Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #95
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 3/12/2002 3:34 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 95
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Failing eyesight                      [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      Old Time Radio on "The Simpsons"      [ Kubelski@[removed] ]
      Mythical Captain Midnight Decoder Ri  [ "Thomas Mason" <batz34@[removed] ]
      Decoder Rings ----- Lone Ranger       [ "John DiMezzes" <jadm1@[removed] ]
      Re: The Monkey's Paw                  [ passage@[removed] ]
      goldin                                [ Frank Absher <fabsher@[removed]; ]
      Cliff Johnson                         [ Dan Riedstra <[removed]@wcom. ]
      Monkey's Paw                          [ Hpdedoo@[removed] ]
      Johnson Family Singers                [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      Archie                                [ Hpdedoo@[removed] ]
      Ring-A-Ding!                          [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Code spelled backwards is edoC        [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Re: The Monkey's Paw                  [ Gerry Wright <gdwright@[removed]; ]
      The Lone Ranger on TV                 [ "erosenstein" <erosenstein@[removed] ]
      Lone Ranger eps                       [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
      BOBBY BENSON / JACK ARMSTRONG         [ "Jeff G" <jeffg@[removed]; ]
      Re: Similarities                      [ "Harlan Zinck" <preservation@radioa ]
      Monkey's Paw                          [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
      The Shadow in print                   [ "erosenstein" <erosenstein@[removed] ]
      Golden Radio Buffs of Maryland        [ Grbmd@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 08:56:35 -0500
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Failing eyesight

    Ron Sayles posted:

>     I just received a flyer through the mail for this years Old Time Radio and
>     Nostalgia Convention being held in Cincinnati. Lo and behold, whose picture
>     doI
>     find in there? None other than the intrepid Hal Stone. <Snip>

    Ron went on to say some complimentary things about me, that modesty prevents
    me from repeating.

    [removed] you sure they didn't get my picture mixed up with Hastings? Or,
    was the picture from 1950, when I had hair?

    I hope you are not serious, You are embarrassing me! :)
    What do you want? A loan?

    By the [removed] you going to Cinncy? If you do, make sure you look me up.
    But then [removed]'ll probably spot you first. (You'll be the one with the
    thick coke bottle glasses, Right)?

    Or better yet, since I expect to meet so many Digest friends there, I'm sure
    to be [removed](getting names, faces, and "postings" in the right order),
    so why don't you clip off the bottom of this message, and hand it to me.
    That way I'll know for sure who you are.

    Regards

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

    To Whom it May Concern:

    [removed] name is Ron Sales.
    I have poor esthetic judgement and failing eyesight.

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 09:22:29 -0500
    From: Kubelski@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Old Time Radio on "The Simpsons"

    The hobby has made it - on last Sunday's episode of The Simpsons, Bart is
    riding in the car with his grandfather and they tune in the Springfield
    version of The Golden Age of Radio (unfortunately, the host sounded nothing
    like Max Schmid which is probably because the show's creator is from
    Portland) and listend to an OTR version of Bart's favorite cartoon show
    "Itchy and Scatchy."

    After years of OTR inside-jokes being a staple of children's cartoon "Pinky
    and Brain" we're now in prime time.

    Sean Dougherty
    Kubelski@[removed]
    (who watches way too much TV for an OTR [removed])

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 10:16:22 -0500
    From: "Thomas Mason" <batz34@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Mythical Captain Midnight Decoder Ring

    Checking the Overstreet Premium Ring Price Guide, there is NO mention of a
    decoder ring from Captain Midnight.  No collector that I have even spoken
    with has known of such a decoder ring offered by Ovaltine on the Capt.
    Midnight radio show other than the recent one they offered, but that one had
    nothing to do with the OTR show.

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 10:16:34 -0500
    From: "John DiMezzes" <jadm1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Decoder Rings ----- Lone Ranger

    I agree with Tom Mason and his contention that decoder RINGS were not
    offered on OTR.  Whereas there were many decoder badges, rings were not
    involved.

