Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #113
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 3/13/2003 4:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 113
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Re: WU Clocks                         [ "jay ranellucci" <otrfan@[removed]; ]
      L:os Angeles pronunciation            [ "jay ranellucci" <otrfan@[removed]; ]
      Free Radio Shows                      [ otrdigest@[removed] ]
      Old Talk Shows                        [ "jay ranellucci" <otrfan@[removed]; ]
      Ozzie & Harriet on Monday             [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      more Currency Notes                   [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Hotbreath Houlihan                    [ "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@earthlin ]
      Orphan Annie and Joe                  [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      Re: Aimee Semple McPherson            [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
      Re: Why A&A?                          [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Network Clocks                        [ "Randall F. Miller Jr." <rfmillerjr ]
      Lawrence Salerno                      [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
      $1,000 Bill                           [ "Steve Thoburn" <scthoburn@adelphia ]
      I've received a strange question      [ Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed] ]
      Re: M*A*S*H                           [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
      Re: Orphan Annie CD Set               [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 17:57:35 -0500
    From: "jay ranellucci" <otrfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: WU Clocks

    In issue #109 Bill Orr told of how Western Union clocks were synchronized
    all around the country and in issue #110 I told how the reset the clocks
    from daylight savings time to standard time.
    Now if Bill could refresh my memory how did they move the clock ahead
    one hour?  I'm sure there must be a simple answer. I know I don't know
    how it was done.      Jay

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

    Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 17:57:57 -0500
    From: "jay ranellucci" <otrfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  L:os Angeles pronunciation

    I seem to remember 1947 was the year the pronunciation of Los Angeles
    was standardized.  I think it was the Southern California Association of
    Broadcasters that decided to Anglicize it and all the member radio stations
    of the association agreed to use just the one pronunciation.
    Maybe some of the people on this list who were in [removed] at the time can
    correct and or clarify this.       Jay

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

    Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 17:58:04 -0500
    From: otrdigest@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Free Radio Shows

    A good site with free radio shows is
    [removed]

    Andrew Steinberg

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

    Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 17:58:22 -0500
    From: "jay ranellucci" <otrfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Old Talk Shows

    Speaking of old talk show does anyone remember listening to the Night
    Owl show with Ben Hunter on clear channel KFI 640Kc?  In [removed] it came on
    around midnight  to about [removed]
    I remember listening to Ben getting calls from all over the [removed] This was
    back in the 1950's   Also around this time I believe there was similiar show
    originating from Denver.  I don't remember the name of the show exactly,
    maybe the Lamplighter.  But they had a newsletter I think that they called
    "The Wick'.
    The nice thing about these talk shows was they were friendly and
    neighborly.  Not antagonistic like some we hear these days.
    Also I remember engineering one of Joe Pyne's syndicated talk show
    where he's interviewing a chiropractor in the studio.  Interviewing is an
    understatment.  It was more like lambasting the profession.  But after the
    broadcast when the mikes were off he told the chiropractor that he goes to
    one all the time.   What some people do to create a broadcast.

    Jay

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

    Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 18:54:59 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Ozzie & Harriet on Monday

    For anyone who has the Mystery Channel (that wonderful channel that shows
    uncut mystery programs without commercials and in beautiful quality), part
    of the Starz! Superpak, may I suggest you tune in Monday evening when at 6
    pm, EST, they will be airing the episode of NIGHT GALLERY entitled "You Can
    Come Up Now, Mrs. Millikan" which starred Ozzie and Harriet as a pair of
    half-witted scientists attempting to create immortality with slick results.
    I myself have been recording each and every episode of NIGHT GALLERY since
    they began reairing them last month and they are almost through.  I have
    been handing the tapes to my younger sister over the past weeks who has
    gotten hooked on the program.  OTR fans stay tuned!
    Martin

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

    Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 18:56:00 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  more Currency Notes

    Joe Cline wrote:

>     Currency notes of denominations above $100 are not available from the
>     Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve System, or the Bureau of
>     Engraving and Printing. On July 14, 1969, the Department of the Treasury
>     and the Federal Reserve System announced that currency notes in
>     denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 would be discontinued
>     immediately due to lack of use. Although they were issued until 1969, they
>     were last printed in 1945.

