Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #340
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/4/2005 4:02 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 340
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  They're GRRRRRR - ATE!                [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  Vocal Cords (a tie-in?)               [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  sons/daughters of well known radio v  [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
  REEL to REELS                         [ "thomas heathwood" <HeritageRadio@m ]
  Re: Smoking on DRAGNET                [ "Michael J. Hayde" <michaelhayde@ea ]
  Jack Webb smokin'                     [ RBB <oldradio@[removed]; ]
  Cigars on Fibber McGee and Molly      [ Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed] ]
  11-4 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Re: things you learn listening to OT  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Fosdick, Sockman                      [ Clif Martin <martbart@[removed]; ]
  Conrad Binyon                         [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Teaching Nostalgia                    [ Christopher Werner <werner1@globalc ]
  Bell bottom [removed]               [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
  WHOLLY writ?                          [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  SPERDVAC                              [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
  Cigarettes On OTR Shows               [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
  Smoking on OTR                        [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
  Randy Stone caper                     [ "Michael Guccione" <jetbonami@hotma ]
  Larry Dobkin, Arthur Miller, Olivia   [ "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 23:32:27 -0500
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  They're GRRRRRR - ATE!

From: Illoman illoman@[removed]

Does  anyone here belong to SPERDVAC?

Hi, Mr. Mike!

...  wondering if anyone here was a part of it,

I have been for  years.

or could tell me some benefits of joining.

An  excellent library; a neat newsletter; and -
members like Bobb Lynes  &
Barbara Watkins!
(Over to you, kids!)

Best,
-Craig

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

Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 23:32:05 -0500
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Vocal Cords (a tie-in?)

From: _benohmart@[removed]_ (mailto:benohmart@[removed])

Hey there,  Ben!

Someone just posted about the Wall St. Journal article and how  it's
important to some
to attract more young people to the  [removed];

Respectfully, it goes beyond it being "important to  some."
To paraphrase Arthur Anderson (one of the youngest people I know!), it  is
"imperative, if the events are to survive - considering the Way of the  World."

You don't have to get Johnny Depp in, but there's a medium:  voice actors.
Try
to hook into the cartoon voice - and possibly anime -  society, since many of
the actors
who quit radio went into cartoons and/or  early [removed];

You speak, perchance, of folks like Jeff David?  Michael Gwynne? Joe
Bevilaqua? (That's not counting those who did some OTR, but  more [removed]:
Corinne Orr,
Peter Fernandez, etc.)

And whatever other pikers  you can dredge [removed]

Best,
-Craig Wichman
(OTHER REALITIES;  CHINATOWN, USA; SIMON STUDIOS PRESENTS;
TWILIGHT ZONE RADIO SERIES;  QUICKSILVER RADIO THEATER)

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

Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 23:32:35 -0500
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  sons/daughters of well known radio voices
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In a message dated 11/3/05 8:51:34 PM Central Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:

Also, perhaps try for the sons and daughters of famous radio/voice people.
I myself
know the sons of Paul Frees, Daws Butler and Jerry Colonna. These people
have good
stories to tell.

So does Kit McNear, the son of Howard McNear of "Gunsmoke" and "Andy Griffith
Show" fame.  Howard had a radio resume going back to 1937, frequently
appeared on the "Lux Radio Theatre" and was one of the many voices in "The
Cinnamon
Bear." I had the privilege of meeting Kit once and wish I could've just asked
him all about his father and listened to everything he had to say.

