------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 460
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Durant Motors Radio program [ "Rick Botti" <rbotti@[removed]; ]
Re: Shep's "Christmas Story" [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Ed Carr's 'new' programs [ Christopher Werner <werner1@globalc ]
RE: Les Tremayne [ Larry Gassman <lgsinger@[removed] ]
Ovaltine Tin, Decoder Pin, and Shep [ "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed] ]
monitor and the kettles [ "randy story" <hopharrigan@centuryt ]
12-28 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
any information [removed] [ "Bart Bush" <bbush3@[removed]; ]
new shows [ "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed]; ]
Christmas Seals? Ovaltine Seals. [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
The Green Hornet [ "Richard j Smith" <rjsmith608@chart ]
Hitchcock on Radio [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Captain Midnight decoders [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
title to a plot? [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Christmas Songs On OTR [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
Re: Christmas music on radio shows [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Mary and dubbing [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 14:15:48 -0500
From: "Rick Botti" <rbotti@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Durant Motors Radio program
Thank you very much Elizabeth McLeod and Jim Widner, your
replies have been a huge help.
The "Durant Heroes Of The World" radio program is unknown to
fans of the Durant motorcar and I hope
to bring it to their attention in the very near future with
the article I'm writing.
The fact that the show ran from the winter of 1929 thru the
spring of 1930 and not any further makes
sense, the Durant Motor Company was hit very hard by the
Depression. In fact they went belly up in 1932
but for all practical purposes were broke by the end of
1930.
It's a shame that no recordings exist, because during thsi
time the company founder Billy Durant had invested in a
small company that was making home recording equipment. In
fact the only know recording of his voice was made on one of
these home records. Billy Durant is relatively unknown, but
created General Motors and Chevrolet before founding the
company which bore his name.
Rick Botti
Durant Motors Automobile Club
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 15:00:09 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Shep's "Christmas Story"
On 12/27/03 1:34 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
However, in the film, the audience got but a glance of the Speedomatic
model, which was issued in 1940, and was the last of the Ovaltine ROA
Decoder Pins.
This would be more-or-less internally consistent with the rest of the
movie. Although no date is ever mentioned, internal evidence indicates
that the story could be set no earlier than 1939 (the Wizard of Oz
references based on the MGM film) and no later than 1940 (The
Annie-Ovaltine references.)
Given that movies are generally extremely sloppy about such things, I'm
surprised at the very careful attention to period detail that went into
"A Christmas Story." I spotted very very few anachronisms, other than
the way-out-of-period hairstyle on Mom, the wrong logo font on a
briefly-glimpsed "Radio Flyer" red wagon, and the presence of a Fresh Air
Taxicab windup toy in the department store display window -- this was a
toy that was actually the Christmas hit of *1930,* and was long since
discontinued by 1940. (You'll see it in the pan shot of the store window
-- there's a stuffed monkey with "Hug Me" on its chest in the front seat.)
The presence of this particular gaffe may have something to do with
Shepherd's real-life time frame: in the real world, he was Ralphie's age
in 1930, not 1940. And that leads to a whole 'nother clue that the whole
thing was fiction: the Red Ryder 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle didn't
exist in 1930, and, indeed, the "Red Ryder" comic strip itself didn't
begin until 1938. So Shepherd, unless he had an unusually prolonged
childhood, could hardly have spent his Christmases yearning for such a
weapon.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 15:17:02 -0500
From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ed Carr's 'new' programs
>afrs #11 duffy's tavern 11/02/43
My records show that Radio Showcase already has this program (C-212). A
quality comparison
would be [removed]
Guest was Charles Coburn
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 15:18:06 -0500
From: Larry Gassman <lgsinger@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Les Tremayne
Hi,
Jim Widner wrote:
NPR Morning Edition broadcast a tribute to Les Tremayne featuring brief
clips from his radio work. You can find it at
[removed] select the Friday 12/26 show.
I went up to listen and found that ironically that none of the clips
broadcast by NPR were of Les.
The first clip was of the First Nighter but not of the leading Man who was
of course, Les Tremayne despite what the New York Times suggests when they
referred to him as "Mr. First Nighter".
Then we heard "The Falcon", but that clip wasn't of Les either. AndLastly,
they played the introduction of "The Romance Of Helen Trent, and again, no
Les Tremayne.
It seems a shame that with so much available from Les's incredible career,
we couldn't not hear at least one clip featuring Les.
Oh [removed] We still have memories!
Knowing both Les and Joan for almost 25 years was certainly a highlight for me.
I remember speaking to him for the last time about a month or so ago.
