Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #344
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/8/2007 10:18 AM

To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2007 : Issue 344
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      What ever happened to Peet?           [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
      "Put a little money in the pot, boy.  [ John Olsen <jrolsen2@[removed]; ]
      Re: Buddy Duncan                      [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      Fake Indians on the Lone Ranger       [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
      Researchers                           [ "whhsa" <whhsa@[removed]; ]
      Re: Colgate-Palmolive-Peet            [ Randy Watts <rew1014@[removed]; ]
      12-8 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Re: the 4th wiseman on [removed]       [ Afanofoldradio@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 13:37:42 -0500
    From: <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  What ever happened to Peet?

    Lawyer A. Joseph Ross muses:

>     Ah, yes.  I remember Colgate toothpaste and Palmolive soap, but I

    always wondered what "Peet" was.

    Wonder no more.  I'm adapting from a forthcoming tome "Sold on Radio"
    (McFarland, 2008) where this and scores of similar bewilderments are put to
    rest:

    Since 1872 Kansas City, Kansas siblings Robert (1846-?) and William
    (1847-1934) Peet sold wares from their Peet Brothers Soap Company.  The
    enterprising pair, English immigrants who resided in Cleveland, Ohio before
    proceeding further west, were among pioneers pursuing the acquisition route.
    They took over the Standard Soap Company of Ocean View, California, in 1916.
    Standard had been established in San Francisco in the early 1870s by Captain
    R. P. Thomas, a wealthy Berkeley Hills businessman.

    The Peet Brothers enterprise grew to be the largest soap factory beyond the
    Mississippi River.  According to The New York Times, by 1918 theirs was "the
    second largest manufacturer of soap and glycerin in the United States."
    Glycerin, incidentally, was used in high explosives, putting Peet Brothers
    in the enviable spot of being heavily relied upon by the U. S. government as
    "essential to the conduct of the [First World] war."  As a result, sales
    jumped from $[removed] million in 1915 to $24 million three years hence.
    Colgate-Palmolive, which eventually acquired the Peets' 1872 soap-making
    plant, continued using it for that purpose until late 2006 when the historic
    facility was phased out and 250 jobs were eliminated.

    Undoubtedly seeing greater advantages for themselves-and acting only a
    moment before the nation was mired in economic upheaval, a result of the
    1929 stock market crash that created the Great Depression-in 1927, the Peets
    of Kansas City, Kansas and the Johnsons of Milwaukee joined their units into
    one under the new name Palmolive Peet Company.  That wouldn't last long,
    however; the following year (1928), the outfit-sensing still greater
    opportunities-added Colgate to its mix:  the result was the
    Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company, headquartered in a magnificent 37-story Art
    Deco high-rise tower in a neutral city.  The Palmolive Building opened on
    Chicago's business-friendly Michigan Avenue in 1929.  The imposing structure
    was to be the nerve center for the multinational's far-flung operations
    about five years, until April 1934, when the headquarters was established at
    Jersey City, New Jersey.  In 1956, the company command took up residence at
    yet another prestigious address, 300 Park Avenue in Manhattan.

    Immediately following the merger, Palmolive Peet's managerial staff took
    control of the amalgamated conglomerate.  Had it not been for the stock
    market crash, there would have been yet further additions to the
    consolidated venture.  Just four days before the bottom fell out, documents
    were signed-on October 25, 1929-that were to extend the fusion even further,
    embracing the Kraft Phenix Cheese Corporation of Chicago, forerunner of the
    Kraft Foods Company, and the Hershey Chocolate Company of Hershey,
    Pennsylvania.  While the trio of manufacturers was to operate independently,
    they were all to be subsidiaries of a holding firm, International Quality
    Products Corporation.  But that plan was scuttled after the market imploded.
    That economic disaster precipitated the ascendancy of Bayard Colgate as
    president of Colgate-Palmolive-Peet in 1933.  The shift of power effectively
    ended the brief driver's seat tenure of the Johnsons and Peets, who would
    nevermore occupy any of the firm's upper echelon posts.

