Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #129
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 4/11/2004 4:18 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 129
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Three Volumn Encyclopedia of Radio    [ RICFAS@[removed] ]
      Don Herbert                           [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      Re: Space Signals                     [ Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@sbcglo ]
      another current movie with OTR        [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
      Out In the Fields of Stars.           [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Sara Berner                           [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
      More OTR for listening on the web     [ Bryan Wright <bswrig@[removed]; ]
      More OTR for listening on the web     [ Bryan Wright <bswrig@[removed]; ]
      JB show of 12/7/41                    [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Radio waves                           [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Iraq yoU Obviously Is Spelled wrong!  [ Christopher Werner <werner1@globalc ]
      Jan Merlin/ Radio Signals             [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      Re: 4-11 births/deaths                [ <cvc@[removed]; ]
      OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK               [ "Jerry Haendiges" <Jerry@[removed] ]
      4-12 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 19:40:59 -0400
    From: RICFAS@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Three Volumn Encyclopedia of Radio
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

>     ...comprehensively covering all of radio's history around the [removed]

    Now really!  These three volumes don't even come close.

    Ric Ross

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

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 19:41:04 -0400
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Don Herbert

    The link to radio is a bit tenuous: Don Herbert was a Chicago radio
    personality before he developed 'Mr Wizard' for televison in 1951.  He was
    born in 1917 and is apparently still alive: his organization was doing
    school science programs in 1998.  Does anyone have contact information for
    him or his organization?  There's a "Mr Wizard Institute" and a "Mr Wizard
    Foundation," both nominally run by a fellow named Steve 'Jake' Jacobs of
    Wichita, but the whole thing seems fairly extinct now.  Does anyone here
    know anything about him at present?

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

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 19:41:36 -0400
    From: Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Space Signals

    At 05:18 PM 4/10/2004, Alain Altounian asked,

>     I'm curious; do radio signals decay over space and time? If at least some
>     signals survive, how far out are the OTR era's signals? And, could ET (or
>     some other extra terrestrial) conceivably be listening to Jack Benny right
>     now using a regular AM receiver?

    The strength falls off in accordance with the "inverse square rule",
    meaning it works just like light shining from a flashlight. Eventually you
    reach a point where the strength of the signal (or light) is much less than
    the ambient background (noise) and can no longer be separated from the
    noise. You can compare this to AM radio quality as you drive in your car
    where static replaces more of the program as the distance to the station
    increases. To a great extent, better receivers will work at greater
    distances, but all have limitations.

    As to the distance, radio signals travel at the speed of light. Jack
    Benny's radio show broadcast on December 7th, 1941 would be at a distance
    of [removed] light years now. At that distance the program has passed through
    approximately 2,500 known neighboring stars.

    Don Shenbarger

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 19:42:34 -0400
    From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  another current movie with OTR

    In reference to the Carl Sagan movie "Contact" Alain Altounian commented:

>     I believe the opening sequence is a tracking shot starting at Earth and
>     taking us through our solar system and beyond.
>     The accompanying audio goes backwards in [removed] with the present
>     and eventually reaching OTR period, then just static(ie-before audio signals
>     generated from our planet)....
>     I thought this was a neat reminder that all radio signals - including OTR -
>     are still out there, but they are moving away from us.
>     I'm curious; do radio signals decay over space and time? If at least some
>     signals survive, how far out are the OTR era's signals? And, could ET (or
>     some other extra terrestrial) conceivably be listening to Jack Benny right
>     now using a regular AM receiver? 8)

    This has been discussed before. That sequence of moving out into space
    and catching up to OTR  signals of long ago is a bit far fetched. The
    wavelength of OTR transmissions in the AM broadcast band are too long
    to penetrate the ionosphere and go into space, so none of those
    transmissions are traveling out there. Higher frequencies (shorter
    wavelengths) such as at VHF and above can  penetrate the ionosphere and
    are still traveling out there somewhere. FM transmissions in the 88-108
    mHz frequencies should be out there somewhere but unfortunately ET can't
    pick up Jack Benny, Fibber, or Bob Hope unless he finds one of the FM
    stations that rebroadcast  OTR shows.

