------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 274
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Share that info on Fred Foy and othe [ [removed]@[removed] ]
sponsor's products [ "Mike Hobart" <zines50@[removed]; ]
"...Trippingly, on the [removed]" [ Wich2@[removed] ]
re: use of scripts during broadcast [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
"Beulah" [ dougdouglass@[removed] ]
NBC CHIMES [ Michael Shoshani <mshoshani@sbcglob ]
WWII TAX [ "radioman@[removed]" <radioman@is ]
Chicago Tribune OTR Article [ seandd@[removed] ]
Song [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
Molly's illness [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
I Love To Spend Each Sunday With You [ Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed]; ]
Equipment needed for [removed] [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Acting vs reading the [removed] [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Re: Transcriptions & Selling [ "Will" <redsox45@[removed]; ]
GWYNNE -- CHIMING IN ON NBC CHIMES [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 08:44:09 -0400
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Share that info on Fred Foy and others
In Digest 254, "Derek Tague" talked about the research files collection at NYPL
f/t Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, where the entire "Foy, Fred" file
consisted of ONE item!...a 1969 ABC-TV press release.
He also mention the lack of information on Howard Culver.
I have found similiar problems in my researching of local history here in
Kentucky. When I find a library or research facility does not have information,
I think they shopuld have, I either make a return trip, if it is local, or mail
them the additional information for thier files. My input has never been
refused
and I have received a few nice letters for my contributions. Usually plain
typewrite size paper works best.
That way future generations will gain in a small way from my research.
Of course it is always fun when I go to a new library and ask to see a file
on a
subject, and find some of my writings in it.
Paul Urbahns
Radcliff, KY
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:00:07 -0400
From: "Mike Hobart" <zines50@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: sponsor's products
I don't know how it works in other media, but I remember many years ago one
newspaper columnist in Australia recalled that at various times he'd
mentioned both Coke and Pepsi in his column.
Pepsi sent him a free crate of their product.
Coke sent him a letter reminding him that "Coke" was a registered trademark
of the Coca-Cola Company.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:02:22 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "...Trippingly, on the [removed]"
From: Rick Keating pkeating89@[removed]
Dear Rick-
Why did/do radio actors have their script in hand when they perform(ed)? If
... on stage, TV or in a movie, he would memorize his lines ... Why? Yes,
most radio was live, but so are plays, and so was early TV
As an actor who's worked in the media you list, and a person who's been
blessed with opportunities to work with OTR vets (here's your invite to come
to
FOTR, where, God willing, I'll be doing the same in three shows), there's a
very easy answer: time.
Except for rarities like Ethyl Barrymore, who once, upon being handed pages
of dialogue changes on a film set, and being told that she had half an hour
to master them, replied, "Would you like it forwards, or backwards?", most
actors need a bit of time to commit lines to memory (Of course, the very best
way to absorb lines is not through drilling, but rehearsing; but that's
another
[removed])
For that matter, were there _any_ radio shows in which the actors didn't
read from scripts, but had previously memorized their lines?
I doubt it VERY much. And as a writer/producer of new radio, we discourage
it. Very often, a performer's mastery of his material is not letter-perfect;
but, in those other media, that "slightly loose" delivery actually can help
the "illusion of reality" we've been discussing. In a technical medium like
audio drama, though, where cues between all actors must be precise, and where
the cast must be in sync with music and sound effects as well, you WANT them
to
keep their eyes on the "roadmap!"
Best,
-Craig Wichman
Quicksilver Radio Theater
P. [removed] More on Silents: the actual shooting rate in the early days varied
even more wildly than Michael Biel suggests.
In fact, purely to save money, [removed] Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION was shot at
the very low rate of 15 frames-per-second; ALMOST causing problems with the
persistence-of-vision that makes movies possible. For the sake of a smoother
quality, most films were shot at 20fps and above by the late 20's; that's
part of the reason that the studios settled on 24, for sound projection.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:02:32 -0400
From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: use of scripts during broadcast
Rick wonders why radio actors read from a script, when stage actors did
not.