    This is very true.  A kind of off-the-topic subject - if people mistook the
    bills redesigned a couple years ago as Monopoly money, and hesitated at
    first to receive them believing they were fraudulent, get ready for a new
    look.

    As of this autumn, a new $[removed] bill will be released in circulation
    redesigned and this time in mutliple colors.  Just like much foreign
    currency, the $[removed] bill is going be have more than green and black.  (The
    reason they are starting with the $[removed] is obvious - the $[removed] bill is the
    denomination counterfeited more than any other.)
    Martin

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

    Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 18:56:28 -0500
    From: "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Hotbreath Houlihan

    I remember Hotbreath very well.  Her opening line was always
    "Relax, boys.  It's Hotbreath Houlihan."  I remember her voice and
    that sexy way she announced her presence.  My shaky recollection is that she
    was a character for some time on the Bud Abbott-Lou Costello program and
    that they were the "boys" she spoke to.  But I remember very clearly that
    Lou Costello's girlfriend was Bessie Mae Mucho.  I think the gag about
    Bessie was just her name, a joke that
    a present day audience wouldn't get.

    Harry Machin, Jr.

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

    Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 19:29:03 -0500
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Orphan Annie and Joe

    My introduction to the Annie program was through the wonderful Radio Archive
    5-CD collection.   That led me to want to learn more about the program on
    the internet.

    I was pleasantly surprised to learn that at one time Mel Torme played the
    part of Annie's good friend Joe.   I had no idea that Mel was a child actor.

    Doug Leary wrote that Florence Halop was 'Hotbreath Houlihan' on Jimmy
    Durante's program.    He also mentioned that she had numerous roles on TV.

    The one that I remember the most was her role in 'Night Court' which was
    wonderful.   She was part of the original cast and died while still
    appearing on that program.

    And to complete my free association, anyone who watched "Night Court" will
    probably remember that Mel Torme was the Judge's favorite singer, [he had
    his picture in his chambers] which eventually resulted in Mel's appearing on
    the show a few times.

    Back to the original discussion.    Does anyone know if tapes of 'Annie'
    when Mel Torme played Joe are around?

    -Irene

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

    Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:50:59 -0500
    From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Aimee Semple McPherson

            Here is a sidelight regarding Aimee Semple McPherson and her radio
    station.

            This comes from an interview tape I have of radio actor Doug Young.

            Doug was enrolled in a radio school. The school would teach people
    how to a radio actor, an announcer and such.  The school that Doug was
    enrolled in had an arrangement with Aimee Semple MacPherson for the use of
    her radio station.  The school and its students could use the her station
    once a week to air radio dramas to give the students experience.  There was
    a stipulation that a religious aspect relating to God or the church had to
    be worked into the plot line of each show.

    Signing off for now,

    Stewart

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

    Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:51:06 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Why A&A?

    On 3/12/03 5:08 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     When I listen to the shows now I'm amazed at what the show has to give. I
>     know that Ms. Elizabeth McLeod loves A&A more than anyone, and If you would
>     Elizabeth, would you share with us why this show means so much to you.
>     If you do not wish to do so that's cool.

    Well, I got into studying the program out of curiosity: as I've mentioned
    before, I spent a lot of time growing up around my grandparents, who were
    scarred for life by their experiences during the Depression. And one of
    the things that kept that generation distracted was the original "Amos
    'n' Andy."

    I listened to some of the half hour shows, in reruns broadcast in the
    late 1970s, and I didn't really understand what the whole phenomenon had
    been about. And all of the OTR books available then tended to repeat the
    same shallow stories about the movie theatres and the water use and
    George Bernard Shaw without ever really explaining what it was, exactly,
    that captured the nation's attention about the program.

    One of the Depression lessons my grandmother taught me was "You can't
    depend on anyone in this life to do anything for you. If you want
    anything done, you better do it yourself." So, I took that advice to
    heart, and began doing my own research.

    The turning point came when I read the original scripts for the entire
    first decade of the original series -- over 2500 episodes worth. And then
    I understood: "Amos 'n' Andy" as originally configured was not a comedy
    program. It was a day to day, real-time chronicle of a small group of
    working-class people desperately trying to maintain their confidence and
    trying to push forward in spite of a crippling economic crisis. Often,
    what happened to them had humorous overtones -- the sort of humor anyone
    can find in the vagaries of daily life -- but the stories could also be
    painfully tragic. (Few things I've ever read ever affected me as much as
    Amos's grief when he thought Ruby Taylor had died of pneumonia.)

