Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #377
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 10/17/2003 5:08 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 377
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      FOTR/Various Follow-Up Thoughts       [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      AM antennae                           [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      More Regionalisms                     [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Credits                               [ "Jim Murtaugh" <jayeffemm@[removed] ]
      Wonderful Smith                       [ "David Malvin" <david_malvin@hotmai ]
      Protein                               [ Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed] ]
      More comments on Ohio-isms            [ "Jeff Quick" <jeffquick@[removed]; ]
      Shortwave radios                      [ BH <radioguy@[removed]; ]
      Thomas McAvity and Helen Mack         [ "Daryl Curtis" <mwracing57@hotmail. ]
      Richard Lamparski                     [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      12-24-46                              [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      10-18 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      shepherd & gardner                    [ Katherine Baer <KBaer@[removed]; ]
      OTR Home Transmission FM/AM           [ "Tim Ballew" <timballew@[removed] ]
      mail order                            [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 08:33:45 -0400
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  FOTR/Various Follow-Up Thoughts
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Hi Gang:

          It's me again and I just wanted to check in before taking a few days
    off in conjunction with this year's Friends of Old-Time Radio convention.
    This year's show is gonna be one for the proverbial books. I hope to see a
    lot of you Digest-ers there. I never miss it! (Of course, it helps, living
    two towns away). I have lousy eyesight & am admittedly not the least bit
    proficient at remembering faces. So if you see me ther, please introduce or
    re-introduce yourself to me. Thanks.
          On Friday 10/24 at 3:30 PM, Mitch Weisberg, Mary Lou Wallace, and I
    shall be hosting a panel on comedians/comic actors with OTR connections.  To
    any nay-sayers out there, I'll be the first to admit that I appropriated the
    idea from the successful singers' panel held annually at FOTR. Participating
    will be:  impressionist  WILL JORDAN (got his first exposure on "Fred Allen;"
    often appeared w/ A. Godfrey); HAL STONE (need I say more); BOB HASTINGS;
    stand-up BOBBY RAMSEN (child actor on "Let's Pretend," "Dick Tracy," "Terry
    and the Pirates," et. al.; stock company player on TV's "The Bob Newhart
    Show," especially the episode wher Bob takes a comedy class); and new
    addition stage/TV
    comedy star/game-show habitue BETSY PALMER (who has already told me she has
    some wonderful stories about Jack Paar, Arthur Godfrey, Henry Morgan, Jackie
    Gleason, Jack Lemmon, & many others). [Incidentally, Ms. Palmer did do some
    CBSRMT's in the 1970s, so she qualifies as OTR]. It's designed to be an
    informal panel  full of fun, jokes, & funny stories. Unfortunately, because
    of health reasons, original guest SOUPY SALES (got his start on WXYZ/Detroit)
    will be unable to attend.
           Get there early on [removed] might I suggest you secure yourself a
    seat by attending my pal Michael "Mr. Dragnet" Hayde's DRAGNET panel which
    immediately precedes the Comedians' forum. Don't be shy, Michael: give us all
    a hint of what you have planned.

           Random follow-Up Thoughts:

    HENRY MORGAN vs. HARRY MORGAN

           I enjoyed Craig "Quicksilver" Wichman's list of celebrities who needed
    to acquire new professional names such as Stewart Granger (b. James Stewart)
    and Michael Keaton (b. Michael Douglas). Might I add: Fannie Flagg (b.
    Patricia Neal),
    David Bowie (b. David Jones), and Albert Brooks (b. Albert [removed]
    son of radio comedian Harry "Parkyakarkas" Einstein who was named in honour
    of the famous physicist).
           But didn't some pirate/rum purveyor have the name "Henry Morgan"
    first? In the same nautical vein, didn't some guy with a "locker" precede
    both David Bowie/Jones and David "Davy" Jones of "the Monkees" fame?

    ART GILMORE

           Occasionally on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), the old "Joe
    McDoakes/Behind the Eight-Ball" short subjects starring George O'Hanlan  made
    by Warner Bros. in the 1940s and 50's show up between feature films. They
    were also narrated by Mr. Gilmore.

