Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #127
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 4/9/2004 5:24 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 127
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Edward Pawley & Big Town              [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
      Joe Penner                            [ "Robert Curtis" <malibob@earthlink. ]
      Wayne & Shuster                       [ Mark Reesor <mrees@[removed]; ]
      Re: Jack Benny and Yhtapmys!          [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
      This Weekend with Walden Hughes       [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
      Folk Music                            [ Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed]; ]
      Greenberg and Sympathy Soothing Syru  [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Gene Klavan Obit                      [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
      Old Time Radio                        [ ADixon1621@[removed] ]
      Am. Hist. Rad. 101                    [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      Encyclopedia of Radio                 [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
      4-10 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      The Final Countdown                   [ "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed]; ]
      A Day in the Life LOG question        [ Christopher Werner <werner1@globalc ]
      Re: Colonial American Themes in OTR   [ Christopher Werner <werner1@globalc ]

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

    Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 20:50:13 -0400
    From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Edward Pawley & Big Town
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I hope you will be able to help the below requester.  I was not.
    Please reply to him directly, in addition to your posting on this
    Digest.

    Jack French

    PS: My new book, PRIVATE EYELASHES, has reopened the confusion between
    me and Jim French.  Three people have already written me, inquiring how
    I could take time away from Imagination Theatre and other west coast
    projects to write this new book. So to all concerned, Jim and I are not
    even related, in fact; we've never met.

    REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE

    I am writing a biography on Edward J. Pawley, an entertainer on stage,
    on radio, and in the movies.  I cannot  find any information about why
    he was removed in 1951 as the lead of "Steve Wilson" in the long
    running program, "Big Town." Walter Greaza apparently took his place
    and held the role until the series ended in 1952. Pawley's sudden
    departure after doing the role for about nine years is certainly
    mysterious.

    Anyone know why he was replaced?  Or can you point me in the direction
    of any source that might be productive?

    Bob Corder
    <RCorder91@[removed];

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

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

    Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 22:14:33 -0400
    From: "Robert Curtis" <malibob@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Joe Penner

    HELP!

    A dear friend and former boss would like to share some Joe Penner shows
    with his young bride.  Can anyone help me find some shows before he's
    revealed for what he really is - A GEEZER!

    Thanks,

    Bob Curtis

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

    Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 22:54:54 -0400
    From: Mark Reesor <mrees@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wayne & Shuster

    Jim Widner mentioned one of my favorite W&S sketches 'I was a TV addict'
    ("the story of a man's fight against the demon TV - based on the best
    selling novel 'I was a pusher for General Electric'") but he had the
    antidote wrong; the substitute he found for TV was rock and roll. This
    sketch had some great lines; my favorites: "I've got a 21" Philco on my
    back;" "hey mister, can I have 15 cents? 15 cents? Coffees only a dime.
    Who wants coffee - I want to buy a TV Guide!" and "then the room began
    to swim with the strangest creatures - mice, rabbits, ducks, squirrels -
    and then the awful truth dawned on me, I was having Disney spells!"

    Mark Reesor

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

    Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 23:49:44 -0400
    From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Jack Benny and Yhtapmys!

    During the 1940s and 1950s, there was a "popular" laxative (as popular as
    laxatives can be, at any rate) called "Serutan". The ads for Serutan went to
    great pains to remind listeners that "Serutan" spelled backwards was
    "Nature's" -- as in "Nature's laxative". Apparently, this was supposed to
    reassure the public that the laxative was as gentle as nature itself (this
    being decades before "When Animals Attack!"), though the "reassurance" was
    nothing more than announcers and singers endlessly reminding listeners of the
    wordplay on which the name was based.

    What it actually did was provide fodder for satirists and popular comedians
    alike for decades. Besides the Benny show's running "Symmmmmmm-pathy Soothing
    Syrup" gag, Harvey Kurtzman's "Mad" comics (and, later, magazines) often
    threw in a reference to a product being spelled backwards (or forwards, or
    even sideways) for a random comic effect at Serutan's expense, while Henry
    Morgan often ribbed a sponsor about its name or its product not spelling
    anything at all backward -- but that the product was still safe, regardless.
    Even into the 1990s, sports fans watching Chicago Cubs games would often be
    treated to the sight of perhaps the last entertainer still using the gag
    when, apropos of nothing, the late Harry Caray would try to pronounce a
    player's name backwards. (I say "try"; more often than not, Caray would be
    wholly unable to manage slurring his way through a player's name =forwards=.)

