at JHaendiges@[removed]
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 14:25:35 -0500
From: Paulurbahn@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Turner's New Lone Ranger Movie on WB
I'll be the first to stand up so you take shots at me.
I liked the new movie on the WB network tonight for production value (It
wasn't cheap), casting and yes story. The only problems I had was changing
the Lone Rangers name, and the casting of a Titanic type hero in the LR role.
But that was obviously a business decision to appeal to the girls. There's
action for the guys and a love story for the girls.
I wouldn't watch it every week if it was on, but it was a lot better than the
Klingdon Spilby (probably misspelled) film of thirty years ago.
I noticed that this Lone Ranger is more like The Green Hornet. His sidekick
Tonto fights like the TV Kato and the [removed] Lone Ranger lives a normal
life when not chasing bad guys.
Worth watching at least once.
Paul Urbahns
A Green Hornet/Lone Ranger fan
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 14:28:32 -0500
From: "Stanford Shaw" <shaw@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: America's Town Meeting of the Air
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Can anyone tell me where one can find downloadable files of 'America's Town
Meeting of the Air,' moderated in the 1940's by George V. Denny. His son is
very interested in listening once again to the voice of his father in programs
at Town Hall New York which he sometimes attended as a small boy.
I have discovered that the original transcriptions of the program are in the
National Archives (NARA), but these are not [removed]
Stanford J. Shaw, Ankara, Turkey
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:27:11 -0500
From: "Dave Meredith" <dmkinetics@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Off Topic: Free 78 records
Please forgive this one-time off topic posting, but in a minute you'll see
why.
I have discovered about 35 or so 78 rpm records dating (I think) to the
'40's and '50's which are destined to the dumpster within a few days due to
a clean-out. Artists include such as Sammy Kaye and Orch., Phil Harris and
Orch, and others. I sure hate to see these tossed, but have absolutely no
need nor interest myself in them. I will send the lot to anyone FREE who
simply reimburses me the UPS charges to get them from Ohio to your door.
(Keep in mind they're sort of heavy!)
The reason for the off-topic post here on this Old Radio forum is that I am
simply trying to avoid their needless destruction, and I figured that some
one out there in Old Radio Land might also enjoy a similar hobby in
collecting 78's.
Please contact me off-list at dmkinetics@[removed] if interested.
Thanks and sincere apologies for the topic diversion ... and now, back to
our regularly scheduled program ...
Dave Meredith
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:27:31 -0500
From: "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Lone Ranger - premium
The Lone Ranger is a hot topic on the Digest, so please let me ask:
In 1945, on the "Lone Ranger" radio program, General Mills (advertising
their Kix and/or Cheerioats cereals) offered the WAR ALBUM OF VICTORY
BATTLES, a 16-page booklet and 20 poster stamps for sticking onto the proper
spaces in the booklet. (Its cover pictured GIs storming a tropical beach.)
** Would anyone have the premium's original MAILER (envelope) or have a
picture or xerox copy of that mailer (both sides of it, preferably) -- or
know who might have one?
** Would anyone know if any separate *instructions* came with this
premium? If they did, do you have them or a picture of them or xerox copy?
Thanks,
-- Phil C.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:27:53 -0500
From: Steven Kelez <otrsteve@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Monkey's Paw
A recording of this story can be found at the Radio Showcase web site. It's
from
the Favorite Story series.
D-306: FAVORITE STORY
Side 1- The Monkey's Paw 6/4/49 (William Conrad) (Very Good, Syndicated,
Horror)
Side 2- The Bet 3/5/49 (William Conrad, John Beal) (Very Good, Syndicated,
Drama)
Cassette Length: 60 Min.
I thought there were more radio adaptions of this story, but this is the only
one
I can find.
Steven Kelez
RADIO SHOWCASE
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 16:33:53 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Radio Reconditioning
I want to second the comments that have been made here about the
importance of replacing capacitors in antique radios if you have any
intention of using them -- or even of plugging them into the wall at all.
