Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #107
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 4/4/2005 2:41 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2005 : Issue 107
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      CAPONE?!                              [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      Re: Aw, Relax [removed]           [ "Austotr" <austotr@[removed]; ]
      I Swan, how about you?                [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      Identifying OTR voices                [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
      secondary characters                  [ Robert Cockrum <rmc44@[removed] ]
      Kraft Frizz                           [ "mike karp" <mkarp@[removed]; ]
      early non-colored margarine           [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      Wooden Shoe [removed]                   [ skallisjr@[removed] ]
      Re: Harry Bartell's voice             [ David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@yahoo. ]
      Re: Secondary characters              [ Jay Sweet <sweetedit@[removed]; ]
      Secondary characters                  [ wilditralian@[removed] ]
      Twlight Zone                          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Re: Coloring Margarine                [ Ron Schalow <rschalow@[removed]; ]
      OTR time travel tales                 [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
      Recognizable voices                   [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
      OTR ringtones?                        [ Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 07:34:43 -0400
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  CAPONE?!
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    Folks-

    Still playing catchup here:

    From: "William Vest III" _tsukasasan@[removed]_
    (mailto:tsukasasan@[removed])

>     ...I  found a site comparing Carl Amari to Al Capone. Claiming he (Amari)
>     had bought a  ton of otr shows,
>     claimed ownership, the tried to go after companies who were  selling or
>     giving
>     (downloading for free)otr [removed]

    The Great Carl Debate will probably never be over. I recall Harry Bartell,
    of sainted memory, having some very cogent remarks on the [removed]

    But it should be fairly said, that at least in several cases, the ORIGINAL
    Radio Spirits did not just "claim" ownership, but did indeed locate
    copyrights,
     clear titles, and-

    -generate new income for those rightful parties.

    Best,
    -Craig Wichman

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    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 07:37:55 -0400
    From: "Austotr" <austotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Aw, Relax [removed]

     In issue 105 Hal Stone replied to Chuck Case's comments about his book.

> >     Mr. Stone, I finished your brilliant book about 1 week ago and I thought
> >     it was excellent.

>     I do believe that's the first time in my life I've ever been referred to as
>     "Brilliant". Accolades like that make life worth living. I wish my school
>     teachers were still alive so they could change their opinion of my potential
>     in life. :)

     Sorry Hal but your record with your teachers is still intact.  Note that
    the
    use of the word 'brilliant' referred to the book, not to you personally.  I
    can see your English teacher now, still shaking his/her head.  Mind you, it
    was
    a good try but I am sure that I am not the only one to notice not only your
    blatant attempt to shift the description to yourself, but also to blatantly
    turn it into an advertising campaign for the book Aw, Relax [removed]
    that is available at this link
    [removed]

    I have noticed the trend whereby you do manage to sneak details of your
    brilliant book Aw, Relax [removed] that is available at this link
    [removed] into your replies to posts on this
    list.

     I myself who purchased a copy of Aw, Relax [removed] that is
    available
    at this link [removed] found it to be a great
    read, yes, I
    suppose brilliant read, but I am surprised that there are any copies left.
    Is it into its fourth printing now?

>     But, I do know that very soon, there will be 10 or more Archie shows that
>     have NEVER been circulated before

    Great news.

>     The Archie gang will get together again for a recreation, and three
>     of the four remaining (surviving) stars will reprise their rolls. Bob
>     Hastings (Archie), Rosemary Rice (Betty), and Yours Truly (Jughead) will do
>     our thing, for what will likely be the last time.

    I can only wish I was there.  I haven't checked my lotto numbers for this
    week, so [removed]

>     There are a few copies left and no more will be printed.  So grab a copy of
>     this "Brilliant" Literary Masterpiece while you can. Tell 'em Chuck sent
>     you.: )

    See, you knew all along that it was the book that was brilliant not you!

     Literary Masterpiece? Hey Hal is this a different book from Aw, Relax
    [removed] that is available at this link
    [removed] that you flogged to me?

    Ian Grieve
    (living far enough away that Hal can't throw rocks at my roof :)

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:20:46 -0400
    From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  I Swan, how about you?

    I was listening to some Burns and Allen the other day, and I have a question
    about the Swan Soap spots.  Is the Swan Soap slogan really "Pure as fine-cast
    steel"?  That's what it sounds like, but that doesn't sound like much of a
    slogan.

    -chris holm

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:21:00 -0400
    From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Identifying OTR voices

    Joe Kearns is easy if you ever saw the first few years of the Dennis the
    Menace TV show with Jay North; Kearns was the original Mr. Wilson.