BECAUSE THEY COULD! The radio audience couldn't see the scripts, so why
forego them? Stage actors rehearse for weeks, sometimes months, before
they open, and then they do the same show over and over until the run
ends. Radio actors did a new show every week (or every day!) and had no
time to memorize scripts. There was plenty enough that could go wrong in
a live broadcast - with words in hand, the chances of disaster were
lessened.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:02:41 -0400
From: dougdouglass@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Beulah"
Ethel Waters created the TV role in 1950 when the program was filmed in
New York. In '52 production moved to Hollywood minus Ethel. Butterfly
McQueen was Oriole during the four season run.
Doug Douglass
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:09:45 -0400
From: Michael Shoshani <mshoshani@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: NBC CHIMES
Sandy Singer wrote:
The chimes were automated to cut the program on the air at "25 seconds
past the program end time" -- in cases where a President was making a
speech, or news bulletins, etc., they had to physically reprogrammed NOT
to do the 'automatically' thingy.
That's a popular belief, often supported with pictures of Telechron
clocks placed atop NBC Chimes machines, but all the internal evidence
I have been able to come up with points to exactly the opposite.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s the NBC Engineering Departments held
countless memo correspondences, and probably meetings as well,
advocating the adoption of automatically-rung chimes as a means to
keep network switching synchronized. As it was, every NBC program
ended with chimes being rung at the network point of origin to signal
line switches, so if NBC's Chicago offices were handling traffic for,
say, a New York program on Red going to the West Coast, a Chicago
program on Red going to the East Coast, a San Francisco program on
Blue going to the East Coast, and a New York program on Blue going to
the West Coast, the engineers in Chicago had to wait until EVERY ONE
of those studios had rung their chimes before the network switches
could be made. This would often result in considerable delay before
the next program could start.
However, the idea of automating the chimes was consistently nixed by
the Program Department, whose stance was that if automatic chimes came
"crashing down" while a sponsor's commercial was being read at the end
of the program, the sponsor would be livid and might possibly withdraw
their advertising support from the network. The Engineering
Department often argued that each sponsor thought theirs was the most
important program on the air, and if the program director knew that
his program would be forcibly ended at a certain point, he would
quickly learn to control the ending to fit within the alloted time.
As Programming was tied to the Sales Departments, however, no system
of automatically ringing the chimes was put into place, and as late as
the 1950s NBC press releases were still stating that the chimes were
not controlled by a clock, but were rather operated by the manual
pressing of a button.
That being said, Mike Biel was once told by Don Pardo that in at least
one instance the staff was ordered to have the chimes set to ring
automatically by a clock - to end Fred Allen's show, which had a
history of running overtime.
Speaking of Mike Biel, he had the following to say about the notes
played on the hand-held chime sets:
NOWHERE has
any of us found some kind of memo in the NBC files or a contemporary item
in some radio magazine or newspaper radio section that announces what NBC
is starting to do with chimes.
There was a trade announcement in October of 1932 to announce the
mechanization of the NBC chimes, but that was at least three years
after the use of chimes began. An internal memo from 1933 - after the
mechanical chimes were already in use in New York, I might add -
instructs the use of manual chimes with a fourth chime added as a
paging signal for any of about a dozen key personnel. An explanation
given by the Chief of Announcers five years later states that this
fourth chime was a repitition of the low note (which technically would
be the first note struck), and that the announcer cut his network feed
after ringing the normal three notes, before sounding the fourth note,
so that this signal was only heard over WEAF and WJZ. However, there
does not seem to be any interest in NBC even involving the general
public in the chimes until about 1938, when the Promotions Department
began contracting for small replica chimes to be sold for home use.
There seems to be the possibility that at
first there were five note combinations that denoted specific cities of
originations, because Elizabeth and I have separately found original discs
of different Chicago programs recorded off of Milwaukee and Boston stations
which have the same melody, and I found a Detroit area broadcast recorded
off of WJZ with a different melody. We need another WJZ recording to be
sure whether it identifies Detroit or Newark. But we have no way of
knowing if it even was a city locator because nowhere is there any
paperwork discussing this possibility. It might have just been what the
announcer liked to play.
There seems to be three main theories on why the chimes are different
between 1929 and 1931. One is that different cities of origin had
different chimes sequences, a theory I myself had advanced a couple of
years ago. As indicated above, however, there are not enough
recordings extant to prove or disprove this. Another theory is that
one chime sequence was used on the Red network, another on Blue. This
is also hard to support from existing recordings, because the general
public were not told which network they were hearing at the time, and
most stations were not given one feed exclusively. In fact, of the
two known recordings of the first chime sequence, believed to be the
Red network signal, one of these was taken from WJZ - head of the Blue
network.