Dixon

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

Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 23:32:41 -0500
From: "thomas heathwood" <HeritageRadio@[removed];
To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  REEL to REELS
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Hi All - I would like to hear from collectors who are looking for open reels.
Tom Heathwood  - Heritage Radio Classics/ Heritage Radio Theatre
HeritageRadio@[removed]<mailto:HeritageRadio@[removed];        November 3,  2005

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 00:51:53 -0500
From: "Michael J. Hayde" <michaelhayde@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Smoking on DRAGNET

Such a lot of discussion about this!  To set the record straight:

There were a few of these "prolonged lighting up" scenes on "Dragnet" even
during the show's first 18 weeks, when there was no sponsor.  It's certainly
*possible* that these were thrown in to draw (pardon the pun) a tobacco
client, but not too likely.  As others have speculated, it was an effective
device to draw attention to the characters, the situation and the dialogue to
[removed] and occasionally added a bit of tension.

"Tales of FATIMA," hosted by Basil Rathbone, was mentioned.  It was precisely
the failure of that series which led to Liggett & Myers' purchase of
"Dragnet" in the fall of 1949.  "Dragnet" had recently been voted the best
sustaining show among NBC's affiliates.   The tobacco company switched
"Dragnet's" brands in the fall of 1952, and it became a Chesterfield program
until original episodes ceased three years later.

Now when the show moved to TV, the cigarette breaks continued, but those were
clearly Chesterfields that Joe and Frank were lighting up and offering to
suspects and witnesses.  By that time, the sponsor relationship was
established; they certainly weren't going to be seen smoking Camels.
(Ironically, though, Camel sponsored the revived "Dragnet" during its entire
1967-70 network run.)

And while you're listening to "Dragnet," and are reminded that "in Fatima,
the difference is quality" or assured that Chesterfields are "best for you,"
remember:

Barton (Ben Romero) Yarborough: Sudden, massive heart attack, age 51
Ben (Frank Smith) Alexander: Sudden, massive heart attack, age 58
Jack (Joe Friday) Webb: Sudden, massive heart attack, age 62
George Fenneman: Succumbed to emphysema, age 77.

Michael (12 smoke-free years and counting)

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 00:52:24 -0500
From: RBB <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jack Webb smokin'

Herb Harrison is correct, Jack Webb's "Dragnet" was sponsored  on radio
by Fatima cigarettes (remember the yellow colored, king size packs?)
Jack produced the first show in 1949 for the NBC Radio Network, Webb was
Detective Friday and Barton Yarborough was Ben Romero.

Walter Schumann did the theme song for the show (Dum de dum dum!) and it
was recorded by trumpeter Ray Anthony as a hit song in 1953. TUMS
antacids adopted the four-note fanfare theme for their commercials.

In 1951, "Dragnet" became a successful TV show series until 1959. There
was a color series from 1967 to 1970, and a 1954 movie. Jack Webb in
every episode. He died of a heart attack in 1982 at age 67 perhaps
because he was smoking Fatimas.

=Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]
("Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.")

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 08:29:23 -0500
From: Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Cigars on Fibber McGee and Molly

Fibber: "Have a cigar?"

Doc Gamble:  "No thanks, I already have one."

Fibber:  "Got two?"

I've often wondered if the characters in the Fibber McGee and Molly Show
really did smoke cigars.  Gildy did in the movies, but did they really smoke
the rope or was it merely something written into the scripts.

Al Girard

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 08:47:09 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  11-4 births/deaths