I have a Philco 37-10 console in my living room that I bought in a
second-hand store back in the mid-1980s for $5. It was in "working
order," or so I was told. I put it in my living room, and enjoyed it for
several weeks. Then one afternoon, the audio suddenly quit -- and there
was severe, burning stench coming out of the back. I yanked it away from
the wall, pulled the plug, and looked inside. The plates of the rectifier
tube were still red hot, and there was melted wax dripping onto the
floor. One defective paper capacitor had popped, and created a short
circuit. Had I not yanked the plug when I did, the power transformer
would have burned up, and there would very likely have been a fire.
No one in my town fixed vintage electronics, or was willing to try, or
was even willing to talk to me when I asked about it -- so I got some
books from the library and taught myself to do it. I replaced every
single paper capacitor in that set -- it took weeks to do it, and it was
extremely difficult to get at some of them. But I did it.
And I'm glad I did -- because when I looked at the diagram for that set,
I noticed that there were two paper bypass capacitors across the AC line
-- *BEFORE* the power switch. Had these capacitors failed, it would have
created a dead short across the house wiring -- and that almost certainly
would have caused a fire. If your own Cool Old Antique Radio has this
particular design flaw -- a lot of mid-1930s Philcos do -- and hasn't
been re-capped -- and you leave it plugged into the wall, even if you
never turn it on, you're very literally Playing With Fire.
Don't take chances. Nostalgia isn't worth it.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 16:51:25 -0500
From: "Bob & Lois Reynolds" <boblo1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Detroit Memories
All of the talk about The Lone Ranger brings back alot of memories.
The old WXYZ studios used to be on E. Jefferson Ave. across from the
Whittier Hotel. When they moved to The Macabees Building on Woodward Ave.
The building became home for BSF&D Advertising Agency. The first job my
wife had was as secretary for the firm.
I worked at a drug store in Grosse Pointe across from the high school. One
of my fellow clerks was Fran Striker,Jr. Met his father several times and
remember him as a fine gentleman. In my collection I have a tape where F.
S. Jr. retells stories about his father and [removed] Bob Reynolds FOND
MEMORIES
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 18:24:19 -0500
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Random follow-up thoughts
Hi Gang:
NEVER STOPS BEING FUNNY: I'd like to thank all you Digest-ers--both on list &
off-- for carrying on this thread. It's good to see that
well-crafted humour never gets old. However, my original Top Ten was comprised
of RECURRING bits. Most respondants wrote about one-time sketches. If that's
the case, the funniest thing I've ever heard on an OTR sprogramme is this:
"Duffy's Tavern"... Archie, the Bartender [Did he ever have a last name?]
decides he wants to "class up the jernt" by writing and staging an opera.
Jascha Panislavsky {spelling?], [removed] "The Mad Russian" is hanging around the
tavern and suggests a title for Archie's inaugural effort, viz. "The Barber of
Seville."
Archie: "'Barber of Seville?' That's already been wrote--"
Jascha: "A city the size of Seville--there's only one barber?"
This has become my all-time favourite joke, bar none. It's on the Radio
Spirits "Duffy's Tavern, Volume 1" six-tape white bookshelf edition.
DRAGNET/COMPLICATED CARD GAME: In my original "never stops being funny" list,
I had mentioned the times when Sgts. Friday & Romero get a suspect to break
down & talk by annoying said suspect while playing an incredibly complicated
card game with obnoxiously extraneous
rules. Subscriber Donald DuBrule suggests checking out an early "Dragnet"
outing from 09/17/1949 titled "James Vickers Kills an Officer" if anybody
wants to hear this routine AND some brilliant writing. Thanks, Donald.
TWO IN A BED: Every so often, some modern-day wiseguy will make some sort of
comment that Laurel & Hardy were gay because filmgoers always saw them
sleeping in the same bed. I just want to accentuate that A) it was the
Depression, & this was a common practice during tough times; and B) IT'S
[removed] comedic possibilities are [removed]
THE LONE RANGER'S HORSE: Noted [removed] historian Jim Nixon has just joined this
list, and I'm sure everybody is going to enjoy his future postings.
