Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #455
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 12/23/2003 10:30 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 455
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      1930s radio ownership                 [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
      Gene Rayburn                          [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
      re: Jack Benny final episode          [ <orders@[removed]; ]
      A question about Mr. Kitzel I am ask  [ <orders@[removed]; ]
      Happy Holidays, OTR Digesters!        [ "Barnett, Tom L (N-ACS)" <[removed] ]
      Make Love with a Guitar on Jack Benn  [ <orders@[removed]; ]
      Les Tremayne's obituary               [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
      Old-time radio Christmas mini-marath  [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
      Jack's last show                      [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Christmas Eve births/deaths           [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      OTR folks in videos                   [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      1928 permanent network???             [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Gildersleeve and "make love"          [ Vincente Tobias <vincente_ca@yahoo. ]
      "Reality"                             [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Bob Hope show                         [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Re: entertainment or life             [ John Leasure <jleasure@[removed]; ]
      Articles mentioning OTR               [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
      Captain Midnight                      [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]

    ______________________________________________________________________

        ADMINISTRIVIA:

    We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the
    communication below, expressing at the same time our great
    gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends
    of The Sun:

    Dear Editor, I am 8 years old.
    Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
    Papa says "If you see it in The Sun it's so."
    Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?
             Virginia O'Hanlon
             115 West Ninety-fifth St.

    VIRGINIA, Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected
    by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except
    they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible
    by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or
    children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere
    insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world
    about him, as measured by the intelligence of grasping the whole of
    truth and knowledge

    Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love
    and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and
    give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would
    be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as
    if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then,
    no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should
    have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with
    which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

    Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!
    You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on
    Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa
    Claus coming down what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus but
    that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things
    in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you
    ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no
    proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the
    wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

    You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside,
    but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest
    man, not even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever
    lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance,
    can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty
    and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world
    there is nothing else real and abiding.

    No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand
    years from now, Virginia, nay ten times ten thousand years from now,
    he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

       -- Editorial page of the New York Sun, September 21, 1897

    >From our entire family to yours - Annie, Katie (who knows perfectly well
    there _is_ a Santa Claus, because she talked to him -
    [removed] ), and yours truly;
    no matter what you are celebrating at this truly amazing time of the year,
    Happy Holidays!

    ______________________________________________________________________

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 10:34:39 -0500
    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  1930s radio ownership

    Forgive me if covering old ground here, but I've been too busy with other
    stuff to keep current with this list:
    On the affordability of radios in the 1930s, we should remember that there
    were many appliance and radio repair shops that also sold used radios.
    As late as the 1950s, in my small town, there was a shop that repaired
    radios and televisions, and sold used televisions that they had bought from
    customers who didn't want to pay the repair costs.
    There was also an appliance store in town that sold refrigerators,
    televisions, etc. They also sold "trade-in" televisions for a lot less than
    new  sets. Being poor, we bought about three used televisions over the
    years before we could afford to buy a NEW television.
    I assume that a lot of people bought radios cheap in the second-hand market.

    Herb Harrison

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 13:57:10 -0500
    From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Gene Rayburn

>     I note Ron Sayle post of birthdays on 12-22-1917 - Gene Rayburn -
>     Christopher, IL (R: Chicago, IL) announcer, comedian: "Rayburn and Finch"

    Is Gene Rayburn (nee WNEW 1130AM in NYC's "Rayburn and Finch") still with
    us?
    Wondering if anyone on the list would know his whereabouts today - did he
    just disappear from the radio scene?

    Also, if there are any airchecks of him from WNEW and the rest of the
    "Eleven-Three-Oh" gang:  William B., Ted Brown, Art Ford, Bob Jones, et al
    to purchase or to trade? Thanks for the reply off-list.

    Happy Holidays!

    Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: Mr. Rayburn died on November 29, 1999 (see
    [removed] for an obit). He
    attended the Friends of Old-Time Radio Convention in 1996; see
    [removed]  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 14:05:49 -0500
    From: <orders@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  re: Jack Benny final episode
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

>     From: otrdude@[removed]

>     On Jack Benny's final radio show of 05-22-55, he says at the end, "See you
>     next fall". Did he decide not come back for another season or did the sponsor
>     decide to stop the show?