    The "Peet" appellation was abandoned in the company's title without much
    explanation in 1953.  The originators of Peet Brothers in Kansas City,
    Kansas in 1872 were all dead then, of course, and there was never a
    commodity named for them.  The Palmolive nomenclature was retained, possibly
    because there was Palmolive soap and Palmolive brushless shaving cream (and,
    in 1966, Palmolive dishwashing liquid)-all readily identified as some of the
    firm's biggest moneymakers that weren't going away any time soon.  So Peet
    was history; from 1953 until the present age, the outfit would be known as
    Colgate-Palmolive Company.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 15:44:37 -0500
    From: John Olsen <jrolsen2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "Put a little money in the pot, boy."

    My, how I laugh at the fond memories of Jack Kirkwood's seedy
    street-corner Santa growling, "Put a little money in the pot, boy."
    I've heard it on various radio shows, which makes me wonder about its
    evolution.

    The earliest incidence of this laugh-line that I can identify was on the
    Bob Hope Show from December 21, 1948.  But judging from the audience
    reaction, they seemed familiar with the joke.  So I'm guessing it had
    been a popular line used by Kirkwood before.  Does anyone here have a
    clue as to earlier performances?

    Of course, the line was so funny that Kirkwood used it again and again.
      I heard it on Bob Hope's 1949 Christmas broadcast, as well.  And I've
    heard it on various radio shows, other than Hope's, although my memory
    fails me at the moment and I can't remember where.  Who can help me fill
    in the blanks?

    I should point out that Kirkwood reprised his famous line in a 1950 RKO
    short feature entitled "Put Some Money In The Pot," in which he teamed
    up with comedian Wally Brown.  They did several shorts together, but
    unfortunately I've never seen any of them.  Turner Classic Movies really
    should show these!

    As you listen to your OTR Christmas shows, maybe you'll run across some
    of Jack Kirkwood's appearances.  I'd love to have a list of all the
    shows in which he trotted out his famous "money in the pot" line.  Any
    help would be appreciated.

    John

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

    Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 15:47:03 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Buddy Duncan

    Dennis Crow reminded us:

>     The first broadcast of "The Cinnamon Bear" occurred on Friday, November 26,
>     1937, in most markets.  It ran daily except Sunday until Christmas
>     Day (Saturday, December 25, 1937).  >snip<  Paddy O'Cinnamon was
>     four inches high; the actor who played him stood four feet, eleven
>     inches, and had appeared in 135 one reel slapstick comedies by 1919.

>     Bud Duncan, known as "Buddy" by fans of "The Cinnamon Bear," was one-half of
>     the "Ham and Bud" team, the other half being the more famous silent screen
>     star, Lloyd Hamilton.  >snip<

    A few years ago I quite by accident discovered another Buddy Duncan
    radio role. I called the attention of Tom Heathwood
    ([removed]) to it and he honored me by permitting
    me to do an introduction to his streaming broadcast of it. Dennis
    reveals that some of my uncertainties have since been resolved, but
    here is the introduction exactly as I recorded it a few years ago:

    Hello; my name is John Mayer. The following is an episode of The
    World Adventurers' Club, a kids' show that was broadcast in '32 and
    ran for just that many episodes. I was listening to this particular
    show one day while doing chores when the voice of one of the actors
    caught my ear. It was a voice I had never heard outside one famous
    series, a voice that seemed startlingly incongrous when I heard the
    speaker say, "So, here we are, in this day and age, about to be
    ripped open by bloodsuckin' vampires." I knew those vampires were in
    for a terrible disappointment when they found not the life-giving
    blood they sought but only "extra special stuffing." For the speaker
    was, unless my ears deceive me, none other than the Cinnamon Bear. I
    have been able to discover no other radio appearance of this actor,
    the midget Buddy Duncan, beyond the Cinnamon Bear, though surely he
    must have found other roles.

