------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 253
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Lottery Day [ "Allen Uebele" <auebele@[removed]; ]
More Car Radios [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
OTR Recreations [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
guide dogs on radio [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
Gunsmoke opening announcement [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
Re: A Matter of Public Relations [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Queen for a Day [ Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed]; ]
June 28th birthdaya [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
OTR research tips [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
It's a Joke Son [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 01:48:04 -0400
From: "Allen Uebele" <auebele@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Lottery Day
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Hi everyone
In honor of "lottery day", I am putting the NBC Short Story - The
Lottery on the web for a short time starting on 6/27. Please listen or
download.
[removed]~afuebele/NBC%20Short%20Story%20510314%20(04)%20The%20Lottery
.mp3
My friend and I will also be playing this episode at work tomorrow
explaining all the glories of OTR, while priming our co-horts with some
sort of food (thinking of rock candy - lol).
Peace, happy listening and hope for the corn to grow soon!
Allen
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 08:48:22 -0400
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: More Car Radios
I've been on vacation for two weeks and am still a little behind on my
digests, but hopefully this thread is still going and has not been
covered entirely.
As to the idea that only 10% of automobiles sold in the 30's and 40's
came with car radios I wonder where that number came from. While I'm
sure that no statistics exist to ascertain what the actual numer was, my
own experience was far different. In my own family the first car that I
remember was a 1929 Essex. I don't think that it had a radio. Our next
car bought used was a 1935 Plymouth and I don't have any memory of a
radio in that car. Our 1937 Chevy also bought used came with a factory
radio. Our new 1940 Dodge didn't have a radio, but our 1940 Chevy did
have a factory radio. Likewise My first car a used '46 Chevy had a
factory radio, and my folks '48 Chevy had a factory radio. All the cars
that I rode in during my childhood had radios and in fact some of my
best memories of OTR were while riding in cars. In particular coming
home from sunday events in my aunts '41 Ford listening to Jack Benny and
Charlie McCarthy was a treat the whole family enjoyed.
I have at the present time a 1941 Chevrolet and it has a factory radio
which is a 9 tube five band short wave receiver. I've never been able to
determine who actually manufactured this radio as I been told both
General Electric and RCA. But it was offered by Chevrolet as the top of
their line model in '41 and '42. The Chevrolet accessories catalog shows
four models starting with a 5 tube single unit under the dash model at
$[removed], a 6 tube in dash model for $[removed],(this is the radio most often
seen in '41's) an 8 tube in dash model, and then the shortwave model.
All featured pushbuttons. These prices were plus the antenna and
installation. Somewhere I have the dealer price book for installation
but can't remember where I put it. The prices were very low. It seems to
me something like three or four dollars.
The other original question posed was, did people sit in there cars and
listen to the end of the programs that they had on? Well the answer as I
remember it is yes but not for very long. These cars had 6 volt systems
and six volt batteries do not allow a whole lot of drainage before they
would not crank an engine any longer. These tube type radios used a lot
of juice and in those days batteries more often than not were old and on
the weak side anyway. I remember parking in one of those spots with a
view at night with a person of the female persuasion and making sure
that the car would roll on it's own with the brake off in order to start
the car after we had listened to the radio for awhile. Anyone else have
memories like that?
Even now with a fully charged new battery in my Chevy I wouldn't listen
to the radio for more than 5 minutes with the engine shut off.
Most of the auto industry changed to 12 volts in 1955. My new '58
Impala had one of those hybrid jobs that has been discussed here. Part
tube and part transistor. The big advantage was that you didn't have the
long warmup wait time with them.
Also I remember tuning into stations alot more distant than 100 miles.
Of course that would be at night. I especially remember listening to a
New Orleans station it seems to me Blue Barron and his Orch. playing at
some hotel. Is there a clear channel station there?
George Aust
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 08:48:41 -0400
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR Recreations
The main goal of our vacation trip was to attend the Glenn Miller
Festival in Clarinda Iowa earlier this month. This is always a great
event and worth the long drive or plane trip. They have so many big
bands from all over the world playing from early morning to late at
night that after 4 days of listening and dancing and discussing each
bands merits we come home exhausted.
One of the features of each festival is the concert by the Glenn Miller
Birthplace Orchestra which is band made up of local musicians plus many
of the big name guests. Each concert they do a recreation of Glenn
Miller's Chesterfield broadcasts which was also known as "Glenn Miller's
Moonlight Serenade"and were aired 3 nights a week over CBS from 1939 to
1942. They use actual scripts with commercials and all including the
announcer lighting up a Chesterfield for the spot. There are always
choking and coughing sounds coming from the band members. Station and
network ID"s also.
Anyway I thought it might be interesting to some digesters that OTR
conventions and clubs are not the only place where recreations are done.