    I used to have a record album by Paul Frees in which he did songs in the
    voices of [removed] Fields, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, etc.  He reminded me
    of Rich Little with his many different impersonations, and I wonder if he
    ever used his regular voice?

    ---Dan

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:21:20 -0400
    From: Robert Cockrum <rmc44@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  secondary characters
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    Although I replied to Michael's post off-list about secondary characters and
    recognizing Harry Bartell's voice, I failed to mention the most obvious,
    which several have done now ... that Bartell was the announcer on the
    Sherlock Holmes series in the '40s. Another choice I should have thought of,
    because of his continuing role, was that of Lt. Sibert on Ft. Laramie. Those
    two series easily acquaint you with his voice.

    Long before I was paying attention to such things and realized his
    distinguised acting career, I simply knew him in the '60s as the announcer
    for the "Dear Abby" feature on CBS Radio.

    Bob Cockrum

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    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:21:37 -0400
    From: "mike karp" <mkarp@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Kraft Frizz
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    I never heard of the Kraft 'Frizz' product that was mentioned,but my mother
    used to make a product by Lipton called 'Frostee' that was the same thing. It
    was an ice cream product that you made yourself in the freezer,by pouring it
    in an ice cube tray. It came as a powder, in either vanilla or choclate
    flavors. I remember Arhtur Godfrey advertising it on his morning radio [removed]
    it was very popular in the late 1940's.

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:22:24 -0400
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  early non-colored margarine

    Also do you remember DelRich? It

>     was a sponsor of "Nick Carter, Master Detective" on [removed] was a
>     product
>     of "Old Dutch" cleanser, if you can imagine [removed] was margarine in a
>     plastic style bag, with a color bud in  it. You kneaded the bag until the
>     white margarine turned yellow. The flavor bud was an off-color [removed]
>     believe it may have been the first company to do [removed] 1949, I think
>     it
>     disappeared to be replaced by cubed margarine, which was already colored at
>     the factory. It came 4 cubes to the box.

    Margarine has a long and strange history.  The uncolored stuff with the
    color capsule in it was a means of getting around the powerful dairy
    interests, who did not appreciate the introduction of a butter substitute.
    They contended that margarine that was colored like butter, instead of the
    sickly white it had when manufactured, would fool the public into buying an
    inferior product.  I don't know if the rules were state, or Federal, or
    what.

    Eventually yellow margarine became legal--except in Wisconsin, where things
    got exceedingly strange.  There was apparently a state law that forbade the
    sale of colored margarine.  My uncle used to smuggle the stuff into Madison,
    WI from Rockford, Illinois, where there were stores that sold it in bulk.
    The law was repealed after a dramatic episode in the state legislature,
    where a state representative who was the leading proponent of the ban
    flunked a margarine vs. butter taste test.

    Years ago I bought some margarine that contained whale oil.  Said so on the
    label.

    M Kinsler

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:23:12 -0400
    From: skallisjr@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wooden Shoe [removed]

    Bob Slate notes,

>     Also do you remember DelRich? It was a sponsor of "Nick Carter, Master
>     Detective" on Sundays. It was a product of "Old Dutch" cleanser, if you
>     can imagine that. It was margarine in a plastic style bag, with a color
>     bud in  it. You kneaded the bag until the  white margarine turned yellow.

    Ah, memories!  I do not know, but suspect that oleomargarine was
    originally forced to be sold "white" by the American Dairy Association.
    The usual process was that the white margarine had with it a small
    envelope of dye powder that one sprinkled on the white stuff and mixed
    it, in our case, with a fork.  We listened to the kitchen radio as we
    worked.

    But as to Old Dutch cleanser, during the later OTR period, they changed
    their formula, improving it.  They advertised it as "*new* Old Dutch
    Cleanser," which  led to a series of "new old" jokes.  The manufacturer
    threw in the towel and renamed their product "Dutch Cleanser."  Now it's
    back to Old Dutch Cleanser, seeing, I suppose, that the "newness" is
    better than half a century behind us.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:34:34 -0400
    From: David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Harry Bartell's voice

    Michael Leannah wrote

>     Is anyone able to tell me how to recognize the voice

    of Harry Bartell, for

>     instance. He's a part of so many OTR shows (Diamond,

    Gunsmoke, etc.) but

>     I'm never sure which voice is his. Did he appear on

    TV or in the movies? Is

>     there a character he played that defines his voice

    in a way that I'll know

>     it every time I hear it?

