Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #114
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 3/24/2002 1:04 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 114
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Massey and Karloff                    [ leemunsick@[removed] ]
      working from a table                  [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Re: NY visit                          [ Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed]; ]
      Radios in the house                   [ LPEVANS221@[removed] ]
      Truth or Consequences                 [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      Re: Omar                              [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      ILEGAL POSSISION OF SCRIPTS?          [ Kevin Michaels <kmichaels@doityours ]
      Re: cda to mp3?                       [ Brent Pellegrini <brentp@[removed] ]
      Olde Tyme Radio Schedule              [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
      Scarlet Queen / Quiet Please Date My  [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
      The Gunsmoke [removed]                 [ "Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed] ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Donora Fog                            [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
      AOL                                   [ "John DiMezzes" <jadm1@[removed] ]
      Eileen Farrell                        [ JayHick@[removed] ]
      Re:NBC Studio security                [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      Re: The Other Harlan                  [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 23:46:57 -0500
    From: leemunsick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Massey and Karloff

    To use Bill Murtough's term, "I am humbled" mixing up Boris Karloff and
    Raymond Massey!  Two of the finest actors of their time.  'Course they
    didn't look anything alike.  Let's see.  Massey was tall, and Karloff
    [removed], Karloff was slim, and [removed] of them often played villains,
    and the [removed]

    Gee, how could I possibly get them confused?  A senior moment, no
    doubt.  In any case both remain great favorites of mine.  I get warm--if
    now inaccurate--memories of performances by both.

    Especially in a 10" glass-based acetate in my collection, with Raymond
    Massey.  There was some huge bond rally in New York, probably at Madison
    Square Garden.  Massey was to be on location somewhere, so he recorded a
    two-minute greeting to urge people to buy war bonds.

    A stirring performance.  Approaching the rousing, inspiring end, that
    magnificent, mellifluous voice messed up on one word.  The voices of
    Sherlock Holmes (1931), John and Oswald Cabal (1936), Claire Chennault
    (1945), and Abraham Lincoln (1940, 1962, etc.) among so many others, all
    burst out with "G-- D--- it to H----".  Obviously, they had to do the whole
    thing over.  THAT copy I do not have!

    I am so happy to be corrected when I err.  Gives me an excuse to get even!

    Lee Munsick

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

    Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 23:47:04 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: working from a table

    Molly McGee for many years work from a table reading her lines.  I believe
    this happen after one of her illnesses.  Good listening,

    Walden

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

    Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 23:57:51 -0500
    From: Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: NY visit

    Ivan Watson queried:

>     I'll be visiting New York for the first time in a few
>     days and would like to visit some of the city's "OTR"
>     history. I know about the Museum of TV and Radio and
>     some of the venues when the great big bands broadcast
>     from (Cotton Club, Rainbow Room, etc. ) but I was
>     wondering if someone could help me out with any other
>     "must-see" OTR places still in existence.

        You’ve already received good suggestions about visiting 30
    Rockefeller Plaza (they did have some old radio displays on the NBC-TV
    tour) and Hurley’s Bar.  You might enjoy a brisk stroll from 30 Rock to
    485 Madison; actors and others going between NBC and CBS assignments
    often had to hurry those four blocks.  The WOR-Mutual studios were a
    couple of blocks below Times Square, at 1440 Broadway, and also at the
    Guild, Longacre and New Amsterdam Theatres in the Theatre District.  The
    New Amsterdam has been restored to its former glory, though without the
    radio studios.