Next year is the Glenn Miller Centennial ( he was born March 1 1904)
and the Festival wil be five days long and with even more big bands. I
can't wait!
George Aust
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 08:50:08 -0400
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: guide dogs on radio
First, let me stress that blindness was never portrayed in a realistic light
on radio and it fairs no better today in the modern media. Women and
minorities have done well, but the blind are still in the dark ages.
Three examples of shows with guide dog themes come to mind. One is an
episode of The Shadow called, "Friend of Darkness." A young blind man who
has a heightened sense of touch is kidnapped by a gang of robbers in order
to pick the lock on a bank vault. They abduct him by switching his guide
dog with an imposter who will lead him to their hide-out. One could spend a
great deal of time punching holes in the stereotypes that accompany this
program, but its The Shadow, so you can't be too harsh.
Another example is from an episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers called,
"Blind Justice." A guide dog leads the rangers to the body of his dead
master, who was out looking for buried money. The dog ultimately sacrificed
its own life to bring the law to the murder victim.
The last example I can think of is an episode of Suspense called, "A World
of Darkness." The main character is a blind musician who lives in a
boarding house and overhears a murder committed upstairs. Of course, this
blind musician has a heightened sense of hearing and gives police enough
audio clues to catch the supposed killer. This blind man has a guide dog
who also witnesses the killing and becomes a main plot point later in the
story. The overdramatic sound effects make for good radio and there's even
a creepy scene in which the blind man can hear blood dripping on the floor
upstairs. Gruesome, but quite implausible.
I'm sure there are more examples out there, but those are the three that I
know of.
RyanO
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 08:50:39 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Gunsmoke opening announcement
You can hear the opening announcement from 'Gunsmoke' every week, online,
the day after KNX Radio broadcasts that week's episode to its Los
Angeles-area audience.
This is the site:
[removed]
I've taken the liberty of posting the current OTR broadcast schedule. See
the end-note about on-line listening.):
KNX Drama Hour 2003 Lineup
The Best of Old-Time Radio
Exclusively on
KNX 1070
9:00 PM Daily
Repeated at 2:00 AM
Monday 9:00 PM Mr. and Mrs. North (Jan. June)
Sam Spade (July Dec.)
9:30 PM The Lone Ranger
Tuesday 9:00 PM The Frontier Gentleman (Jan. June)
Have Gun, Will Travel (July Dec.)
9:30 PM Night Beat
Wednesday 9:00 PM The Third Man (Jan. June)
Crime Classics (July Dec.)
9:30 PM Tales of the Texas Rangers
Thursday 9:00 PM Dragnet
9:30 PM Box 13
Friday 9:00 PM Gunsmoke
9:30 PM The Shadow
Saturday 9:00 PM The Jack Benny Program
9:30 PM The Great Gildersleeve
Sunday 9:00 PM Lux Radio Theater
NOTE: The programs listed below will be made available online the following
day. To listen to replays of the KNX Drama Hour online, you will need a
Real or Windows Media Player.
You can download them for free at <[removed];Real Player or
<[removed];Windows Media Player
----------
<Please note that I have no connection to KNX; I just like their OTR
broadcasts>
Herb Harrison
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 08:53:10 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: A Matter of Public Relations
On 6/27/03 1:53 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:
But where are the NBC books? There's a plethora of CBS-centric books
readily available. Why not NBC? Is this perhaps because CBS was more savvy
in making the public aware of their "creative" side?
I think this is a big, big part of it. William Paley was a close friend
of Edward Bernays, the "Father of Public Relations," and an absolute
master of propaganda techniques and media manipulation. Paley hired
Bernays to be his first PR advisor, and it's clear that Paley learned his
lessons at the master's knee -- making a point of building an extremely
efficient publicity department for CBS, and taking advantage of every
opportunity to curry favor with the press. It wasn't just a matter of
publishing slick PR books like "Vienna 1938" or "Crisis," it was a matter
of making sure radio columnists for All The Right Publications knew what
was going on at CBS and had access to those involved. Paley also made a
point of hobnobbing on the personal level with influential writers --
something David Sarnoff or Merlin Ayelsworth or Lenox Lohr wouldn't be
caught dead doing -- and this made it very easy for those writers to come
up with glowing things to say about CBS. Conversely, the rather
coldblooded corporate image NBC tended to project did not much appeal to
the columnists, and the network's PR efforts were often woefully inept:
where CBS's materials were generally bright and brisk and breezy -- NBC
materials had a tendency to be dowdy, dreary, and dull.
I have a boxed set of books NBC issued in 1935 to promote its own
"highbrow" and public service programming -- and while they make for
fascinating reading, the material is presented in a mind-numbingly turgid
manner: blocks and blocks of dull grey text accented by dull grey graphs
and charts. Compare this effort to any CBS publication of the 1930s and
you'll immediately see my point.
this leads me to thenask - why? What has given CBS it's staying
power within the world of radio history? If not PR, then could there be
substance to the Columbia arguments?