    I don't know how to tell you to identify his voice
    except to hear him again and again, and as someone has
    suggested, know which role he was playing.  In
    Gunsmoke, Bartell was a regular, but played various
    parts. Still for the most part his voice, though
    disguised for the different character roles, carries a
    certain quality that is recognizable once you learn to
    know it.

    I would suggest obtaining copies of the old Basil
    Rathbone/Nigel Bruce "Sherlock Holmes" series
    sponsored by Petri Wines. I know that Mr. Bartell was
    the regular announcer during that period. He also
    later did interview & commentary on the series when it
    was re-broadcast (I think in the 80's) as an
    anthology.

    If  you want to see him, I know he appeared in many of
    the original televised Dragnet shows of the 1950's.
    One episode, however, will not be any help. All you
    can see is his eyes, in the bandaged-up character that
    he plays! LOL

    I cannot even begin to tell you the roles he played or
    the programs in which he appeared. My OTR focus is
    mainly on Gunsmoke, Dragnet, Sherlock Holmes, on all
    of which Harry is active. I don't think I've ever
    heard him on anything but dramatic programs, I've
    never heard him on comedic ones. But Harry's credits
    are too numerous to list -- others, I'm sure will give
    you much more information. He was ever-present in the
    world of OTR, and once  you learn his voice, you will
    be surprised to find him in what seems like just about
    every OTR program!

    I never knew Harry personally, but I became a fan of
    his, like you, listening for him on every program I
    listened to -- and I came to admire and respect him,
    and look forward to his contributions to this digest.
    I miss Harry a lot here on the Digest. His absence is
    indeed a great void. But I'm thankful for the exposure
    to him that I've had here.

    Dave Phaneuf

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:34:48 -0400
    From: Jay Sweet <sweetedit@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Secondary characters

    Somebody mentioned "I Love Lucy" as a good way to see and learn to recognize
    the voice of Harry Bartell.

    Lucy and Desi made extensive use of radio actors, at least in the first
    season of Lucy. I've been watching Season 1 on DVD recently and the bonus
    features include little bios on the guest stars and a great many of them were
    OTR actors. I don't have access to the DVDs right now, but, for example, an
    episode I watched last night had Joseph Kearns on it. (Who looked nothing
    like I'd imagined him looking over the years!) It's a great way to see some
    familiar OTR voices.

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:36:04 -0400
    From: wilditralian@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Secondary characters

    Michael Leannah writes:

>     Is anyone able to tell me how to recognize the voice of Harry Bartell,
>     for instance. He's a part of so many OTR shows (Diamond, Gunsmoke, etc.) but
>     I'm never sure which voice is his. Did he appear on TV or in the movies? Is
>     there a character he played that defines his voice in a way that I'll
>     know it every time I hear it?

    I can't think of anything that would help you recognize his voice, but I
    can fill in some other information.  I had several telephone
    conversations with Harry and we exchanged many e-mails.  He told me that
    he was in approximately 10,000 episodes in radio and TV.  He played in a
    number of TV "Gunsmokes" and "Dragnets", and played a Roman Catholic
    priest in the Ddragnet show in 1957 that was the first network color
    television program, of which I have a videotape.  I never heard of him
    appearing in a movie.

    Voice-wise, he could do many -- including the mad German in "The
    Three-Skeleton Key" (one of the best programs I ever heard or saw), but
    his normal speaking voice, as I remember it from our conversations
    together, was identical to the voice he used when playing the part of
    himself in one of his few announcing roles - on "The New Adventures of
    Sherlock Holmes", on the season that ran from fall of 1945 through the
    end of Basil Rathbone's tenure on the show, in the spring of 1946.  Those
    Petri wine commercials he did were magnificent -- downright hilarious by
    today's standards -- such as educating a very unsophiisticated american
    audience on what was the correct wine to serve with meatloaf, etc.

    It's amazing, but I bet that Harry appears in one out of every 25 radio
    shows in my collection.  He was unbelievably prolific.  Our Sherlock
    Holmes club once did a re-creation of "The April Fool's Day Adventure" as
    a feature at one of our meetings.  Instead of having one of us play the
    part of Harry Bartell, I sent him the script and he recorded all his
    lines for us.  I abstracted from the original recording a lot of the
    organ music, and a recording of Harry mixed with the organ music and a
    few other sound effects played in and out along with the actors and
    actress.  That was a very generous thing for him to do for us.  I miss
    him greatly.