        WOR still broadcasts from high atop 1440 Broadway, where it’s been
    since 1927.  The studio suite is now quite different, of course, but the
    halls are lined with photos from the early days.  That’s not the oldest
    studio location in use in the city, however.  Downtown on Centre Street,
    WNYC has been in the Municipal Building since the day it signed on, in
    July 1924.  The “Fiorello H. LaGuardia Telecommunications Center” is
    today a state-of-the-art facility for New York Public Radio, but much of
    the rest of the station has corners that look like they’ve hardly been
    mopped since 1930 :-)

         It’s a little out of the way, but I should also mention WWRL.  The
    station at 1600 kHz has studios at 4130 58th Street in Woodside, Queens
    – which is where it first went on the air in 1927.  Such greats as Ethel
    Merman and Eddie Bracken got their start there.  Some years ago they
    added a new wing onto the building (originally the owner’s home) and
    installed new studios, but when I last visited there the old section was
    intact and you could step into studios stripped of most equipment but
    still with the feel (and the ghosts) from way back.

         All three of those well-established stations are active workplaces
    and don’t normally run organized tours.  But you can still walk with
    Danny Clover from Times Square to Columbus Circle, “the grandest, the
    most violent, the loneliest mile in the world.”  It’s actually quite
    safe and really exciting.  Have a good trip.
                                                                   --Bill
    Jaker

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

    Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 23:58:04 -0500
    From: LPEVANS221@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Radios in the house

    In Digest #111 there was a question concerning the number of radios in the
    household. We had two radios. There was a table model Silvertone in the
    kitchen. This was the radio that we listened to most of the time. We had a
    console model in the living room. I usually listened to my afternoon
    adventure show on the console. My mother would be listening to something else
    as she prepared supper. This would be mid 1940's.

    Both radios had shortwave bands. I found these very interesting. I became a
    shortwave listener. In 1950 I received a Hallicrafters receiver for
    Christmas. This radio was located in my room. I was able to listen any time I
    wanted. I listened many nights after everyone was asleep hoping to hear a
    rare "dx" station. This got me interested in ham radio.

    Larry Evans - WA8DDN

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

    Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 23:58:45 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Truth or Consequences

>     Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 11:19:00 -0500
>     From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];

>     1940 - Truth or Consequences was first heard on radio. The Ralph
>     Edwards-produced program was hosted by Mr. Edwards before he
>     discovered a young announcer named Bob Barker. Barker also was the
>     show's host on t--------n more than a decade later.

    Not quite.  Jack Bailey, also host of "Queen For a Day," hosted Truth or
    Consequences after Ralph Edwards.  According to =Total Television= by
    Alex McNeil, Ralph Edwards created ToC in 1940 on radio and continued to
    host the show in the early TV days, from 1950 to 1952.  The show went on
    hiatus, then returned on NBC in 1954, with Jack Bailey hosting.  I
    remember this version, which was on radio as well as TV.

    On 31 December 1956, the show returned on weekday mornings, and that was
    when Bob Barker became host.  I remember the premier of that version of
    the show.  Ralph Edwards opened the show, said that Jack Bailey was "too
    busy crowning queens," and introduced Bob Barker as the new host.  I
    think he said that he discovered Bob Barker by hearing him on his car
    radio doing something or other.

    Truth or Consequences returned in prime time on NBC in 1958, with STeve
    Dunne as host.  Barker continued to host the show in syndication, ending
    in 1966.  It was revived as "The New Truth or Consequences" in 1977,
    hosted by Bob Hilton.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 00:06:42 -0500
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: Omar

    At 10:27 AM 3/20/02 -0500, you wrote:

>     Was Omar a part of Big John and Sparky?
>     or was it a stand alone program??
>     WB

    As a big fan of Big Jon and Sparkie, I don't believe that Omar was every
    part of the show. They did do a bit called "Make Believe" and one of these
    was about the Greek Gods.

    Fred
    For the best in Old Time Radio Shows [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 00:07:06 -0500
    From: Kevin Michaels <kmichaels@[removed];
    To: "Radio  Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: ILEGAL POSSISION OF SCRIPTS?

    This posting does not deal with copyrights violations, but the individual
    ownership (by collectors) and  circulation of same.  Case in point:

    When I was a member of our local theatrical troupe, whenever we completed a
    production, the scripts had to be turned in to the director, as they were
    either the property of the production company (or) if they were royalty
    scripts the property of the publisher (A. G. French, Baker, etc.),from whom
    we purchased the play.