    HAMBURGER SANDWICHES

           If you think "hamburger sandwich" sounds stuffy, I believe "hot dogs"
    were once called "frankfurter sandwiches." I  once saw a Vitaphone short
    subject from the late 1920s  in which some vaudevillian sang a
    double-entendre-laced song called "Frankfurter Sandwiches." This same song
    once even turned up being sung by Mary Lou Metzger  in a baseball park
    setting on a stanza of "The Lawrence Welk Show."  How a racy song like that
    ever got by the Welk crowd, I'll never venture to guess. [Not to be
    patronising, but "stanza" is OTR-era "Variety-speak" for episode].

    EVERYONE IN TOWN KNOWS MR. WEBSTER

           I have made it a habit to incorporate obsolete OTR-era pronunciations
    into my everyday speech. If pronouncing medulla oblongada as
    "ob-long-GAY-duh" is good enough for Fred Allen, then, by crackie, it's good
    enough for me. Paul Harvey still pronounces "protein" as "protean." I once
    heard George Shelton on "It Pays to Be Ignorant" pronounce "aviator" as
    "AV-ee-ay-tur" instead of the more common "AY-vee-Ay-tur." Having lotsa old
    dictionaries at-hand here at Talking Books always prompts me to the consult
    the  venerable "Webster's Second International Dictionary" (known to book
    collectors and pronunciation handlers simply as "Web Two") for these obsolete
    pronunciations.

    SPEAKING OF [removed]

          Thanks to my pal Jack Harris, who has sent me several episodes  of  CBS
    Radio Mystery Theatre as part of a trade, I have been listening to episodes
    c. 1975 when CNSRMT was sponsored by "Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri."
    However, host [removed] Marshall seems to lean towards pronouncing it AN-hoy-zer
    rather than the traditional AN-high-zer. This point is particularly brought
    home when an actual beer ad for Budweiser is juxtaposed right after [removed]
    Marshall saying "AN-hoy-zer" & then the actual ad says "AN-high-zer." I guess
    in strict-German, it probably should be pronounced "-HOY-" being that an "EU"
    diphthong in German is pronounced "OY" (as in the name "Sigmund Freud")...but
    how did this inconsistency continue to flourish?  Didn't some A-B exec ever
    say to Himan Brown, "hey, tell Mr. Marshall we prounced it An-High-ser Busch"?

              Sorry about the Red Sox, Liz! Sorry about the Cubs, Chuck!

    Yours always in the ether,

    Derek Tague

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

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 08:39:48 -0400
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  AM antennae

    Some technical notes:  A 1000kHz radio signal has a wavelength of
    (3e10m/s)/(1e6cyc/sec)=300m, which is about 984 feet.  The theoretical
    length for an antenna at this frequency is 1/4 wavelength, which is 246
    feet.  (I'm not trying to show off here--this was a required calculation for
    the old FCC license tests.)  You're actually supposed to subtract 10% (I
    think) for 'end capacitance,' thus making the length of the antenna 243 feet
    in length.

    Well, that's one heck of a long antenna, though you could deploy such a
    device easily enough from a dirigible at a sufficient altitude.  You can
    also string a horizontal antenna from one end of a ship to the other.  If
    your property is large enough, you could run one over your farm from a tall
    pole to the house.

    A practical radio antenna, however, must be a great deal shorter.
    Fortunately, it turns out that you can compensate for an antenna of a
    reduced length by adding a 'tuner,'  which consists of a variable capacitor
    and a small coil of wire.

    And because the ideal antenna length varies with the frequency of the
    desired station, varying the capacitor changes the effective antenna length
    so that it is ideal for that particular station.  Every radio receiver uses
    such a system, though the variable capacitor (on old radios, the device with
    the intermeshing metal plates) is often hidden.

    The only problem with a short antenna is that you really only get the
    strongest signal by having real wire stretched through the air.  So the
    longest 'long wire' antenna you can get is the best.