    While I'm at it, I'd like to ask again for anyone's help in locating a
    Duffy's Tavern episode which had Brace Beemer as its guest star. The date of
    the program was [removed], 1943.  Thank you.

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 10:39:17 -0500
    From: passage@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: The Monkey's Paw

    Rodney w bowcock jr. asked:

>     Does anyone know of a radio adaption of the short story The Monkey's
>     Paw?

    I know of 3 versions; one in NIGHTFALL (Jul 11, 1980), one in
    FAVORITE STORY (Jun 29, 1948) and one in the BBC's FEAR
    ON FOUR (Jan 17, 1988).

    Frank

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 10:39:28 -0500
    From: Frank Absher <fabsher@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: goldin

    Anyone know the status of J. David Goldin, who compiled the wonderful Radio
    Goldindex? A phone number is listed at the website but no one is ever there
    (a recorded message) and no one returns phone calls.

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 10:41:56 -0500
    From: Dan Riedstra <[removed]@[removed];
    To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Cliff Johnson

    Bill Murtough wrote:

>     Cliff Johnson was the announcer with me
>     the summer of 1946 when we were on Catalina Island originating the nitely
>     dance band remotes from the Casino. We were also the summer replacement
>     for "Bob Elson on the Twentieth Century", a WBBM origination on CBS. Bob
>     interviewed famous people who were travelling East on the Century. Cliff
>     interviewed famous people who were visiting Catalina Island. Last time I
>     saw Cliff was when I was doing a convention from Chicago. I think it was
>     1968. He died not long after that.

     As far as I know Cliff Johnson is still alive and well. He appeared on Chuck
    Schaden's show in Chicago within the last couple or three years. Chuck played
    a show of him doing the interview program from Catalina [removed] some of
    the Johnson Family shows where he and his wife and children chat around the
    breakfast table. Also played was the Burns and Allen show where Gracie is in
    Omaha, Nebraska to receive her nomination for presidential candidate for her
    "Suprise Party". The "Gracie for President" thread was carried through many
    months on the Burns and Allen show I believe in 1940.

    Dan Riedstra

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 10:43:58 -0500
    From: Hpdedoo@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Monkey's Paw
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    In a message dated 3/12/02 7:11:48 AM US Mountain Standard Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     Does anyone know of a radio adaption of the short story The Monkey's Paw?
>     My brother is reading it in school, and I thought for sure there was a
>     CBS RMT episode of it, but a quick check of my log proves me wrong.  I
>     still thought there was one done.  Nightfall maybe?

>     rodney.

    I found 2 titles in my archive.

    Seeing Ear Theater  has a show called "Monkey's Paw, The", but I don't have a
    date on it, and there is a CBC Nightfall with "Monkey's Paw, The" part 2
    dated [removed]

    But I haven't listened to that one, and I don't seem to have part 1.

    Ken

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

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 10:44:19 -0500
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Johnson Family Singers

    It was nice to read Bill Murtough's post about the Johnson Family and to
    know that someone else either remembers or knows about the North Carolina
    Johnsons besides me.  I grew up with them (that is, I heard them
    regularly over WBT's 50,000-watt signal in Charlotte).  I can recall my
    parents tuning to WBT for the 5:30 Esso reporter every evening followed
    by the Johnson Family Singers, broadcasting live from the studios in the
    Wilder Building on South Tryon Street at 5:35 [removed]  They were on for 10
    minutes Monday-Friday.  They had a half-hour gospel-singing program on
    Sundays and were often featured on the Carolina Hayride from Charlotte's
    Armory Auditorium on Saturday nights, a portion of which was carried over
    CBS in the 1940s.

    There was Ma and Pa Johnson, at least two sons (twins, if I recall
    correctly) and a daughter, Betty.  Betty eventually made the big time,
    winning Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts as a vocalist, I'm thinking.  She
    went on to be a regular performer on Don McNeill's Breakfast Club for
    awhile and made recordings, one "I Dreamed" that climbed fairly high on
    the charts in the 1950s.  I had forgotten about her appearances on Galen
    Drake's CBS show.  I've seen her name listed for the program of the FOTR
    convention in recent years.