    Anyway, a brief history of Serutan and OTR can be found here:

    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 10:57:23 -0400
    From: BryanH362@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  This Weekend with Walden Hughes

    Live Streaming at  [removed]
    Friday , Saturday and Sunday  at 10:30pm EST   /  7:30  pm PST

    Friday 4-9-04

     A.  Interview with Vic Mizzy  (Vic's   web sit is [removed] )

    Saturday

    A.  interview with Frankie Lane.  A new interview celebrating hi 91st
    birthday.

    B.  interview with Herb Jeffries talking about is friend Frankie Lane.

     C.  part 2 of Martin Block interview with Doris Day

     D.  part 2 of the 4 part special celebrating Doris Day career on radio

    Sunday

     A.  Dr. Mike Biels talk about history of broadcasting in the 1920s and the
          style of announcers with sound highlights

     B.  Laura Leff shares her thoughts about the Jack Benny show of 4-4-37

     C.  Bill Bragg interview with Bob and Ray producer Larry Joseph.

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 10:57:50 -0400
    From: Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Folk Music

    As many of you know, back in 1964, I produced a feature film. Well, a few
    weeks ago, one of the singing stars of the movie contacted me. We worked
    out an arrangement where they are now selling the film on DVD.

    If anyone enjoys folk music, I think you will like to take a look at this
    person's web site and even read up on my old film.

    [removed]

    The above link will take you right to the area about the film, and then you
    can work your way back to see more about this singing group.

    As far as what this has to do with radio, I produced a series of shows that
    were recorded at a Coffee House right before I made the movie. In fact, I
    syndicated the program and sold it in Singapore.

    Fred
    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 10:58:23 -0400
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Greenberg and Sympathy Soothing Syrup

    My neighbor to the north, Irene Heinstein, writes:

>     I wonder if Laura Leff can help.  I know that 'Greenberg on Third' was at
>     least for one time the password to Jack's vault.    I also recall that when
>     Jack was tuning in the World Series on the radio he thought he had finally
>     found the station but when the announcer said 'Greenberg on Third' he
>     realized it was the previous year's series.  I too am curious as to its
>     origin.

    The answer to that lies more in the annals of baseball than of the Benny
    show.  The same line was used on at least one Fred Allen show, when the Mighty
    Allen Art Players borrowed a melody from Gilbert and Sullivan (or more
    accurately, from Sullivan) for "That's Why He Is an Umpire in the National
    League" that
    included the line, "I'm the guy who made Greenberg stay on third."

    I'm going to have to bow to those with more baseball knowledge, but to the
    best of my recollection, I believe that Hank Greenberg was on third base and
    tried to steal home.  While he could have done it successfully, the umpire at
    home plate ordered him to return to third base, which may have tipped the
    score
    and caused Greenberg's team to lose the game.  But don't put that in the bank,
    it's just based on memory.

>     The first is when Jack or someone will be tuning the radio and come
>     to a commercial for `Sympathy Soothing Syrup' being read by
>     Frank Nelson and with the word `sympathy' being drawn out and
>     overly emphasized. Jack will react and the audience will howl. It
>     could be that the audience is just reacting to Nelson's reading
>     coupled with Jack's visual, but I suspect that there is more that
>     I am missing.

    I think that this follows with any running catch phrase or beloved gag.  The
    Sympathy Soothing Syrup gag was done at least in late 1945 (Jack recycled so
    much that it's possible it might have been done many years later), and
    included
    an observation that "Sympathy spelled backwards is yhtapmys" and a jingle
    about "Yht-yht-yhtapmys".  On the December 16, 1945 show, this is interspersed
    with another running gag of Jack tuning the radio and repeatedly running into
    Sara Berner singing "Melancholy Baby" in a voice so nasal that it would have
    given Fred Allen a run for his money.  People howl at Mel Blanc's first "Si"
    in
    any Si-Sy routine, knowing the gag that is forthcoming.  I believe that the
    laughs at Sympathy Soothing Syrup are much the same.

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 10:58:43 -0400
    From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Gene Klavan Obit

    The announcement of the passing of a legend radio personality in New York
    broadcasting today. WNEW's very entertaining, morning drivetime host, Gene
    Klavan is gone at age 79.  He lived in Manhattan and was with 1130AM in NYC
    for 25 years.

    [removed];en=882a4c67ddbf
    e185&ei=5062

    The obit mentions that Gene wrote two books, one on his years with WNEW, the
    other on the news media.  Are they available in print?