    You can still find 40-foot antennas stretched through the attics of old
    houses, and every radio magazine had designs for different kinds.  My
    favorite was supposed to be constructed of aluminum foil, though this was
    for short-wave work.

    As radio receivers became more sensitive, self-contained loop antennas
    became practical.  The same principles applied, with the antenna itself
    taking over the duties of the coil in the antenna tuning circuit.

    One old trick for making a long wire attachment is to hook the external AM
    antenna terminal, if any, to a telephone line.  These are electrically
    isolated.  Years ago you could use the phone's metal chassis (specifically,
    the metal 'finger stop' of the telephone dial) to get access to the phone
    line.  Now, you'd have to hook the antenna lead to the phone line within a
    wall receptacle.  It's not dangerous, but I haven't tried it to see if it
    improves reception.

    I once saw a design for making a loop antenna by winding an unknown number
    of turns of wire around the periphery of a closet door.  You'd connect this
    to a tuning circuit that you can make yourself out of a variable capacitor,
    etc., such that you could swing the door on its hinges to aim the antenna
    properly.

    I have no idea how well this works because I didn't have specific plans and
    I never built it, but I liked the idea so much that I posted it to a
    newsgroup some years ago.  It found its way to a Norwegian web site, where
    my name seems to still be attached to it.

    Thus is fame achieved.

    M Kinsler
    512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
    [removed]~mkinsler1

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 09:59:52 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  More Regionalisms

    Growing up in New England in the 1960s and 1970s, regionalisms were still
    alive and well in the local dialect -- perhaps even more so for me,
    considering I spent large chunks of my childhood with my grandparents,
    who were utterly unpretentious working-class people who sneered at
    Outa-Staters with their Ten Dollah Words who went around Actin' Like They
    Was Too Big For Their Britches.

    And so it was that in my grandparents' house we'd Set Down at Noon,
    soon's the Dinnah Whistle at the Town Office went off, and we'd Have
    Dinnah, which more often'n not 'd be a toasted cheese san'wich an' a
    glahss 'a melk.  Sometimes I'd get bottle a' soda that my Papa'd brung
    home from tha fillin' station, but most often my brothah din't, 'cause
    he'd been too much of a hellion and if he din't watchit, Nannie'd bring
    out tha ruler and give him a lickin'. Or if he really acted up, she'd
    haul out the yahdstick and wahm his (Anglo-Saxon Expletive Deleted).

    When it 'twas 5 o'clock, and Papa gut home from tha fillin' station and
    flung his hat down on tha floor by tha door to tha shed, we'd set down to
    suppah. Might have beans an' hot dogs, or cohn chowdah, and the'd be a
    boxa Pilot Crackahs off to tha side, 'nless somebody'd knocked 'em on the
    floah, an' they gut all stove to hell.

    An' then aftah suppah, we'd git the dishes washed an' put 'em up in tha
    pantry, and we might go set on tha piazza an' turn up tha radio an'
    lissen to them g-- d--- Red Sox blow anothah one. Papa might have a
    'Gansett if Nannie wasn't lookin', but he'd ketch hell if she caught
    holda what he was up to. Ayah, wan't he full of it, that one.

    'Lizabith

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 10:37:33 -0400
    From: "Jim Murtaugh" <jayeffemm@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Credits

    Good morning.

    I have a question that's been bothering me for some time now.  Currently I
    am listening to Gunsmoke and Dragnet episodes, and on each show I have
    noticed that episodes pre-recorded for AFRS have the announcer giving only
    the names of the regular cast in the credits at the end.  For example, he
    will say that the Dragnet show starred Jack Webb, but give no information as
    to who was in the supporting cast.  Same thing with Gunsmoke.  He will say
    that Georgia Ellis, Parley Baer, and Howard McNear were in the show.

    On non-AFRS recordings, the entire supporting cast is given.  Can anyone
    tell me why that happens?

    Thanks.

