------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 332
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Ruffled feathers [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Still Super, [removed] [ Wich2@[removed] ]
WYXIE Wonderland [ "Arthur Funk" <art-funk@[removed]; ]
New Email address Correction [ george aust <austhaus1@[removed]; ]
Essential" OTR Library: The Top Ten [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
free cigarettes [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Hal Stone's "Bob Lynes" impression [ Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@earthlin ]
Re: small cigarette packs [ Brent Pellegrini <brentpl@rocketmai ]
Halloween Weekend with Walden Hughes [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
Re: must-have books [ Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed]; ]
Great Radio Heroes [ "Mike Hobart" <zines50@[removed]; ]
Jean Shepherd on KYW [ Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@yahoo ]
10-28 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Free cigarettes to the military [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
stuff for sale [ Clif Martin <martbart@[removed]; ]
some audio and video equip [ "Joseph" <drjoewebb@[removed]; ]
review of OTR book [ "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed]; ]
Rex Stout [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 18:50:01 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Ruffled feathers
I knew that when I came out with my top ten, or is it twelve, olde
tyme radio books I would ruffle some feathers. I have done just that.
But, remember my disclaimer, I only listed books that I didn't
consider reference works. Yes I know that many books can fall under
both reference and pleasure. Jim Cox has that distinction. My
definition of a reference work is a book that you might read once,
and then put it back on the shelf and go back to it only if you need
some information about a particular program. Books by DeLong, French,
Harmon, Grams, Smith, Billips & Pierce and Dunning fall into this
category. I put all of them in my top ten for reference works. I
realize that I didn't explain what I view a reference work to
be . . . my error.
Also as others have pointed out, it is very subjective. I will never
list an "Amos 'n' Andy" book no matter how well written, most of you
know why. However, I am glad this caused a little dialog.
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (The 7th poorest city in the nation).
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 20:00:58 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Still Super, [removed]
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From: Charlie Summers _charlie@[removed]_ (mailto:charlie@[removed])
Is it possible _all_ of the memories of this are faulty,
and the "embarassment" Kennedy caused the Klan and its leadership through
the
"Adventures of Superman" radio series is nothing more than folklore, or at
least exaggeration based on faded memory?
Dear Charlie, & all Supermen (& Superwomen) of America-
Yes - that is entirely possible.
I've heard the story arcs referenced, and they are INCREDIBLY powerful. To
have such an unflinching expose of human stupidity, in what was basically a
children's show, is heady stuff.
And, at a pivotal time: the immediate Post War, just after the defeat of
world Fascism, was a real opportunity for growth - much like the immediate
Reconstruction Era in the [removed] Alas, in both cases, human weakness got ahead
of
the curve, and the initiative was lost.
But as to the "secret details" legend, it may VERY WELL be just that. Far
from the first time that a pop-culture Truth was discovered to be founded in
sand. Such covers have even been blown in these esteemed pages.
Best,
-Craig
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Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 21:32:46 -0400
From: "Arthur Funk" <art-funk@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: WYXIE Wonderland
In OTR Digest #331 Martin Grams mentioned that he'd been unable to help
someone find a copy for sale. A search on [removed] yielded four
copies available for purchase ranging from $150 to $200. Yikes!
Regards to all,
Art Funk
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 22:37:00 -0400
From: george aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: New Email address Correction
When I concluded my post on digest #330 I put my new email address. Well
I'm a creature of habit ! I wrote my old address. My new address is ...
austhaus1@[removed]
Sorry for any inconvenience.
George Aust
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 22:37:32 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Essential" OTR Library: The Top Ten
Jack French made a very astute observation on this subject when he said "
an "essential" library depends on whether you are 1) a researcher,
historian, or serious collector, or 2) an OTR fan who likes to read about
your favorite shows." While he guessed that Ron Sayles was in the latter
category, I am sure that he and most of you would guess that I am in the
former category. Although I try to keep up with the new books and have
most of the ones that have been mentioned in this thread, I tend to
gravitate towards things that were written first-hand and often published
during the OTR era. (I hesitate to mention this since statements published
in several books in this category have been trashed recently by my pal
Jughead, but I do generally find fewer factual errors in those books and
newer books that research from primary sources rather than from other
secondary sources.)
To start off, you need the trio of books by Eric Barnouw, "A Tower In
Babel," "The Golden Web," and "The Image Empire." I don't agree with all
of his interpretations of the facts, but it is well footnoted so it is
often possible to go back to the original source he used and make your own
re-interpretation. In short, I use these books more as an index and
finding aid to primary sources.
