Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #97
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 3/27/2001 10:10 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                      The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                         Volume 01 : Issue 97
                   A Part of the [removed]!
                           ISSN: 1533-9289


                           Today's Topics:

 Lone Ranger Books                    [danhughes@[removed]                 ]
 The Chicken Or the Yegg?             ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Name Origin                          ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Radio Commentators                   [Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed]]
 Re: Claghorn vs. Leghorn             [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
 Claghorn vs Leghorn                  ["Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@worldnet.]
 Re: which came first                 [stewwright@[removed]                 ]
 RE:  Forgiving Errors                [OTRDSIEGEL@[removed]                 ]
 Remotes, Morgan, Truth or Consequenc [Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed]; ]
 Memory Mistakes                      [PGreco2254@[removed]                  ]
 Expressing Truth in Love             [Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed]; ]
 Re:Reporters and Books               ["Robert Everest" <erest@bellatlanti]
 two 'missing' episodes?              ["J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];]
 All-Star Western Theater blooper     [Osborneam@[removed]                  ]
 Re: "Take it away, [removed]"      [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
 Rosedale                             [JackBenny@[removed]                  ]
 Town of Truth or Consequences        ["Doug Leary" <dleary@[removed];    ]
 THE LONE RANGER                      [HERITAGE4@[removed]                  ]
 WWII Correspondents                  [Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];       ]
 Unshackled                           ["Ron Vanover" <vanoverr@[removed];  ]
 1st US radio broadcast               [Cnorth6311@[removed]                 ]
 Re: Reporting World War II Books     [Jshnay1@[removed]                    ]

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 12:53:28 -0500
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Lone Ranger Books

Stephen sez:

There used to be, through the 1940s, "Boys' Books," which were
hardcovers, printed on inexpensive (and hence acidic) paper. The Lone
Ranger books fell into this category, and Whitman Books did some of
[removed]

The Lone Ranger books were published by Grosset and Dunlap, who also did
the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift Jr, Bobbsey Twins, Chip Holden, Cherry Ames,
Nancy Drew, et al.  These same Lone Ranger books were republished in
paperback in the 1970's or so, I think by Ballentine?

I had one of the Lone Ranger books, and it had a  comic relief scene
where a cowboy (or maybe it was a girl) tossed a cow (or a bull?) over a
fence.  This exact same episode is in one of the Roy Rogers
novelizations!  Who copied whom?

---Dan

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 12:53:33 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Chicken Or the Yegg?

Art Shrifin asks,

[Which Came First?] Senator Claghorn or Foghorn Leghorn?<<

Senator Claghorn, by years.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 12:53:35 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Name Origin

Will Nicoll asks,

In April we're going to pass thru Truth or Consequences, NM.  Can
someone on the list recount the story of how it acquired its [removed];<

>From the radio show.  It was originally named Hot Springs, but was
convinced to change its name.  I don't recall the details, but listened
the day it was announced -- on the radio show.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 12:53:37 -0500
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Radio Commentators

My favorite reference on wartime radio commentators is THOSE RADIO
COMMENTATORS by Irving E. Fang (Iowa State University Press, 1977).

The book profiles 15 commentators, including H. V. Kaltenborn, Lowell
Thomas, Elmer Davis. Gabriel Heatter, Edward R. Murrow, Raymond Gram Swing,
and many others.  The book has 340 pages.  Its ISBN is 0-8138-1500-2.

My copy came with two records.

Dennis Crow

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 12:53:39 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Claghorn vs. Leghorn

Art Shifrin wonders which came first,

Senator Claghorn or Foghorn Leghorn?

The Senator preceded the Rooster by approximately ten months. Senator
Claghorn first appeared under that name on the first Fred Allen Show of
the 1945-46 season, aired on 10/7/45, which was also the first program of
Allen's series for Standard Brands and Kenny Delmar's first program as
Allen's announcer. The character became the focus of a significant
pop-culture fad thru the winter of 1945-46.