I don't think anyone in this debate has argued that there weren't
impressive creative accomplishments at CBS. The argument is that for
whatever reason, historians have overlooked, downplayed, or ignored the
paralell accomplishments at NBC. I think Barnouw's work was something of
a catalyst for this -- an awful lot of what's been written in the last
forty years about broadcasting history derives directly from Barnouw in
the matter of what's emphasized, what's considered Important. And a lot
of his Columbiacentrism has ended up being picked up by subsequent
writers, to the point where it's become one of those things Everybody
Knows -- CBS was the creative network, NBC was lowest-common-denominator
trash. CBS was Murrow and Shirer, NBC was Winchell and Thomas. And so on
and on.
I think a prime example of this sort of reflexive academic laziness can
be found in Susan Douglas's book "Listening In." In her chapter on
broadcast journalism, she makes one of the most outlandishly boneheaded
comments I've ever seen in a serious broadcasting book: "Only CBS seems
to have made a systematic effort to preserve their war coverage."
Now, overlooking the fact that most of CBS's war coverage survives today
thru blind luck (thank you, KIRO engineering department) rather than any
preservation effort put forth by the network, had Ms. Douglas walked up
to the desk in the Recorded Sound Reference Center at the LOC and asked
about NBC news materials, she would have literally been overwhelmed by
the amount of material that network preserved -- it may well be that more
radio-era NBC news material survives than CBS. And yet Douglas made no
effort to examine any of this material -- she didn't even know where to
look for it or that it even existed, because she'd apparently been led to
believe that CBS material was all that was available for her examination.
Well, when you don't *look* for resources, you don't *find* them. And
this has been true of a lot of writing about broadcasting history -- it's
so much easier to accept Everybody Knows This Is True assumptions than it
is to put those assumptions aside and dig for the real facts. It's this
type of "research" that's helped perpetuate a lot of myths about
broadcasting history -- including the philosophy of Columbiacentrism.
Elizabeth
"It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our
most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating
behind the scenes."
-- Edward L. Bernays, 1928
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 08:54:02 -0400
From: Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Queen for a Day
Does anyone have a good *detailed* summary of the broadcast history of
the 'game' show "Queen for a Day"? I tried doing a "google" search and
couldn't find out much in the way of a "homepage" dedicated to the series.
I did find out the following regarding the show's TV history from a page
on "classic TV Themes", at:
[removed]
(host Jack Bailey; weekday/daytimes)
1948-56 local Los Angeles show (I think this would be KHJ-TV)
1956-60 NBC-TV
1960-64 ABC-TV
(Jack Bailey died of a heart attack in 1964)
(and then a revised/revamped "Metromedia" first-run-syndicated version in
1970, hosted by Dick Curtis)
The same page mentions that it ran on radio -- Mutual/Don-Lee ([removed],
it would have originated from Mutual/Don-Lee's Hollywood facilities
of KHJ Radio) from 1945-57.
I'm assuming that it was done *LIVE* until at least the later 1950s or
when it moved over to ABC in the 1960s. And I'm assuming that it was
"simulcast" during the 1948-57 radio/TV overlap [removed]
That it was being performed LIVE with TV cameras at Don Lee's KHJ to be
telecast (locally only) over KHJ-TV-9 in Los Angeles, while at the same
time the audio was being fed over the Mutual/Don-Lee Radio Network.
But then what about 1956-57? Was it still on Mutual Radio that season?
And what about KHJ-TV, if the TV version had now moved on to the
NBC Television Network? Did KHJ-TV have to "drop" their "rights" to the
show, since KNBC-TV-4 was the Los Angeles affiliate (and O&O at that too)
of NBC? And did the radio version of the series ever air on the NBC Radio
Network at any time?
Could there also have been multiple airings/performances for various radio
and TV versions during the "overlap" period, as well as airings/
performances for different radio and/or TV networks/stations?
(I know this happened from time-to-time with radio and/or TV throughout
as far back as the 1930s, with some series airing on different networks,
even if only having different performances for the Red and Blue networks
of NBC back then; Sometimes a series would have different airings/
performances on NBC, Mutual and even CBS for different blocks of markets
or affiliates).