    I was actually amazed at how much warning they did give that this was the
    final episode of the Jack Benny Radio show.  At the beginning of the show Don
    Wilson says this is the last show of the season and of the current series.
    Throughout the show they talk about it being there last show.  Mary doesn't
    even dub her lines for this show.  The Sportsman sing kind of a tribute song.
    When Jack says see you in the fall I think he is referring to television.  His
    television show was in it's 4th or 5th year by now.

    Zongo out

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 14:08:10 -0500
    From: <orders@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  A question about Mr. Kitzel I am asking?
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I was wondering if anyone in this great braintrust of OTR could help me. Mr.
    Kitzel became a famous character on the Jack Benny show around 1946. I believe
    he was kind of a replacement for the Schlepermann character of the early 40's
    Benny show. I was listening to the "Abbott and Costello Show" and noticed that
    Mr. Kitzel is a somewhat regular character on that show as well in 1943-1944.
    Does anyone know when the Kitzel character started and finished on the "Abbott
    and Costello Show"? I have never heard of a minor character becoming a regular
    on one show then changing to another show. Did this happen often?

    Zongo out

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

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 14:08:30 -0500
    From: "Barnett, Tom L (N-ACS)" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Happy Holidays, OTR Digesters!

    I want to take this opportunity to wish every one on this list Happy
    Holidays and Merry Christmas. You know, it seems I look forward to spending
    a few moments each day with my friends from this Digest. I realized I have
    come to think of you all as close acquaintances by the common thread of our
    love of Classic Radio.

    I want to wish each and everyone of you a joyous season and a safe, happy,
    prosperous and healthy New Year!

    Tom Barnett, PMP

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 14:09:02 -0500
    From: <orders@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Make Love with a Guitar on Jack Benny

>     I'd like to add that there was a song from the
>     OTR days called "Make Love With a Guitar." Ouch!

    I remember Dennis Day singing this song in one of the Jack Benny Episodes.
    I too thought it was very humorous how the connotation has changed.  Anyone
    know which Jack Benny episode this was?

    Zongo out

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 14:09:21 -0500
    From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Les Tremayne's obituary

    Les Tremayne's obituary is in today's LA Times at:

    [removed],1,[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 15:11:30 -0500
    From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Old-time radio Christmas mini-marathan

    Beginning at midnight Christmas Eve until 5:30 am (Pacific Time) Christmas
    morning Bobb Lynes and I will present five and a half hours of old-time
    radio Christmas shows on "Don't Touch that Dial" on KPFK [removed] FM and
    streaming live at [removed]  Some of the shows will be "Fibber McGee and
    Molly," "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar," "Stars Over Hollywood," "Truth or
    Consequences," "Phil Harris-Alice Faye," "Kraft Music Hall" with Bing Crosby
    and "Amos and Andy".

    Happy holidays to all!

    Barbara

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 15:11:51 -0500
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack's last show

    In a message dated 12/23/2003 10:52:30 AM Eastern Standard Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     On Jack Benny's final radio show of  05-22-55, he says at the end, "See you
>     next fall". Did he decide not come back for another season
>     or did the sponsor decide to stop the show?

    I think the reference means more the television show, so perhaps more
    accurately "you'll see me next fall."  Also, the Best of Benny series did
    continue the reruns for a couple more seasons.

    Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 15:12:16 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Christmas Eve births/deaths

    Christmas Eve births

    12-24-1895 - Ruth Chatterton - NYC - d. 11-24-1961
    actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    12-24-1910 - Mitchell Ayres - Milwaukee, WI (R:  NYC) - d. 9-5-1969
    bandleader: "Dunninger Show"; "Chesterfield Supper Club"
    12-24-1922 - Ava Gardner - Grabtown, NC - d. 1-25-1990
    actress: "So Proudly We Hail"; "Prudential Family Hour of Stars"