You also need "Stay Tuned" by Chris Sterling and John "Mike" Kittross, the
best one volume history of broadcasting. There are three editions, and the
first two are probably not very expensive. I like their layout better than
the current edition, but the new one is updated with some new research, but
also info on the newer years which are not of OTR interest, of course. A
less detailed book is "The Broadcast Century: A Biography of American
Broadcasting" by Robert L. Hilliard and Michael C. Keith.
Everyone should have the pictorial histories, starting with "A Pictorial
History of Radio" by Irving Settle. There are two editions, the first was
published in 1960 so the second edition has an added chapter on the 1960s.
(Settle also did a volume on TV, but the best TV pictorial history is
Daniel Blum's 1958 epic, both with the same title "A Pictorial History of
Television.") Another pictorial history, mostly of radio, with a lot of
copy is "Cavalcade of Broadcasting" by Curtis Mitchell from 1970. The most
recent one is "Blast from the Past--A Pictorial History of Radio's First 75
Years" by B. Eric Rhoads. I don't have it at hand, but I remember there
being some rather obvious bloopers in the captions. Rhodes was editor of a
trade press magazine "Radio Ink" and the special July 10-23, 1995 issue for
radio's 75th anniversary published at the same time as the book has some
great pictures and articles. "Broadcasting & Cable" also had a special
issue on Nov 6, 1995, but the issue of "Broadcasting" that is really
important is the one for the magazine's 50th anniversary in October 1981
because it includes a listing of the major point in every issue of the
magazine -- a great basic index to the magazine and broadcasting history.
Some of the greatest book primary sources is the pair of books published in
the 1930s by Gleason L. Archer, "A History of Broadcasting to 1926," and
"Big Business and Radio" which is really his history of radio 1926 to 1936.
He used the NBC interoffice memo files for a lot of the second book and had
access to those files before they were culled by NBC in the 1960s. What is
left is now at the Library of Congress and is a great resource. Frances
Chase Jr.'s 1942 "Sound and Fury: An Informal History of Radio" is less
scholarly but very informative and authorative.
The best book that tells you how radio was when the networks were being
born is THE first textbook about commercial radio "Using Radio in Sales
Promotions" by Edgar H. Felix from 1927. I cherish this book and the fact
that I got to meet and interview Felix late in his life. Prior to this
book he had been the publicist for WEAF, and at the time of the book he was
editor of Radio Broadcast magazine. This book is the treasure of what most
of you might call the "pre-OTR" era and contains pictures seen nowhere else.
"Broadcast Advertising" by ___ Arnold from 1930 has many complete early
network radio scripts reprinted in the last third of the book. There are
some script excerpts, including a long routine from Eddie Cantor's April 8,
1934 program in "So-o-o-o You're Going On the Air" by Robert West. This
book tells you how you can break into radio -- in 1934, of course.
And the newest books about the earliest era of radio MUST be in every
librory: "Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio" by Tom Lewis, and
"Inventing American Broadcasting : 1899-1922" by Susan J. Douglas.
A few more than ten, but you're not going to find some of them that quickly
anyway.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 22:37:46 -0400
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: free cigarettes
Yes, I recall the little boxes of free cigarettes being given away at the
campus snack bar (NSTC, 1952 etc.). My ex wife got her start smoking by
accepting the freebies. She died a few years ago of lung cancer. Pretty
sneaky trick to get young people started smoking.
Ted Kneebone. OTR website: [removed]
Democrats: [removed]
1528 S. Grant St., Aberdeen, SD 57401 / Phone: 605-226-3344
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 22:41:49 -0400
From: Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Hal Stone's "Bob Lynes" impression
on 10/24/05 10:19 PM, "Jim Cox" <otrbuff@[removed]; wrote:
Mom, whom Tonto (Hal Stone) kept referring to as
"Mrs. Kemosaby," lectured her son about the need to "find a permanent job"
and observed: "I bet you've never had a date in your life!" She urged him
to marry a girl and live "a normal life."
***Yes, and it was yet another example of Hal Stone's amazing versatility.
He was doing his famous Bob Lynes imitation throughout his performance as
Tonto. (Those who attended my Sunday Morning panel will understand.)
--Anthony Tollin***
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:20:58 -0400
From: Brent Pellegrini <brentpl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: small cigarette packs
-I've got a bunch of those little cigarette packs. I think they came in the
mail
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:19:29 -0400
From: BryanH362@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Halloween Weekend with Walden Hughes
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Heard Friday , Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 pm Pacific Time. With a special
Halloween
program produced by REPS ( The Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound
[removed])
heard Monday 6pm-1:30 am Pacific Time. Live streaming at
[removed] .
Friday 10-28-05
A. Classic Interview: Frank Bresee interviews Rudy Vallee.
B. OTR programs heard throughout the evening.
Saturday 10-29-05
A. Vintage interview program: Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran interview Parker
Fenelly who played Titus Moody on Fred Allen.
