------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2006 : Issue 362
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
The Fess Fuss [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
Re: Hear It Now [ Neal Ellis <bstenor@[removed]; ]
Ron's Daily List [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
Oxydol's own [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
OMF 71-7 Correct Title [ "Paul Thompson" <beachcrows@sbcglob ]
12-27 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Superman trivia [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [ charlie@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 08:48:40 -0500
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Fess Fuss
Notes on "Fessenden: World's First Broadcaster?" by James E. O'Neal, a
good article posted at [removed]
1. O'Neal writes: "It would appear that the Kintner letter is the
origin of the 1906 Christmas Eve broadcast story. Nothing appears in
the press or in Fessenden papers I've examined that mention this
broadcast prior to January of 1932."
Here's a mention of it in a syndicated article about KDKA's tenth
anniversary by Robert Mack as it appeared in the November 1, 1930
Appleton (OH) Post-Crescent:
"Radiotelephonic communication was not new in 1920. I[t] was, however,
mainly a research problem and a plaything of the radio amateur. As
early as 1906 Reginald Fessenden broadcast a program on Christmas Eve
and probably was the first to attempt broadcasting. Later, Dr Lee
DeForest, the inventor of the audion tube, the heart of modern radio,
actually broadcast in his experiments, but neither of these pioneers
thought anything of it."
2. In the 1932 letter, Fessenden writes: "Then came a violin solo by
me, being a composition by Gounod called 'O, Holy Night,' and ending
up with the words 'Adore and be still' which I sang one verse of ..."
O'Neal points out, correctly, that Gounod didn't compose "O, Holy
Night" but doesn't mention that Gounod did, in fact, compose a song
called "Adore and Be Still." Fessenden apparently got his sacred tunes
mixed up.
3. There's evidence to suggest that Fessenden actually did broadcast
to [removed] Navy ships at sea which were equipped with his apparatus
around Christmas and New Year's Eve and probably did get responses
from Virginia and the West Indies -- but he did this in 1909, not
1906, according to contemporary newspapers. My guess is that, later in
life, he got his dates confused. Here are some relevant articles:
***
December 4, 1909 Christian Science Monitor
SCOUTING CRUISERS BEGIN BIG WIRELESS TESTS IN FEW DAYS
Salem and Birmingham Will Sail Into Many Waters and Send and Exchange
Word Under All Conditions.
TRYING APPARATUS
Thousand and Three Thousand Mile Conversations Are to Be Undertaken --
Brant Rock Center.
Scout cruisers Salem and Birmingham are under orders to leave the navy
yard Monday or Tuesday to take aboard ammunition at New York. The
Salem also has orders to take additional ammunition at Norfolk, Va.
Both are to return to Provincetown to await orders for their cruise to
test their new wireless systems.
This will be one of, if not the, most extensive wireless tests ever
conducted by the navy department. It will last four months and the two
cruisers will travel many thousand miles through American, tropical
and European waters. Since last August the ships have been preparing
for this trip, having new wireless apparatus installed, which required
new [?] and a change in the deck plan.
They are now equipped with Fessenden sets, rated at 10 kilowatts, and
if the requirements are met the probability is strong that this system
will be installed on all ships of the navy.
The specifications call for a wireless system which will send and
receive messages for at least 1000 miles under all conditions and will
send and receive messages for at least 3000 miles under favorable
conditions. Nothing will be omitted in this test which the navy
department can think of that will fully try out this wireless system.
Messages will be sent in fair weather and in foul, in the heat of the
equator and the cold of the North Atlantic, by day and by night, in
fog and in rain.
The land station for the entire cruise will be at Brant Rock. For one
month a series of preliminary trials will be held with the pair
cruising along the coast from Cape Cod to Hatteras. After this
preliminary test the two boats will put into Hampton Roads to have the
last changes made to the wireless apparatus if any are needed and then
the cruisers will head for Hamilton, Bermuda. On leaving this port the
Birmingham will go ahead of the Salem and by the time she reaches
Trinidad the Salem must be 1000 miles astern.
The Birmingham is expected to reach the South American port early in
January. As soon as it arrives there attempts will be made to reach
the battleship Connecticut, flagship of the North Atlantic squadron,
which will be on its way with the rest of the fleet to Guantanamo for
the spring target practice.
By February the Birmingham will be among the Canary Islands and from
there she will go to Gibraltar by way of the Madeiras. March ought to
see the boat at Kiel and messages will be sent from the North sea.
