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	  	         === Last Update 1/17/95  ====





	    [removed]   Volume 96 : Issue 120


Articles in this issue of [removed]:

	 THE BIG BROADCAST
	 War of the Worlds
	 AFRS Vs. Network Benny Shows
	 Re: Cylinders
	 Capt. Midnight TV premiums & etc. (forwarded)
	 OTR is hip?
	 OTR on CD, new Hermit's Cave
	 Cylinders
	 Corwin Backup
	 Howard Koch
	 Dreammac@[removed]
	 Gone Forever

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

Date: 31 Mar 96 19:27:41 EST
From: Alan Chapman <[removed]@[removed]>
To: OTR Digest <otr@[removed]>
Subject: THE BIG BROADCAST
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

>I recently located a couple hard cover copies of THE BIG BROADCAST by Buxton
>& Owen.  I know many people have experesed an interest in this long out of
>print book.  If you would like to buy a copy drop me a private email.

>Ken Neal

Frank Buxton was in Boston this past weekend and participated in our Radio
Classics Live program.  He said that he and Bill Owen are in the editing process
of a new version of THE BIG BROADCAST that is scheduled for publication early
next year.

Alan Chapman

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

Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 18:15:30 -0800
From: bigbands@[removed] (bigbands )
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: War of the Worlds
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Greetings from Grovers Mills, New Jersey(actually Princeton Junction). 
I live a minute or two away from the landing site. The buildings 
described in the broadcast are still there. One is someones home(a 
large one) and the other a machinery/farm equipment repair shop). All 
of the town used in the broadcast are real. Howard Koch was here a few 
years ago for a big parade and our town dedicated a monument to the 
broadcast and filled a time capsule; which is next to the lake itself.

We are 50 miles south of New York City and 50 miles North of 
Philadelphia; all of this is quite close to the Princeton Junctio 
Railroad Station.


Regards,

Steve
Princeton Jct,NJ

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

Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 22:52:10 -0600 (CST)
From: Bruce Toews <bruce@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: AFRS Vs. Network Benny Shows
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

I've heard a couple of AFRS Jack Benny Shows now. I wish these were the 
network versions, since the Sportsmen's Lucky Stripes commercials were 
always one of the highlights.

The two programs I'm thinking of are

1. A redoing of The Fiddler ... they did this twice. I have the network 
version of the first of these, but only the AFRS version of the second, 
done some years later.

2. The sketch is "I Was a Hospital Nurse". The AFRS version has Don 
complaining that in a recent TV show, he said "be lucky, go happy" 
instead of "be happy, go Lucky".

Does anyone know if network versions of these two exist?

Bruce

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

Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 21:14:56 EST
From: BWWG42A@[removed] (MR JACK L PALMER)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Cylinders
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

-- [ From: Jack Palmer * [removed] #[removed] ] --

Dave in Boston was asking about cylinders, the original recording
medium.  Yes they are collected.  In fact some are worth a lot of
money.  They included songs, speeches, comedy skits from vaudeville and
everything else that could be recorded.  Players are still available. 
In fact, players have been modified to play electrically.  	There are
many cylinder collectors around.  They vary from collectors of
classical music, pop music, comedy, voices of famous, etc.  If really
intersted I suggest you contact the Michigan Antique Phonograph Society 
(MAPS), which regardless of the name, is a world wide organiazation of
phonograph and record collectors.  If you would like more info, contact
me by E-Mail.    Jack

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

Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 23:19:19 -0600 (CST)
From: AIRWAVES MEDIA <rrb@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed] (Old Time Radio)
Subject: Capt. Midnight TV premiums & etc. (forwarded)
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

[Note: this was missent to [removed]@[removed],  and
has been forwarded to the correct address of [removed]@[removed]  
Please, only use the -request address for subscription matters and
send all articles to [removed]@[removed] -or- otr@[removed] ..
Thanks, Bill]


======= 

From: "Chester L. Cox" <ChetEL@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]


