Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #279
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/21/2002 10:09 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 279
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Paul Harvey's Birthdate               [ "Dennis Crossland" <dcrossland@char ]
      Atlanta GA radio stations             [ "James G. DuPuy" <dupuy@[removed] ]
      Paul Harvey's Age                     [ Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed] ]
      Secret codes                          [ "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed]; ]
      Re: Andy Devine                       [ Taylor401306@[removed] ]
      Graf Spee                             [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
      Andy Devine                           [ "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed]; ]
      RE: Paul Harvey's age                 [ "Jerry Reed" <jerry@[removed]; ]
      Re: Paul Harvey's Age                 [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Suspense and illness                  [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Graf Spee                             [ Bhob <bhob2@[removed]; ]
      Need help with reel machine           [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
      Can you recommend a good radio        [ Bruce Cervon <bruce@[removed] ]
      little people in otr                  [ "S Skuse" <sskuse@[removed]; ]
      Re: Who`s on First ?                  [ Rfmalone@[removed] ]
      Doggie Diner-cont'd                   [ SacChief@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 22:59:12 -0400
    From: "Dennis Crossland" <dcrossland@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Paul Harvey's Birthdate
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    According to the Birthday Directory of Famous & Infamous People by Dennis
    Crossland (that's me) Paul Harvey was born Paul Harvey Aurandt (his real name)
    on September 4, 1918 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  He will celebrate his 84th birthday
    this Sept. 4th.
    Dennis Crossland

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    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 22:59:26 -0400
    From: "James G. DuPuy" <dupuy@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Atlanta GA radio stations

    Hi to you all!
    Caught a post about Paul Harvey in the last list.  Brought back lots of
    memorys!
    I am 51 and from about 1958 to 1969 I lived in Atlanta GA.  There were
    several stations I listened to a lot.  WSB was at that time, playing "pop"
    music.  My parents and I listened to it a lot.  Then there was WGST which
    was the Georgia Tech station.  I don't remember what type of music was
    played mostly, a bit more modern "pop" I think,  but do remember it was a
    good station and I listened to it a lot and that included Paul Harvey!  His
    "Page 1, Page 2, Page 3" and so on stuck in my mind a lot.  I always tried
    to find a station that he was on when I moved to Ohio in late '69.  I
    believe he was on WHK.   Here is another station that should bring up some
    memories:  WQXI in Atlanta.  They were called "Wicksy"  I think the freq was
    1250 but not sure.  They played more "modern" music or closer to rock so
    most the kids listened to it.  I was into classical a lot so only listened
    once in a while.  When I moved to Parma OH (suburb of Cleveland)  I found
    WQXI (Quicksy-1260) which was also more into rock.  I hope I don't have the
    call letter turned around.   I believe WHK played mostly rock then also.
    WHK gave a lot of rock stars their "break" into radio if I remember
    correctly.  Here in Cleveland, back in around 1970 to around 76 or so, WJW
    (I think), 850 on the dial, played a really great Mystery Theater at
    midnight. It was an hour show and rather late for me to listen to.  I
    remedied that by modifing a cassette recorder to run at about 1/2 speed.  I
    then rigged an old clock radio so that the contacts operated not only the
    radio, but also turned on the recorder.  I would then listen to the tape the
    next day at work usually.  The audio quality was really bad as cassette is
    slow anyway and it was a cheap portable but oh did I love those mysteries!
    Funny, I don't ever remember any OTR when I lived in GA.  There must have
    been stations that had it.    Would appriciate any followups on or off list
    of these stations or others in those cities.  Somewhere around 83 or so,
    several AM stations changed around in Cleveland.  850 became WRMR and played
    pop music the same as WSB did back many years ago.  WSB has changed format
    and is now talk radio.  Too bad.  I for one, think there are too many "talk"
    stations.  Would like to hear a few more AM stations that have music.  FM is
    nice, and sounds good and all, but it does not carry as far as a good AM
    station!   Take care all!

    I don't suffer from insanity, I create and enjoy every minute of it!
    Mitsy, my yorkie dog says; "I'm so darn cute even I can't stand it!"

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 22:59:39 -0400
    From: Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Paul Harvey's Age

    According to the biography section  of Paul Harvey dot com:
    [removed]   Paul Harvey started his career
    in a Tulsa OK, radio station in 1933 while still in High School.  Assuming
    he graduated at age 18 doing the math would place Mr. Harvey's Senority
    at his mid 70's.
    CAB
    ---
    Conrad  A. Binyon
    Encino, CA
    Home of the Stars who loved Ranches and Farms

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:00:05 -0400
    From: "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Secret codes

    Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]; wrote:

>     NBC went even further, imposing rules governing how secret codes could be
>     used in children's programming -- requiring that the Continuity Acceptance
>     office be provided with a full set of keys for any and all codes or ciphers
>     to be used on the air, and that plain text of all coded messages would have
>     to be submitted along with the regular program scripts at least 48 hours in
>     advance of broadcast. Presumably, the Continuity Acceptance staff would then
>     decode the coded text to ensure that the message being aired actually
>     matched the provided plain text, and that the sponsors didn't try to slip
>     anything past them.