The third theory, the one which I now hold, is that the chimes simply
evolved and simplified over time. There are six or seven notes
present in chimes from 1929 and 1930, then five notes in early 1931
and three notes in late 1931. I think it boiled down to a matter of
simplifying the sequence both for the convenience of the network
announcer and for speed. Seven notes could sound like an elegant
concert hall intermission chime, but the switching engineers had to
wait for it to finish before they could do their jobs. As network
radio grew more "corporate" and efficient, and especially as other
points of origin besides New York were feeding the network and ringing
chimes, it was becoming necessary to make the chimes into a clear and
unambiguous signal. This necessity would lead to the mechanization of
the chimes by the end of 1932, giving the switching engineers a signal
that was consistent in volume, tone, and duration.
By the way, I need to correct myself. In an earlier Digest I said
that the inaugural NBC broadcast was on November 26, 1926. I meant to
say November 15, but the year crept into my brain for some reason.
Michael Shoshani
Chicago IL
WAY too much time on my hands.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 11:29:16 -0400
From: "radioman@[removed]" <radioman@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: WWII TAX
Hello all,
I have a question about something on the Gilderslevees radio show.
I was playing a show "City Employee's Picnic" (sorry I have no date for this
show) and Eve goes into the drug store and buys some perfume and as Pevey
rings it up he said "Lets see $[removed] and 20% tax that will be $[removed]" Was the
tax in War time 20% or just on some items? 20% is a lot of tax!
Chris
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 12:01:26 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Chicago Tribune OTR Article
The Chicago Tribune's article on OTR will publish October 16 - so mark your
calendars.
I referred the reporter to digester Randy Larson and Chicago OTR legend Chuck
Schaden, so expect to see them in the story.
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:02:51 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Song
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I believe that the song Al Girard mentioned ("I'd Like to Spend
Each Sunday WithYou") was sung by Eddie Cantor. I could be wrong,
but I listened to a lost recording of one of his shows recently and I
believe he sang it at the end.
Another OTR Fan,
Kenneth Clarke
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Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:03:03 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Molly's illness
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I asked that question of another OTR collector and they said it
was probably due to the fact that Molly (Marian Jordan) had a condition
known as 'mike fright'. As I understand it, this is a type of performance
anxiety or phobia. I'm sure other performers had the same problem, but
the only other one which comes to mind is Mary Livingston from "The
Jack Benny Show".
Another OTR Fan,
Kenneth Clarke
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Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:03:23 -0400
From: Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: I Love To Spend Each Sunday With You
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If my memory serves me right, it was sung by Eddie Cantor at the close of
each show on television, on "The Eddie Cantor Show" in the early 1950's , and
I believe on radio as well.
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 15:14:26 -0400
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Equipment needed for [removed]
The local museum director (Sue Gates, Dakotah Prairie Museum) has accepted
my idea of creating an "old time radio" station exhibit. They are booked
thru 2006, but she will hold a spot for us in 2007.
If anyone on this list can help us locate (1920s-1960s) radio station
equipment for this exhibit, we would much appreciate the information. I
have agreed to provide recordings of programs from my collection for this
exhibit. At this point, we are planning to borrow the equipment, but if
anyone has equipment they want to donate, we will likely accept it.
Here is a short list of equipment that we are looking for. If you notice
items that we have omitted, please let me know.
* microphones
* control board
* turntable (possibly one that will play ETs)
* ETs
* cartridge player
* other [removed]
Ted Kneebone. OTR website: [removed]
Democrats: [removed]
1528 S. Grant St., Aberdeen, SD 57401 / Phone: 605-226-3344
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 15:14:45 -0400
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Acting vs reading the [removed]
Another radio actor that really acted his part was Howard Duff as Sam Spade.
I get the feeling that part of the time he is ad libbing his part! He
really becomes Sam Spade. I would surely put him up there with Vincent
Price and Ernest Chappell (Quiet, Please). And there are many more radio
actors (some did movies and TV, too) who really acted, really felt their
roles.
