Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #452
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 12/21/2003 1:49 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 452
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  dickens on radio                      [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
  Cryptological Premiums                [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Bud Collyer & Walter Winchell         [ howard blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
  The Walton's                          [ howard blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
  Not Gosden or Correl                  [ Richard Carpenter <sinatra@ragingbu ]
  Eternal Light                         [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  OTR Profanity, What have we learned?  [ Doug Berryhill <fibbermac@[removed] ]
  Re: Nice Philco Winamp Skin           [ "David Tower" <dtower@[removed]; ]
  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK               [ "Jerry Haendiges" <Jerry@[removed] ]
  Re: OTR Reality                       [ "Donald Skuce" <donskuce@[removed] ]
  Premium Thoughts                      [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Dickens on [removed]                     [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 01:22:27 -0500
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  dickens on radio

Don't forget The Man Who Liked Dickens.  Don't know if it was a suspense.
 Kurt

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 01:23:40 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Cryptological Premiums

A Joseph Ross, speaking of "decoders," notes,

BTW, Captain Midnight wasn't the only show to use that secret code
message gimmick.  Space Patrol did it briefly around the end of 1954,
beginning of 1955.  On both radio and television, they offered a boxtop
premium of a cardboard Rocket Cockpit, which was a cheap replica of the
Rocket Cockpit that figured in the current story arc (I have some of the
TV episodes on video.  Their Rocket Cockpit is NOT cardboard!).  One of
the things it had was a coder-decoder, with a simple number cipher.

Space Patrol offered what I consider to be one of the more intriguing
crypto premiums.  Besides the ROA Decoder Pins and the Code-O-Graphs,
there were several others.  Tom Mix had two that were really code rather
than cipher items (a Six-Gun badge and a set of buttons) and Sky King had
a Spy-Detecto Writer, with a cipher disk built in.  But Space Patrol had
a Decoder Belt Buckle as part of a belt premium. It had a
rocketship-shaped buckle element  with "Space Patrol" and a lightning
bolt emblazoned upon it.  On the reverse was a cipher disk.  As I've
observed to fellow crypto-premium collectors, it would be hard to
misplace, but deciphering using it would be a bear!

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 01:23:59 -0500
From: howard blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bud Collyer & Walter Winchell

In lieu of a critical biography of Bud Collyer (which I think would make
a fascinating read), there are three books which discuss him which may be
of interest to digest subscribers:

1.  "Those Wonderful, Terrible Years: George Heller and the American
Federation of Television and Radio Artists" by Rita Morley Harvey
2. "Fear on Trial" by John Henry Faulk
3. "Words at War" by yours truly

Also, speaking of interesting books dealing with radio personalities,
I've been reading a fascinating biography of Walter Winchell , WINCHELL
by Neal Gabler which I can recommend to those interested in the power of
the gossip columnists.

Howard Blue
[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 01:24:13 -0500
From: howard blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Walton's

As long as there is a thread regarding the Waltons, I want to mention
that Will Geer, who played the role of Grandpa in the series, did a lot
of radio in the 1940s.  My book, WORDS AT WAR, features profiles of him,
Burgess Meredith, Joe Julian, Fredric March, Orson Welles, Canada Lee,
Bud Collyer and other actors as well as similar sections about Arch
Oboler, Norman Corwin  and various other writers.

Howard Blue
see [removed]

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 01:24:43 -0500
From: Richard Carpenter <sinatra@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Not Gosden or Correl

After downloading the latest version of Winamp (and
finding the Philco skin recommended by a Digest reader
would not appear), I thought I'd test the player with
a CD-R of Amos and Andy shows. To my surprise, there
was an 11-minute selection called "Auditions for
30-minute show" (1943. The candidates for the
principal roles were not Freeman Gosden and Charles
Corell but Fred Carter and Stanley Green, then Emory
Richardson and Alvin Childress. What, I wonder, was
that all about?

[removed] Even without the Philco skin, the new Winamp
played great. Maybe I can't get the new look because I
have Windows 98, not XP.

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 01:25:45 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Eternal Light

The Torah reading this morning at services reminded me of an OTR story.  The Jewish 
Theological Seminary, which is the principal rabbinical school for Conservative rabbis, for 
many years sponsored a program on NBC on Sunday morning called "The Eternal Light."  

One day they were doing the story of Joseph in Egypt.  For the scene where Joseph's 
brothers have captured him in a pit, the director, thinking it would sound more spontaneous,  
told the actor playing Joseph to ad-lib for his brothers to get him out of the pit.  On live 
network radio, he ad-libbed, "Jesus Christ, get me out of here!"

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 11:01:31 -0500
From: Doug Berryhill <fibbermac@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR Profanity, What have we learned?