However, he's away from home visiting old friends in Massachusetts at this
time, so he's asked me to answer the question about the Ranger's original
horse "Dusty," brought up by subscriber William Halbe. Anybody interested in
learning about the transition from Dusty to Silver is urged by Jim to check
out [removed] episode 141, "The Origin of Silver," which orig'ly aired on
12/09/1938. Jim recommends contacting Jerry Haendiges's
offerings for the best copy <JHaendiges@[removed];.
SENIOR MOMENT: A new buddy of mine from this here Digest, Don Frey, recently
used the term "senior moment." I guess that's better than a "CRAFT moment,"
with "CRAFT" being an acronym for "Can't Remember A
F------ Thing!" Let's save the foul language for the W-B network.
LOAN ARRANGER: Jay Rannellucci beat me & Hal Stone to the punch-line
by invoking the old scenario of John Reid [or whatever his alter-ego is!]
working in a bank so that he could be a "loan arranger;" actually my sister
Gwen is a "loan arranger"...she works as a loan officer in Holland, Michigan.
BABE RUTH: With all this talk about Babe Ruth's radio show, I'd like to
point out that it was sorta because of the "Sultan of Swat" that I became
obsessed with the term
"ether," the old
trade-paper term for "radio." Here's how in a round-about way:
I've always been a fan of cartoons from the 1920s-1950s. Throughout the early
1980s, the Thalia, a run-down NYC "revival house" played programmes of
theatrical cartoons once a week during the summer. On "George Pal" night,
they played an early "puppetoon" of his produced in Europe. Its title was
translated in English as "The Ship of the Ether" & it was about a ship-- full
of radio singers of different musical genres--
that floated through the stratosphere. This cartoon ended up being a
commercial for Philips radio receivers. This was my first encounter with this
beloved term.
Flash forward to the late 1980s when the TNT [Turner Network Television} cable
channel started up. Back then TNT played the same old movies and one-reel
shorts that now comprise the programming on its sister station TCM [Turner
Classic Movies]. I remember seeing a short subject starring Babe Ruth and
songwriter Zez Comfey {spelling?], best remembered for having had written
"Stumbling" (Felix Unger's favourite song) and "Kitten on the Keys" (lately
the basis for that infernal Meow Mix catfood commercial). In the film, the
Babe inspired Comfey to write a song for him titled "Home Run on the Keys,"
an instrumental tune accentuated by the original Mr. #714 making umpire
calls like "Strike One!, "Strike Two!," and "Home Run!"
Between the scene where the song is written and the one where the two new
partners debut the song on live radio, there's a bridging scene of a
newspaper headline that read something to the effect of "BABE RUTH TO PREEM
NEW SONG ON ETHER TONIGHT."
And that's where I picked the term up.
Yours in th-, aw! you know the rest!
Derek Tague
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 18:59:38 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Monkey's Paw
Dixon remarked:
Probably this was an adaptation of the story, "The Monkey's Paw," a bitter
tale of wish fulfillment. I don't know where it ran, but both Suspense and
Inner Sanctum *could* have adapted it.
I distinctly remember an "Inner Sanctum" episode by that name being
advertised in a tape catalog but I don't know much more about it.
Actually, "The Monkey's Paw" was a short story written by [removed] Jacobs and
has been adapted for television and radio so many times it's not funny - Lee
Majors made his television debut in a modernized version of the story in
1964 or 1965.
The story itself has been dramatized on tons of radio programs such as MOLLE
MYSTERY THEATER, television's SUSPENSE, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and so
on. Sadly, it was never done on INNER SANCTUM - one of the misconceptions
that collectors many years ago would take the AFRS rebroadcasts and label
them as other programs. Waxworks was a famous story (done on radio's
SUSPENSE three times) and an AFRS recording of that is also being labeled in
catalogs and mp3s as an episode of INNER SANCTUM and that too was never done
on INNER SANCTUM.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #93
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