    It's a little hard to understand why the producers of The
    Adventurers' Club chose the warm, wooly voice of this little man to
    play the part of the hard-bitten Irish explorer Mulvaney five years
    before he achieved immortality in his more famous role. Maybe his
    just seemed a good sidekick's voice. Buddy Duncan's show business
    history is murky. What little information I have comes from the
    Cinnamon Bear Brigade (mentioned in Dunning's _Encyclopedia of Old
    Time Radio_) and their spokesman - I believe his official title is
    Grand Wunky - Dennis Crow. They learned of Duncan's physical stature
    from Elizabeth Heisch, the widow of The Cinnamon Bear's writer and
    lyricist, and some members suspect he may have been the same Bud
    Duncan who starred in the films _Private Snuffy Smith_ and _Hillbilly
    Blitzkrieg_ (not to be confused with the computer game _Redneck
    Rampage_). This Bud Duncan also appeared in almost a hundred other
    movies, most of which did not take advantage of his unique voice as
    they were silent. He also was slightly less than half of a vaudeville
    act, paired with a massive man named, not Fe Fo, but, rather, Lloyd
    Hamilton, according to a Mr. David Ragan. However, Mr. Crow and
    others doubt that this is the same Buddy Duncan. So we're counting on
    you to help us solve this mystery.

    At any rate, I hope you enjoy this short feature, not much longer
    than my long-winded introduction. As you listen try NOT to picture a
    scarred and grizzled cinnamon bear laying aside his machete and
    lifting his pith helmet to wipe a fuzzy brow with a soiled bandana,
    a soldier of fortune far, far from his home in Maybeland.

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

    Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 17:59:13 -0500
    From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Fake Indians on the Lone Ranger

    Thomas Heathwood inquired about a Lone Ranger episode that featured white
    men dressed as Indians that rob stage coaches.  I think the episode is
    "Piute's Revenge", air date 4/19/1946.  The program was featured on Radio
    Spirits first album of Lone Ranger adventures and is narrated by Harry
    Golder, Fred Foy's immediate predecessor.

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

    Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 17:59:50 -0500
    From: "whhsa" <whhsa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Researchers
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Dear Folks;
    Peace to all as we enter the Advent Season.
    I know this is off subject, but I need some researchers in Los Angeles and
    London, England to help with a movie star project. Please contact me at
    whhsa@[removed].

    Manituwah,
    Bill

    Remember for  a OTR Christmas gift give the definitive book on the great
    legendry radio figure, Straight Arrow.
    [removed]

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    Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 23:17:44 -0500
    From: Randy Watts <rew1014@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Colgate-Palmolive-Peet
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

       > Ah, yes.  I remember Colgate toothpaste and Palmolive soap, but I
       always wondered

       > what "Peet" was.

       Peet was a soap manufacturer who merged with Palmolive in the '20s.

       Randy

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    Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 01:57:54 -0500
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  12-8 births/deaths