Mark J. Cuccia
mcuccia@[removed]
New Orleans LA USA
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 09:30:39 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: June 28th birthdaya
June 28th births
06-28-1894 - Lois Wilson - Pittsburgh, PA (R: Birmingham, AL) - d. 1-8-1983
actress: "Miss Hattie"
06-28-1895 - Kelvin Keech - Hawaii - d. 5-1977
announcer: "Popeye the Sailor"; "Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing"
06-28-1906 - Ann Leaf - Omaha, NE - d. 4-3-1995
organist: (Little Organ Annie) "Ann Leaf at the Organ"; "Lorenzo Jones"
06-28-1908 - Alan Bunce - Westfield, NJ - d. 4-27-1965
actor: Albert Arbuckle "Ethel and Albert"; Jerry Malone "Young Dr. Malone"
June 28th deaths
04-06-1903 - Mickey Cochrane - Bridgewater, MA - d. 6-28-1962
sportscaster: (Member Baseball Hall of Fame) "Mickey Cochrane"
08-19-1913 - Harry F. Mills - Picqua, OH - d. 6-28-1982
singer: (The Mills Brothers) "Mills Brothers Quartette"
11-28-1895 - Jose Iturbi - Valencia, Spain - d. 6-28-1980
pianist, conductor: "The Telephone hour"; "Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra"
12-25-1924 - Rod Serling - Syracuse, NY - d. 6-28-1975
host: "The Zero Hour"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hometown of [removed] Kaltenborn and Spencer Tracy
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 11:12:56 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR research tips
Derek Tague gave three great tips about researching OTR at public and
private libraries.
Here's a few extra tips that will save considerable time and money.
Call the library or college (or whereever you are doing research) ahead of
time to get the method of operation.
1. Some collections are stored off site. Just because they are listed in
their catalog does not mean it's accessable the same day. Sometimes you
have to call a day in advance and some libraries insist that a form be
filled out personally which means if it's a long drive you'll have to find
someone to go there and fill the forms out the day before.
2. Some libraries don't have public access to a copy machine so find this
out in advance.
3. Some libraries don't allow laptops, pens, or anything other than paper
and a pencil so be prepared to leave your notes. This is designed at
well-institutionized libraries for preservation and prevents theft of
materials.
4. Take some friends with you if you think there is a lot of material.
When Derek helped me in NYC, I brought along two family members and by
forming a chain at the copy machine, we got about two months of copying done
in four hours. Extra hands help. (I also got to see Ground Zero that
evening thanks to Derek.)
5. Don't assume the librarians are experts. I've seen librarians pull out
scripts for one radio program and insist it was the same series I was asking
about when it wasn't.
6. Sweetness goes further than a complaint. A box of chocolates for
female librarians will get you more than you asked for and they'll remember
you the next time you go back to do research - and you'll find you get more
priority than the fella with the three-piece suit standing next to you in
line.
As Derek found at when I was in NYC researching the 1943-1944 years of INNER
SANCTUM MYSTERY, it's far easier to have the DeMille "damn the cost"
attitude and copy EVERYTHING. You will always have time later at home or
the hotel to look over the material. In NY, I just browsed through the
files in seconds to determine what was in them, and handed them to my
sister, or my dad, or Derek and said "copy it all" and went right on to the
next file.
Great source of information, by the way, is college and university
libraries. A lot of famous radio personalities donated their material to
one - sometimes many - of these libraries and even if it's not listed in
their catalog, that doesn't mean it's not available. If Arch Oboler, for an
example, graduated from Penn State, contact a few people at Penn State
University and see if they don't have a collection of papers about Arch
Oboler.
Martin Grams, Jr.
[removed] Derek was of tremendous help to me with my INNER SANCTUM MYSTERIES
book, and his assistance was appreciated - not mention we found a nice
out-of-the-way Chinese restuarant that had good food.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 11:10:24 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: It's a Joke Son
Craig Wichman mentioned:
"It's a Joke, Son" has been preserved by the UCLA Film and Television
Archive, mostly from the original nitrate negatives. So far as I know,
UCLA's restoration has never been released commercially.
Actually, it was put out on VHS by Republic in '91. I'm ASSUMING this is the
best print, as I think they hold the rights? It's a decent-if-not-stunning
copy, a little better than the previous Hal Roach version. Fun movie.
No, the film is in the public domain. it was initially copyrighted in 1947
and was supposed to be renewed in 1975. The copyright was never renewed. I
heard a rumor it had something about Kenny Delmar claiming he owned the
rights to the Senator Claghorn character years after, and was involved in
preventing the film to be re-released. Republic Pictures has released TONS
of public domain movies, in fact much more films that are in the public
domain than films they own the rights to themselves. From what I have seen,
when Republic releases a film in the public domain, they do release some of
the best prints that could ever be found - case in point, NIGHT OF THE
LIVING DEAD (1968) and Hitchcock's BLACKMAIL (1929).
Hal Roach was releasing many films for a while when there was a book in the
VHS market, but that company too released many public domain films. if you
are ever looking for the best quality print of a public domain print and it
was at one time released through Republic, it's worth the effort and
investment.
Martin
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #253
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