    Jim Murtaugh

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 10:38:59 -0400
    From: "David Malvin" <david_malvin@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wonderful Smith

    Can anyone help me find copies of broadcasts featuring Wonderful Smith?
    Wonderful Smith is a very talented comedian and monologist who got his first
    big break in a Duke Ellington musical called Jump For Joy that played the
    Mayan theater in Hollywood in 1941.  I am particularly looking for the
    following broadcasts from the CBS Forecast series:

    EPISODE #12 "JUBILEE" Broadcast on August 26, 1940
    Starring: Duke Ellington, Wonderful Smith and Ethel Waters

    EPISODE #25 "JUBILEE" Broadcast of September 1, 1941
    Starring: Duke Ellington, Wonderful Smith and Ethel Waters

    In addition to appearing on these CBS Forecast shows, Wonderful Smith
    appeared on The Raleigh Cigarette Program Starring Red Skelton from November
    1941 through November 1947.  Of these Red Skelton shows, the shows from 1941
    and 1942 would be most interesting to me.

    I would appreciate an leads that you can provide.

    David Malvin
    2238 Midvale Terrace, Henderson, NV 89074
    702-617-3504 phone

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 12:57:36 -0400
    From: Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Protein

    I've noticed that the word "protein" is pronounced PRO TEE IN by a lot of
    announcers in
    old commercials.  It sounds odd, but I've heard it so many times now that I'm
    almost getting used to it.
    Still, I wonder why they said it that way.  Was it normal in that era, only to
    evolve to PRO TEEN which
    is the way in which we now pronounce the word?

    Al Girard

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 14:06:00 -0400
    From: "Jeff Quick" <jeffquick@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  More comments on Ohio-isms

    I'm not from Ohio, but in neighboring Indiana.

    My wife & I sold our house in the city about 10 years ago & moved out the
    sticks of Southern Indiana.  We decided to go over to introduce ourselves to
    the gentleman who had property bordering our woods.

    When we arrived & made introductions, he called his wife over &  said "Hey
    honey these are the people who bought the land across the hollar"

    After we got home my wife questioned me about what a "hollar" was:)   For
    those of you non-hillbillies, a hollar is what most people call a ravine.
    I'm not sure if this term is local to Indiana or not, but I think most
    people from the south still use it.

    Jeff Quick

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:01 -0400
    From: BH <radioguy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Shortwave radios

    Dan commented:

>     2.  Shortwave stations, like AM stations, seem to no longer boom in like
>     they did just a few years ago.  More and more electrical interference in
>     the air, and budget-cutting (power-cutting) and closing of international

    If you think electrical interference to sw reception is bad now, wait
    until BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) is initiated. The FCC is in the
    process of approving this technology that will allow broadband internet
    access over your local power lines. The power lines will act as a long
    antenna that will radiate interference across the HF radio spectrum. The
    national orginization for Ham radio, the American Radio Relay League
    (ARRL) has conducted test in areas where BPL is being tested and the RF
    noise level makes communications impossible in some cases. Other
    countries have tried BPL and gave up because of the intereference
    levels. However with a dysfunctional FCC, now run by lawyers instead of
    technical folks who know something about radio,  and the fact that
    everything now is powered by money, the FCC will plunge blindly ahead
    and listening to sw may become a thing of the past.

    Bill

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:15 -0400
    From: "Daryl Curtis" <mwracing57@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Thomas McAvity and Helen Mack

    I am doing research on the movie actress Helen Mack. In 1939 she
    transitioned over to doing radio, most notably as a producer and director.
    In 1940 she married Thomas McAvity, who was a producer in radio at that
    time. He went by Tom McAvity, and presumably she may have also gone by her
    married name. I know she dropped her stage name later in life. What I am
    trying to do is find anything that I can out about Thomas and Helen. I've
    gotten some radio credits for Helen, and I do have a credit for Thomas. I
    believe he worked on some shows that featured Bob Hope.

    Any info at this time would be greatly appreciated. Please give me your full
    name
    so that I can give you proper credit on my website. To see my website
    dedicated
    to Helen, go to [removed] .

    Thanks.