    December 8th births

    12-08-1888 - Raymond Lawrence - Bedford Square, England - d. 3-28-1976
    actor: "Escape"; "The Halls of Ivy"; "Pursuit"
    12-08-1891 - Percy Crosby - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-8-1964
    "Skippy" a juvenile serial was based on Crosby's comic strip
    12-08-1894 - Elzie Segar - d. 10-13-1938
    writer: "Popeye the Sailor" based on his comic strip
    12-08-1894 - James Thurber - Columbus, OH - d. 11-2-1961
    writer: "This Is My Best"
    12-08-1895 - Harold Arlin - d. 3-14-1986
    first full time radio announcer in the world, KDKA, Pittsburgh, 1921
    12-08-1898 - Francis Scott Basch - d. 9-11-1997
    news commentator: WAAT Jersey City, New Jersey
    12-08-1904 - George Stevens - Oakland, CA - d. 3-8-1975
    film director: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    12-08-1906 - Richard Llewellyn - St. David's, Wales - d. 11-30-1983
    author: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "NBC University Theatre"
    12-08-1907 - Frank Faylen - St. Louis, MO - d. 8-2-1985
    actor: "Screen Guild Theatre"
    12-08-1909 - Elaine Melchior - NYC
    actor: Ardala Valmer "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century"
    12-08-1910 - Ruth Matteson - San Jose, CA - d. 2-5-1975
    actor: Nicole Scott "Against the Storm"
    12-08-1911 - Lee J. Cobb - NYC - d. 2-11-1976
    actor: the tailgunner "Roosty of the AAF"; "Citizen of the World";
    "Hollywood Startime"
    12-08-1913 - Sarajane Wells - Owensboro, KY - d. 1-11-1987
    actor: Betty Fairchild "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy"
    12-08-1914 - Mary Patton - Duluth, MN - d. 11-8-1982
    actor: Marie Martel "Arnold Grimm's Daughter"; Lila North "Fat Man"
    12-08-1915 - Ernest Lehman - NYC - d. 7-5-2005
    writer: "Forecast"
    12-08-1916 - Richard Fleischer - Brooklyn, NY - d. 3-25-2006
    film director: "The TM Radio Program"
    12-08-1928 - Jay "Jaybird" Drennan - d. 12-9-2006
    country music disk jockey (Akron, Ohio)
    12-08-1928 - Jimmy Smith - Norristown, PA - d. 2-8-2005
    jazz organist: Won a radio talent contest in Philadelphia at the age
    of 9
    12-08-1937 - James MacArthur - Los Angeles, CA
    actor: "Theatre Guild of the Air"

    December 8th deaths

    01-31-1917 - Fay Baker - NYC - d. 12-8-1987
    actor: "Words at War"
    02-11-1882 - John H. Mills - Bellfonte, PA - d. 12-8-1967
    singer: (Father of the Mills Brothers)  "Mills Brothers Quartette"
    03-02-1914 - Martin Ritt - NYC - d. 12-8-1990
    film director, teacher: "Coming Home"
    03-03-1924 - Cathy Downs - Port Jefferson, Long Island, NY - d.
    12-8-1976
    actor: "Your Movietown Radio Theatre"; "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Mail Call"
    04-26-1898 - David Freedman - Botosani, Romania - d. 12-8-1936
    gag writer for Eddie Cantor
    05-03-1898 - Golda Meir - Kiev, Russia - d. 12-8-1978
    israeli prime minister: "Meet the Press"
    05-04-1903 - Luther Adler - NYC - d. 12-8-1984
    actor: Peter Gentle "Mystery Without Murder"; "Greatest Story Ever
    Told (1938-39)"
    07-15-1893 - William Dieterle - Rhein-Palatinate, Germany - d. 12-8-1972
    movie director: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen Director's Playhouse"
    08-19-1922 - Lester Fletcher - Cardiff, Wales - d. 12-8-1989
    actor: "Sherlock Holmes"; "FBI in Peace and War"
    09-13-1900 - Gladys George - Patton, ME - d. 12-8-1954
    actor: "Lincoln Highway"
    09-26-1925 - Marty Robbins - Glendale, AZ - d. 12-8-1982
    country/western singer: "Grand Ole Opry"; "Country Style [removed]";
    "Big Sound"
    10-09-1929 - Harry Harvey - Florida - d. 12-8-1978
    actor: Oogie Pringle "A Date with Judy"
    10-09-1940 - John Lennon - Liverpool, England - d. 12-8-1980
    singer: (The Beatles) "Here We Go Again"
    11-14-1915 - Martha Tilton - Corpus Christi, TX - d. 12-8-2006
    singer: "Fibber McGee and Molly"; "Curt Massey-Martha Tilton Program"
    12-08-1891 - Percy Crosby - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-8-1964
    "Skippy" a juvenile serial was based on Crosby's comic strip

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 02:14:33 -0500
    From: Afanofoldradio@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: the 4th wiseman on [removed]
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    the fourth wiseman was on PRI radio in Minneapolis 12-22-1996    found
    courtesy of
    _[removed]_ ([removed])
    ed kienzler springfield illinois

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    End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #344
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