    But the characters *survived.* They never gave up. And they kept the
    really important things in mind -- above all, the original "Amos 'n'
    Andy" was a story of evolving personal relationships -- emphasizing that
    honest friendship is the most important posession anyone can have.

    Correll and Gosden captured the essence of ordinary, everyday life among
    the working class better, I think, than any other authors who ever worked
    in radio -- one intellectual critic of the early 1930s praised their work
    as "a bit of life as simple as a folk song."  Their characters grew,
    changed, progressed, *lived.* There were births -- and there were deaths.
    And even today, squinting at the pages on a microfilm screen, there's an
    uncanny sense of realism as the events unfold -- the characters in the
    serial had a sense of genuine emotional substance that was all too rare
    in radio.

    For me, the only program that even comes close to the depth of the 1930s
    "Amos 'n' Andy" is "One Man's Family" -- but because of the economic
    conditions which surrounded my own childhood, I find it *much* easier to
    identify with the struggles of A&A's little group of Harlemites than with
    the upper-middle-class doings of the Barbours.

    There's a lot more I could say -- but I've already said it at my website.
    And that's where I'd refer anyone wanting to learn more about who Correll
    and Gosden really were, and what they really accomplished:
    [removed]~[removed]

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:51:44 -0500
    From: "Randall F. Miller Jr." <rfmillerjr1@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Network Clocks

    National Public Radio still uses the Naval Observatory Master Clock for it's
    network standard.
    When traffic is light they put the audio on the satellite on one of the
    unused channels.

    --- Randy Miller
    Senior Engineer WITF-TV/FM & Radio Pennsylvania

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

    Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:51:51 -0500
    From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
    To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lawrence Salerno

    Nope, not related to me as far as I know. My grandfather's brother did live
    in Michigan, he died in 1957 or so. I have always been told that our few
    distant relatives were in California, but they are also no longer living
    (Victor Borge joke: they are still dead).

    There was also an accordionist named Frank Salerno, who recorded about 4
    78-rpm sides, but I have no reason to believe he was related. Salerno is a
    common name in Sicily (I'm told, never been there). My grandmother's maiden
    name was Salerno before she married my grandfather, so she didn't have to
    change her name, only her salutation.

    Joe Salerno

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

    Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:52:52 -0500
    From: "Steve Thoburn" <scthoburn@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  $1,000 Bill

>     >From [removed] Digest V2003 #112

>     [ADMINISTRIVIA: A beautiful photo of a $1,000 bill (front and back) can
>     be seen at:

>     [removed]$[removed]

    Thanks.  Now, if I could just borrow a color laser printer for a day or
    [removed]

    ;-)

    Steve Thoburn   scthoburn@[removed]
    Streamload ID:               scthoburn

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

    Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:53:30 -0500
    From: Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  I've received a strange question

    A Canadian asked me the following question, which I cannot answer.  I'm
    hoping
    that someone from this list can come up with the answer.  I guess Fibber
    and Molly
    must have run on Sundays.

    - ----
    Not sure if you can answer my question, but I hope you can.  When I
    was around 5 - 6 years old, Sunday nights were a special time I spent
    with my Dad.  Mom worked Sunday nights, my older siblings were off doing
    their thing, and Dad and I listened to Fibber McGee and Molly and Jack
    Benny.  Why does the song the Shrimp Boats are a Coming also make me
    think of those long ago Sunday Nights?
    Thanks for your time.
    - ----

    I have no idea what the significance of Shrimp Boats Are A-coming would
    have
    to Sunday nights.

    Al Girard

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

    Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:53:39 -0500
    From: Ga6string@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: M*A*S*H
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Hi all,

    My two cents' worth, however belatedly, on the M*A*S*H thread: Apparently, Hy
    Averback, a frequent M*A*S*H director, was referenced in the radio
    "broadcasts" used in many of the episodes. Among them, you can hear him
    mentioned in the opening scene of "The Army-Navy Game," in Col. Blake's
    office, as part of a Bob Hope [removed] show, I believe. It's very subtle, but
    it's there.