    I assume the same held true with radio plays, being the property of the
    Network, and were turned in after a broadcast.  If this was the rule, how did
    so many scripts get into circulation in various OR Clubs, books and the
    Internet?  We could use a little help here Hal, Harry, Elizabeth, et el

    Kevin Michaels

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 01:28:58 -0500
    From: Brent Pellegrini <brentp@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Re: cda to mp3?

    I'd like to convert my cd's to mp3. How do I convert the cda suffix to
    mp3? I have Music Match and it will convert wav files to mp3 but not cda
    files which seem to be the extension of my cd's.
    Thanks
    Brent

    +++_SI^@)y
    TLUFp<1pyN4&

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 01:29:51 -0500
    From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Olde Tyme Radio Schedule

    Here are the programs for the week starting Sunday, March 24th at The Olde
    Tyme
    Radio Network streaming hi-end audio netcasting at:
    [removed]
    (New shows renew every Sunday)

    SAME TIME SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges
    The Martin & Lewis Show  10/5/51   with guest: Dinah Shore
    The David Rose Show    9/24/50   guest:  "Junior" (Red Skelton)
    My Little Margie  3/13/55  "Miss Guided Missile Contest"
    The Bob Hope Show  11/27/45  guests:   Red Skelton,  Peggy Ryan

    HERITAGE  RADIO THEATRE  with Tom Heathwood
    The Jimmy Durante Show  2/10/48  guest: Van Johnson
    The Dave Garroway Show  7/8/49 - can you identify the unidentified comedian?
    The Jack Webb Show (segment)  1946 from KGO-San Francisco - Jack is a
       comedian and experiments with a crime drama

    Enjoy ---  Tom & Jerry

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 01:30:19 -0500
    From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Scarlet Queen / Quiet Please Date Mystery

    I am trying to solve a minor mystery. Tonight I noticed that at the end of
    episode 22 of Voyage of the Scarlet Queen ("The Green Tourist and the Temple
    Bell", broadcast date 12/03/47 according to Jerry Haendiges' logs), an
    announcer says, "Stay Tuned for Quiet Please, another Mutual favorite." To
    experience the original flow of programming, I looked for that night's Quiet
    Please episode, but found that Quiet Please was not broadcast on 12/3/47.
    The nearest dates are 12/1/47 and 12/8/47.

    Apparently both shows were weekly programs, but were broadcast on different
    nights. Can anybody explain this discrepancy? I don't think the logs are
    wrong. The episode dates are consistently 7 days apart for both series. Was
    the announcement wrong? Could one or the other show have been a re-run? I
    didn't think the concept of re-runs existed in the 40's.

    Doug Leary

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 13:00:37 -0500
    From: "Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: The Gunsmoke [removed]

    I agree with Ken Piletic that the radio cast of Gunsmoke would have been
    great on TV. I picture Matt, Kitty and Doc as they looked in the publicity
    photos. Chester (Parley Baer) I'm not really sure, except that the voice (to
    me) doesn't agree with the photo of the character.

    The TV cast - the only character who came close to my mind's vision, was
    Kitty. To my ears, her's and Georgia Ellis (did I get the correct last
    name?) voices were rather similar.

    The biggest difference was Matt. James Arness is a fine actor but he never
    conveyed the character as did Bill Conrad. I read somewhere (and if I
    remember I'll credit it in a future post) that Conrad's Dillon was a man
    with a past and a certain sadness, or words to this effect. He also seemed
    to have a just-below-the-surface anger that he kept in check - most of the
    time. He tried to be amiable, friendly and even show a bit of humor, but
    there was always that deep-down anger that sometimes came out.

    Conrad's Dillon also came across as a man who would likely never marry,
    because of what was inside him. He was only SO close, even with Doc and
    Kitty, but there was a shell you couldn't penetrate.