    As far as the signal decaying, yes they do get weaker the farther they
    travel. The strength reduces as the square of the distance. In other
    words, if you measure the strength of a signal at a certain point from
    the transmitting antenna, then move twice the distance away the signal
    strength reduces by a factor of four. Even thought the station you
    listen to may be broadcasting in the thousands of watts, the signal that
    hits your radio antenna is in the micro watts, so any signals traveling
    in outer space are very weak.

    Keep in mind that we are still getting signals from one of the Voyager
    space probes that has left the solar system even though the signal is
    very very weak and takes quite a while to get here.

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 20:11:17 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Out In the Fields of Stars.

    Alain Altounian, speculating about OTR broadcast traveling through space,
    asks,

>     I'm curious; do radio signals decay over space and time? If at least
>     some signals survive, how far out are the OTR era's signals?

    An intriguing question.  Now, everything being equal and assuming that
    the signal escaped the Heaviside Layer, then, since radio signals are
    propagated at the speed of light, then an April 1944 show would be
    roughly 60 light-years out  (about [removed] quintillion miles).

    However, A lot of signal didn't make it out of the atmosphere.  What did
    drops off exponentially, so before it left the vicinity of the Earth's
    orbit, it would probably need extreme amplification.  By the time it
    leaves the solar system assuming it's the only signal, it would be at or
    below the amplification limits of our current technology.  By the time
    one's 60 light-years out what remains of the signal would be so
    profoundly weak that it probably couldn't be detected.

    Worse, the transmitter is not the only radio source.  There are other
    radio sources (stars, atmospheric electrical storms, etc.).  These could
    and would drown out the signal.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 20:11:33 -0400
    From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Sara Berner

    Laura Leff and Ivan Shreve, Jr. have recently commented on their
    admiration for the mimicry of Sara Berner on Jack Benny's radio
    program. This pint-sized bundle of talent was used on many comedy and
    variety shows in the Golden Age of Radio. But she was also one of
    radio's feminine sleuths.

    In my new book, 'Private Eyelashes: Radio's Lady Detectives" I detail
    Sara's comedic crime-busting affairs in her 1950 summer series on NBC,
    "Sara's Private Caper," in which she used her own name as the character
    lead. (The only other lady sleuth on radio to use her own name was
    Irene Delroy in 1932.) Sara played a secretary in the police
    department, and against the orders of her boss, she would dash out and
    solve crimes. Her goofy boy friend was the voice of Bob Sweeney, a
    grocery stockboy, whose boss was played by another favorite on the
    Benny show, Frank Nelson. Only two audio copies have survived from this
    humorous series.

    Book is available on line from my publisher at  [removed]

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 22:54:40 -0400
    From: Bryan Wright <bswrig@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  More OTR for listening on the web

    Hi, Folks.

    For the past six years, I've hosted a weekly local radio program
    featuring vintage jazz and dance bands (1920s-1950s) as well as old
    time radio programs. This week marks the first time the program will be
    available "live" on the web, through WCWM's new webcast. My program,
    "Night Train" airs Sunday evenings from 8:00 PM until Midnight (Eastern
    Time). To listen to the broadcast, just go to:

    [removed]

    Then click on the link provided to listen to WCWM. Here's the lineup
    for tonight, Sunday April 11, 2004 (all times EDT):

    8:00 - 10:00 Vintage jazz and big bands
    10:00 Fibber McGee And Molly
    10:30 The Jack Benny Program
    11:00 The Gotham Radio Players
    11:30 Lights Out

    Happy listening!
    Bryan Wright

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 22:59:34 -0400
    From: Bryan Wright <bswrig@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  More OTR for listening on the web

    Hi, Folks.