    I'm aware there was another Johnson Family program, one I never heard.
    My fondest recollections go back to those days in Charlotte when families
    gathered around their radios to hear the harmony offered by groups like
    WBT's Johnson Family Singers.  It was inevitably a pleasant respite and I
    thank Bill Murtough for recalling that for me.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 11:02:40 -0500
    From: Hpdedoo@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Archie

    I am also looking for the run of Archie [removed]  I've posted 2 weeks ago, but
    haven't recieved one reply.  Do they exist ?

    Ken

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 11:04:01 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Ring-A-Ding!

    Irene Heinstein, speaking of a "decoder ring," cites,

>     My brother sent away for and received a decoder ring.   It was from
>     Captain Midnight.  If the debunkers don't believe me then maybe they'll
>     accept a statement from the Exploratorium website:"When you were a kid,
>     did you have a "Captain Midnight" decoder ring? With it, you could send
>     messages to friends that no one else could read."

    I believe Ms. Heinstein's brother has a faulty memory.  Rather than just
    relying on my own words, I'll cite the latest edition of the Tomart's
    Price Guide to Radio Premium and Cereal Box Collectibles, by Tom
    Tumbusch, (Wallace-Homestead, 1991, ISBN 0-87069-635-1):

    "There is a strange phenomenon connected with Captain Midnight.  Nearly
    everyone who has ever heard of the program can conjure up a 'decoder
    ring.'  Yet exhaustive research has failed to prove that there ever was
    such a premium."

    Having cited that, I will add that when I was in Ovaltine's corporate
    headquarters doing research on my Captain Midnight book, I was taken to
    the archives.  Besides seeing the scripts I referenced, I was shown the
    archival copies of the premiums.  There were only nine cryptological
    premiums: the seven Code-O-Graphs offered on the OTR program, and the two
    "decoders" offered on the TV shows.

    If Ms. Heinstein's brother had a cryptological ring, he might have
    obtained the PF Decoder Ring, which came out around the time the OTR era
    was winding down, but that was not an OTR premium

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 11:05:00 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Code spelled backwards is edoC

    Thomas Mason, speaking of "decoders" and rings, notes,

>     Tom Mix offered one decoder badge and Orphan Annie offered quite a few
>     before Captain Midnight edged her off radio.

    Tom Mix had three cryptological items as OTR premiums.  One was as part
    of his Secret Ink Writing Set, which had a cardboard cipher unit with
    four settings as well as an invisible ink set.  (A message that was
    enciphered and then written out in invisible ink was really secure for
    childhood messaging!)

    The second was a true decoder.  It was the Tom Mix Six-Gun Decoder Badge,
    issued in 1941.  It was a badge with a pivoting representation of a
    six-gun, and tiny icons on a circle on the badge face.  The six-gun was
    coupled to a pointer on the back.  Pointing the barrel of the six-gun at
    one of the icons on the front would cause the pointer on the back to
    point at a word or phrase.  A message, "Tom saw a star last night,"
    broadcast at the end of a show would contain the actual message: the icon
    of a star.  The statement was meaningless, but the star symbol would
    point on the back to the phrase, "danger ahead."

    The third was a set of five pinback buttons of the Tom Mix characters,
    issued in .  On the back of each button was a word or phrase.  If you
    were advised to look on the back of the Tom Mix button, those who had
    them would be aware that the answer to the question just asked would be
    "yes."

    Orphan Annie had seven "decoders": five metal ones under Ovaltine
    sponsorship from 1935; two cardboard ones from Quaker Puffed Wheat
    Sparkies.

    Dick Tracy had two as part of his detective kits in 1942 and 1944 (this
    doesn't count the cereal red and green "decoders" nor the 1961 Dick Tracy
    Detective Kit with a wooden "decoder").

    Red Ryder had two: one in 1941 as part of a member kit, and a 1942
    cardboard "Rodeomatic Decoder."

