
 SEE INFO SECTION AT END OF THIS DIGEST FOR UNSUBSCRIBE AND OTHER INFORMATION. 
	  	         === Last Update 1/17/95  ====





	    [removed]   Volume 96 : Issue 123


Articles in this issue of [removed]:

	 Captain Midnight-Ovaltine www pages 
	 Wine and OTR, Arch Oboler, and other questions
	 Re: Ovaltine AND Vertical Recording
	 BRC email address
	 Re: Nightwatch
	 Candy bars were more popular
	 Does it hold up?
	 The Lodger & Intro
	 Cincinnati OTR Convention
	 Theater 5, and first recorded sounds.

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

Date: Wed, 3 Apr 96 01:59:24 UT
From: "KENNETH LANZA" <DRJOHNWATSON@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Captain Midnight-Ovaltine www pages 
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

For those who can't get enough: Ovaltine and Captain Midnight on their own web 
page!
Ovaltine is at:
[removed]~redun/ovaltine

Also, a Captain Midnight Movie serial is available on VHS cassette at:
[removed] 
DRJOHNWATSON@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 21:55:41 -0500
From: ERICKZIN@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Wine and OTR, Arch Oboler, and other questions
Message-ID: <960402215540_504322809@mail04>

Hi again from New Mexico,

Just a couple of questions.  Are there OTR shows that used wine in some
manner during the show.  Beyond just spilling it on somebody how about shows
that were based on the subject of wine [removed]

Also, what is the life story of Arch Oboler?  Who, What, Where, and When? I
know about "Lights Out" and "Arch Oboler's Plays", is there more?

Gunsmoke and Fort Laramie, any great show recommendations? What are the
favorite CBS Radio Mystery Theater shows?  At one time I remember that the
CBSRMT may be coming back, yes or no?

Thanks

Carl

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

Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 22:09:01 -0600 (CST)
From: shoshani@[removed] (Michael Shoshani)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Ovaltine AND Vertical Recording
Message-Id: <m0u4JsT-000YEWC@[removed]>

These two subjects are from the same list, so you get both for the price 
of one :)


> From: JRayb71827@[removed]
> Subject: Ovaltine 
> 
[edited]
>  The concoction originated in Switzerland and is still available there under
> the name Ovamaltine.  Therein lies some of the change.  The original had more
> malt and less sugar but that didn't satisfy American tastes, so gradually the
> malt amount was cut back and more sweetening added.  True, the first, and I'm
> talking about Little Orphan Annie days and not Captain Midnight, didn't mix
> very well unless you used a shaker.      [...]                         At
> any rate, the current Ovaltime mixes very well with no flecks to amount to
> anything.  Incidentally, I have an original shakeup mug (the cream colored
> one with orange lid) and it answers Lou Genco's query as to what substance
> was used to make it.  It was called "Beetleware," an early plastic.  By the
> way, someone mentioned the Sandoz company.  That's who distributes it now.
>  But, originally it was "The Wander Company," out of Chicago.  

Here is a bit of fill-in:

Ovomaltine was the creation of Dr George Wander of Switzerland.  Dr Wander 
basically made malt and malt extract his life's work, and created several 
preparations based on malt. Ovomaltine is his best-known and 
longest-lived, having been first marketed in 1904.   Ovomaltine was a very
simple combination of malt, milk, eggs and cocoa, prepared as a thick 
syrup and baked into very dry cakes in gigantic ovens.  After this, the
cakes were pulverized into the powder that would not mix with cold milk. 
:)  (That is because malt, on its own, will not mix with cold liquids.)

Somewhere around 1909, Wander started a branch in England. The Ministry 
Clerk there wrongly transcribed the name of its flagship product as
"Ovaltine", which has thus been its name in English speaking countries 
ever since.  Production was started in England in 1913, and in 1917 Wander 
Ltd set up offices in Chicago (as The Wander Company) and over the next 
ten years built a gigantic factory in Villa Park, Illinois.

The British Formula for Ovaltine has remained very much the same as it was
when it was first manufactured in England, except the proportions have 
changed a [removed], new technology has enabled them to make a product 
that dissolves in cold milk!  The American Formula, however, went through
numerous changes.  From the beginning, it was offered in two versions:
"Plain", which was the malt-milk-eggs-cocoa recipe, and "Chocolate 
Flavored" (aka "Sweet Chocolate"), which was a pre-sweetened version of 
the plain.  Over the next few decades, other ingredients (notably soya
flour and irradiated yeast) found their way in, until by the late 1960s
the ingredients list took up five lines of extremely tiny print.

The line was reformulated, I believe, in the 1970s.  Sandoz Ltd, a 
Swiss-based conglomerate, purchased Wander Ltd and all its branches in the 
1980s.  One of its first acts was to discontinue the venerable 
chocolate-malt Ovaltine in favor of a chocolate variety without malt.  The 
old version was to reappear, somewhat reformulated, as "Classic Ovaltine".
Sandoz moved the American production center to Minneapolis in 1986, but 
visitors to Villa Park can still see the old factory.  It is a dark, 
empty, broken-down gaping ghost now, and several plans have been put forth 
to resurrect it somehow.  The Villa Park Historical Society operates a 
museum across the street, with loads of Ovaltine memorabilia and quite a 
few ties to "Radio Orphan Annie" and Captain Midnight.