    For the past six years, I've hosted a weekly local radio program
    featuring vintage jazz and dance bands (1920s-1950s) as well as old
    time radio programs. This week marks the first time the program will be
    available "live" on the web, through WCWM's new webcast. My program,
    "Night Train" airs Sunday evenings from 8:00 PM until Midnight (Eastern
    Time). To listen to the broadcast, just go to:

    [removed]

    Then click on the link provided to listen to WCWM. Here's the lineup
    for tonight, Sunday April 11, 2004 (all times EDT):

    8:00 - 10:00 Vintage jazz and big bands
    10:00 Fibber McGee And Molly
    10:30 The Jack Benny Program
    11:00 The Gotham Radio Players
    11:30 Lights Out

    Happy listening!
    Bryan Wright

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 23:07:28 -0400
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  JB show of 12/7/41

    udmacon@[removed] writes:

>     I'd be interested to know what kind of a program Jack Benny hosted on Dec.

    7,

>     1941. Was it low key?

    Not at all, very standard show with fine audience reaction.  I am continually
    amazed that both the performers and the audience sound so normal on that
    show, as opposed to the complete stoppage of broadcasting on 9-11 (other than
    coverage of the disaster) which continued for almost a week.

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 23:08:01 -0400
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio waves

    Alain writes:

>     And, could ET (or some other extra terrestrial) conceivably be listening
>     to Jack Benny right now using a regular AM receiver? 8)

    If any join the club, I'll let you know.

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 23:08:28 -0400
    From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Iraq yoU Obviously Is Spelled wrong!

    My apologies to those who perhaps did not follow the misspelling in my last
    post (re: OTR about the Revolutionary War period) quite as harmoniously as
    hoped. In commenting about the fine works of James Fenimore Cooper, I
    omitted an O from the spelling of the fine New England Indian nation of the
    Iroquois. No reference to current events was intended.

    I taught them to play the piano and organ, now if I could just get them to
    learn the computer keyboard this wouldn't happen!

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

    Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:16:16 -0400
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jan Merlin/ Radio Signals

    A poster a few days ago remarked that he had been a neighbor of Jan Merlin,
    who has guested at the FOTR Convention, and he wondered where Merlin was
    now.

    There is an excellent interview with him in the current issue of FILMFAX.
    He discusses the time when he and Frankie Thomas starred on "Tom Corbett,
    Space Cadet."

    He also discusses his movie career, which ended with his disillusionment
    over the John Huston film, "The List of Adrian Messenger."  It is a sad
    story of an uncredited actor  (Merlin)  who spent hours in makeup
    disguising himself as various characters, while "guest stars [did] similar
    turns to throw the audience off."  It's a lot like Mercedes McCambridge's
    voice not being credited in "The Exorcist," until she demanded and
    received a byline. Unfortunately for Jan Merlin, he was told up front that
    he would not receive credit. That's only part of the story.  You need to
    get the magazine and read it. Kirk Douglas does not fare too well.

    +++

    Alain Altounian discusses radio signals in yesterday's Digest.  My first
    introduction to radio signals in outer space, albeit a silly one, is the
    1952 "C" movie, "Red Planet Mars."  Peter Graves obsesses over strange
    signals coming from his television screen.   For whatever reason,  I have
    always remembered that movie.  I am glad it has an OTR connection.  Marvin
    Miller plays a featured role.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 01:39:39 -0400
    From: <cvc@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: 4-11 births/deaths

>     April 11th deaths

>     09-08-1921 - Harry Secombe - Swansea, Wales - d. 4-11-2001
>     comedian: Major Bloodkock, Min, Moriarity "Goon Show"

    Ron --

    Please note, Sir Harry Secombe was one of the Goons, but
    Min/Bloodnock/Moriarty was played by Peter Sellers.  Harry had a few minor
    parts but nearly always played Neddie Seagoon.   (He was also a noted Welsh
    tenor!)

