------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 166
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
[removed] [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
Re: A&A Merchandise [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Re: Wendy Warren [ "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed]; ]
Mae West [ Randy Watts <rew1014@[removed]; ]
Re: Mae West 'Adam and Eve' scandal [ "W. Gary W." <wgaryw@[removed]; ]
"It's That Time Again" 2, "Harmon's [ "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@charter. ]
Daylight Saving Time [ <richard@[removed]; ]
5-15 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 15:21:05 -0400
From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: [removed]
In #165, D W Phaneuf wrote:
When night came, it was hit the sack, and
leave lights off to avoid creating a
target for night bombing.
I've often wondered about wartime blackouts. Here Phaneuf is referring to
English cities, but didn't they have blackouts in the US too? Was it just
coastal cities?
In both the US and England, if there were blackouts, and if the war plants
were running three shifts, how did people get to work? I realize there was
less car traffic and more public transportation in those days (buses,
streetcars, etc), but some people must have had to drive to work. Did
everything just shut down at night? How did people get around?
Curious,
-chris holm
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 15:22:06 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: A&A Merchandise
On 5/14/04 12:18 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
It was very old, with small pictures of two black men, one of whom wore a
cap emblazoned "TAXI." There was no reference to Amos and Andy anywhere on
the package. I suppose that the "Energy Candy Co." (what a splendid name!)
scooted around copyright considerations yet still capitalized on the Amos
'n' Andy craze. The rest of the box was decorated with a checkered pattern,
the alternate squares of which contained either a check mark or two check
marks.
There was tons of this sort of quasi-legitimate merchandising during
1930-31, as a direct result of a court case in which Correll and Gosden
successfully sued a manufacturer of unlicensed "Amos 'n' Andy" brand work
pants. The clothing maker had argued that C&G's trademark registration
applied only to the radio program or materials directly derived from it
such as books or comic strips -- but the court ruled that Correll and
Gosden had the right to enforce their trademark against any manufacturer
in any field who sought to exploit the A&A name without a license. With
that ruling in hand, they unleashed their lawyer and told him to clean up.
Prior to this case there had been a number of illegitimate A&A products
on the market -- cigars, soda, board games, novelty ashtrays, stationery
products, and similar dimestore culch, but once Correll and Gosden won
the work pants case, most of them were scared off. Those that remained
tended to try to cheat the law by changing the names of the characters
slightly -- "Amis and Sandy" was one variation -- or by avoiding names
altogether and using catchphrases and artwork reminiscent of the program
to get the point across. There were a number of "Check and Double Check"
products during this period, with the popcorn being one of the most
obvious examples.
As the first radio performers to understand the value of licensed
merchandising, Correll and Gosden maintained a policy of authorizing only
one manufacturer in any field to legally produce Amos 'n' Andy products
-- and they were very selective as to who got these licenses. They
generally dealt only with top-quality national firms, and in the
confectionery field the exclusive licensee was the Williamson Candy
Company of Chicago, best known as the makers of O'Henry. Williamson's
"Amos 'n' Andy" brand chocolate-coated vanilla wafer bar was sold from
1930 to 1937.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 15:22:35 -0400
From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Wendy Warren
Hello again --
I have to second Jim Cox; if Wendy Warren ever gave the news *after* her
drama, that is news to me!
I clearly remember that she shared the news reading duties with Douglas
Edwards, and the newscast usually took up the first four to five minutes of
the fifteen-minute serial. Mr. Edwards even had a small "acting" duty,
because as soon as the news broadcast-within-a-broadcast was over, Wendy
would say, "Goodbye, Doug" or words to that effect, and Doug would answer
"Have a good weekend, Wendy" and you would hear his voice fading out as
Wendy's high heels usually took her away from the studio and out onto the
street where her own adventures would pick up again from the previous day's
action.
I wonder how many other shows had this kind of gimmick framing the day's
adventures? I remember the daily visit to Aunt Jenny's sunny kitchen, where
she would spend yarns to the visiting announcer after she had sung the
praises of Spry (I believe). Can any OTRers recall other similar formats? (I
guess I would have to include The Whistler, The Clock, The Mysterious
Traveller, and Inner Sanctum among those other shows as well).
Cheers,
Jan Bach
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 15:22:49 -0400
From: Randy Watts <rew1014@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Mae West
I'm not defending her choice to perform the role
by any means, nor am I defending what the sponsors
chose to do as a result. This is all of the facts I
have on the matter. As far as I know, however, she
never appeared on any radio program after the ruling
was made.
Mae West made a guest appearance with Perry Como on
his CHESTERFIELD SUPPER CLUB broadcast of February 16,
1950, broadcast over NBC, according to a listing at
the website [removed].