The first Foghorn Leghorn cartoon, the Merrie Melodie "Walky Talky
Hawky," directed by Robert McKimson, was released on 8/31/46, and was in
production during the spring of 1946. There has been a great deal of
debate over the years over where the character came from, with Mel Blanc
having claimed to have developed the voice from a loudmouth sheriff
character performed in the early 1930s on the Don Lee Network's "Blue
Monday Jamboree," and not from Delmar's characterization of Senator
Claghorn. I find this account doubtful for a number of reasons -- the
timing of the cartoon's production, the similiarity in the names of the
characters, and the fact that there is no known instance of Blanc
performing such a voice prior to the release of "Walky Talky Hawky." I
think it's safe to say that despite claims to the contrary, Foghorn
Leghorn was indeed a deliberate and specific swipe of Senator Claghorn.

There is debate over where Delmar himself got the voice -- some accounts
trace it back to the "Blue Monday Jamboree" sheriff, and some claim that
Delmar actually met a real-life character with a bombastic Southern
personality and adapted this individual's traits into a voice. Whatever
the story, it's a fact that none of the "Allen's Alley" characters were
truly original creations -- all were already-established voices that were
simply given new names -- Min Pious had been doing Jewish dialect roles
for Allen for nine years before Mrs. Nussbaum was named. Socrates
Mulligan was a voice that Charlie Cantor had been using nearly as long --
he called it his "low dope" voice, and used the identical voice as
Finnegan on "Duffy's Tavern." Parker Fennelly had been playing crusty New
England types on radio since the late twenties, and had portrayed a very
Titus Moody-like character on the Alan Young Show in the year before he
joined Allen's cast. Falstaff Openshaw grew out of a long line of
pompous-artiste characters that Teddy Bergman/Alan Reed had done in the
Town Hall News segments during the thirties. Peter Donald had frequently
done shanty-Irish characters while telling jokes on "Can You Top This?"
before joining Allen. For Delmar to have brought a pre-existing voice for
Allen to build a character around would have been a continuation of the
standard pattern.

Interestingly, serious consideration was given to spinning Senator
Claghorn off to his own series when Fred Allen announced that he would be
retiring from his series at the conclusion of the 1948-49 season. In June
of 1949, three separate recordings of an audition episode of a "Senator
Claghorn" situation comedy series were made at NBC-New York, with Delmar
in the starring role, and Fred Allen himself providing a brief
introduction and possibly providing script input. The series failed to
sell, however, and the project was abandoned. Given the increasingly grim
and humorless political climate in the US in the late forties, it's
understandable that a program that would have specifically mocked the
inanities of government would have failed to interest a sponsor.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 13:28:42 -0500
From: "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Claghorn vs Leghorn

Art Shifrin mused, "Which came first? Senator Claghorn or Foghorn Leghorn?"

In this instance the egg came before the chicken.

Brj

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 13:28:44 -0500
From: stewwright@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: which came first

 Which came first Senator Claghorn or Foghorn Leghorn?

The following article I wrote first appeared in the DID
YOU KNOW THAT. . . ? column in the August, 2000 issue of
RETURN WITH US NOW. . ., the newsletter of the Radio
Historical Association of Colorado.

   Two of the most memorable denizens of Allen's Alley
actually got their start on The Alan Young Show.

   There were two characters on The Alan Young Show that
the sponsor didn't like, so he threw them off. One was
Kenny Delmar doing a Southern politician who was called
Counselor Cartenbranch who would say in a big voice
"That's a joke son!" The Counselor was a Democrat and the
sponsor was a Republican, so he threw the Counselor off
the show. The other was Parker Fennelley playing a
 crotchety old New Englander of few words. The sponsor
didn't like him either.

  Fred Allen called  up before the start of his season
and asked, - Are you going to use these characters? Alan
Young's manager said,  - No, they're kicked off the show.

   So Fred Allen took them and they became Senator
Claghorn and Titus Moody still played respectively by
Delmar and Fennelley. These two characters helped
catapult Allen's show to the top of the ratings.