    Daryl Curtis
    DarylCurtis@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:29 -0400
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Richard Lamparski

    Hi Everybody,

    does any one has Richard Lamparski current address.  He use to give it out
    when he did radio interviews.  I had it in Santa Barbara back in 1990, but
    my letter came back when I sent him an invite to be on my show around 2
    years ago.  .  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:42 -0400
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  12-24-46

    Hi Everybody,

    I am looking for a complete copy of the ABC Christmas Party of 12-24-46
    hosted by Paul Whiteman and ray 90 minutes.  I am already thinking ahead
    what to play during Christmas time on Yesterday USA.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:52 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  10-18 births/deaths

    October 18th births

    10-18-1892 - Leo G. Carroll - Weedon Northants, England - d. 10-16-1972
    actor: Lux Radio Theatre
    10-18-1902 - Miriam Hopkins - Bainbridge, GA - d. 10-9-1972
    actress: "Exploring the Unknown"; "Hollywood Hotel"; " "These Are Our Men"
    10-18-1910 - Annette Hanshaw - NYC - d. 3-13-1985
    singer: "Show Boat"; "Camel Caravan"
    10-18-1911 - Helen Claire - Union Springs, AL - d. 1-12-1974
    actress: Virginia Lansing "Backstage Wife"; Joyce Jordan "Joyce Jordan,[removed]"

    October 18th deaths

    04-04-1898 - Lee Tracy - Atlanta, GA - d. 10-18-1968
    actor: Martin Kane "Martin Kane, Private Detective"
    05-10-1894 - Frank Knight - St. John"s, Newfoundland, Canada - d. 10-18-1973
    actor, announcer: Dr. Billbert "Arabesque"; "Literary Digest"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 16:32:35 -0400
    From: Katherine Baer <KBaer@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  shepherd & gardner

    I' ve just about given up but I thought I'd give the listserve a shot.  A
    public radio listener is sure they have recently heard a repeat of an
    interview between Jean Shepherd & Herb Gardner.  I know NPR doesn't have any
    record of it.  I've listened to the special "A Voice in the Night" and it
    isn't there.  Any other leads?

    Thanks for any info,

    Katherine

    Katherine Baer
    Broadcast Librarian, National Public Radio

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:25:01 -0400
    From: "Tim Ballew" <timballew@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR Home Transmission FM/AM

    Hello all,

    Haven't read the digest in a little while so I apologize if this is
    redundant to any current [removed]

    I have owned an inexpensive FM transmitter in the past and used it to
    broadcast OTR throughout my house so that I could listen in any room.  My
    computer became a "jukebox" that I could listen to through my home stereo,
    the workshop radio etc.

    I got quite used to this convenience and really enjoyed it.  Well, the poor
    transmitter reached the end of it's life and isn't available anymore - I
    have tried a couple similar products since.  The problem is that none of
    them can muscle their way into the crowded FM band in the Seattle area when
    listening at a distance of more than a few feet (my desired range is about
    100 feet).  A typical example of the type I have tried is the one available
    at the following url:

    [removed]

    There are few "empty" places on the FM band here anyway, and it make me
    wonder about my options.

    Should I:
    * Buy a more powerful FM transmitter?
    * Buy an AM transmitter? (There's plenty of dead space on the AM dial)

    Does a stronger FM transmitter necessarily overcome a lack of space on the
    FM dial?
    Does the ample space on the AM dial mean that AM would perform better?

    Curious if anyone has also experienced the fickleness of FM OTR transmission
    or if someone has pointers on the pro/con of FM vs. AM for this purpose.

    Of course, I'm not looking to start a technical discussion - this is all
    about getting OTR flowing through my house again!  I'm more looking for
    basic advice.

    Home transmission became a primary way that I enjoy OTR and I hate to say
    that my listening has declined since my original model [removed]
    I'll figure this out!

    Regards,
    Tim

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 18:41:55 -0400
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  mail order

    Hi Everybody,

    my local Costco, has stop caring TDK 90 minutes tapes, and my local Where
    House who also carried the tape is shutting their door soon.  Does any one
    know if I can order TDK 90 minutes blank tapes via the mail?  Are we going
    to start seeing stores not carry blank audio tape in the future?  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #377
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