    Also, Sky King had a premium called the Spy-Detecto Writer.  It was a
    multifunction premium, and one of the functions was a cipher disk (a
    so-called "decoder"), but it was no big deal.

    There were lots of cryptological premiums on OTR, mostly cipher devices.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 11:41:04 -0500
    From: Gerry Wright <gdwright@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: The Monkey's Paw

    Rodney asked:

>     Does anyone know of a radio adaption of the short story
>     "The Monkey's Paw"?

    I found the following adaptations of the story in my collection of OTR
    logs:

    Molle Mystery Theater -- 03-14-44

    Favorite Story -- 06-04-49
    (William Conrad)

    Beyond Midnight (South Africa) -- Episode 22

    Nightfall (CBC, NPR) -- 07-11-80, 02-20-81, 01-29-82
    NPR Rebroadcast 1-29-82

    Fear on Four (BBC) -- 01-17-88

    Gerry Wright
    ZoneZebra Productions
    San Francisco, CA

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 12:34:07 -0500
    From: "erosenstein" <erosenstein@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: The Lone Ranger on TV

    If you live in the Philadelphia area, the Lone Ranger is on every night
    on the STARZ-Western Channel 160, 7:30 PM, and repeated
    the same day on Channel 161, 10:30 PM---For example, tonight's episode(3/12)
    is:

         7:30PM    The Lone Ranger - "GHOST OF COYOTE CANYON, THE"
    Rated TVG, 22min
    Starring - John Hart, Jay Silverheels, Lucien Littlefield

    I copy 12 episodes on each tape for sharing--
    Enjoy---Edward in Philadelphia

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 12:54:19 -0500
    From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
    To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Lone Ranger eps

    According to Terry Salomonson's log there were 3377 original LR eps
    broadcast, of which 2596 were recorded (beginning 1/17/38). After the last
    ep on 9/3/54, there were 52 weeks of transcribed repeats.

    Joe Salerno

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 12:54:16 -0500
    From: "Jeff G" <jeffg@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: BOBBY BENSON / JACK ARMSTRONG

    Hi all!

    I am desperately looking for some episodes of "BOBBY BENSON" and "JACK
    ARMSTRONG" on AUDIO CASSETTE.  If you have any GOOD quality shows from these
    series (i'm not looking for particular episodes) and would like to trade,
    please contact me at jeffg@[removed]

    thanks!

    jeff

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 13:58:42 -0500
    From: "Harlan Zinck" <preservation@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Re: Similarities

    Kenneth Clarke, in comparing Red Skelton's "Guzzler's Gin" routine with
    Lucille Ball's classic "Vitametavegamin" sketch writes:

>     Wasn't the "Guzzler's Gin" sketch copyrighted by Skelton?  If so, how was

    Lucille Ball able to almost replicate the sketch,

>     sip for sip, on television?

    While I don't know for certain, I would suggest that they are two different
    sketches, written by different people, and though similar in concept, they
    are not the *same* sketch. For years, writers have claimed tongue-in-cheek
    that there are only seven basic plots, out of which come all novels. This
    may be a similar case.

    In burlesque, the time-honored routines like "Lemon Table" and "Slowly I
    Turned" must have been original once - perhaps around the time of Christ,
    maybe - but if anyone had tried to claim that he or she held the rights to
    any of them, they would have spent their entire life in court. There wasn't
    a burlesque comic worth his salt who didn't know these and all of the other
    routines backwards and forwards, but each comic brought to the sketches
    their own style and variations.

    Vaudeville routines were often quite similar to each other, but varied
    depending upon the performers. George Burns and Gracie Allen's vaudeville
    success was based on the same "Dumb Dora" concept that had been a standard
    in vaudeville for decades. Later, on radio, the same concept was used in
    varying ways by Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone, Goodman and Jane Ace, as
    well as Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa - but, once again, each brought to it
    their own personal style and angle.

    In radio, where time was short and the show day deadline was always looming
    on the horizon, it was a time-saving to take a simple premise that already
    existed and hang new jokes on it. This is why, after awhile, much of
    post-war 1940's comedy - particularly the sit-coms - begin to sound alike.
    The jokes are different - usually - but the situations are often very
    similar.