November 4th births

11-04-1879 - Will Rogers, Sr. - Oolagah,  Oklahoma Territory - d. 8-15-1935
humorist: (America's Greatest Humorist) "Gulf Headliners"
11-04-1893 - Howard Hoffman - Ohio - d. 6-27-1969
actor: Chandu "Chandu the Magician"
11-04-1896 - Harry Woods - North Chelmsford, MA - d. 1-13-1970
compser: "Great Moments to Music"
11-04-1896 - Ian Wolfe - Canton, IL - d. 1-23-1992
actor: "Suspense"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Escape"
11-04-1900 - Arthur Schwartz - Brooklyn, NY - d. 9-3-1984
composer: "The Gibson Family"
11-04-1906 - Bob Considine - Washington D. C. - d. 9-25-1975
announcer: "Fred Waring Show"; "Sports Broadcasts"
11-04-1906 - Sterling North - Edgerton, WI - d. 12-21-1974
writer, host, critic: "Of Men and Books"
11-04-1910 - Abby Lewis - Mesilla Park, NM - d. 11-27-1997
actress: Telephone Operator "House in the Country"
11-04-1911 - Dixie Lee Crosby - Harriman, TN - d. 11-1-1952
actress: (Wife of Bing) "Shell Chateau"; "Bing Crosby Show"
11-04-1911 - Jack Rose - Warsaw, Russian Empire - d. 10-21-1995
writer: "The Bob Hope Show"
11-04-1911 - Josephine Huston - d. 10-19-1967
vocalist: "Take a Note"
11-04-1912 - Humphrey Davis - Meriden, CT - d. 5-23-1987
actor: Al Douglas "Life Can Be Beautiful"; Sheriff Jackson "Tennessee Jed"
11-04-1916 - Walter Cronkite - St. Joseph, MO
newscaster, sportscaster: KCMO, Kansas City; WKY, Oklahoma City
11-04-1917 - Jean King - Dallas, TX - d. 8-19-1993
disk jockey: Lonesome Gal "Lonesome Gal"
11-04-1918 - Art Carney - Mount Vernon, NY - d. 11-9-2003
actor: Billy Oldham "Joe and Ethel Turp"; General Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Living 1948"
11-04-1918 - Cameron Mitchell - Dallastown, PA - d. 7-6-1994
actor: "Crime Does Not Pay"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
11-04-1919 - Martin Balsam - New York, NY - d. 2-13-1996
actor: "Cloak and Dagger"
11-04-1919 - Shirley Mitchell - Toledo, OH
actress: Alice Darling "Fibber McGee and Molly"; Leila Ransom "Great
Gildersleeve"
11-04-1927 - Bobby Breen - Toronto, Canada
singer, actor: "The Eddie Cantor Show"

November 4th deaths

03-29-1867 - Cy Young - Gilmore, OH - d. 11-4-1955
baseball pitching great: "Feature Project: This Game of Baseball"
11-10-1899 - George Storer - Champaign, IL - d. 11-4-1975
Broadcast Executive
12-27-1893 - Ann Pennington - Camden, NJ - d. 11-4-1971
actress: "Good News of 1938"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 08:47:41 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: things you learn listening to OTR

   Gary Young wrote --

His conscious was questioning him about his pay check and what he
purchased. He bought a pair of bell bottom pants. I just cant imagine
that era wearing bell bottom pants. I always thought they were a product
of the 1960's.

   Yes and no.
   Bell bottoms actually go back further than that, having been standard
Navy trousers for enlisted men since the 19th C.
   In the 1920s they were were popular with the younger set but by 1930
were pretty much out of style, along with flappers.
   They returned in the '60s and still every now and pop up back in
fashion in one form or another.
   But for Riley to buy bell bottoms in 1948 would be like someone today
buying a '70s leisure suit.  :)
   Joe

--
Visit my home page:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 08:47:56 -0500
From: Clif Martin <martbart@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Fosdick, Sockman

Authors who write about early religious radio naturally turn to the fiery
evangelists because they were so colorful. But Harry Emerson Fosdick and
Ralph W. Sockman, more scholarly and definitely on the left of the
ideological spectrum,   commanded audiences in the millions in the early part
of the past century. Their names were household words and  "National Vespers"
and the "National Radio Pulpit" had as many listeners as the soap operas and
variety shows.

Clif Martin

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 08:48:15 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Conrad Binyon

Last night I was watching and old movie called "Courage of Lassie"
about a dog, if you can believe this, named Bill. Anyway, the reason
for brining it up, in it was fellow digester Conrad Binyon. And a
very good job he did.