    Christmas Eve deaths

    05-31-1898 - Norman Vincent Peale - Bowersville, OH - d. 12-24-1993
    preacher: "Art of Living"
    06-29-1911 - Bernard Herrmann - NYC - d. 12-24-1975
    conductor, composer: "Columbia Workshop"; "Mercury Theatre on the Air"
    09-07-1923 - Peter Lawford - London, England - d. 12-24-1984
    actor: "Radio Reader"s Digest"; "Suspense"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:50:05 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR folks in videos

       This afternoon I was updating my bookmarks and browsed through Movie
    Flix and ran across the following video I thought everyone would like to
    take a look at.  It has some otr related clips: such as a film of GI
    Journal with Kay Kyser, Mel Blanc, Jerry Colonna and Lucille Ball among
    others.  Also, toward the end of the hour long film, is the set for Mail
    Call with Don Wilson, Abbott and Costello, along with quick cameos of
    Bob Hope and Bing Crosby here and there.  Plus other otr stars sprinkled
    here and there throughout the film.
       In addition there is a very brief appearance of a AES announcer, who
    is on screen for less time than it takes to read this, and who sounded a
    whole like the lately deceased Donn Reid.
       [removed]
       Joe

    --
    Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:50:32 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  1928 permanent network???

>     From Today in history, the NY Times -- 23 Dec
>     In 1928, the National Broadcasting Company set up a
>     permanent, coast-to-coast network.        Joe

    This is confusing indeed.  NBC had done its first coast-to-coast broadcast
    on January 1, 1927, the Rose Bowl game.  Thereafter it was available
    coast-to-coast when events or sponsors warranted it.  But no network is
    really "permanent" because there are constantly changes in affiliates, and
    rarely are programs aired on every affiliated station.  If this means that
    there was now a dedicated network of telephone lines that reached from
    coast-to-coast, that really was the job of the telephone company, not any
    individual network organization.  AT&T always owned the lines, and they no
    longer owned either WEAF or the network it had formed.  I guess we'll have
    to look up the NYT article, or does anybody know the specifics already?

    Michael Biel   mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:58:36 -0500
    From: Vincente Tobias <vincente_ca@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Gildersleeve and "make love"

    Ed Foster wrote:

>     Take a look at the lyrics to the Jo Stafford  song
>     "Make Love to Me"from 1954 and you'll get a pretty
>     good Idea of what "making love" meant in
>     those days.  Smooching, but not sex.  Sometime between
>     then (or even after 1960 when the movie "Let's Make
>     Love" came out) and now the meaning changed, but I
>     don't know when and I've lived through it.

    Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that sex
    has become more gratuitous and available as a
    commodity that there is the need to make it "romantic"
    by calling it "making love."As Tina turner said, "What
    has love got to do with it?"
    Vince

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 17:00:04 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "Reality"

    Derec notes,

>     I saw a few postings regarding my comment about the Waltons.  That shows
>     how the point can be missed.  The Waltons was never reality.

    <snip>

>     It was never said to be reality by anyone.  In fact, the radio shows they
>     featured at times were out of sink with the period of the episode at
>     times. We all see our younger years as idealic.  It is entertainment only.

    Well, from a practical standpoint *all* dramas and comedies are
    "entertainment only."  Even one's most beloved shows are "only
    entertainment."

    I suspect the problem is how believable a dramatic presentation can be.
    For example, in the Captain Midnight show, all the aviation features of
    known aircraft were exact (such items as von Schrecker's "Rocket Plane"
    were outside the envelope, so can't be judged).  To a pilot, they ring
    true.

    However, the radio exchanges between Hop Harrigan and the control tower
    at the beginning of Hop Harrigan will send any pilot (well, airplane
    pilot, at any rate) into chuckles, if not gales of laughter.  [An aside:
    much as I enjoy Bruce Willis films, the second Die Hard movie is one I
    can't watch because it has so many fundamental technical errors that
    believability is completely destroyed.]

    But believability isn't the same as reality.

>     ... this "reality" thing that we have been skirting for years in OTR. I
>     doubt there really was a Lone Ranger or Matt Dylan, but probably folks
>     who had enough personality to be noticed in folklore.