Randy
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 15:24:03 -0400
From: "W. Gary W." <wgaryw@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Mae West 'Adam and Eve' scandal
A. Joseph Ross wrote:
The amazing thing about it all is that, listening to
the show now, it's really hard to see what the fuss
was about. She speaks in much the same way as she
speaks in the movies, but the dialog isn't raunchy at
all.
by coincidence, i've just finished reading a few mae
west bios, and from i can tell, the furor was much
more based on the fact that religion was being
"burlesqued" at all, in any fashion, and further, that
the broadcast was on a sunday night. i agree that the
sexual content was slight compared to, say, her early
movies "she done him wrong" or "i'm no angel", but
there were a few lines that raised my eyebrows (i wish
i had a copy handy so i could quote directly). the
idea of mixing *any* sexual innuendo of even the most
gentle sort with a bible story, on a sunday, no less,
was what created the furor.
i think that mae west was scapegoated because it was
clear to everyone that the part was purposefully
written by oboler for her particular style. virtually
all of the laugh lines in the skit that anyone could
possibly find offensive were hers (as always). her
style of delivery itself gave a sexual edge to most
everything she said, but it's perhaps less obvious to
today's ears than it was to listeners in the 30s when
she broke these sorts of taboos for the first time.
as i understand it, the ad agency and the network were
in serious hot water over this too, not just mae west,
but they successfully distanced themselves from the
whole mess by banning her from radio forever.
a similar outrage ensued over the release of west's
movie "klondike annie", which has very little sexual
innuendo in it (joseph breen had successfully reigned
her in by this point in her career). the controversy
was again almost totally over the idea that mae was
"burlesquing" religion, not primarily over sexual
content.
i find it fascinating to observe how the effect of
censorship on her career progressed as the years went
on.
--w. gary w.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 15:37:06 -0400
From: "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "It's That Time Again" 2, "Harmon's Galaxy"
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Jell-O:
I listened to "Wendy Warren" everyday for years, when I was home from school
on lunch break.
It was always as Jim Cox remembers it. It started with Douglas Edwards with
news headlines, and then "Wendy" with a woman's angle on the news. Then "Off
the air! I've got to rush to meet Steve for lunch. I hope he has some news
about Mrs. Porter's missing necklace -- something that will clear Edna." (A
hypothetical example.)
Of all the great things said about Jack French's book, "Private Eyelashes"
someone should complimentary the great symbolic cover illustration. It looks
like the cover of one of those old Dell "map-back" paperback mysteries. The
contents live up to the quality of the cover, of course.
I am still awaiting copies any day now of "It's That Time Again", Vol. 2,
edited by myself with stories by me on both Sherlock Holmes and The Avenger,
and featuring other stories by Jack French, Martin Grams, Richard Lupoff,
Barbara Gratz (my wife), and others. $15 from me, or various other sources.
One arrival from another publisher, Cosmos Press, is my science fiction
collection, "Harmon's Galaxy", also $15. The book has features of special
interest to old time radio fans.
The lead story, newly written in this young century, may remind some of
elements in I Love a Mystery. Another story, also fairly recent, concerns a
certain masked rider of the old west who lived on into the Twentieth Century,
and even in his senior years is aiding Elliot Ness in combating the enemies of
America. Many of the other stories will remind some of those on "X Minus
One".
I am sometimes said to have had a story on that series. Well, I did in a way
-- I had a story advertised on sale in the latest issue of Galaxy magazine,
then on sale. But I think a number of my stories would have been right at
home dramatized on that series.
-- Jim Harmon
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 16:37:31 -0400
From: <richard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Daylight Saving Time
With reference to:-
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 16:06:34 -0400
From: David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Eastern War Time
"Daylight Saving Time"
I was led to believe that here in Great Britain during WWII
the clocks going forward 2 hours was called "DOUBLE BRITISH SUMMER TIME"
and was intended mainly for farmers to be able to work longer hours in
daylight,
thereby increasing food production.
Richard Langham.
(Lifebuoy Soap)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 18:26:03 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-15 births/deaths
May 15th births
05-15-1890 - Menasha Skulnik - Warsaw, Poland - d. 6-4-1970
actor: Mr. Cohen "Abie's Irish Rose"; Uncle David "The Goldbergs"
05-15-1904 - Clifton Fadiman - Brooklyn, NY - d. 6-20-1999
emcee: "Information Please"; "Conversation"; "RCA Magic Key"
05-15-1905 - Joseph Cotten - Petersburg, VA - d. 2-6-1994
actor: Matthew Bell "Private Files of Matthew Bell"; "Mercury Theatre on the
Air"
05-15-1909 - James Mason - Huddersfield, England - d. 7-27-1984
actor: "James and Pamela Mason Show"; "Studio One"
05-15-1910 - Constance Cummings - Seattle, WA
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-15-1916 - Bill Williams - Brooklyn, NY
actor: "Eternal Light"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-15-1918 - Eddy Arnold - Henderson, TN
singer: (Tennessee Plowboy) "Checkerboard Square"; "Eddy Arnold Show"
05-15-1918 - Joseph Wiseman - Montreal Canada
actor: "Crime Does Not Pay"
05-15-1936 - Anna Maria Alberghetti - Pesano, Italy
singer: "Here's to Veterans"
May 15th deaths
06-23-1929 - June Carter Cash - Maces Spring, VA - d. 5-15-2003
singer: "Grand Ole Opry"
07-03-1903 - Wynne Gibson - NYC - d. 5-15-1987
actress: Amah "Thanks for Tomorrow"; Angie "When a Girl Marries"
07-14-1914 - John Laing - NYC - d. 5-15-1979
announcer: "Great Gildersleeve"; "Sealtest Variety Theatre"
09-03-1910 - Grace Matthews - Toronto, Canada - d. 5-15-1995
actress: Ruth Evans Wayne "Big Sister"; Margo Lane "The Shadow"
10-10-1908 - Johnny Green - NYC - d. 5-15-1989
conductor: "In the Modern Manner"; "Jack Benny Program"; "Man Called X"
10-12-1931 - Sam Buffington - MA - d. 5-15-1960
actor: Luke Slaughter "Luke Slaughter of Tombstone"
--
Ron Sayles
For a complete list:
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--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #166
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