Recently, I provided some audio interviews and other information for a book
that Joan was working on about the life of Les Tremayne. I hope she is
able to finish it. All of his friends and fans deserve to see what a
remarkable and varied life he lead for 90 years.
Larry Gassman
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 15:50:12 -0500
From: "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ovaltine Tin, Decoder Pin, and Shep
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html
The Jean Shepherd story of the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin
originated with one chapter in Shep's first book IN GOD WE TRUST, ALL
OTHERS PAY CASH, a compilation consisting of several stories that had
previously been published in Playboy Magazine, plus several previously
unpublished. The title of the story is THE COUNTERFEIT SECRET CIRCLE
MEMBER GETS THE MESSAGE, OR THE ASP STRIKES BACK.
Allow me to quote a short passage where Shep discovers an Ovaltine
Tin.
"Anyway, I am kicking milk cans, baked bean cans, sardine cans
along the alley, occasionally changing cans at full gallop, when I
suddenly found myself kicking a can of a totally unknown nature. I
kicked it twice; good, solid, running belts, before I discovered that
what I was kicking was an Ovaltine can, the first I had ever seen.
Instantly I picked it up, astounded by the mere presence of an
Ovaltine drinker in our neighborhood, and then discovered that they
had not only thrown out the Ovaltine can but had left the silver inner
seal inside. Some rich family had thrown it all away! Five minutes
later I've got this inner seal in the mail and I start to wait. Every
day I would rush home from school and ask:"Is there any mail for me?'"
Jim Yellen
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 15:50:32 -0500
From: "randy story" <hopharrigan@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: monitor and the kettles
Hello, all!
I hope everyone had a grand holiday and that you are all looking forward to
a great new year.
I have two questions.
First, was there ever a radio show featuring the characters of Ma & Pa
Kettle? I know there was a successful series of films from Universal Studios
featuring the misadventures of the Kettle clan, but did they appear in some
form in the ether? My dad is a huge fan of the series and I was wanting to
collect some of the radio incarnations if they exist.
Finally, I was wondering if anyone out there has some recordings of the
Monitor series. I am currently reading about that landmark program and I am
most curious to hear some of the broadcasts. Can anyone help me in this
regard?
Let me know.
Thanks.
God Bless,
Randy Story
hopharrigan@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 16:28:32 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 12-28 births/deaths
Today in history:
1869 - William F. Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, is awared a patent for
chewing gum.
December 28th births
12-28-1903 - Earl "Fatha" Hines - Duquesne, PA - d. 4-22-1983
bandleader: "Band Remotes"; "Chamber Music of Lower Basin Street"
12-28-1905 - Cliff Arquette - Toledo, OH - d. 9-23-1974
comedian, actor: Thaddeus Cornfelder, "Myrt and Marge"
12-28-1908 - Lew Ayres - Minneapolis, MN - d. 12-30-1996
actor: Dr. James Kildare "Dr. Kildare"
12-28-1909 - Olan Soule - La Harpe, IL - d. 2-1-1994
actor: Sam Ryder "Bachelor"s Children"; Kermit Hubbard "Joan and Kermit"
12-28-1914 - Lee Bowman - Cincinnati, OH - d. 12-25-1979
actor: Jonathan Kegg "Life in Your Hands"; George Cooper "My Favorite Husband"
12-28-1915 - Dick Joy - Putnam, CT - d. 10-31-1991
announcer: "My Secret Ambition"; "The Saint"; "Advs of Sam Spade"
12-28-1927 - Martin Milner - Detroit, MI
actor: "Dragnet"
December 28th deaths
02-23-1904 - William L. Shirer - Chicago, IL - d. 12-28-1993
news analyst: "CBS European News"; "[removed] Shirer: News and Comments"
02-27-1892 - William Demarest - St. Paul, MN - d. 12-28-1983
actor: Mr. Cobb "Cobbs"; "Eddie Bracken Show"
03-30-1892 - Ethel Owen, Racine WI - d. 12-28-1990
actress: Siri Allen "Against the Storm"; Clara Noble "Backstage Wife"
05-10-1888 - Max Steiner - Vienna, Austria - d. 12-28-1971
composer: "Lux Radio Theatre"
06-24-1893 - Arthur Hughes - Bloomington, IL - d. 12-28-1982
actor: Bill Davidson "Just Plain Bill"; Stephen Dallas "Stella Dallas"
09-14-1914 - Clayton Moore - Chicago, IL - d. 12-28-1999
actor: Television Lone Ranger
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 18:13:46 -0500
From: "Bart Bush" <bbush3@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: any information [removed]
hello;
I am looking for information on the 1930's
kid-program ADVENTURES OF FRANK FARRELL.