Ron Sayles

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 10:39:31 -0500
From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Teaching Nostalgia

Comments of Ben Omart and others got me reflecting on a strategy I used
this past weekend. I and 6 teenagers rode in a van I rented with a built in
DVD player en route to a camping trip. I wanted to play the 'Sky Captain
and the World of Tomorrow" movie to them, but not before they understood
*why* it was made. To do so, I started with the 1948 Max Fleischer Superman
animated feature, specifically the "Mechanical Monsters" episode (for the
Art Deco style and the robot idea), then I played the first episode of
'Captain Marvel' so they would understand where 'Shazam' came from. I also
had the first episode of Flash Gordon, so the raygun was familiar
too.  Equipped with these 'prolog' features, the actual film was linked to
the past it was modeled upon.

On the way home (October 30th) the DVD was off as we listened to an
anniversary playing of the War of the Worlds, from the same year (1938) as
the Flash Gordon/Captain Marvel features. A little history, a little
entertainment. They learn something.

I recently enjoyed the 1979 version of Buck Rogers in the 25 Century TV
series and purchased the original 1938 Buck Rogers movie serial. Just the
first episode is great for teaching teens to be observant when listening or
watching a historical tale. I knew that the angled title sequence used in
Star Wars came from the Buck Rogers serials, but I didn't realize (even
though the Duck Rogers cartoon clearly uses it) that the 'Transporter'
de-materialization idea was from 1937 and not a Gene Roddenbury invention
of Star Trek. The most profound observation - the 1979 version makes
extensive use of robots and computers as the modern world now expects - the
1938 version of the future has the professor Heuer looking up the 500 year
old trip information *in a book* (!!!!!). In 1938 the concept of a computer
was non-existant!! The perfect point for teens to understand,
life/technology is relative to the time of an event.

So pick your favorite OTR episode and have some teens try to spot what
actions would not happen if the story was a contemporary one.  Get them
involved in listening as a detective. Make history come alive by comparing
OTR versions of stories to later versions on TV. I can't wait to 'see' the
Alfred Hitchcock Presents version of "Back for Christmas" just to see how
they interpreted the Suspense classic.

As to 'familiar voices' one of the easiest is Mel Blanc. Teens already are
familiar with the voices of the Looney Tune characters - now introduce them
to Jack's Maxwell, the fixit shop, and the voice of Twiki the obnoxious
robot in the 1979 version of Buck Rogers. Show them what a long successful
career someone could have using their voice.

Although we all love the 'theater of the mind', radio/OTR, don't forget
that today's generations do not treat radio as the important tool it once
was. They relate to pictures - TV and cinema. Pick a year - give them a
cross section of the news, OTR, movies, and drama experienced by folks
alive at the time. Teach history so they understand the perspective of it.

Chris.

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 10:39:42 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Bell bottom [removed]

Yes, Gary, some people did wear bell bottom trousers/pants in the 1940s/50s.
In fact, I recall a hit song called "Bell bottom trousers."  Don't recall
what year it was popular.

    "Bell bottom trousers
    coat of navy blue.
    I love a sailor
    and he loves me, [removed]"

Ted Kneebone.  OTR website:  [removed]
Democrats: [removed]
1528 S. Grant St., Aberdeen, SD 57401 / Phone: 605-226-3344

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 11:14:21 -0500
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  WHOLLY writ?

Dear Folks-

Re: typos & mistakes in Radio Spirit's  catalogs:

It's well known to most of us that FOTR stalwarts  Anthony Tollin and Bill
Nadel have done yeomanlike work, researching and  writing terrific "with-set"
booklets for said company.

But I wasn't under the impression that either of them was  ever responsible
for the composing or editing of the catalogs/mailers  (?)

Best,
-Craig

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 11:26:01 -0500
From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  SPERDVAC

    Mike Illoman asked if joining SPERDVAC would be worthwhile.  Mike, for
$15 a year, you can have access to one of the finest libraries of recorded
OTR in the world.  In addition, you'll get the newsletter and, depending
upon where you live, have a chance to meet a lot of wonderful people
associated with the organization.
Contact Barry Oplinger, 334 East Fairview Ave, No. 9, Glendale, CA  91207.
You can't go wrong!