Digest members appear to belong to either one of two
camps on this issue. Please don't take offense, but
I've decided to call these two camps "The Priggish
Prudes" and "The Sons of Sea-Cooks".
You may be a "The Priggish Prude" if your grandfather
never allowed cursing under his roof. But if your
grandfather swore like a pirate, you may be a "Son of
a Sea-Cook".
You may be a "The Priggish Prude" if you enjoy "Family
Theater". But if you think "Family Theater" is
outrageous religious propaganda, to be avoided at all
costs, you may be a "Son of a Sea-Cook".
You may be a "The Priggish Prude" if you use the
phrase "rat's pattootie" while shamelessly plugging
your book about your days as a radio star. But if you
feel that such phrases are tortuous uses of the
english language and sound rediculous, then you may be
a "Son of a Sea-Cook".
You may be a "The Priggish Prude" if you think America
was a pretty good place to be born in the early to
mid-1900's. But if you feel that most Americans were
oppressed and suffered a great deal in their everyday
lives, and still do, then you may be a "Son of a
Sea-Cook".
Hmmmm. I guess there is a third camp you may fall
into. If you think that debates over censorship,
religion/religious programing, poverty/standard of
living issues, and prejudice were being hotly debated
throughout the golden age of radio, then you may fall
into this third catagory. Camp Number Three consists
of those of us in the hobby who actually listen to
these programs and take them at face value. Camp
Number Three realizes that shows like "Family Theater"
were produced by religious people, for religious
people. And shows like "Amos and Andy" and "The
Goldbergs" were produced by people who enjoyed ethnic
humor, for an audience who enjoyed ethnic humor. etc.
etc. And Camp Number Three appreciates the fact that
in America, broadcasters were free to create a diverse
body of programming, so that the Priggish Prudes AND
the Sons of Sea-Cooks of the nation could usually find
something on their radios that met their needs, as
well as something to complain about.
I guess I'll call camp Number Three "The Old Fools",
who foolish think that maybe someday Camps One and Two
will peacefully co-exist.
-FIBBERMAC-
[removed] I'd like to wish a very Merry Christmas to all
you Digesters out there in Camp Three,...also to those
of you in Camps One and Two who aren't offended by
such a greeting. :)

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 11:01:48 -0500
From: "David Tower" <dtower@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Nice Philco Winamp Skin
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Another fine Winamp skin for OTR is based on the rare and elegant 1936 Zenith
Stratosphere,  [removed]. This is a
very large skin that showcases the Zenith's gorgeous design and cabinetry.
For more on the Zenith Stratrosphere:
[removed].

David Tower

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

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 11:04:18 -0500
From: "Jerry Haendiges" <Jerry@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK

Hi friends

Here is this week's line-up for the week of 12-21-03 on my Olde Tyme Radio
[removed] Featuring Tom Heathwood's "Heritage Radio Theatre," Big John
Matthews and Steve Urbaniak's "The Glowing Dial" and my own "Same Time, Same
Station" broadcasts, being broadcast on demand 24/7 in high quality
streaming RealAudio at [removed]

Past archived broadcasts are also available there.

We look forward to seeing you there!

	Jerry

Here's this week's lineup:

SAME TIME, SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges

Christmas Special - Part 2

MR. PRESIDENT
Episode 131    12-25-49    "The Man at the Gate of the World"
Narrated by Edward Arnold

DRAGNET
Episode 30    12-22-49    "Twenty-Two Rifle for Christmas"
Stars: Jack Webb

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD
Episode 269 12-20-47 "No Room at the End"
Stars: Warren Parker as Jesus Christ

THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE
Episode 17 12-21-41 Christmas Gift for Fibber McGee"
Stars: Harold Peary
- --------------------------------------------------

HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE with Tom Heathwood

Annual Christmas Special

THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM
NBC - 12/50    "Christmas Shopping - Cuff Links for Don"

THE JIMMY DURANTE SHOW
NBC - 12-24-47    Guest: Margaret O'Brien

LUM and ABNER
CBS - 12-23-38    "The Baby Born in a Barn"
- -------------------------------------------------

THE GLOWING DIAL with Big John and Matthews and Steve Urbaniak

Spending the HOLIDAYS with Jack Benny and the Gang

THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM
NBC     12/11/1938     "Christmas Shopping In New York"

THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM
NBC     12/24/1939     "Christmas Open House At Jack's"

THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM
NBC     12/22/1940     "Christmas Shopping - Rochester's Missing"

THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM
CBS     12/7/1952     "Addressing Christmas Cards"

THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM
CBS     12/20/1953     "Cactus Christmas Tree"
- ----------------------------------------------------

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or requests for upcoming
shows.