I have a badge from that show but know nothing else about it.
Anyone with episodes for sale or trade?
thanks,
bart
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 18:14:59 -0500
From: "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: new shows
hi again
well it looks like i may have hit the jackpot
here are 2 more shows that may not be in
circulation.
2 shows of kay kyser's"kollege of musical knowledge.
03/21/45 prog#126
06/13/45 prog#138
these and the others are all on afrs 16in discs
ed
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 18:32:56 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Christmas Seals? Ovaltine Seals.
Ken Piletic, speaking of Captain Midnight radio offerings, notes, with
regards to sending in a label or an inner seal to get a Code-O-Graph
notes,
I, being a kid in the 1940's and early 1950's, don't remember Ovaltine
when it came in a can rather than a glass jar. Perhaps in the old "can"
days there might have been a seal - but back then Ovaltine was
sponsoring Little Orphan Annie, not Captain Midnight. Perhaps
someone remembers when Ovaltine switched to the jar from the can.
The move to glass came at around the end of World War II. However, the
very first Code-O-Graph I sent for, the artistic 1946 Mirro-Flash
Code-O-Graph required me to send the inner seal of the *jar* it came in.
I recall removing it carefully so that I wouldn't mess up the little
Ovaltine logos on it. I sent it with a "piece of paper" -- really, an
index card -- with my name and address for the return.
The next year, with the first Code-O-Graph that wasn't a badge, they
shifted to the "write your name and address on the back of the label"
gambit, and they no longer cared what one did with their Ovaltine seals,
apparently. Pity: it was a neat seal.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 21:09:20 -0500
From: "Richard j Smith" <rjsmith608@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The Green Hornet
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Hi all~
I am back. It has been a while sense I have been a member of the digest. I
still listen to and collect old-time radio shows. I am starting to update and
digitize some of my shows. I will post when my catalog is updated.
I was wondering two things: 1) there is a movie coming out called Sky
Captian and was wondering if this was an actaul radio show? 2) also looking to
get into listening to The Green Hornet. Is there any good places on the net
that have Mp3 Cds of the show?
I am glad to be back.
Happy New Year~
Richard j Smith
web site: [removed]
ps: Any Old-time radio show bloggers out there?
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 23:11:20 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hitchcock on Radio
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html
Ted asked:
My question: Does anyone know if Hitchcock had a penchant for wanting
radio
actors in his movies in the 1950's? Or is it just that these folks
were
available since radio was on the wane by then? Or none of the above?
First off, actors appeared in movies, on television, and on radio
(especially character actors like Parker Fennelly and Les Tremayne) as
long as they were paid. They rarely turned down an offer unless there
was a personal reason. John Dehner appeared in hundreds of TV shows
and thousands of radio shows. During the 1950s, when television was
starting to grow in popularity, actors of both big name and small name
appeared on any program that interested them if an offer came in. I
doubt any actor left radio to work in television permanently and vice
versa. Rule of thumb for any actor is "take the money and do the
performance and move on."
Hitchcock himself did listen to the radio on a frequent basis, and
admired the technique of radio acting. He himself hosted two pilot
programs (two separate scripts and casts but both based on the same
short story by Frances Iles entitled "Malice Aforethought"), but those
pilots were apparently not successful enough to warrant a regular
series. Hitchcock did use the medium of radio to gather new talent.
The SUSPENSE radio episode "Death on My Hands" from May 10, 1951 with
Phil Harris and Alice Faye was co-written by John Michael Hayes.
Anyone who has ever heard this broadcast can recognize the
craftsmanship in the writing of the script, and apparently Hitchcock
did too because the morning after, he phoned to learn who wrote the
script, and eventually hired John Michael Hayes to write his movie
scripts (eight to be exact including REAR WINDOW).
Trivia: Hitchcock's daughter Patricia did make an appearance in one of
the two-part broadcasts of SUSPENSE entitled "The Moonstone."
Regarding voices, however, the only time I am aware of that Hitchcock
hired an actor for their "voice" was Jeanette Nolan as the voice of
"mother" in Psycho. Hitchcock spent more time planning the production
of a movie, than telling actors how to do their roles. (He was once
quoted of saying that actors should be treated like cattle.) His
opinion was that actors do their roles, and that was about it. He
gave very little guidance or suggestion on how to play the parts and
radio being an audio medium wouldn't have meant too much to Hitchcock
for the visual medium of the Silver Screen.
Martin Grams, Jr.
Incidentally, Charles Huck co-wrote a VERY informative piece about
Hitchcock on radio and that can be found on the web-site
[removed]. Simply go to the articles page and click
"Martin Grams, Jr." and the article is posted near the top. Gives
everyone a general idea of how much Hitchcock was involved with in
radio in general.