   The Claghorn character became immensely popular. The
Warner Brothers cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn was
perhaps the most famous imitation. Warner Brothers
copyrighted the Foghorn Leghorn character and in later
years Delmar commented, "in order to do Claghorn, I had
to ask permission from Warner Brothers."

Sources:
Mr. Ed and Me by Alan Young
On The Air by John Dunning, and
a 1999 conversation  with Alan Young.

Signing off for now,

Stewart Wright

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 14:12:23 -0500
From: OTRDSIEGEL@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  RE:  Forgiving Errors

   Yes, we are all human and subject to making errors. I am certainly guilty
of memory loss on occasion.
    HOWEVER, when one posts frequently and appears (by the tone of his
messages, to be somewhat of an expert on OTR)it would seem that there is a
slight obligation to be accurate or to be willing to accept the consequences
of frequent miss-staements.
   Our readership is mixed. There are some true OTR veterans among us. There
are some scholars in our midst. There are some folks who post frequently and
have valid contributions to make. There are also a good number of folks whose
knowledge of OTR is limited and who, if miss-information is not corrected,
will surely suffer because they will accept such miss-information as fact.
   Share your memories with us. When such mermories purport to be factual
data regarding the history of OTR, take the time either to research your
comments or to advise us that your comments are subject to the vageries of
your memory.
    Thank you.
    Dave Siegel

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 14:33:49 -0500
From: Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Remotes, Morgan, Truth or Consequences

Re Minnie Pearl and Rod Brasfield:

In 1955, I was quite startled to realize that Pearl and Brasfield stole
jokes from the major comedy shows that aired earlier in the week. How, I
wondered, did they get away with this? Years later, I decided it may not
have been theft at all: Perhaps they were sold the jokes by writers who
never told them the sources -- or maybe they heard the jokes three or
four steps removed (with the sources being dropped in the retellngs).
Does anyone have any information about the Pearl and Brasfield routines?

Re music remotes:

Please! More Murtough tales of radio music remotes! It would also be
nice to find more dance band remotes on
[removed]

Re Alfred Newman and Alfred E. Neuman:

Yes, the MAD use of the name Alfred E. Neuman was inspired by the Henry
Morgan radio show, but when did Henry Morgan begin making references to
Alfred Newman? Unfortunately, his 1994 biography, HERE’S MORGAN, has
very little about his radio show. I’ve always wondered just what
Morgan’s joke about Newman was. Did it have anything to do with the
fact  that Laird Cregar portrayed pirate Henry Morgan in THE BLACK SWAN
(1942), a film scored by Alfred Newman? At the other end of the
chronology, Henry Morgan was a contributor to MAD.

Re TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES:

Phyllis Eileen Banks chronicles events in Truth or Consequences, New
Mexico: [removed]

Photograph of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico:
[removed]

My coverage of the movie TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, [removed] (1997):
[removed]

1950 photographs of Victor Mature, Ralph Edwards and TRUTH OR
CONSEQUENCES: [removed]

Bhob @ FUSEBOX @ [removed]

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 15:15:32 -0500
From: PGreco2254@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Memory Mistakes

Hi,

   I have been reading the last couple of days about otr fans remembering
things about
what they thought their  heard on some of their favorite radio shows. Of
course someone  comes very quickly to correct. I know this is the right way,
but sometimes I feel the myth is more warmly remembered then the cold hard
truth. I know alot of books are put down by the "experts" as being filled
with inaccuracies, but you know what I think alot of us really want to
believe theses inaccuracies. I myself remember certain things which may or
may not be the truth,, but I am still able to enjoy the shows. I think thats
the main [removed]

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 15:59:55 -0500
From: Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Expressing Truth in Love

OTR is a joy, and the OTR Digest is a source of greater appreciaton of the
joy we all share.

Perhaps, as we share and respond, it would be good to remember the advice of
Mr. Kallis, Jr. who, as I recall, some time ago suggested that contributors
remember to use phrases like "In my opinion" when appropriate.  Ben
Franklin, as I recall, gave the same counsel.