B. Stu Weiss a new friend Walden met at FOTR . Walden will feature an
interview from
Stu Weiss' archives.
C. OTR like Fibber McGee and Molly , Gildersleeve, Phil Harris, Our Miss
Brooks, and Information Please will follow ..
D. Same Time Same Station Halloween special
Sunday 10-30-05
A. Laura Leff presents Jack Benny of 10-28-45.
B. Bill Bragg hosts Michael Biel's .
C. Mercury Theater 10-30-38 and interview with Orson Welles
Monday 10-31-05
REPS present a 7 hour Halloween special starting at 9 PM Eastern time.
15 Halloween OTR programs to be featured . Mostly thriller , horror and
suspense
with some classic comedies.
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:20:50 -0400
From: Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: must-have books
There's one I just came across, that is a must have as well. It's entitled
The Laugh [removed] It really gives you an insight into what went
on behind the scenes, and how those
guys got to be so funny in the first place.
Mike
Pleased to meet you and thanks for the unsolicited review, Mike. It
makes a pretty good birthday present. It was a joy to interview those
old comedy writers, guys like Parke Levy, who knew he was dying but
was happy to talk about what it was like to work with Jack Pearl and
Joe Penner in the very early [removed] Sherwood Schwartz about Armed
Forces [removed] Bob Weiskopf about Fred [removed] and so many more.
Contact me off list if you're interested in a copy.
Jordan R. Young
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:21:01 -0400
From: "Mike Hobart" <zines50@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Great Radio Heroes
At the risk of repetition of previous contributors, I too salute Jim
Harmon's books The Great Radio Heroes.
It was the first book I ever saw about radio. I think I bought a copy in
1969 from legendary Melbourne bookseller Mervyn Binns - for 95 cents I
notice (I still have it of course).
It was utterly fascinating and like many others I thought "What a shame I'll
never actually get a chance to listen to any of these [removed]"
Little did I know.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:21:29 -0400
From: Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jean Shepherd on KYW
In response to last week's request for Jean Shepherd
Cinci shows, I have come across none yet, but I did
come across one 6:48 fragment of his KYW show - he
talks about Vic & Sade. I came across it while
transferring Vic and Sade off an old reel from "Golden
Age Radio" from St. Louis. A dealer of the past, I
suppose.
The FOTR Convention sounded like such fun - I wish I
could have made it.
*Don't forget Martin Grams' "ILAM Companion" as part
of ones' indispensible OTR bookshelf!
Trav
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:22:11 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 10-28 births/deaths
October 28th births
10-28-1886 - Ruth Gates - Denton, TX - d. 5-23-1966
actress: Mrs Lenord "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill"
10-28-1895 - Herb Butterfield - Rhode Island - d. 5-2-1957
actor: Clarence Wellman "Halls of Ivy"; Hunter Glenn "One Man's Family"
10-28-1895 - John Boles - Greenville, TX - d. 2-27-1969
actor, singer: "Texaco Star Theatre"
10-28-1896 - Howard Hanson - Wahoo, NE - d. 2-26-1981
conductor, composer: "New York Philharmonic"; "ASCAP World's Fair Concert"
10-28-1897 - Edith Head - San Bernardino, CA - d. 10-24-1981
costume designer: Intermission Guest "Lux Radio Theatre"
10-28-1902 - Elsa Lanchester - Lewisham, England - d. 12-26-1986
actress: "Arch Oboler's Plays"; "Columbia Presents Corwin"; "Everyman's
Theatre"
10-28-1905 - Ed Thorgerson - Wisconsin - d. 8-xx-1985
sports announcer
10-28-1906 - Lou Bring - d. 7-15-1951
orchestra leader: "The Al Jolson Show"; "The Gracie Fields Show"
10-28-1913 - Ruth Peterson - Wauwatosa, WI - d. 2-2-1985
actress: Linda Carroll "Hawthorne House"
10-28-1917 - Ron Rawson - d. 7-18-1994
announcer: "Right to Happiness"; "Advs. of Topper"; "Advs. of the Thin Man"
10-28-1934 - Johnny Western - Two Harbors, MN
singer, actor, songwriter: (Ballad of Paladin) Daily show on KFDI Wichita, KS
October 28th deaths
01-26-1914 - Jack de Manio - Hampstead, England - d. 10-28-1988
announcer: "Today"; "Jack de Manio Precisely"; "Woman's Hour"
02-22-1891 - George Jeske - Utah - d. 10-28-1951
writer: "Truth or Consequences"
04-01-1917 - Leon Janney - Ogden, UT - d. 10-28-1980
actor: Danny Stratford "Life of Mary Sothern"; Richard Parker "Parker Family"
07-27-1918 - Veola Vonn - New York, NY - d. 10-28-1995
actress: Dimples Wilson "Blondie"; Princess Nadji "Chandu the Magician"
08-29-1913 - Sylvia Fine - New York, NY - d. 10-28-1991
writer: (Wife of Danny Kaye) "Danny Kaye Show"; "Forecast"; "Bud's Bandwagon"
09-16-1919 - Larry Dobkin - New York, NY - d. 10-28-2002