Out of my memories of past radio, the only really bad readers were the
announcers who had never seen the names of the classical composers whose
records they were announcing! What they did (and still do) was painful to
my ears!
Ted Kneebone. OTR website: [removed]
Democrats: [removed]
1528 S. Grant St., Aberdeen, SD 57401 / Phone: 605-226-3344
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 17:46:03 -0400
From: "Will" <redsox45@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Transcriptions & Selling
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In Friday's digest, Ian Grieve hit the core reason why legitimate OTR
collectors have so much difficulty expanding their collections. Ian wrote:
"But I don't know what we can do about the growing number of people who see
OTR mp3 as an opportunity to make money. Apart from hoarding, which simply
is not in my nature. At the moment I simply do not encode to mp3, but do
trade in non mp3. Ironic, since it was mp3 that introduced me to this great
hobby and the wonderful people I have met and emailed with over the years."
I, like Ian got introduced to OTR via the MP3. They're small, they're
compact, you don't need a warehouse or extra room to house mass numbers of
them, and, if they are recorded well, they're a lot more manageable than
cassettes, disks, LPs or anything else. The problem is, that you have a lot
of quality collectors who (a) take a lot of pride in what they have, and (b)
KNOW their shows who are (rightly) afraid of putting things in mp3 only to
see them appear in ebay collections.
I have nothing against buying OTR. And I have nothing against buying it from
certain people on ebay, but the number of legitimate, honest, quality
conscious ebay dealers of OTR has gone down precipitously since I began
collecting shows in March of 2002. Ebay is all about competition, and that's
fine so long as you're honest, but when you get a bunch of dishonest,
unaware vendors who "ask no questions", the whole OTR community is hurt. I
don't blame Ian, or anyone else for not dealing in Mp3. I would love to have
access to quality shows in mp3, but I wouldn't expect somebody to give
something away they spent months, or years building to someone whose just
interested in making a dishonest buck.
Problem is, so many legitimate collectors don't have access to anything
other than mp3. It's just not feasible, and it's quite shameful how these
disreputable online vendors have taken advantage of well meaning collectors
(traders, private collectors and buyers alike), and I feel that it is
hindering the advancement of quality OTR.
As a relative newcomer to OTR, I really would like to see quality shows get
distributed. They need to if they're going to survive my lifetime. I'm in my
late 20s. Some of these shows won't be around if they're not distributed in
the next twenty-thirty years, and no one will care. I really don't know what
can be done though. I guess those of us who care need to really, really,
really be sure who we're dealing with. I'd hate to think all the OTR that
isn't getting out stays tucked away because of disreputable dealers and
collectors out there.
Bottom line - if you're out there and trading/selling legitimate, quality
OTR and just covering your costs, thank you for making your shows available
in mp3 format. I'm one collector who is very much appreciative of that. If
you're not yet, and are reluctant to do so, I hope you can join the mp3
world without fear or being run over roughshod or else we're all going to be
in for hard times.
What a lengthy first [removed] :-)
Will Tuell
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 17:45:08 -0400
From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: GWYNNE -- CHIMING IN ON NBC CHIMES
Sandy Singer said:
The chimes were automated to cut the program on the air at "25 seconds
past the program end time" -- in cases where a President was making a
speech, or news bulletins, etc., they had to physically reprogrammed NOT
to do the 'automatically' thingy.
I don't think we have any evidence that the chimes were set to
automatically ring. There are several NBC memos that kicked the idea
back and forth. Even Cheif Engineer [removed] Hanson agreed that is was a
good idea in theory, but timing would be dependent upon the 60 Hz
(cycles/sec) of the local power company's generators, which could cause
a clock to vary several seconds a day. The power systems in New York,
Chicago, San Francisco and Hollywood (the orginating points of the
chimes) would not all be in sync, thus they would not all have accurate
time together. To overcome this, NBC would have to install a stable 60
Hz source to feed all orginating points to keep them syncronized. One of
the main concerns was that clients might balk at the idea of the chimes
ringing "on the nose" as they might cut off the ending of a program, or
heavens forbid, part of a commercial. I wish we could come up with a
memo that would provide the proof one way or the other, but so far
nothing indicates that the chimes were automated.
Bill H.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #274
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