    Of course, M*A*S*H paid tribute to plenty of "old-time" conventions along the
    way -- how many Marx Bros. gags do you think they copped, particularly during
    the first year or two?

    Regarding the thread of listening to M*A*S*H, versus watching it, indeed,
    I've dumped the audio from many of the early episodes onto cassette, and
    they're very enjoyable to listen to in that format. I often go to sleep at
    night listening to an episode. It's particularly pleasant if you have the DVD
    sets (seasons 1-3 are out now, season 4 due in July), because you can TURN
    OFF the laugh track on the DVD, which gives the audio a much more cinematic
    feel. Try it some time!

    Thanks,
    Bryan Powell

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
      ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

    Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:53:55 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Orphan Annie CD Set

    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];

>     The organ opening is fabulous. . . .  I'm always sorry when that
>     guy jumps in with the lyrics to the theme, pushing the organ into
>     the background.

    The package with my Annie CDs arrived last Wednesday just as I was starting
    my drive up to NYC to visit my daughter, so the programs got me from
    Kentucky all the way thru West Virginia, Maryland, just to the Pennsylvania
    border.

    Knowing that these were extension spotting discs, I was listening for clues
    of the true origin of the recordings.  I would think that anybody who
    listened to this set would realize that the opening and closing organ
    themes were all dubs of the same recording.  Western Electric recording was
    good enough that they could get away with it--and still have that full rich
    sound that Irene and others have noted.   But I couldn't help but wonder if
    some of the surface noise we hear especially on the closing theme is from
    the master disc World Broadcasting was dubbing from rather than the actual
    discs my pal Joe Salerno had on his turntable.  Because the fade outs on
    the CDs come so quickly after the last notes of available music, we are not
    able to tell if there is two sets of surface noise on the discs--but Joe
    would know because he heard the discs continue after the end of the music.
    How about it, Joe, where did the noise come from?

    About a year or so ago there were some comments about the announcer stating
    the exact starting time for the program despite it being syndicated via
    recording.  What if the station wanted to play it at some other time?  I
    might have info on this in my files but am too busy to look, but I suppose
    that the contract for the extension spotting might require it to be played
    at the precise established time, and on the proper day stated on the label.
    This would lead me to believe that this program was syndicated in the same
    form as were the Amos 'n' Andy programs in 1928 and early 1929--the
    programs were done LIVE at the originating station while the syndicated
    stations were playing the identical episodes that same day.  This REQUIRES
    that the recordings be made in advance--which would mean that these Annie
    transcriptions are NOT THE LIVE WGN BROADCASTS--if indeed the WGN
    broadcasts were live!  Were they?

    When Gosden and Correll left Chicago for a working vacation, from Sunday
    April 28, 1929 onwards, the previously live  WMAQ broadcasts were from the
    discs.  Perhaps the Annie programs on WGN were not live??  If they were
    live, was the organ and vocal themes done live??  Another thing I noticed
    was the horrid hollow reverberant sound of the studio the recordings were
    made in. Whether the scene was outdoors or indoors, there was this same
    wooden reverb off of the walls.  This leads me to think that these were not
    made in the WGN studios.  Anybody have any recordings of confirmed live WGN
    programs from this era for comparison?

    Another  clue as to how the recordings were made could have been gathered
    from the matrix numbers of the discs, but for some reason the First
    Generation Archive is not putting this information in the notation column
    of their website indexes.  This is surprising, considering the discussions
    we have been having over the years.  So guys, give us the list of the
    matrix numbers matched with the program numbers and air dates, and perhaps
    we might see a recording session pattern as we did with the Amos 'n' Andy
    discs.

    I've just printed out my 1936 Decoder Badge, so I'll get to work decoding
    the secret messages.  It is lucky that I did not have this last week while
    I was listening to the programs.  If you think it is unsafe to be using a
    cell phone while driving, imagine what it would be like trying to decode a
    message while driving at 70 miles per hour!!!!!  And don't think that I
    didn't wonder whether the concrete bridges I was driving over were safe or
    not!

    Michael Biel   mbiel@[removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #113
    *********************************************

    Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
      including republication in any form.

    If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
       [removed]

    For Help: [removed]@[removed]

    To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

    To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
      or see [removed]

    For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
      in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

    To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

    To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]