    Strictly speaking, those lists should have been provided to the affiliates
    as well, since the FCC would hold them responsible if the coded message
    turned out to breach the rules in some respect.  (The same issue came up
    much later in TV with the development of closed captioning, teletext and
    other encoding systems, where stations have to have the appropriate decoders
    to be able to see what's going out on air.)

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:00:26 -0400
    From: Taylor401306@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Andy Devine
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    In a message dated 7/21/02 11:23:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     I'm looking for any information on Andy Divine
>     (Devine?). For a while I thought he was just a minor
>     player on the Jack Benny show but I just recently
>     listed to a few Lum n Abner's from the late '40's and
>     early '50's and he was a recurring character there as
>     well. A quick Internet search found nothing. Was this
>     his real name? Did he just play himself on different
>     shows or did he actually portray different characters?

    Andy Devine  (Real name- Jeremiah Schwarz) got his distinctive voice as a
    result of a childhood accident ( falling with a stick in his mouth). He was
    Jack Benny's sidekick in the "Buck Benny Rides Again" skits on the Jack Benny
    radio show. He was Roy Rogers' sidekick, Cookie Bullfincher . His greatest
    fame came as "Jingles" Jones , Wild Bill Hickock's sidesick on the 50's TV
    show. (I can remember Sugar Pops cereal boxes with his picture on them.) His
    last TV show was "Andy's Gang" ("Pluck your magic twanger,Froggy!") The show
    was cancelled one December. I can remember being dragged away from seeing the
    last show, crying, to go see a "Santa Claus". In Andy Devine's hometown of
    Kingman, Arizona, "Andy Devine Days" are still celebrated & there a local
    museum on his life & career.

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    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:00:37 -0400
    From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Graf Spee

    Dave Walter, Joe Salerno, and Jim Widner discuss the
    scuttling of the Graf Spee:

>     there is a > recording of (allegedly) the actual New
>     York radio bulletin announcing the > scuttling of the
>     Graf Spee. On it, an announcer switches to a
>     reporter who > is supposedly in Montevideo. No
>     network or station ID is given, and  the > reporter's
>     sign-off ("Goodbye, ladies and gentlemen") sounds
>     fairly  odd.

    There were apparently two broadcasts, in quick
    succession, from Montevideo describing the action.
    The recording I have is an NBC broadcast:  "New
    Friends of Music" is delayed for the switch to
    Uraguay.  The ship is already afire, and Bowen refers
    to an earlier 'flash' announcing the scuttling.

    This second broadcast is REALLY good stuff.  Bowen
    describes the scene for a couple minutes, then:
    "There goes another explosion!  The after turret is
    going up!  She's going down!  She's going down by the
    stern!  The stern is completely underwater.  Flames
    are still shooting up into the air, and [removed]
    boys are evidently going to make a good job of it, and
    leave nothing but the pieces".

    Jim Widner points up the curiosity that Bowen's
    broadcasts somehow ended up in the KIRO material.
    Perhaps this is just a bizarre coincidence?  On this
    broadcast, Bowen introduces himself by saying "This is
    the National Broadcasting Company in Montevideo", and
    the announcer later refers to "James Bowen, NBC's
    [removed]"

    It's also very funny--and illustrative--to hear the
    CBS reaction to (apparently) being scooped so
    spectacularly.  That evening on his regular 8:55 PM
    news, Elmer Davis rather rather cutely buries the Graf
    Spee action after a dry recounting of Day 21 of the
    Russian-Finnish war!

    There's also a fiery Winston Churchill broadcast from
    this day, and had this been a more tactically
    significant war event, it might have been remembered
    as one his great orations--it is proud, defiant, a
    direct poke in Hitler's eye (over and over, he
    repeatedly refers to "the Pocket Battleship, Graf
    Spee"); hearing this in retrospect, there's little
    surprise Neville Chamberlain didn't last another six
    months. There were several early-war naval stories:
    the Royal Oak sinking, the seizure of the City of
    Flint, [removed] the Graf Spee's certainly had the
    most exciting finish.

    chris

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:00:45 -0400
    From: "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Andy Devine

    Ryan asked about Andy Devine. Andy was a well known movie star in the 1940s
    and 50s.  He was a large man with an infectious grin and a loud laugh. His
    voice was unique and gravelly. Andy played sidekick to Roy Rogers in a
    number of Republic westerns. He played the stagecoach driver in the great
    John Ford film - Stagecoach with JohnWayne. He was the TV and radio sidekick
    (Jingles) of Guy Madison in Wild Bill Hickok.