Unless further orders are received the cruisers will them proceed to
home waters.
The Salem will be used to make the 1000-mile tests and Brant Rock and
the battleship Connecticut for the longer distance.
Such a cruise has never been undertaken before.
***
December 12, 1909 New York Times
FLEET HERE FOR CHRISTMAS
Its Men Will Have $400,000 to Spend While They're in the Hudson.
The Hudson will assume a warlike look next week when the sixteen first
class battleships and three armored cruisers of the Atlantic Fleet
arrive in New York to remain during the Christmas holidays. The ships
are coming, this time, to give the bluejackets a good time in the
city. The fleet will probably be joined in the river by the scout
cruisers Chester, Birmingham and Salem ...
Immediately after the holidays all of the vessels will sail, the
battleships and armored cruisers proceeding South for the Winter
manoeuvres, while the scouts will go to Hampton Roads, where the
Birmingham and Salem will prepare for the most extensive wireless
telegraphy tests ever made since the perfection of the wireless
invention.
Leaving Hampton Roads the vessels will head for the West Indies, the
speed being so regulated that by the time the Birmingham reaches
Trinidad the Salem will be 1,000 miles astern. On the arrival of the
Birmingham at Trinidad the scout will try to open communication with
the flagship Connecticut, which will then be on the way to Guantanamo,
Cuba, for the Spring target practice. Under the orders the Birmingham
and Salem must send and receive messages at distances ranging all the
way from 1,000 to 3,000 miles, and the tests must be conducted under
every conceivable condition.
The scouts will visit South America and then head for Europe via the
Canary Islands, the Birmingham being due at Kiel, Germany, early in
March. During all the time the ships are at sea an effort will be made
to keep in touch with the Atlantic Fleet at Guantanamo, as well as
Brant Rock in Massachusetts, which will be the wireless headquarters
on land during the entire cruise.
***
December 19, 1909 Washington Post
... The scout cruisers Birmingham and Salem are conducting the most
thorough tests of wireless telegraphy ever made by the Navy Department
new apparatus and equipment having been installed on the vessels for
the purpose. The work has been going on since last August. The
specifications called for wireless systems which, would send and
receive messages for at least 1000 miles under all conditions and
3,000 miles under favorable conditions.
The tests will last four months and the cruisers will travel many
thousands of miles through North American, West Indian, South American
and European waters. The land-receiving station for the entire course
will be Brants [sic] Rock Mass. For one month a series of try out or
preliminary trials will be held while the vessels cruise along the
coast from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras. After this preliminary work the
vessels will put into Hampton Roads to have the last changes made to
the wireless apparatus if any are needed and then they will head for
Trinidad.
On leaving Hampton Roads the Birmingham will go ahead of the Salem,
and by the time she reaches Trinidad the Salem must be 1,000 miles
astern. The Birmingham is expected to reach the South American port in
the early part of January. As soon as she arrives there attempts will
be made to reach the battle ship Connecticut, flagship of the North
Atlantic fleet which will be then on its way with the rest of the
fleet to Guantanamo Cuba, for spring target practice. The fleet will
stay in the vicinity of Guantanamo about four months and on the rest
of the cruise the two scouts will endeavor to maintain daily
communication with the Connecticut.
>From Trinidad the Birmingham followed by the Salem, will go to the
mouth of the Amazon. By February the Birmingham will be among the
Canary Islands and from there she will go to Gibraltar by way of the
Madeiras. The vessel will be kept at Kiel in March and will thence
proceed to home waters. ...
***
December 23, 1909 New York Times
FESSENDEN WIRELESS 'PHONE
Inventor's Backer Says He's Perfected Instrument for Talking 200
Miles.
Special to The New York Times. PITTSBURG, Dec. [removed] Walker, Jr.,
who with T. Hart Given, President of the Farmers' National Bank, and a
few other wealthy Pittsburg men is backing Prof. Reginald A.
Fessenden, the electrical inventor, formerly assistant to Thomas A.
Edison and at other times connected with the Westinghouse concerns and
the Government Weather Bureau at Washington, admitted to-night that he
had received advices from Fessenden at Brant Rock, Mass., that the
latter had held telephonic communication by the wireless method he is
perfecting over a distance of more than 200 miles.
Mr. Walker could not say whether the telephoning was done on the ocean
or over land. Fessenden has been experimenting over water, and for
this purpose has two vessels, the Birmingham and Salem, fully equipped
with apparatus of his own design in West Indian waters. Fessenden is
also engaged in further perfecting his wireless telegraph system.