    To my satisfaction, Arness - who obviously was pretty well-liked in the role
    by the public - was low-keyed as Matt. He never quite captured the
    dimensions that Conrad brought to the character. These are MY observations -
    the way I react to the portrayals. And I saw Gunsmoke long before I heard
    the radio version. After hearing the first few tapes, I never again enjoyed
    watching the video version. Something was lacking. Radio captured more in
    26-28 minutes or whatever than TV did in either the half-hour or hour-long
    variation.

    Hal Stone - if you directed any of the TV eps, this is no reflection on
    yourself nor the actors. As the little kid said, he liked radio because the
    pictures were better. I grew up with TV and rue the wasted hours when I
    could have listened to what was still there when I was four and five and six
    ([removed] and later). I guess that's why I like the way Charles Osgood
    closes the Sunday morning TV show - I'll be seeing you on the radio.

     Macandrew

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 13:00:59 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Today in radio history

      From Those Were The Days --

    1932 - Belle Baker hosted a radio variety show from a moving train ... a
    first for radio broadcasting. The program originated from a Baltimore
    and Ohio train that chugged its way around the New York area. The
    broadcast was heard on WABC in New York City.

    1935 - After a year as a local show from New York City, Major Bowes'
    Original Amateur Hour was heard on the entire NBC network. The show
    stayed on the air for 17 years. Later, Ted Mack took over for Bowes and
    made the move from radio to t--------n.

      Joe

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

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 13:01:51 -0500
    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Donora Fog

    David Easter <DavidEaster@[removed]; writes:

>     There was no evidence that fluoride was
>     responsible for the deaths in Donora. The Public Health Service blamed a
>     temperature inversion and air pollution from a [removed] Steel plant. Most of the
>     deaths were from heart attacks (which could have been brought on by the poor
>     air quality, temperature, panic or some other factor.)

    As a kid I lived in a town downriver from Donora, on the Monongahela. There
    was a string of steel plants along the river; they were the economic basis
    for many towns' prosperity. Nevertheless, as a result of the Donora
    tragedy, the State and (in most cases) local governments passed laws to
    lessen industrial air pollution so as to protect the health of inhabitants.
    This resulted in some of the first effective clean air laws in the nation.
    I don't remember anybody talking about fluoride; everybody discussed stuff
    like "soot" (today called "particulate matter") that we could see in the
    air, and that turned our curtains and the laundry on our clotheslines gray.
    I can't remember any mentions of fluoride as a public menace earlier than
    the 70's debate of it as a water treatment, when it was called a 'Comunist
    system of Mind Control".

    Herb Harrison

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 13:03:27 -0500
    From: "John DiMezzes" <jadm1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: AOL

    John Mayer mentioned,

>     there is probably a filmed version of the 1962 Hallmark Hall of Fame
>     version starring Karloff and Tony Randall.

    <snip>

>     An earlier 1955 production on _Best of Broadway_ on CBS starred the dream
>     cast of Boris Karloff as Jonathan Brewster and Helen Hayes, Billie Burke and
>     Peter Lorre."

    Evidently, there was a 1969 TV version of "Arsenic and Old Lace" which
    starred Lillian Gish, Helen Hayes, Bob Crane, David Wayne, and Fred Gwynne
    (of Munster fame).

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 13:03:39 -0500
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Eileen Farrell

    We lost Eileen Farrell on March 23.  She was 82.  We were fortunate to meet
    her at our FOTR Convention 2 years ago.  She was one of our great singers.

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 13:06:00 -0500
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Re:NBC Studio security

     Michael Biel, in his informative posting about the design of Radio Studios,
    [removed]

>     When I was doing some research at NBC in the late 60s and early 70s
>     anybody could go onto the unguarded mahogany elevators, and a smartly
>     uniformed operator would take you to your floor <Snip>

    Michael, not to dispute you. But are you sure there wasn't at least a
    "burly" Uniformed NBC page (a member of what they called the "Guest
    Relations" Staff, standing by a roped off area that created a narrow
    entrance to the U shaped NBC Elevator banks.  No one was permitted past this
    "Sentry" without ID of some sort, or known, (recognized) by the Page. At
    least that was true in all the years I worked there. (Up until the mid
    '50s).