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 23:12:15 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Captain Midnight decoders
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 11:19:13 -0500
From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
My experience with Ovaltine was from the Captain Midnight (radio)
era. The Captain never charged for his Code-O-Graph. We kids were
told to remove the label from the jar of Ovaltine, and write our name and
address on the back of the label. Then we would send this label to
Captain Midnight. He sent us the current Code-O-Graph in return.
Everyone's memories are different on this. Jim Harmon, in =The Great Radio Heros=,
describes sending in a dime and Ovaltine seal. Since the program was on radio for quite a
few years, I can easily believe that everyone is right, but is remembering a different time-
frame. I would think that a seal would be easier to remove than a jar label, but since
Ovaltine at some point seems to have come in a tin can, perhaps those labels were easier
to remove. These premiums were supposed to be on a self-liquidating basis, so I would
think there would have been a small charge, just to pay for the manufacturing costs.
What I do know, of my own experience, is that by the time of the TV decoders, it was 25
cents and an Ovaltine seal.
Ovaltine itself was really awful stuff, though. Bosco was a syrup, and Nestle's Quick was a
powder, both of which easily dissolved in milk. Ovaltine consisted of crystals that seemed
to be made of glass and actually had sharp edges if you tried to eat them directly (which
kids certainly would do), and they wouldn't dissolve in milk very well. A glass of milk
always had a large residue of undissolved Ovaltine at the bottom.
Gary H. Grossman, in his book =Saturday Morning TV=, describes how Richard Webb,
TV's Captain Midnight made an appearance at Boston Garden and said to the audience of
kids, "What's your favorite milk drink?" And the kids, in unison, replied, "Bosco."
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210
lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 23:12:56 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr."
<mmargrajr@[removed];
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: title to a plot?
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html
Silly question.
Anyone know the title of this fairy tale?
A king's three sons compete for the throne by bringing back the most
unusual dog, cloth and wife.
Martin, "he who apparently knows little about the arts . . ."
mmargrajr@[removed]
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 01:11:45 -0500
From: George Aust
<austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Christmas Songs On OTR
Walden Hughes is absolutely right as to why there were so few
Christmas songs heard on the radio during the golden era of
radio. There just weren't that many popular Christmas songs around.
In checking through my incomplete records I found the
following songs making an appearance through the years.
1934
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. reached #1
Winter Wonderland " #3
1938
The Night Before Christmas " #8
1941
Jingle Bells (Glenn Miller) " #5
1942
White Christmas (Bing Crosby) " #1
1943
I'll Be Home For Christmas (Bing Crosby " #3
White Christmas (Bing Crosby) " #9
1944
I'll Be Home For Christmas " #3
1946
White Christmas (Bing Crosby) " #6
White Christmas (Frank Sinatra) " #10
Winter Wonderland (Perry Como) " #9
The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole) " #7
1947
White Christmas (Bing Crosby) " #5
Christmas Dreaming " #7
1948
All I want For Christmas (Spike Jones) " #8
1949
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer(Gene Autry)#1
1950
Frosty The Snowman #1
1952
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus #10
As years went by enough of these songs accumulated making it
possible for recording artists to put together entire Christmas
albums by the time the Lp made it's appearance.
An interesting fact: In December of 1933 " Easter Parade" was on
the Hit Parade!
George Aust
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 10:19:34 -0500
From: "MICHAEL BIEL"
<mbiel@[removed];
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Christmas music on radio shows
In Saturday's Digest, my pal Walden Hughes cited a statement by long time
big band DJ Chuck Cecil "that there was very little Christmas music
recorded on records." Well, perhaps Chuck's collection of 30,000
recordings is not big enough to provide him with the correct information.
Since my record collection is between two to three times that size, maybe
we can correct Chuck's impression. Tune in tonight (Sunday) to
YesterdayUSA at 10:30 Eastern when Walden and I will "debate" this topic.
That's
[removed] Should be fun!
Michael Biel
mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 10:20:03 -0500
From: Joe Mackey
<joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Mary and dubbing
In re: the discussion of Mary Livingston dubbing her lines in the
latter Jack Benny shows, I haven't heard all of them, but the one's I
have the readings are very flat. There is little life or reaction to
the script at that point. Its as if she is given just those lines to
read, rather than having the script acted out, and the tape is cut into
the programs and over the air it goes. Benny is one of my favourite
shows and it sometimes painful to listen to some of them when this is
done. To me it would have been better to simply write her out of the
script with "guest appearances" every so often instead.
Joe
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #460
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