    Regards,
    - ------------------
    James H. Arva
    HOME: 201 Short St.; Harrisburg, PA 17109; (717) 545-5709
    E-MAIL:  wilditralian@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 11:35:02 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Twlight Zone

    Sean Dougherty mentioned: This review of the upcoming DVD release of The
    Twilight Zone television series mentions OTR stars Agnes Morehead and Jack
    Benny, both of whom appear in the
    set.

    I don't believe Jack Benny was ever on THE TWILIGHT ZONE.  Jack Carson was,
    during the second season, along with Agnes Moorehead and Fred Allen's voice
    over an antique radio.

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 11:36:28 -0400
    From: Ron Schalow <rschalow@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Coloring Margarine
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    Here's a follow-up note to Bob's comment about margarine.  He was referring
    to margarine sold in bags, and this margarine was grey/white in color with a
    small color capsule inside.  The consumer would knead the margarine, breaking
    the color capsule, until the margarine was yellow in color, like butter.

    The inventor of this process was Leo Peters, whose company, Butterball Farms
    Inc., is still in operation in Grand Rapids, MI.  At that time, Mr. Peters
    was an employee of another well-known food company, and he offered this
    invention to them.  They told him that they thought the idea had no
    commercial merit and that he was free to pursue it on his own.  He did, and
    it made him wealthy for life.

    Leo also invented the famous Butterball turkey process (which he later sold)
    and which is now a part of the ConAgra family of companies.

    Ron Schalow
    OTR fan of long standing
    Former Customer Service Manager
    Butterball Farms Inc.

    Old-Time Radio fans, check out the
    OTR Researchers Group Forum at
    [removed]

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    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 11:58:25 -0400
    From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR time travel tales

    I guess an obvious choice would be H. G. Wells' novel "The Time
    Machine" which was done once on "Favorite Story" and twice on
    "Escape."

    But defining "time travel" means opening an interesting can of worms.
    In a certain sense, Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is a time travel
    story.

    Robert Nathan's short novel "Portrait of Jennie" (in which an artist
    meets a rapidly-aging girl from the past) was adapted for "The
    Columbia Workshop" before it was made into a movie and then appeared
    on "Screen Director's Playhouse," "Academy Award Theater" and "Lux"
    afterward. Another 1940s movie with a time travel theme was "It
    Happened Tomorrow" (a reporter gets the next day's newspaper) which
    showed up on "Screen Guild Theater," "Academy Award Theater" and
    "Lux."

    More obscure are things like "The Ineffable Essence of Nothing" by
    Ranald MacDougall (a man visits his own future) which was done more
    than once on NBC's "Radio Guild." Another MacDougall play on that
    series, called "The Man Who Was Tomorrow," was about a guy who could
    control time.

    "Light the Lamp for Me" (an author explains why his history books are
    so accurate) is one of the better time travel stories that Wyllis
    Cooper wrote for "Quiet, Please!" Other interesting ones from that
    series are "One for the Book," "It Is Later Than You Think" and, if
    I'm remembering correctly, "Not Responsible After Thirty Years." There
    are a couple of others, too -- surprising for such a short series. I
    suppose you could argue that Cooper's "Three Men" (three soldiers at
    Christmas turn out to be the Three Wise Men) which aired on "Lights
    Out" and "Radio City Playhouse" qualifies as well.

    Three from "The Mysterious Traveler" series: "Operation Tomorrow,"
    "The Most Famous Man in the World" and "The Man Who Tried to Save
    Lincoln."

    And then there's that Arch Oboler play about the couple who wreck
    their car and encounter a Neanderthal man ...

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 13:37:01 -0400
    From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Recognizable voices

           The most recognizable voices I can think of
    are those of Groucho Marx on "You Bet Your Life":

    Fenneman: The secret word today is (gives word)
    Groucho: Really?
    Fenneman: You Bet Your Life!

           Of course (and this may be dating myself a bit)
    the voice of Rod Serling from "The Twilight Zone".

           Natalie Masters had a pretty distinctive voice
    too.  Whenever I heard her start to speak, I just that
    another episode of "Candy Matson" was about to begin.

           These are but a few of the many voices which,
    once heard, signalled the beginning of another round
    of enjoyable OTR programs for me.

    Another OTR Fan,

    Kenneth Clarke

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 16:41:14 -0400
    From: Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed];
    To: OTRDIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR ringtones?
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    I don't have a cell phone, but am wondering if anyone uses any OTR related
    ringtones on theirs.

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    [ADMINISTRIVIA: Please contact the requestor directly regarding this somewhat
    esoteric question.  --cfs3]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #107
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