    [removed] barrier was nothing more than fancy velvet ropes, and gleaming
    stanchions, but it was designed to keep the  unauthorized John Q. Public
    from getting upstairs, wandering the halls and, getting access to the
    studios. Opposite the Elevator bank area was a small booth, (The upper half
    glass encased), which was manned by another Page. Anyone having an
    appointment upstairs would check in there. Actors (with unfamiliar faces)
    would also check in when scheduled for an audition. The names of people who
    had appointments would be on a master list. Those that didn't could ask the
    page to call someone upstairs to get approval for admittance.

    That system provided a modicum of Security for the NBC area of that huge
    Building. [removed] if one knew their way around, you could go to one of the
    many other elevator banks (that serviced the other tenants of that massive
    structure) and wend your way down long halls to get to nondescript doors
    that opened into the "Office" areas of NBC, and get to the Studios that way.

    Plus the fact, on each floor that contained Broadcast studios, or heavy
    visitor traffic, there was another desk manned by a uniformed Page, who
    would direct the uninitiated visitor to their destination. Many times, the
    desks on 6th and 8th floors were not "manned" (or femaled), if a  Studio
    Audience was not expected.

    I'm sure, in today's crazy world, they probably have very heavy security
    measures in place.

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 07:59:48 -0700
    Subject: Re: The Other Harlan
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];

    My Buddy Harlan Zinck cut me some slack when I said:

> >     Myfolks took the easy way out, and stuck me with that name. At age 8, I hated

    it. I thought it was "sissy" sounding.  (Sorry, my fellow Digester friend,
    Harlan Zinck) :)

>     That's OK, Hal - I felt the same way when I was eight. Even now, I've often
>     thought to changing to Hal myself if only to avoid having to spell "Harlan"
>     for the entire world;

    Hey!... Big "H"...you keep [removed] let me have "Hal". If we are both
    "Hal", the confusion would only be intensified.

    [removed] THE MAIN REASON for my responding to H. Zinck's posting is the
    following.

>     BTW - back to OTR - awhile back I promised Hal that I would send him at
>     least a copy of the caracature done of himself and Bob Hastings as Archie
>     and Jughead; these were part of a packet of about 40 5" x 7" color drawings
>     given away by NBC in about 1948, I believe as part of the studio tour.

    No, "H", I recall they were given away primarily for promotional and
    Publicity purposes to all NBC O & O's, Affiliates, sponsors. etc. They came
    in two versions. Important folks got the set of Caricatures Matted in paper
    frames. The other version was a complete set wrapped in a little packet. I
    seem to recall the size of each of the color drawings was about 5x7.

>     Alas, when I dug out my set, I found that four drawings from the set I
>     purchased via eBay were missing when they arrived and, of course, among the
>     four was the one of Archie and Jughead. (Ain't that always the way?)

    There 'aint no Justice! And to add insult to injury, I had in my possession
    (many years ago), the complete matted set, and at least 10 of the complete
    packets. The family hung the matted set along the walls of our basement Rec
    room, and I gave the packets away to friends. (sniff) :(

>     If anyone reading this Digest has these drawings and would be willing to
>     share one with Hal, even temporarily, I'm sure he'd appreciate it - in
>     fact, I know he would. Might even buy you a drink at the next OTR
>     convention, eh Hal?

    I'd buy a lot more than one drink. All they could hold! :)  I really would
    love to include a reproduction of the "Archie" one in my book. I don't need
    it to keep. Just to computer scan and make a high quality copy. I promise to
    return it [removed]! But to insure a quality copy, I would prefer
    to work from the original. I promise my "Firstborn" as security if someone
    would be kind enough to lend it to me.

    Thanks for bringing this up in the digest, Harlan.

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #114
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