    Later, in television, Jackie Gleason used to do a pitchman routine featuring
    endless advertisements for something like "Mama Maroni's Fatsamatta Cheese."
    Later on, Johnny Carson used the same basic concept in performing his "Art
    Fern and the Teatime Movie" sketches on "The Tonight Show."

    Based on all of this, I think we can safely assume that though "Guzzler's
    Gin" and "Vitametavegimin" start with a similar premise, the performances
    and variations are quite different - and thus probably not actionable from a
    legal standpoint.

    (Speaking of "Guzzler's Gin," by the way, I've always heard that this sketch
    was originally written for Skelton by Fred Allen. Allen often wrote material
    for other comedians, particularly in his vaudeville and revue days, but I've
    never seen a definite confirmation that he wrote "Guzzler's Gin." Anyone
    here know for certain either way?)

    Kenneth also wrote of the similarities between popular songs like "Toy
    Land," "School Days," and their commercial counterpart, the Lustre Creme
    Shampoo jingle. I believe this jingle was definitely written to the tune of
    "Toy Land," from the 1903 operetta "Babes in Toyland" by Victor Herbert, and
    that Herbert's estate allowed this use in exchange for a sizeable licensing
    fee.

    This brings to mind a story - possibly apocryphal - about Sigmund Romberg,
    the famous composer of such operetta standards as "The Student Prince" and
    "The Desert Song." One day in the mid-1940's, Romberg turned on his radio
    and heard a singing commercial jingle for some product or other being sung
    to the tune of one of his songs. Outraged at this bastardization of his
    music, he picked up the phone and called his business manager immediately.

    "I have just heard one of the worst things I ever heard. Someone has stolen
    my song, changed the words, and used it to sell soap!" he said. "I want you
    to sue them for a million dollars!"

    "But Siggy," the business manager replied, "I already told you about this.
    The advertising agency contacted me months ago and we agreed to let them use
    the song for six months in exchange for a rights payment of $10,[removed]"

    There was a pause in the conversation, after which Romberg said,
    "$10,[removed], eh? [removed], it *is* rather a clever change in the lyric,
    don't you think?"

    Harlan

    Harlan Zinck
    First Generation Radio Archives
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 14:50:54 -0500
    From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Monkey's Paw

    Some productions

    Favorite Story #90, 06/04/49
    Nightfall (CBC) #2, 11/07/80
    Fear on Four #3, 01/17/88

    Doug Leary

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 15:07:55 -0500
    From: "erosenstein" <erosenstein@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: The Shadow in print

    It's truly amazing how much sharing of "The Shadow" there is on the
    internet.
    I am in the process of transfering 336 stories to my temp file, and then
    later to about
    five or six stories to  a disk for mailing in cards and letters. Most of the
    children use disks and not CD.
    We have all enjoyed reading them. You might want to start with "The Hydra"
    which introduces
    Margo Lane. Mouseclick below for all 336 stories in clear and beautiful,
    easy to read print---
        [removed]~deshadow/

    Enjoy--Edward in Philadelphia

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 16:19:21 -0500
    From: Grbmd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Golden Radio Buffs of Maryland

    ***SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT***SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT***

    For those OTR fans living in the Maryland area, you might be interested in
    two upcoming events put on by the Golden Radio Buffs of Maryland:

    (1) Our regular March meeting this Saturday, March 16, at 7:30 [removed], at a
    Baltimore church, will feature a re-creation of broadcasts of "Fibber McGee
    and Molly" and "Lum and Abner."

    (2) Our 30th Anniversary Party on Saturday, May 4, at 5 [removed], at a Parkville
    American Legion hall, will have food, drink, entertainment, a plaque
    dedication, and other events, including comedy and re-recreations of "The
    Bickersons" and "The Eddie Cantor Show."

    For more information, visit our Web site at [removed] and
    click on the links to our next program and our 30th anniversary party.

    Spence

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #95
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