Okay, enough malted reminiscing :) On to the next topic:

> ------------------------------
> 
> From: roy547@[removed] (Roy Trumbull)
> Subject: vertical recording
> 
> A topic I haven't seen on OTR is vertical cut transcriptions.
> I was reminded of this by the post on cylinder recordings.
> Vertical cuts were hill and dale recordings rather than side
> to side. They had a good reputation but I don't believe the
> technique would work with microgroves. 

On the contrary, it would ONLY work with microgrooves.  Well, that is 
relatively speaking, of course :)  While lateral-cut records commonly had 
a thread of 80-90 grooves per inch, Edison Diamond Disk records has a 
thread of 150, with their short-lived Long Playing disc almost trebling 
that.

Vertical recording had a small but fiercely loyal following, especially
in the acoustic era.  And for very good reasons.  The vertical cut 
engendered less resistance from the recording wax than did the lateral 
cut.  The needle tracking a vertical recording just floated up and down in 
the groove rather than being shunted violently from side to side, as did 
the needle tracking a lateral recording.  Lateral records required 
changing the needle after every play; Many phonographs designed for
vertical reproduction still have the same stylus they were originally 
fitted with, six to eight decades ago!

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

Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 23:14:20 -0500
From: Platecap@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: BRC email address
Message-ID: <960402231418_183688550@[removed]>

Hi fellow OTR fanatics!
I've slipped into lurk mode for sometime, and am now back to the surface of
the world of old time radio.
For those of you who may have sent me OTR-related messages recently, please
note *both* of my previous e-mail addresses are out of service-
 Platecap@[removed] (Apple shut down e-world)  Platecap@[removed]  (net
clog problems and other unrelated account problems - I may restore this
address though).  For now, I can be reached at Platecap@[removed]

Bob Burnham; BRC Productions; Platecap@[removed]
fax (313) 277-3095

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

Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 01:40:25 -0500 (EST)
From: MAX SCHMID <mschmid@[removed]>
To: Frank Passage <passage@[removed]>
cc: airwavesOTR <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: Re: Nightwatch
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

	In 1982 my former partner Jack Shugg and I broadcast a special we
producedover WBAI called "Nigthwatch: A Look Back".
	As I mentioned here recently, Jack had discovered through a phone call 
to the Culver City Police Department that tapes of the show were stored under 
a desk there.  Besides complete episodes, there were many unedited tapes, 
full of profanity, strange psyco-sexual conduct (The Flasher), and a lengthy
pre-Miranda police interrogation (reminiscent more of NYPD Blue than
Homicide, [removed] "good-cop bad-cop" questioning, threats of violence and 
police conspiracy - the usual tried-and-true methodolgy - and it works!). 
	We also interviewed Police Reporter Don Reed and Officer Ron Perkins
for their recollections of the concept and execution of this, the first show
to feature real police in action.  They had to invent the first portable 
tape recorder, a dry-cell powered reel to reel machine that Don Reed carried
on his back!  He had a concealed microphone inside a flashlight casing.
	Reed went on to be one of the first traffic helicopter reporters,
and Perkins eventually was elected Mayor of Culver City.
	Copies of this show, and other special radio productions are available.
These include a 3-hour Henry Morgan special and a 2-hour Steve Allen show  
(featuring in-depth interviews) and several documentaries. 
	This is not a solicitation.  Prospectus available via e-mail to
	mschmid@[removed]  Usual disclaimers do not apply.    

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

Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 08:32:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: JSEXTON@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Candy bars were more popular
Message-id: <01I33JU8LAVM8WWFHI@[removed]>

   I see everyone has a different "taste" for Ovaltine, but I think most
will agree that when it came to selling things in that golden era-there
would be few of us kids who would be reluctant to buy the various candy
bars of those [removed] Bars,Babe Ruth,Hershey-for the most part are the
same names we see at the store today-only 10 times higher.
   Do those of you with a better memory than I,recall whether many of those
shows for kids were sponsored by the candy,popcorn,potatoe chip companies
or mainly cereal,oatmeal,good-for-you companies of that time??Best,John

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

Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 08:43:48 -0600
From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Does it hold up?
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

MR JACK L PALMER wrote:
>Although I grew up with radio, I was never that impressed with Norman
>Corwin.  I liked his light shows, but IMHO he was much too pretentious
>in many of his heavier dramas.