    Cynthia "ChibiBarako"

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

    Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 10:54:29 -0400
    From: "Jerry Haendiges" <Jerry@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK

    Hi friends,

    Here is this week's line-up for the week of 4-11-04 on my Olde Tyme Radio
    [removed] Featuring Tom Heathwood's "Heritage Radio Theatre," Big John
    Matthews and Steve Urbaniak's "The Glowing Dial" and my own "Same Time, Same
    Station" broadcasts, being broadcast on demand 24/7 in high quality
    streaming RealAudio at [removed]

    Past archived broadcasts are also available there.

    We look forward to having you join us!

    	Jerry

    Here's this week's lineup:

    SAME TIME, SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges

    EASTER SPECIAL

    THEATER GUILD ON THE AIR
    Episode 33  4-21-46  "Green Pastures"
    Author: Marc Connelly
    Stars: Juano Hernandez, Richard Huey, Avon Long, Maurice Ellis, The Hall
    Johnson Choir and an all-Negro cast
    Narrator: Maurice Ellis
    Announcer: Norman Brokenshire

    FAMILY THEATER
    Episode 8  4-3-47  "The Passion And Death Of Christ"
    Stars: Ethel Barrymore and the Mitchell Boys Choir
    Host: Charles Boyer

    THE RED SKELTON SHOW
    4-15-49  "Easter Hats"
    =======================================

    HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE with Tom Heathwood

    BURNS & ALLEN
    NBC    1-17-38    Gracie Sings on this early show

    THE BILLIE BURKE SHOW
    CBS    4-27-46   "The Tramp"

    LUM AND ABNER
    NBC BLUE    1943    "The New Picture Show"
    Part One of Two (Part Two next week)

    BOB & RAY EXTRA
    Fun with Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding
    ========================================

    THE GLOWING DIAL with Big John Matthews and Steve Urbaniak

    Ellery Queen
    NBC    1/20/44    “The Mystery Of The Scarecrow And The Snowman”

    Jimmy Durante Show
    NBC    12/10/47    “Boris Karloff”

    Adventures Of Leonidas Witherall
    WOR / MUTUAL    9/17/44    “The Reunion”

    NBC Theater (Screen Director's Guild Assignment)
    NBC    1/16/49    “Let's Live A Little”

    One Man's Family
    NBC Red    12/28/41    “Book 40, Chapter 13, The Last Of 1941”
    ====================================

    Please feel free to contact me with any questions or requests for upcoming
    shows.

                Jerry Haendiges <Jerry@[removed]; 562-696-4387

      [removed]  The Vintage Radio Place
      Largest source of OTR Logs, Articles and programs on the Net

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

    Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:00:00 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  4-12 births/deaths

    April 12th births

    04-12-1899 - Boake Carter - Baku, Russia - d. 11-16-1944
    news commentator: "Night newscast for CBS"
    04-12-1904 - Lily Pons - Draguignan, France - d. 2-13-1976
    singer: "Telephone Hour"; "Voice of Firestone"
    04-12-1912 - Herbert B. Mills - Picqua, OH - d. 4-12-1989
    singer: (The Mills Brothers) "Mills Brothers Quartette"
    04-12-1914 - Ken Williams - Canada - d. 2-16-1984
    actor: Brian Wells "David Harum"
    04-12-1919 - Ann Miller - Chireno, TX - d. 1-22-2004
    dancer, actress: "Forecast"; "Hollywood Hotel"
    04-12-1926 - Jane Withers - Atlanta, GA
    actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"

    April 12th deaths

    01-30-1882 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Hyde Park, NY - d. 4-12-1945
    [removed] president: "Fireside Chats"
    04-12-1912 - Herbert B. Mills - Picqua, OH - d. 4-12-1989
    singer: (The Mills Brothers) "Mills Brothers Quartette"
    05-23-1882 - James Gleason - NYC - d. 4-12-1959
    actor: "Jimmy Gleason's Diner"
    09-09-1894 - Arthur Freed - Charleston, SC - d. 4-12-1973
    songwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    11-02-1901 - Paul Ford - Baltimore, MD - d. 4-12-1976
    actor: "Suspense"; "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    For a complete list:
    [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #129
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