    John Southard

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:00:55 -0400
    From: "Jerry Reed" <jerry@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: Paul Harvey's age

    According to his bio on [removed] he was in high school when he got his
    first radio job in 1933.  Let's say he was 16 at the time. That would put
    his birth year at about 1917 or thereabouts.  That would put his age at
    about 85 not 103.

    Just thought someone would want to know.
    Jerry Reed

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:01:45 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Paul Harvey's Age

    On 7/21/02 11:25 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     Since many talk show people don't let facts get in the way of a
>     story, I thought I would ask if anyone can verify how old Paul is.  He has
>     been around as long as I can remember, but since I was born in 1941 I don't
>     go that far back.  Paul Harvey has a unique style and delivery that could
>     never be duplicated and when he finally does end his newscasting it will be
>     the end of an era. Could someone tell me when he started his newscasts? Has
>     he always been on ABC?

    Paul Harvey Aurandt was born in 1918, which would make him 84 years old
    -- so while he probably *will* still be broadcasting when he's 103,  we
    still have a couple of decades to wait for that milestone. (I can't help
    but feel sorry for Paul Jr., who probably counted on taking over the
    program twenty years ago.)

    Harvey has been an ABC fixture since November 26, 1950, when he took over
    a commentary program that had been established by H. R. Baukhage several
    years earlier. Harvey began his radio career in 1933 in his hometown of
    Tulsa, OK, and later worked in Oklahoma City and St Louis before landing
    in Chicago in 1944, where he did local newscasts over WENR, the local
    Blue Network outlet.

    While he's probably the last of his breed, that's not to say that he's
    unique. Harvey's style is basically an amalgam of Gabriel Heatter, Edwin
    C. Hill, and Bill Stern -- with a little bit of Upton Close (from whom
    Harvey cribbed his "Hello Americans!" signature line), and maybe a little
    trace of his predecessor Baukhage. When you hear Harvey you're hearing an
    homage to all of the most popular "heartland commentators" of the 1930s
    and 1940s.

    I would suggest that the debt to Hill is especially strong: aside from
    the very obvious similarities in their delivery and even in the
    populist-conservative political shadings of their broadcasts, one could
    point out that in 1933, just as Harvey was beginning his radio career,
    Edwin C. Hill began a program called "The Inside Story," which told
    little known odd facts in the lives of celebrities -- just the same sorts
    of stories Harvey would feature forty years later on "The Rest of the
    Story." I don't know if Harvey has ever acknowledged a debt to Hill --
    who died in 1957 --  but their similarities in style are too obvious to
    discount the idea of such an influence.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:01:57 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Suspense and illness

    Someone last week poosted a question about a specific episode of SUSPENSE
    about a blind detective named Duncan McLain (sp?).

    There was such an episode, it aired in 1943, the specific title and airdate
    I can't find at present, but that was a 1943 episode, of which I am pretty
    certain, one of the early dramas of the series.

    This is the best I can do at the moment. I'd go into detail and find the
    exact episode but I am physically ill and can't handle anything and a friend
    is typing this for me, and I am unable to hold anything physical for at
    least a couple more days.

    Anyone trying to get a hold of mee the past few days, I am not ignoring you,
    please have patience, I'll be back in touch as soon as I am better.
    Martin Grams

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:02:27 -0400
    From: Bhob <bhob2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Graf Spee

    More on Dr Pepper: The product name is "Dr Pepper" ? not "Dr. Pepper."
    In 1950, the logo was changed to an italic font which had the top part
    of the "r" detached and suspended over the period. These two dots
    conspired to look like a colon, so it was decided to retain the overhead
    dot and delete the period. Company names and documents were then changed
    to match the new logo.

    Another Graf Spee drama aired the same year as the Michael Powell/Emeric
    Pressburger film. On September 30, 1956, YOU ARE THERE did "The
    Scuttling of the Graf Spee" on CBS-TV with James Logan, Richard Peel,
    Roland Varno and Harlan Warde. The format of YOU ARE THERE usually
    involved a CBS news correspondent (in modern dress) reporting on the
    event. YOU ARE THERE, btw, began on CBS radio in 1947 as CBS IS THERE:
    [removed]+Is+There
    [removed]

    In Powell-Pressburger's THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE/PURSUIT OF THE
    GRAF SPEE (1956) Bernard Lee portrays Captain Patrick Dove, while Dove
    appeared uncredited as a prisoner on the Graf Spee. However, Dove
    portrayed himself in Gainsborough's FOR FREEDOM (1940), yet another film
    about the Graf Spee. FOR FREEDOM, mixing drama and re-enactments with
    actual footage, was directed by Maurice Elvey (TRANSATLANTIC TUNNEL) and
    Castleton Knight (OLYMPIC GAMES OF 1948). Dove was one of several actual
    participants from the real-life event who appeared in FOR FREEDOM.