Although hesitant, I want to run with this a bit.  I am not so familiar
with Corwin's work as broadcast, but I've read some of his written scripts.
 I don't want to single out the man; my point here, to expand on Mr.
Palmer's, is that a lot of the surviving radio drama from anthology series,
written or produced or directed by eminent names like Corwin, does not
offer today's hobbyist nearly as much entertainment and edification as
their champions would have it.  In their day they were undoubtedly striking
and absorbing for those with a taste for it. But now, I too find many of
these shows to be pretentious, portentous, overwrought, and too long by
half (even at 1/2-hour).  
Someone I'd put high on that list is Arch Oboler - the stuff from "Arch
Oboler's Plays", stories like A Gallery of Big Shots and the like, just go
on and on.  Then there are series like The Cavalcade of America, with its
rose-colored-glasses view of American history, backed by a full orchestra.
Personally, I'll take a good comedy show or genre story, with Hammond
organ, anytime.
Anyone else?

 
John Henley
jhenley@[removed]
ph  (512) 495-4112
fax (512) 495-4296

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

Date: Wed, 03 Apr 96 11:21:00 PST
From: "Stringer, Norm" <stringen@[removed]>
To: "'otr@[removed]'" <otr@[removed]>
Subject: The Lodger & Intro
Message-ID: <3162D28A@[removed]>

 Hello Everyone,

 A little introduction first, I'm located in Toronto, Canada (home of the   
Maple Leafs)
 I'm in my early 30s, so I don't have some sort of hypnotic obsession   
with OVALTINE.
 I'm a computer programmer/analyst here, although I do have a part-time   
business
 as a bookseller (specializing in true crime only), and that brings me to   
my request.

 Does anyone know if there is a radio version of Marie Lowndes story "The   
Lodger" (based
 on Jack the Ripper)? And if so where can I get a copy? I know that it   
has been made into a                         couple of excellent movies   
(Hitchcock's 26 silent version, and the 40's edition starring Laird   
                                    Creiger), you would think a radio   
version exists.

 Thanks,

 Norm

 stringen@[removed]
   

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

Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 10:30:35 -0600 (CST)
From: fkorb@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Cincinnati OTR Convention
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Dear fellow readers and collectors,

If you are attending the Cincy OTR convention, look for anyone with a
name badge "ORCATS" on it. We will have about 10 members there this
year and hope to meet some of you that have never attended before.

Randy wanted to know how many from the digest will be attending and I
am for sure along with Ken Piletic, and Mike Dolister. The get
together in Charlies room after the Friday events was very enjoyable.
If we get a lot of people wanting to meet on Friday, we might check
into using a meeting room at one of the motels close by. 

Randy wanted to know how to get there from Columbus on 71. According
to my map, South on 71 to Bypass 275 East to 75, then South about 1/2
mile to the first cutoff to the right. Go to the right to the first
light at Chester. Turn right about 1/3 mile North to the Marriot on the
right side.

I hope this helps.

See you all there next Friday!

Fred Korb - Secretary

Oldtime Radio Collectors And Traders Society

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

Date: 3 Apr 1996 12:35:44 CST
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Theater 5, and first recorded sounds.
Message-Id: <m0u4XP3-000Y87C@[removed]>

Hi everyone, The other day I suddenly remembered a program I used to
listen to in the mid 60's on my local university radio station.  It was
called Theater 5. THe announcer was Fred Foy and I believe it was
produced by ABC but that's all I know. I was wondering if any of the
programs are available?
Also regarding early sound recordings etc. I have a couple of
albums--one called the first recorded sounds, and the other is the first
commercially successful recordings.
I don't remember what was on them but if anyone is interested drop me an
e-nmail. Thanks. Hurray for OTR Digest.

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

    


    ****  END OF ARTICLE SECTION - INFORMATION BOILERPLATE FOLLOWS ****

1) Contacting the list administrator.
2) Unsubscribing from this list
3) Receive a DIGEST READING TIPS file
4) AIRWAVES web page
5) Funding Notice 
6) Redistribution of [removed]

1)  The [removed] maintainer can be reached at wdp@[removed]

2) To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send email to
[removed]@[removed] and place the word UNSUBSCRIBE
alone on the Subject: line of your request.  The body of
request mail is ignored by the server.  If you are unable to
unsubscribe using this method, and you are SURE you are doing
everything right, then (and only then) contact the administrator
(wdp@[removed]) for assistance.  Please send along the headers of
any problem mail for diagnostics.  

	* PLEASE Never send unsub messages to the list! *

3) For help in dealing with digests, asend for a file called *The Fine Art Of Reading and
Replying To Email Digests*  It contains tips on scanning digests and
making replies easier.  Send email to digest-tips@[removed] and use
the subject line of *Digest Tips*.  

4) Visit the AIRWAVES MEDIA WEB PAGE.  [removed]~rrb/

5) [removed] does not get any funds from your internet provider.
If this service is of value to you, please support it in whatever measure
you feel able, to help defray costs.  Suggested amount is [removed] per year,
but any help is appreciated.  Our mailing address is PO Box 8746
Springfield Mo 65801. Make any checks out to William Pfeiffer. 
Note: No payment is required to receive [removed]

6) If you are redistributing [removed] in any form, you must
contact the list owner for permission.  Generally permission is given,
free of charge, for non-commercial electronic distribution.
Commercial distribution rights are available under very reasonable
terms.  The listowner's address is  wdp@[removed]



---- 
End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #123