Yes, facts are facts, but a fact can be pointed out with tact.  In fact, a
good definition of tact, in my opinion, is:  "Tact is the art of making a
point without making an enemy."  A Biblical phrase would also be appropriate
to apply, namely, "speak the truth in love."

The Digest is not intended to be, as far as I can determine, a scholarly
journal, but I'm sure all would agree that truth, study, experience, and
accuracy play key roles here on varying levels for various contributors.
Equally important, however, are tact, graciousness, kindness, and mutual
respect from everybody involved with this wonderful OTR Digest from top to
bottom (me!).

Another circumspect  guideline for professionals and laypersons alike might
be -- again a Biblical precept --  to "correct ... and encourage with great
patience and thoughtful instruction."  As a professor for some 37 years at a
fine state university, I found that to be sound advice.

The OTR Digest is truly a joy and blessing.  May we all help make it ever so
by expressing truth, as we see it, in love and graciousness.
Duane Keilstrup

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 17:07:22 -0500
From: "Robert Everest" <erest@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:Reporters and Books

Some years ago I found in the local library a book by Howard K Smith if my
memory serves me.
"Last train from Berlin" tells of Smith's time as reporter in Berlin in the
months before Pearl Harbour.
He was on the last train to cross the Swiss border before the Germans
declared war on the US.  My main
 memory is of the press conference in the foreign ministry shortly after
Germany invaded Russia.


Rob

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 17:07:20 -0500
From: "J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  two 'missing' episodes?

While I'm certain Jerry Haendiges is not perfect, his logs are an awesome and
welcome sight on the web.  And, if he shows a program as being 'missing', it
usually is.  However, last night while gleefully cruising Napster, I came
across two programs considered missing.  The files were not dated -- but, they
were both obvious airchecks.  And, I figured the files may have been shared by
the person who owned the airchecks -- oblivious to their 'missing/lost-show'
status (at least, in Jerry's logs).

The two files I found were from Mercury Theatre's 1942 comeback following the
program being dropped by Campbell (Campbell Playhouse).  The newer incarnation
was sponsored by Lady Esther Cosmetics.  Anyhoo, the shows are:

	"The Apple Tree" (January 12, 1942)
	"My Little Boy" (January 19, 1942)

both of which are listed as 'missing' in Jerry's logs.  Question is, are they
"really" shows thought lost -- or is it just a gap in what Jerry has access to?

[removed]  I also found a couple of shows from Mercury Theatre's 1946 incarnation
(Mercury Summer Theatre), both clearly obtainable in Jerry's logs:

	"The Hitchhiker" (June 21, 1946)
	"The Search For Henry LeFevre" (July 12, 1946)

All shows were pretty-fair-sounding 32kbps MP3s.

Regards,
J. Alec

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 18:15:00 -0500
From: Osborneam@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  All-Star Western Theater blooper

Was listening to an episode of All-Star Western Theater today.  The episode
is titled "At Sundown" and starred Alan Lane.

A ranch hand stops a "kid" putting up a fence and is talking to him in a
threatening way.  The blooper comes when the heavy says "This fence is
comin' down.  Then there'll be signs posted.  And the first one of your men
that
trespasses on this property takes his hands in his life".

I nearly fell off my chair.

Arlene Osborne

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 18:35:44 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: "Take it away, [removed]"

Vince Long wonders,

 Does anyone know
the source of a catch-phrase that is someting like "Take it away Rosedale."

I suspect this may have originated from "Station E-Z-R-A," also known as
"Uncle Ezra's Radio Station," a mid-1930s quarter-hour comedy/country
music/quaint old-time philosophy program featuring Pat "Uncle Ezra"
Barrett.