    There's quite a bit about THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE on the
    Powell-Pressburger Pages:
    [removed]

    Note that one article on that site makes mention of BBC broadcasts:
    [removed]

> >     The BBC broadcast reports of a massive convergence of allied heavy

    ships, although they were many days' sailing away. Visiting British
    merchant ships were sent to sea from Montevideo at daily intervals,
    obliging the Graf Spee under international law to give each one a
    24-hour start. On December 17 Langsdorff raised steam and the Graf Spee
    sailed slowly out of port to the three-mile limit, accompanied by a
    German steamer and flying her battleflag. Thousands of spectators lining
    the shore saw the German sailors transfer from the battleship to the
    steamer and heard a series of small explosions, followed by much larger
    detonations as the warship's ammunition blew up<<

    Were BBC broadcasters aware of the deception?
    [removed]

    Bhob @ VINTAGE NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS @
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:02:45 -0400
    From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Need help with reel machine

    I just recieved as a gift from my grandfather an Akai GX280D reel
    machine.  It does need some repairs, and I was wondering if the machine
    is even worth having fixed.  If anyone knows if this is a quality
    machine, please contact me off list.  I know nothing about this sort of
    thing, as this is the first reel machine I've owned.

    rodney.

    Past Tense Productions
    Carrying Old Radio related films, and Hal Roach shorts, for $7 per tape.

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:02:54 -0400
    From: Bruce Cervon <bruce@[removed];
    To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Can you recommend a good radio

    Here's question that I'm sure many would be interested in.

    I'd like to buy a radio that will pick-up distant stations. Can anyone
    recommend any peculiar type. A friend told me a Seacrane was good but I've
    been burned several times on the these radios and don't want another dud. If
    anyone has had good luck with one brand please let me know.
    Bruce Cervon

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:04:08 -0400
    From: "S Skuse" <sskuse@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  little people in otr

    On 19 July Ben wrote:

>     I was curious if there have been any series or single shows that had
>     little people/midgets in the lead. Most midget roles seem to be Very
>     small (no pun intended), and I was curious if any of them had
>     'significant' roles.

    In England, the comedian Jimmy Clitheroe (who never grew taller than 4ft
    3ins) played an 11-year-old schoolboy on radio in his BBC radio show "The
    Clitheroe Kid", from 1957 to 1972 (making altogether 290 shows over 15
    years).

    Jimmy Clitheroe was originally a Variety comedian, and played the Variety
    theatres in England from 1936 until 1973. He was a midget, and looked like
    he was 11 years old.

    On radio, you couldn't tell how tall he was, of course. But he also had a
    popular television series, from 1964 to 1968, which ran alongside the radio
    show. Even on tv, he really looked as though he was 11 years old. This led
    to him being known in the newspapers as "the Peter Pan of showbusiness", the
    little boy who never grew up.

    Jimmy Clitheroe starred not only in "The Clitheroe Kid", but also in another
    1950's radio show on the BBC, entitled "Call Boy" (1956-58).

    Check out my website at [removed] for more details on
    his career.

    Have fun!
    Sandra

    Sandra Skuse & Stephen Poppitt
    Jimmy Clitheroe - The Kid Himself
    Website: [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:32:45 -0400
    From: Rfmalone@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Who`s on First ?

    A couple of weeks ago there were questions about the names of the baseball
    players in the Abbott and Costello skit on "Who`s on First" I listed the
    names of all the players but I made an error. I have just come across the
    Script for Who`s on First. After reading it a couple of times I found that
    there is no mention of the Right Fielder.
    Hope this sets the record straight. All eight players are named but NO right
    fielder.
                Richard

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

    Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 23:38:04 -0400
    From: SacChief@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Doggie Diner-cont'd

    Hi, folks: I've been on the road, busy and generally not following this
    thread for a few weeks, but today, when I finally got back, I noticed a
    posting re. The old Doggie Diners of the Bay Area. Circa 1951-52 , on KRE
    Berkeley, I co-hosted a show, sponsored, in part by DD's and also by Roos
    Brothers (for those of you old enuf to remember Roos Bros), and by Sather
    Gate Jewelers, etc. I seem to recall that the key guy in DD was named Ross;
    seemed like a good guy. It was kind of a full cycle; DD's sponsored my show
    and I used the money, in part, to by those doggies. I think we had a tag line
    that said,  "They're doggone good!"  Anyway, my role in the program hit a big
    snag in late 1952, when Uncle Sam called me to help fight the Korean War.  I
    can't remember who took my spot at KRE. DD's was a great Bay Area
    Institution, and while I have lived in Sacramento for many years, i still
    have family and other close ties to the Bay Area, so I heard about the
    successful efforts to retain the old logo. bob keldgord

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #279
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