FabFicBks writes:

Hi Everybody,
     The recent comment about the television Captain Midnight 
premiums and
having to send in either foil linners or entire labels (I forget 
which) to
get the premiums reminds me of my own experiences with Ovaltine.
     I have to agree that the stuff is pretty bad.  It was almost 
impossible
to get that crap to disolve.  I think they have ground creek gravel 
in the
bottle or something, you always wound up with gunk on the bottom 
and dry
raspy specks floating along the top no matter what you did.
     I didn't think it tasted all THAT bad, but it sure didn't have 
that
"rich chocolatey taste" that the announcer on TV was always talking 
about.
 It fact, except near the bottom where the gunk got thicker it 
tasted like
coca flavored sand had been added to the milk.  My little brother 
was less
discriminating that me, but even he, human garbage disposal that he 
was,
didn't really like it that much either.
     We drank this stuff so we could get the premiums.  My mom was 
not
thrilled with getting Ovaltine, since it was (and I believe still 
is) the
most expensive chocolate flavored flavor/nutritian additative on 
the grocery
shelf.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...and I writes:

I must be about the only OTR fan who likes Ovaltine.  Matter of 
fact, I'll be ending my fast today with a big chocolately glass of 
"Good fer yuh" itself.

As far as it not completely dissolving in milk, I've NEVER found a 
powder which did.  Quick is the worst offender in this.  PDQ used 
to be pretty good (and used to taste a LOT better when it first 
came out).

Besides which, Ovaltine gives me not only that malty taste (yummm!) 
but is about the only non-caffeine source for a chocolate junkie 
who has Meniere's Disease (like me) and hasta stay away from 
caffeine.

Three cheers for Ovaltine, even if they have missed the boat on 
premiums for almost 40 years!  (If they only _would_ make new 
shake-up mugs or decoder badges again.  *sigh*)


*jeep!

~~Chet-EL

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

Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 21:46:46 -0800
From: MikeTimble@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR is hip?
Message-ID: <960331214644_28606154@[removed]>

ss

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

Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 03:06:25 -0500 (EST)
From: MAX SCHMID <mschmid@[removed]>
To: airwavesOTR <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: OTR on CD, new Hermit's Cave
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

	To those who recently expressed interest in finding more OTR on 
CD, I just received a new catalog from Adventures in Cassettes.  One of the
offerings is a 9 hour set of Hermit's Cave horror shows, available on 
cassettes and CD.  This series has been hard to come by, and they have 
unearthed 16 shows I've never come across before (two titles of the eighteen
are familiar).  Where do they find this stuff!?!
	So far, this is not on their website - [removed]
	-Max

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

Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 05:40:34 -0500 (EST)
From: JACKBENNY@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Cylinders
Message-id: <01I30L0N8LPQ95SYHV@[removed]>

Seeing as I'll probably be one of many to respond to this, I'll try to be
brief.  Edison's original recording device was a piece of tin foil wrapped
around a cylinder.  When someone spoke into the horn, it would vibrate a
diaphragm and cut a line in the tin foil as the cylinder was turned.  Then
to play, the needle would be placed at the beginning of the foil, and as the
cylinder turned, the line in the foil vibrated the diaphragm in a manner to
simulate its movement during the recording.  Primitive, but effective.  That,
I believe, was in 1878 or 1888 (or sometime thereabout).  Edison's first 
commercially available "records" were cylinders.  I believe that discs were
first commercially produced (correct me, folks, if this is [removed] books
are packed) by Zonophone, and were 7" discs (sometimes featuring imprints of
the autographs of the [removed] least mine do).  Although Edison started
making discs as well, he continued manufacturing cylinders well into the 1900s,
going later to "Gold Moulded" cylinders that had a special coloring in them
that gave them a brownish hue (I've also seen Navy ones).  Think there was 
something akin to the Coca-cola formula that was known only to Edison that
gave them that tinge.