    During the late 1800s, there were Dime Novels that extolled the
    adventures of Wild West heroes, most of whom experienced nothing like the
    literary exploits attributed to them.  Taking The Lone Ranger as an
    example, postulating the existence of such a person, would his radio
    adventures be believable?  Probably, IMHO.  Although there are some
    exceptions, most of the stories are credible for the western regions in
    the United States during the middle to late [removed]

    Now jumping form The Lone Ranger to The Shadow, (and let's not confuse
    the pulp magazine version of The Shadow with the OTR) *if we accept the
    idea of a mysterious power to cloud men's [people's] minds so they cannot
    see him", then is the rest of each drama believable?  Again, IMHO, sure.

    Is either show depicting "reality"?  Of course not.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 19:18:45 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bob Hope show

    Hi Everybody,

    I am trying to find a audio CD or tape copy of the Bob Hope show from
    12-6-49 with Jack Benny.  I was sent a MPe CD of Bob Hope shows, but I would
    like to find a better sounding copy of this show or any other Bob Hope show
    with Doris Day that is not in wide spread hands yet.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 22:10:51 -0500
    From: John Leasure <jleasure@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: entertainment or life

    Deric said the name of The Waltons creator escaped [removed] was Earl Hamner
    Jr.  A very nice man who is a wonderful storyteller both in print as well as
    on TV.  His books on which the TV show is based -- Spencer's Mountain and The
    Homecoming -- have the reality missing from TV. (Their home is heavily
    mortgaged and the father is working at jobs away from home -- therefore The
    Homecoming.)

    Mr. Hamner never intended for the TV show to be [removed] is why it has
    his voice narration throughout (yes, the voice of the grown John-Boy is
    Earl).  It was supposed to suggest a [removed] generally memories are a
    bit kinder than reality.  CBS didn't want the Depression as it [removed] was
    depressing (take this up with CBS execs at the time -- the ones there now
    were working at Lorimar with Hamner years ago).  Any dramatic radio, TV or
    movie as produced through an American network or studio is not reality and
    should never be looked on as anything but the view of the people producing
    the film/radio/TV show (and that includes the network's position).

    To keep this OTR -- Earl wrote many scripts for various NBC anthology shows
    throughout the fifties (some were adaptations of Broadway plays) while he was
    trying to sell his first novel.

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 22:24:13 -0500
    From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Articles mentioning OTR

    Here's a bunch of holiday links with OTR references.

    There will be a live performance of "Life with Luigi" by an Italian American
    society in Florida over the holidays and the Orlando Sentinel is on the
    story:

    [removed],0,[removed]
    ory?coll=sfla-news-palm

    Also in Florida, an article on racist language used in a parody of rap
    lyrics recalls "Amos 'N Andy" controversies.  The author of this article
    should note that if the shoe fits, it isn't offensive.  Newspapers shouldn't
    have to be afraid of making fun of the foul, ungrammatical language used by
    rappers just because they are black. He would have been better off to
    recognize that people wouldn't make fun of them if they didn't insist on
    abusing the English language.

    [removed]

    This article from The Wall Street Journal notes the life of Red Ryder and
    Little Beaver, mentioning the comic strips and movies but not the radio
    show!  Ah well still of [removed]

    [removed]

    Merry Christmas to all,

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 00:28:14 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Captain Midnight

>     Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 10:52:02 -0500
>     From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];

>     This immediately pegs it as a nonradio item.  The serial version ran
>     Monday through Friday, in the afternoon.  Also, I can't speak for TV, but
>     the requisite number for radio was one Ovaltine proof of purchase.

    The TV premiums generally required the seal from one Ovaltine jar plus 25 cents in coin.

>     A variant on the Ralphie story.  I cannot speak for the TV show (busy
>     being in college and all that), but can state unequivocally that there was
>     never an Ovaltine commercial during the Code-O-Graph era.  (In the radio
>     scripts, they had both numbers and letters, though why the announcer would
>     need to know what the message was beats me.)

    The TV show did have commercials.  At first, Ovaltine alternated as sponsor with Kix, but by
    the time the decoder offers came along, it was just Ovaltine.  But the code messages didn't
    have to do with Ovaltine, they were a two or three word message that had something vaguely
    to do with the following week's story.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #455
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