    =Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 10:59:30 -0400
    From: ADixon1621@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Old Time Radio

    I enjoy the bulletins but I would love to find recordings of the programs I
    use to listen to as a child.  Programs like 'Straight Arrow, The Greatest
    Stories ever told, Tom Mix, Jack Armstrong, Terry and the Pirates, Lets
    Pretend,
    etc.  I could on but you get the picture.  Any help would greatly appreciated.
    Albert Dixon

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 11:17:55 -0400
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Am. Hist. Rad. 101

>     From: "robert kayer" <rkayer@[removed];

    ...are there any OTR programs available, fictional stories or in documentary
    form. that would illustrate what life was like in colonial [removed] I would
    guess that some episodes of "Cavalcade of America" might be a possibility <

    Good start; maybe Martin can chime in here? I know offhand that G. Washington
    was "Cavalcaded" at least once. Did LUX ever do DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, or
    any similar titles?

>     Last year we used episodes from 'Mr President' supplementing the
>     discussions of books on Andrew Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt. Not only
>     interesting, but resulted in a few new OTR fans, as well. <

    Also an interesting series. But if the course is a SERIOUS history survey, I
    would hope the fact is also discussed that programs from this era tended to
    "Disney-fy" events, and be hagiographic about people.

    If you ever get around to the Civil War, and if you're open to "N" -TR, you
    might be interested in Quicksilver's GOOD FRIDAY, 1865.

    Great project - good luck!
    -Craig Wichman

>     Thanks.

>     Robert Kayer

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 13:42:22 -0400
    From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Encyclopedia of Radio

    This is news to me, perhaps to others:  A three-volumn, Encyclopedia Of
    Radio reference source, comprehensively covering all of radio's history
    around the world is in print, 1696 acid-free pages (Routledge, December,
    2003) and priced at $[removed] ($[removed])

    Produced in association with The Museum of Broadcast Communications in
    Chicago. Christopher H. Sterling and Michael Keith, are the Editors with an
    extensive list of contributors who are scholars and experts.

    Looks impressive, maybe the local library has it.  There are sample pages at
    this site:

    [removed]

    (Usual disclaimer applies, just passing it along, FYI)

    =Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 18:31:15 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  4-10 births/deaths

    April 10th births

    04-10-1868 - George Arliss - London, England - d. 2-5-1946
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    04-10-1885 - Sigmund Spaeth - Philadelphia, PA - d. 11-11-1965
    commentator: "Tune Detective"; "Fun in Print"
    04-10-1902 - Mark Warnow - Monastrischt, Russia - d. 10-17-1949
    conductor: "We, the People"; "Your Hit Parade"
    04-10-1906 - Lilie Darvas - Budapest, Hungary - d. 7-23-1974
    actress: Madame Sophie: We Love and Learn/As the Twig is Bent"
    04-10-1910 - Peg La Centra - Boston, MA - d. 6-1-1996
    singer, actress: "Court of Human Relations"; "For Men Only"; "Gulden Melodies"
    04-10-1915 - Harry (Henry) Morgan - Detroit, MI
    actor: "Mystery in the Air"

    April 10th deaths

    02-08-1907 - Ray Middleton - Chicago, IL - d. 4-10-1984
    actor: Abraham Lincoln "Honest Abe"
    02-24-1890 - Marjorie Main - Acton, IN - d. 4-10-1975
    actress: "Columbia Presents Corwin"
    05-09-1923 - Byron Kane - VT - d. 4-10-1984
    actor: "Gunsmoke"; "Broadway is My Beat"; "Escape"
    06-30-1899 - Santos Ortega - NYC - d. 4-10-1976
    actor: Nero Wolfe "Advs. of Nero Wolfe"; Richard Queen "Advs. of Ellery Queen"
    10-11-1919 - Jean Vander Pyl - d. 4-10-1999
    actress: Kathy Anderson "Father Knows Best"
    10-16-1921 - Linda Darnell - Dallas, TX - d. 4-10-1965
    actress: "Hollywood Premiere"; "So You Want to Lead a Band"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    For a complete list:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 18:31:20 -0400
    From: "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Final Countdown

    Years ago, I watched a movie called The Final Countdown, about a military
    aircraft carrier that was somehow acccidently transported back in time to
    the day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  Of course, the
    characters involved wrestle with whether to use their military might to
    avert the Pearl Harbor disaster.  Right after the ship has been transported
    back in time, one of the ways they figure out what has happened is they
    listen to the radio and pick up a Jack Benny broadcast.