So much for being brief.  Where can you find them?  Flea markets, antique
shows, shops, etc.  Are the players available?  Yes.  Same places.  Some are
incredibly beautiful, with enormous, painted morning glory horns.  I have a
little Edison player with a black and brass bell horn.  Were they just music?
Not at [removed], [removed] you might find on discs at the time.  I
think I mentioned a few issues back that I have a 33 record with recordings of
speeches by Roosevelt, Taft, Jennings Bryan, and others of the time that were
done on cylinders.  Fascinating stuff.

Some [removed], the Victor dog, was originally painted for Edison, with
him looking into the horn of an Edison cylinder player.  Edison saw no
particular commercial value for this, so the artist (whose name I've forgotten)
sold it to Monarch Records.  This was about 1902.  Edison held the vast 
majority of the recording market at the time, but two upstarts, Columbia and
Monarch were also in the running.  Edison finally filed patent infringement
suit against Columbia and Monarch.  By this time Monarch was using the Nipper
insignia, and its name recognition and sales had greatly increased.  Edison
lost the suit to Columbia and Monarch.  To celebrate this victory, Monarch
changed its name [removed]  In the last 20 years or so, someone found the
original Nipper painting, and somehow found a way to strip off the Victor
Model B player to reveal the original Edison cylinder player.

There's a Usenet [removed] it's [removed] could
give you even more information.

Laura Lee
International Jack Benny Fan Club

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

Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 08:36:09 -0500
From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Corwin Backup
Message-ID: <960401083607_502771841@[removed]>

Hi Gang -                          April 1 - 1996 -- Monday -- 7 AM cst 

This month the NPR series "13 By Corwin" will be begin on many NPR stations. 
I'm sure many of us will be recording it.   Since the series will run for 13
weeks, it is unlikely that everybody will be able to record every broadcast
manually.  Knowing what I do about timers and power companies, I suspect many
"automatic" recordings will not take, thus some of us will not be able to
record the entire series and could wind up with "gaps" in the Corwin
Collection.  
I suggest that we try to "back each other up", ie, if someone misses a
program, put a notice in the digest and get a "fill" from someone who
recorded it.  Ideally, this should be done immediately when a program is
missed so that the finished tape will have all programs in sequence.   After
the series is complete (in July?) we can post a listing of programs that we
have and are willing to share, and another listing of programs that we need.
 That way everybody benefits. 
Also - does anybody know whether these broadcasts will be in Stereo or
Monaural? 

For those readers who are not aware of this forthcoming series, I quote the
following from the WBEZ Letter Volume 6 Number 3 (Spring, 1996) :

13 BY CORWIN HONORS RADIO LEGEND
Carl Sandberg applauded his considerable talents.  Ray Bradbury called him
the greatest writer-director ever to grace the golden age of radio.  Carl Van
Doren observed that he was to American broadcasting what Christopher Marlowe
was to the Elizabethan stage.  Robert Altman has said, "Anything I know about
drama today comes more from Norman Corwin than anybody."
During the 1930s and 40s, the brilliant radio dramas penned by Norman Corwin
attracted audiences of up to 60 million people and featured an astonishing
array of acting talent -- including Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles, Jimmy
Stewart, Charles Laughton and Bette Davis.  While little known to today's
audiences, Corwin remains idolized by contemporary broadcast figures from
Norman Lear to Stephen Bochco.
To recognize this artist's remarkable body of work, NPR has assembled 13 BY
CORWIN, a star-studded anthology of Corwin's greatest radio plays.  . . .   
The 13 programs, assembled by producers Mary Beth Kirchner and Dan Gediman,
have been carefully selected to reflect the breadth of the broadcast
playwright's work and the ease with which he moved from playful comedy to
poignant drama.  Episodes range from the hard-hitting World War II tale "The
Long Name None Could Spell" to the delightfully whimsical "Mary and the
Fairy"; from the sobering Spanish Civil War meditation "They Fly Through the
Air with the Greatest of Ease" to the heartwarming "Odyssey of Runyon Jones."
It's the very best of Corwin, featuring performances from some of the biggest
stars of the era -- Groucho Marx, Frederic March, Ruth Gordon and Elsa
Lanchester.
Walter Cronkite, Betty Friedan, Charles Kurault, William Shatner and NPR's
own Susan Stamberg are among the many celebrities who provide new
introductions for these fine digitally remastered productions.   (end
quotation)  