A few days ago the Union Pacific wireless station at Omaha picked up
messages sent from the Brant Rock station. Walker says that he and the
men who are associated with him in the wireless movement, will part
with no stock. They say they are confident of the ultimate commercial
triumph of the wireless telegraph and telephone, and purpose reaping
whatever benefits may accrue.
***
December 30, 1909 New York Times
1,000 MILE NAVAL WIRELESS.
Scout Cruisers Try It, but Are Handicapped with Seasick Operators.
WASHINGTON, Dec. [removed] Warranted to operate in all kinds of weather
over a distance of 1,000 miles, the new wireless equipment on the
scout cruisers Salem and Birmingham has been found unable to withstand
the handicap of seasick operators.
The two ships have just returned to Hampton Roads from a test at sea,
during which they were 1,000 miles from each other and 3,000 miles
from the high-powered wireless station at Brant Rock, Mass. A fierce
storm surrounded the ships at sea, and not only were the conditions
for wireless communication the most unfavorable, but seasickness was
epidemic. Communication between the two ships and Brant Rock was
obtained at 1,000 miles distance, but there were serious
interruptions.
Naval officials do not consider that the test shows the apparatus to
be a failure, and a conference will be held soon with the
representative of the contractor who installed the equipment with a
view of arranging for further tests. During the next test the ships
will be stationed about 2,000 miles from Brant Rock. This will require
one to be in the vicinity of Trinidad and the other 1,000 miles out
from the South American Coast. The supreme test will be the location
of the ships on the African Coast, 3,000 miles from Brant Rock, and
1,000 miles apart. If these tests are successful a tower 100 feet
higher than the Washington Monument will be erected in Washington for
communication with ships over a distance of 3,000 miles.
***
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 09:58:39 -0500
From: Neal Ellis <bstenor@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Hear It Now
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Ed Walker has been playing 'Hear It Now' about once a month on his radio show
for a few months now. The show can be listened to over the internet for one
week following the 'over the air' broadcast at
[removed]
Hi,
I am Ed's producer and the next broadcast of Hear It Now will be Sunday 01/07/07. It will be heard at 10pm eastern.
Neal Ellis
[removed]
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:40:16 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ron's Daily List
On Tuesday, December 26, 2006, at 08:59 AM, Ron Sayles wrote:
09-19-1905 - Betty Garde - Philadelphia, PA - d. 12-25-1989
actor: Peggy O'Neill "O'Neills"; Kate Mason "Maudie's Diary"
I certainly don't envy Ron's task of not only compiling and archiving
the pertinent details of every OTR star's vital stats, but the
impossible task of paring them down to a couple of lines when a big
star's date of birth or death comes up. Betty Garde's career must have
been a very tough one for Ron to summarize.
Betty had a very long and distinguished career on radio, stage, and TV.
Because she was tall and, even in her early 20s, had the mature voice
sounding much older, she was usually cast as an elder woman. This was
true of her stage work (including playing Aunt Eller, the oldest
character in the original Broadway musical "Oklahoma" when she was only
38) and most of her radio work, where she usually portrayed the oldest
woman character on the series. She played the mother in at least four
series, (My Son and I, Joe and Mabel, Maudie's Diary, and We, the
Abbotts) despite the fact she was actually younger than some of the
actors who played her children .
I list her lengthy career in chapter two of my book, "Private
Eyelashes" in the section devoted to "Police Woman" the mid-40s ABC
radio series in which she played the lead role of Lt. Mary Sullivan.
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 14:53:02 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Oxydol's own
Kathy inquires:
i have listened to assorted episodes of ma perkins which concern pa's
larcenous cousins. but i have never heard the wrap up. are there any
recordings available of the conclusion to this story line?<
Ah yes. The gods surely smiled upon us in this seemingly rare case. The
tale of those shameless, hell-raising (yes, even in Rushville Center)
distant cousins of the late Pa Perkins raged on from Christmas 1949 to a
week or so before Christmas 1950. There was hardly a day in that year-long
sequence that poor Ma wasn't wholly deceived. And everybody else wrapped in
moral fiber was also duped. All but one, that is -- Shuffle Shober, Ma's
partner in operating the lumberyard, whose radar went off almost from the
evil kin's arrival, who imagined the worst, who could no longer work with
his friends because of his suspicions, and who was proven to be right on the
money as that year drew to a close. But at what torture and separation
until then! Finally, at last, what Shuffle -- and all of us -- knew to be
true was revealed to Ma's "tired old eyes" and she had to admit they had
swindled everybody and those self-serving bums were about to do worse. What
a fanciful tale Orin Tovrov wrote for us, a most believable, heartwarming
story of courage, persistence and restitution. How could you possibly
listen to it now and not persist until the end? Millions hung on every word
throughout Ma's originally aired ordeal, and P&G sold billions of boxes of
detergent in the process.