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 13:24:05 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Cigarettes On OTR Shows

Smoking was something many people did back in the OTR days.  In the films
of the day, cigarette play was used to show determination (lighting up a
cigarette before tackling some unpleasant task), romance (lighting two
cigarettes and giving one to a Significant Other), and relief (smoking to
calm one's nerves).  Visually, cigarettes made a statement.

In OTR, cigarette play was used indirectly for some of the same, but it
also had another feature.  It burned up time while apparently adding a
touch of "realism" to the activities.  If a story is a little thin, the
atmosphere can be amplified with a touch of cigarette play.  Also, in
some stories, an unusual use of cigarettes could be a plot element.  For
instance, one Green Hornet adventure was titled, "Broken Cigarette
Stubs," where an unusual way of handling cigarettes led the Green Hornet
to determine who was involved in wartime sabotage.

Today, with a lot less cigarette use, the cigarette play of yore seems a
little strange.  But it was a way of life back then, and cigarettes
sometimes surfaced in radio shows.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 14:03:37 -0500
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Smoking on OTR
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       It could be argued that some of the roles, especially the tougher ones
like gangsters, detectives, police officers and the like, were enhanced by
having the characters smoke an occasional cigarette.  I have several tapes
of police officers, even some detectives, offering each other cigarettes
whaile
discussing their individual cases.  Some of the programs which were sponsored
by cigarette companies weren't limited to the detective and police procedural
type programs.  Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe there were some
variety shows ("The Camel Caravan" and Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical
Knowledge), quiz programs ("The Bob Hawk Show"), and even comedy shows
which were sponsored by cigarette companies. I believe Bob Hope was once
sponsored by Chesterfield at one time.

       Smoking was just a part of socializing.  Of course, the same argument
could be made for the use of alcohol in OTR programming.  There were several
OTR programming ("The Lux Radio Theatre", "The Thin Man", and "Mr. and Mrs.
North" for example) in which the main characters would pour themselves drinks
while interacting with each other.  In fact, Pam and Jerry North had three
cats
named Gin, Martini, and Sherry.  Nick and Nora Charles ("The Thin Man") were
always going out with friends and family to nightclubs and in the movie
version,
Nick seemed to always be taking a drink between solving his cases.  His
character,
IMHO, always seemed to be a bit inebriated in the movies until he needed to
focus on details of an investigation.

       Smoking and drinking were considered to be acceptable parts of
socializing
with others.  The same is true today.

Another OTR Fan,

Kenneth Clarke

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 16:03:22 -0500
From: "Michael Guccione" <jetbonami@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Randy Stone caper

Whether one lump or two- after the music over/under of  bom bom boppa boppa
bom bom, the narrator delivers, "[removed]" with a pause. Weak, but
possibly supportive for those in favor of 2. I have to ask myself, "What
would Randy do"? Track down an old print ad maybe? Saw one for Box
13(separation between Box and 13) awhile back, if I come across one for the
Chicago Star reporter's show I'll share it with everyone, but I think Mr.
Haendiges findings hard to refute.

Got a craving for scrambled eggs and lotsa butter all of a sudden, hope it's
good butter-

Michael G

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 17:02:29 -0500
From: "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Larry Dobkin, Arthur Miller, Olivia de
 Havilland

I'm still going through my files as I prep for a move to a new apartment.
Some things I'm giving away and some I'm selling.

For the highest bidders, I have

a. two lengthy letters from Larry Dobkin --autobiographical & discusses a
variety of other actors: Edgar Barrier, Jeanette Nolan, Frank Lovejoy -- for
the highest bidder.

[removed] signed poscard and some letters from Arthur Miller

c. a short signed letter from Olivia de Havilland

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #340
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