            Jerry Haendiges <Jerry@[removed];

  [removed]  The Vintage Radio Place
  Largest source of OTR Logs, Articles and programs on the Net

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 11:04:54 -0500
From: "Donald Skuce" <donskuce@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: OTR Reality

"But don't forget that Powel Crosley Jr. came out with an affordable radio
in the late twenties that sold for only $20 when other radios were going for
over $100"

Powell Crosley Jr. is also the person most responsible for the broadcast of
Major League Sports on a wide level.  He hired (the immortal) Red Barber to
broadcast the Cincinnatti Redlegs baseball games in the 1930's in an effort
to "boost the sale of radio sets"!!  Other major league owners thought that
he was "nuts" for giving his product (major leage baseball) away for free.
Before Mr. Crosley, or anyone else for that matter, knew it, attendance was
increasing at Crosley field in a fashion that was totally unexpected.  The
theory is that the housewives of the period in area began listening to the
games and took an interest in the team.  They then encouraged their families
to attend the games.  Shortly thereafter, beginning with the three New York
teams, widespread free broadcast of major league games became common.

I hope that this counts as OTR information.

Don Skuce
donskuce@[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 11:05:27 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Premium Thoughts

Donald Price asks,

As a "young" lad in New Jersey during the late 1940s - early 1950s, I
well remember theexcitement of listening to the wonderful radio shows of
the era.    I really got excited when I had the opportunity to hear about
the wonderful things I could send away for, at the time, worth for me a
lot, but only usually only required that I include a  cereal boxtop and a
stamp ( and perhaps a few pennies ). <snip>   I still have some of the
boxes the items came in.    Perhaps some of the "expert persons" on this
site can comment and point to other reference sources.

Reference sources first.  The equivalent of Dunning's On The Air is Tom
Tumbusch's book, Tomart's Price Guide to Radio Premium and Cereal Box
Collectibles.  It was published in 1991, the very last of the Tomart's
radio premium guides.  It is, alas, out of print, but was published by
Wallace-Homestead; its ISBN is 0-87069-635-1.  It periodically pops up on
eBay.  The book is probably the most comprehensive, even including the
very obscure Wright Aerial Torpedo premium from the 1941 Captain Midnight
program. (Even Jove nods, though: it doesn't contain any Chick Carter
items, and the very first radio premium I ever sent for [with my mother's
help; I was seven] was a Chick Carter Inner Circle Seal.)

One might be cynical about radio premiums, but I'm not.  Not counting
Code-O-Graphs from the Captain Midnight show (which were equipment, not
premiums, to a Secret Squadron member), many of these showed an
incredible degree of creativity.  Some of the rarer items, such as The
Shadow Blue Coal Ring are just nostalgic, but a lot were quite
functional.  the Frank Buck Explorer's Sun Watch even had instructions to
compensate for latitude to get an approximately correct [Civil] time.
The Kix (aka Lone Ranger) Atomic Bomb Ring was actually a miniature
spinthariscope, with a terrific light show of nuclear alpha decay.

But outside of the creativity, premiums gave the listener a link to the
show.   Having a Jack Armstrong Dragon's Eye Ring served as a
psychological bond to Jack's doings in the Sulu Sea adventure.  The Aztec
Sun God Ring provided a link to a Captain Midnight adventure in Mexico.
The Lone Ranger Six-Gun Ring  provided the listener with a miniature of
those special revolvers The Lone Ranger owned.

Many of them were great toys.  The Jack Armstrong Shooting Propeller
Plane Gun enabled a child to "fly" something high over his or her head.
Most of the premiums were targeted to boys.  Upon reflection, some were
silly, such as the Tom Mix Signature Ring, which enabled the wearer to
authenticate Tom Mix' signature on some document or check.

Quite a few were luminous.  To a youngster, there was a touch of the
supernatural in things that glowed in the dark.  The Jack Armstrong ring
in the story was supposed by the natives to have some supernatural
powers.  But the Tom Mix Compass-Magnifier just glowed a spooky
blue-white.

Many of these items have lost some of their luminosity.  Those I have I
bathe in ultraviolet light; they fluoresce nicely.  Yet the Tom Mix items
in my collection have lost much of their vigor when compared to the Jack
Armstrong and Shadow premiums.  I'm not enough of a chemist to know why.

Many premiums show up on eBay, but often the seller knows less about the
items than the collectors.  Currently, there's a Captain Midnight Flight
Patrol Medal of Membership that's being advertised as a "Skelly Oil Jack
Armstrong" premium.  There are early television premiums that have been
identified as radio premiums, and dime store items that have been
advertised as radio premiums.  If anyone is looking for OTR items on
eBay, they'd better know their subject thoroughly, because not all the
dealers do.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 12:15:23 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Dickens on [removed]

Here is the URL for Famous Authors [removed]

[removed]

It lists by author many shows that are available from collectors, traders,
and dealers by most of the major authors and some minor ones.  Dickens is
represented by Christmas Carol and several other titles.  Once you locate
the title you want, then it's up to you to find out who has it.  I can offer
some of them in trade, and Frank Passage has many of them.

Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
OTR: [removed]

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #452
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