The bulk of those chapters are available, Kathy, and anyone else who is
seeking them, just as they aired for Oxydol on CBS weekdays at 1:15 [removed] ET.
Beyond that piece of good fortune, we get most of the continuing saga of Ma
Perkins leading up to the arrival of the dastardly cousins in the last five
or six months of 1949, plus -- in yet another bonus -- two or three more
months of installments into 1951. While there are some interruptions in
those episodes, it may be the most enduring story line available in all of
radio soapdom, even though there are some multiple dishpan dramas with
extenuating runs.
Upon checking, I find that my Ma Perkins chapters were supplied by a variety
of sources, although apparently extensively in that epoch from two
distributors: Radio Yesteryear (long out of business as a separate firm,
and possibly now available through Radio Spirits) and the library of the
SPERDVAC club. I feel confident that many of those tapes are in widespread
circulation, however, available from current dealers, OTR clubs and for
downloading without much difficulty.
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:55:33 -0500
From: "Paul Thompson" <beachcrows@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OMF 71-7 Correct Title
Andrew Steinberg asked:
One mans family book 071 chapter 06 490808 and One mans family book 071
chapter 07 490815 were both announced on the air as chapter 6 Father
Barbour Predicts the Worst. Did one of these have a different official
title?
The announcing error was for book 71 chapter 7. The correct title for
that episode is "The Return of Joan Roberts Lacey".
Paul Thompson
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 23:01:10 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 12-27 births/deaths
December 27th births
12-27-1879 - Sidney Greenstreet - Sandwich, England - d. 1-18-1954
actor: Nero Wolfe "Advs. of Nero Wolfe"; "Hollywood Star Preview"
12-27-1893 - Ann Pennington - Camden, NJ - d. 11-4-1971
actor: "Good News of 1938"
12-27-1898 - Hilda Vaughn - Baltimore, MD - d. 12-28-1957
actor: "Columbia Presents Corwin"
12-27-1900 - Pauline Alpert - d. 4-11-1988
"Whirlwind Pianist": "Log Cabin Inn"; "Rhythm and Rhyme"
12-27-1901 - Marlene Dietrich - Berlin, Germany - d. 5-6-1992
actor: Mlle. Madou, "Cafe Istanbul"
12-27-1906 - Oscar Levant - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 8-14-1972
panelist, pianist: "Information, Please"; "Kraft Music Hall"
12-27-1910 - Harry Saz - d. 6-9-1994
director: "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge"
12-27-1911 - Anna Russell - London, England - d. 10-18-2006
opera singer: "The Nutcraker Suite"
12-27-1916 - Cathy Lewis - Spokane, WA - d. 11-20-1968
actor: Jane Stacy "My Friend Irma"; Kathryn Milford "Great Gildersleeve"
December 27th deaths
02-19-1902 - Kay Boyle - St. Paul, MN - d. 12-27-1992
writer: "NBC Presents: Short Story"
02-26-1891 - Alan Bridge - Pennsylvania - d. 12-27-1957
actor: "The Eddie Bracken Show"
07-22-1908 - Amy Vanderbilt - Staten Island, NY - d. 12-27-1974
etiquette expert: "Jack Benny Program"
08-04-1908 - Wally Maher - Cincinnati, OH - d. 12-27-1951
actor: Dan Murray "One Man's Family"; Archie Goodwin "Advs. of Nero
Wolfe"
11-11-1930 - Hank Garland - Cowpens, SC - d. 12-27-2004
guitarist: "Jim Reeves Show"; "Country Music Time"; "Country Style
[removed]"
11-22-1899 - Hoagy Carmichael - Bloomington, IN - d. 12-27-1981
singer, composer: "Hoagy Carmichael Show"; "King's Men"
Ron Sayles
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2006 23:01:18 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Superman trivia
Season five and six of the television series of SUPERMAN is now on DVD. Our
own Michael Hayde (a poster on this digest) is featured in the extras.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 02:12:01 -0500
From: charlie@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!
A weekly [removed]
For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio. We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
real-time OTR talk!
Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
it's always a good time!
For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
week and every week!
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #362
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