Happy Taping -- Ken Piletic - Streamwood, Illinois
kenpiletic@[removed] 

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

Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 08:46:48 -0500
From: acosentini@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Howard Koch
Message-ID: <15fe1490@[removed]>

     A few years ago I had the good fortune to 
     interview Mr. Koch for my radio show "Classic 
     Radio" (WFUV-FM [removed] NYC). Mr. Koch said that 
     he has the copyright to War of the Worlds. 
     John Housman signed over all rights to him as 
     a thank you for doing such a great job. To 
     the best of my knowledge his estate still 
     holds the copyright.
     
     As I remember, it was a bright Sunday morning 
     when I drove upstate to the Koch house 
     carrying my trusty R-Dat. Both Mr. & Mrs. 
     Koch couldn't have been more charming. Mr. 
     Koch was very proud of his work in the film 
     industry as well as radio. And yes he was 
     instrumental in the fight against 
     McCarthyism. I remember giving a copy of the 
     interview to The Vintage Radio Logue.
     
     Your Humble Servant
     Adrian Cosentini 

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

Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 08:54:52 -0600
From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Dreammac@[removed]
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

David MacMurray wrote:
>I don't remember anyone mentioning the
>passing of Howard Koch two weeks ago. It was noted in a piece by the
>[removed]

If I may offer a correction:  Howard Koch died towards the end of August,
1995.  I don't believe David was on the list at that time (I don't think I
was, either) and so may have missed any discussion held here.

John Henley
jhenley@[removed]
ph  (512) 495-4112
fax (512) 495-4296

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

Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 09:41:27 -0600
From: Richard Veit <Richard_Veit@[removed]>
To: OTR Digest <otr@[removed]>
Subject: Gone Forever
Message-id: <[removed]@[removed]>

                       Subject:                               Time:8:41 AM
  OFFICE MEMO          Gone Forever                           Date:4/1/96

In Issue 114 (received late because of the re-send), Bob Jennings discussed
the fact that broadcasting stations sometimes discard recorded programs due to
lack of storage space. Sadly, this is true -- even in the case of the national
networks. All too often, I am afraid, it is simply a matter of
shortsightedness: "Oh, we'll never need this stuff again!" 

Bob mentioned the very few surviving "Tonight" shows from the 1960s and 1970s,
and I would like to add a painful example of my own. Did you know that the
telecast of Super Bowl One no longer exists? That's right, the broadcast tape
of the original Super Bowl -- the Kansas City Chiefs against Vince Lombardi's
Green Bay Packers -- was simply "recorded over" by some bumbling engineer at
NBC. Rumor has it that no back-up copies have ever surfaced, so all that we
now have of this historic event is the archival film footage. Frustrating, and
just plain stupid!

Incidentally, that first Super Bowl Sunday (January 1967) was particularly
frustrating for me. Although I was attending the University of Southern
California at the time -- and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was directly
across Exposition Boulevard -- I saw almost nothing of that game. You see, it
was blacked out in the [removed] area, and my dorm brothers had to rig up
coat-hanger rabbit ears on the television set to try to coax a signal from San
Diego. It worked poorly, like watching a snowball fight in a blizzard. To add
insult to injury, my oceanography professor picked that very day to conduct
our semester field trip.

Sorry to ramble on this non-OTR topic, but it never hurts to remind ourselves
to be vigilant in the conservation of Golden Age Radio.

Richard J. Veit

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

    


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---- 
End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #120