Uncle Ezra was a loveable-old-coot character performed by Barrett on the
WLS National Barn Dance, and subsequently spun off into his own program
in which he was the proprieter of his own radio station, "the powerful
little five-watter down in Rosedale." For most of its run, "Station
E-Z-R-A" was heard three nights a week in various early-evening time
slots, and was sponsored by Miles Laboratories, for Alka-Seltzer, the
same concern which presented the hour-long network portion of the Barn
Dance on Saturday nights.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 19:34:52 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Rosedale

((I received a question via my website that has stumped me.  Does anyone know
the source of a catch-phrase that is someting like "Take it away Rosedale."))
I'm not sure if this is what they were thinking of, but I believe that Uncle
Ezra had a catch phrase about "the powerful little five-watter down in
Rosedale."  I borrowed in when I worked at a community radio station in
Michigan, which I referred to as "the powerful little five hundred-watter
down in Grand Rapids."

Please don't yell at me if I'm wrong.  That's just what I remember (and I
don't have my OTR books here at the moment).

--Laura Leff

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 20:51:32 -0500
From: "Doug Leary" <dleary@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Town of Truth or Consequences

The town was formerly known as Hot Springs until its name was changed in
1950 in honor of the game show. Quoting from the town's website:
[removed]
-----
The game show Truth or Consequences was about to celebrate its 10th
anniversary in 1950. The show reached high popularity and Ralph Edwards
wanted to celebrate. One unique idea was to find a town in America that was
willing to change its name in honor of the show. Among several others, Hot
Springs was chosen partly due to the hot mineral baths. The soothing hot
water already had a reputation of helping sufferers and the rehabilitation
of crippled children.

"Like the show, the city had the inclination and the place for recreation,
and the desire and means of helping one's fellow man."--Ralph Edwards

The final vote favored the name change 1,294 to 295.

On April 1st, 1950, Hot Springs New Mexico became the city of Truth or
Consequences.
-----
end of quote
Doug Leary

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 20:51:29 -0500
From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  THE LONE RANGER

Interesting to hear from Dan Hughes'  recollection of his daughter playing
"the little girl"  on Fred Foy's lead role as The Lone
Ranger at the Cinci convention.
Yes, I produced the album "Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch" with Fred, and we
have some still available, as well as the vintage show itself of Fred as the
Ranger.  Write me.
Tom Heathwood / Heritage Radio Classics
[removed]
Heritage4@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 21:35:27 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  WWII Correspondents

Robert Paine ponders:
 >>>One aspect of that war has, I feel, been either overlooked or given little
attention - the contributions of the Allied radio networks and print media
and the correspondents that served both. <<<

You might want to check out the Newseum in Washington DC.
[removed]
which is focused specifically on the news and newsmen. However, it's
on-line web site is not much in depth and even its physical location is
more geared to television.

On a more in depth study, you might want to look for and purchase two
volumes from the Library of America called "Reporting World War II" Part 1
covers 1938-1944 and Part 2 covers 1944-1946. The books include writings of
many members of the press and broadcast field in their coverage of those
periods, even including some photojournalism. The books are not cheap -
approximately $[removed] each though sometimes you can find them reduced, but
they are very quality books as are all of that publisher's editions.

Reading these gives one a good sense of the war coverage through the eyes
of these newsmen in their own words.

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 22:56:33 -0500
From: "Ron Vanover" <vanoverr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Unshackled

For those who requested access to this drama, I've rotated more episodes
onto my I-Drive site.
Feel free to visit and download any or all at [removed] .  Log onto as
a visitor by entering
"vanoverr".

I plan to replace these episodes in 2-3 weeks with a final group of
programs.

Ron

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

Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 09:58:51 -0500
From: Cnorth6311@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  1st US radio broadcast

1930 - 1st US radio broadcast from a ship at sea. Does any one know what this
broadcast was?

Charlie

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

Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 10:01:24 -0500
From: Jshnay1@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Reporting World War II Books

Eric Sevareid's autobiography "Not So Wild A Dream" contains a great amount
of information arbout WWII coverage. And as all you Norman Corwin fans must
know, the title comes from  the closing prayer in Corwin's opus maximus " On
a Note of Triumph"---

"Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit from
postponing it pretend"

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #97
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