actor: Archie Goodwin "Advs. of Nero Wolfe"; Ellery Queen "Advs. of Ellery
Queen"
09-17-1907 - Alice Yourman - d. 10-28-2000
actress: Mary Andrews "Archie Andrews"; [removed] Aldrich "Aldrich Family"
10-06-1899 - Mitchell Leisen - Menominee, MI - d. 10-28-1972
director: Lux Radio Theatre
11-02-1892 - Alice Brady - New York, NY - d. 10-28-1939
actress: "Hollywood Hotel"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:23:16 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Free cigarettes to the military
When I was a US Army cook stationed in Germany from 1963-1965, one of our
periodic "mandatory menus" was to serve surplus C-Ration meals to the
troops in our battalion mess hall. We'd open a bunch of cases of meals and
prepare a serving line of their contents:
Canned bread (opened/sliced)
Canned main entrees (assorted/heated)
Canned side items (assorted/heated as needed)
Condiments (salt, pepper, etc.)
Miscellaneous (toilet paper packets, etc.)
Cigarettes -
We usually dumped these packs (10/pack, I think) in a large bin at
the end
of the line, no quantities limited.
Some soldiers loved them because they were free - a big benefit when we
were paid around $90-$120/month.
Some soldiers liked to try out brands they hadn't smoked before. (In some
cases they wouldn't smoke them again, either: The C-Rations had been packed
in the late '40s or '50s, so brands like Wings or Fatima were long gone.)
Some soldiers refused to smoke "stale stuff" and bought their cigarettes at
the PX for around $2 per carton for American brands.
Most soldiers smoked, and there was no such thing as "no smoking areas". We
grew up watching WWII movies in which the wounded soldier/airman/sailor
always asked for a last cigarette before he died. When the chaplain took
the lit cigarette from the victim's lips, we knew he was dead.
As far as OTR is concerned, many of us in the early 60s would have been
listening to shows like Dragnet in our civilian lives. Friday and the other
cops and the malefactors were always smoking up a storm!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:05:45 -0400
From: Clif Martin <martbart@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: stuff for sale
I want to unload my precious OTR and nostalgia book collection before I go to
that great studio A in the sky and my kids trash it. It includes the
original Great Radio Heroes, two
Breakfast Club books, CKLW souvenir book from 1941, WJR 50th anniversary book
and record, picture of the Hermit and cast, 1922 Book about WWJ, Fred Allen's
Treadmill to Oblivion,Steve Allen's Bigger than a breadbox, sheet music with
Marian and Jim Jordan on the cover, before F and M, Mary Jane Higbys Tune in
tomorrow ... and lots more. I have not yet priced it. Would prefer to
sell the whole package but I will send a four or five page list as a Word
document to anyone who is interested in all or part. Clifsr71@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:16:57 -0400
From: "Joseph" <drjoewebb@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: some audio and video equip
i have the following available for free, for anyone interested who will just
pay shipping cost ($10, or $15 for both)... i'm cleaning out!
1) Numark DM-500 stereo audio mixer (2 channels that are for either phono or
line, 1 mic channel).
2) Sony Video Enhancer XV-3000W (phase correct and adjust sharpness, noise
clip for video)
Please let me know ASAP. I got them in the late '80s.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 15:48:29 -0400
From: "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: review of OTR book
I am pleased to announce that my book WORDS AT WAR (Scarecrow Press, 2002)
continues to receive positive reviews. In The Journal of Cold War Studies
(Fall 2005) Prof. Andrew J. Falk of Christopher Newport University writes
about WORDS AT WAR (which he calls a "thought provoking book") "Howard Blue
has written a book full of anecdotes to satisfy old-time radio enthusiasts,
but also has provided a valuable resource suitable for media scholars. . .
Perhaps the greatest strengths of the book derive from the impressive
compilation of interviews and use of rich archival collections. . . the book
is noteworthy for its fine use of new sources, . . . . Howard Blue
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 15:48:47 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Rex Stout
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On the most recent mailing list, I noticed the name of Rex Stout
listed
on the births/deaths list. His credits listed him as the creator of Rex
Stout.
I'm a bit [removed]'t the creator of Nero Wolfe? Am I mistaken?
Another OTR Fan,
Kenneth Clarke
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End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #332
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