    Well, being an OTR fan when I first saw the movie, I immediately recognized
    the error, since Jack was a Sunday night show, rather than a Saturday night
    show.  And I chalked it up to Hollywood's dramatic license.

    Well, I bought the DVD version of The Final Countdown the other day.  I
    haven't had time to watch the movie yet, but I thought I would take out the
    disc and check it out for errors and such.  While checking, I thought I
    would see if the Jack Benny excerpt was one I recognized, since I have since
    heard a lot more Jack Benny episodes since when I first watched the movie.

    When I got to the part where they are listening to the radio, I knew
    immediately that not only had I heard the episode being used before, but
    that I had it in my collection.

    It was none other than the Dec 7th, 1941 broadcast discussed here a few
    weeks ago.

    Odd, that the producers would go to the trouble of locating that particular
    broadcast and use it, considering that the crew was listening on what I
    understand to be a Saturday night.

    [removed]

    Oh well.

    Bob

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 18:31:31 -0400
    From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  A Day in the Life LOG question

    A Day in the Life of Dennis Day has a few anomalies in the existing
    listings of available recordings that I would like some clarification on.

    The first program is listed as:

    Masquerade Ball 10/3/1946
    This is true for Jerry Haendiges, REPS (who calls it 'the first program')

    Radio Showcase, REPS, McCoys and SPERDVAC list Masquerade Ball as 4/18/1946

    McCoy lists the show of 10/3/1946 as "with Jack Benny"

    Since I don't have McCoy's DD1 tape to compare side 1 and 2 is the
    Masquerade Ball the audition episode from 4/18 and the 10/3
    episode  different, or is Jack Benny featured in both stories?

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

    The next problem is a program(s) entitled "Dennis becomes a drama critic
    (..and pans a local play)"
    Jerry H lists this as both 4/30/1947 and 8/27/1947

    4/30/1947 - JH only
    8/27/1947 - SPERDVAC, Radio Showcase

    Then, we get to the McCoys who list the show as 4/27/1947 - a typo - but in
    which direction???
    Does anyone have both of Jerry's recordings and can comment on whether they
    are identical plots???

    Thanks!

    Chris -- who wishes he were going to Cinci again this year :^(

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 19:09:03 -0400
    From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Colonial American Themes in OTR

    RHAC has the 'Leather Stocking Tales' of James Fenimore Cooper available.
    Both 'Deerslayer' and 'The Last of the Mohican's' are available as 13 part
    serials (15min/episode). It's fiction, but it depicts life among the Iraquis.

    Crime Classics has "The trial of Bathsheeba Spooner the first woman tried
    for murder in the US" and "The bloody, bloody banks of Fall River" of 40
    whacks fame.

    I believe there are some House of Seven Gables and House of Usher versions
    in Suspense

    Frontier Fighters has an episode about John Sutter and James W Marshall

    Cavalcade has episodes on "Declaration of Independance",  "Yankee
    Independence", "James Fenimore Cooper", "George Washington, the Farmer",
    "Pine Tree Shilling", "William Penn and the Holy Experiment", "The
    Constitution of the US", "Thomas Jefferson, Pioneer in Education",
    "Benjamin Franklin, First American Citizen", "Nathan Hale", "League of the
    Long House, the Iraquois", "Eliza Ann Brooks, the Pioneer Mother",
    "Washington and the Crown", "Dolly Madison", "Benedict Arnold", "Daniel
    Boone", "Thomas Paine", "Jane Addams of Hull House", "John Sutter", "Valley
    Forge", "Plain Mr President, the story of George Washington", "Voice in the
    Wilderness - Quaker leader William Penn", "A Passage to Georgia - James
    Oglethorpe", "Drums along the Mohawk", "The Gentleman from Paris -
    Lafayette", "A Continental Uniform - Benedict Arnold", "In this Crisis -
    Thomas Paine", "A Tooth for Paul Revere", "The Lady and the Flag, Betsy
    Ross", "I, Mary Washington - George Washington's Mother", "The Eighteenth
    Captain - John Paul Jones", "The Lightening Shadow - Thomas Jefferson", [removed]

    You are There:
    "Witchcraft trials of Salem, MA", "Burr-Hamilton Duel", "Philadelphia, July
    4, 1776", "Declaration of Independance", "The Ratification of the
    Constitution", "Lexington and Concord", "Bombardment of Ft Sumter",
    "William Penn Trial", "Boston Tea Party"

    That should get you started :-)

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #127
    *********************************************

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