Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #28
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 1/26/2002 10:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 28
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      January 26, 1945                      [ Grbmd@[removed] ]
      Cincy [removed]                 [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
      OTR Convention                        [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      "Julius La Rosa Fired on the Air"     [ GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@ ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Sadye Marks                           [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      "The Bat"                             [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      Live broadcasts                       [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      Those (MYTHOLOGICAL) 50's             [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      Appeal of OTR or Audio Theater        [ Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed] ]
      Forgive my misspelling of Arthur      [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
      Godfrey's Last words to La Rosa       [ Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed]; ]
      Winnie, Norman, and the Goons         [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      johnny dollar comics                  [ "William Harper" <whhsa@[removed] ]
      [removed] District Attorney - Date         [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
      re: Internet as boon to OTR           [ "Ryan Hall" <pezman419@[removed]; ]
      Former Sponsors                       [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Listen! Is That a White Horse Approa  [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      RE: THE PEAK OF OTR                   [ "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:47:29 -0500
    From: Grbmd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: January 26, 1945

    Joe Mackey has been doing such a good job of excerpting "Those Were the Days"
    that I thought I would chip in with another excerpt.

    Since I ordered and received my copy of Herbert Hobler's book "And Now the
    News, 1945" I've been going through it day by day, reading a page a day so
    that I might relive each day of that year in the context of the time of year,
    weather, etc.  I was age 14-turning-15 that year, so some of Herb's excerpts
    I remember and others I'm just now coming to appreciate.

    Anyway, here's an excerpt that some radio fans may or may not recall:

    "In New York today radio engineers, including Major Edwin H. Armstrong,
    inventor of FM, are arguing the merits of the FCC proposed move of FM
    frequencies."

    As a dumb teenager at the time, I wasn't even aware of FM.  Does anyone on
    the Digest recall that pivotal FCC debate and decision?

    Incidentally, another excerpt from 1/26/45 is:

    "B-29's today from Saipan attacked Tokyo and destroyed or damaged 75 planes
    with a loss of 5 planes.  General Loris Norstad says fleets of B-29's will
    increase air strikes on Japan."

    Spence

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:48:14 -0500
    From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Cincy [removed]

    Okay, so I'm not hardly Bob Burchett, but I can tell you that this year's
    Cincy OTR Convention is April 18-19.  As far as I know, it's always the
    third weekend in April, and I have had this date confirmed by Mr
    Burchett.

    I'll leave the rest of the info to Bob, as I've told all I'm certain
    about.

    Hope to see as many of you as possible there!  I, too, am getting excited
    already!

    rodney.

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:48:38 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: OTR Convention

    Stephen Jansen asked about the Cincinnati OTR Convention.

    April 19 and 20, 2002.  Friday is 9 am to 9 pm, Saturday 9 am to 4 pm.
    The convention has an informal get-together where early birds show up on
    Thursday, usually about 6 to 9 pm.

    There are re-creations in one room, a dealer's room, and a dinner event on
    Saturday afternoon-evening.

    Held at the Radisson Hotel, 11320 Chester Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
    Hotel phone number is 513-772-1720
    When you make reservations (for those planning to spend the night), do
    mention that you are staying for the Old Time Radio & Nostalgia convention
    to the hotel staff over the phone.  A hotel room is pretty cheap there, $75
    for the night, single or double.

    If you planning on attending by yourself, you can easily find someone on the
    OTR Digest here, planning to attend, and can split hotel costs - hint, hint.

    Bob Burchett can be reached at 859 - 282 - 0333 if you have questions.

    If you live within a day's driving distance, the convention is worth the
    trip and highly recommended.  Lots of fun.

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:46:53 -0500
    From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: "Julius La Rosa Fired on the Air"

         I remember the night this happened, or rather the
    day after. I'd missed the Godfrey program that
    evening, for the first time in many weeks, but the
    next day people talked about about it on the public
    streets, in shops and stores, in my grade school, on
    the telephone.
         I was so disappointed that I'd missed this
    "important" broadcast,
         Fully 30 years later I obtained the soundtrack of
    the broadcast. Listening for the first time, I
    couldn't figure out how anybody'd get "firing" out of
    Godfrey's words. Godfrey merely stated that La Rosa's
    appearance on that's night's program was his last,
    because he was leaving to pursue an independent
    career. There was nothing "nasty-sound" about it at
    all.
         Yet the public perception of "fired on the air"
    had been INSTANTANEOUS.

         George Wagner
         GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:49:40 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Today in radio history

      From Those Were The Days --

    1947 - The Greatest Story Ever Told was first heard on ABC radio. It was
    the first radio series to portray the voice of Jesus Christ.

      Joe

    --
    Visit my home page:
    [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:49:34 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Sadye Marks

>     Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 10:44:10 -0500
>     From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];

>     1927 - Jack Benny married Sadye Marks on this day. You thought he
>     married Mary Livingstone, didn't you? You are right. Sadye changed her
>     name after she married the timeless comedian.

    As I understood it, Sadye didn't change her name, she was used on Jack's
    program in a role, as a Plainfield, [removed] fan named Mary Livingston.
    Eventually, "Mary Livingston" became a regular character on the show, and
    the name took over Sadye's own name.

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:54:00 -0500
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: "The Bat"

    Jim Murtaugh mentions "The Bat" in today's Digest  [1-26] as among the
    works written by mystery novelist, Mary Roberts Rinehart, arguably
    America's commercially most successful mystery writer of the early
    twentieth century.  Before she died in 1958, Edward R. Murrow interviewed
    her on "Person to Person;" he noted, for the record, that she sold more
    books than any other mystery writer.

    "The Bat" was originally a play authored by Rinehart and associate Avery
    Hopgood, based on Rinehart's most famous novel, THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE.
    That play then was rewritten and released  as a novel slightly different
    than THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE.   "The Bat" also was released as a movie
    featuring Agnes Moorehead and Vincent Price.

    Rinehart's main claim to fame is that she invented the HIBK ("Had I But
    Known"} school of mystery writing. Most critics disliked HIBK (a term Ogden
    Nash invented in his poem, "Don't Guess, Let Me Tell You,") because the
    narrator-heroine almost always retells a story of mayhem and how the crime
    could have been solved "if only"  some critical clue had been discovered.

    Like her or not, Rinehart was a giant of  her genre.  My question is, did
    she ever write for radio?  Certainly some of her novels may have been made
    into radio plays but I do not recall any.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:49:16 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Live broadcasts

>     Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 23:01:07 -0500
>     From: "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@[removed];

>     The networks did break these rules on occassion. I have a copy of a CBS
>     Admiral broadcast with a transcribed interview with WACs on Guam.
>     Interviews such as these were often scripted and then prerecorded for
>     security reasons.

    As I understand it, ABC broke the live broadcast rule somewhat earlier
    than 1949 with Bing Crosby.  And according to Robert Dwan's book about
    "You Bet Your Life," Bing paved the way for Groucho's show to be pre-
    recorded on ABC.  I'm not sure when Groucho left ABC, but by that time,
    the show was well-established, networks were competing for it, and pre-
    recording came as part of the deal.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:52:07 -0500
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Those (MYTHOLOGICAL) 50's

>     From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];

>     Kazan has been generally arrogant about his own misconduct during the
>     Fifties ... But, of course,
>     Kazan sold out people he knew on a first-name basis to HUAC in order to get
>     hundreds of thousands of dollars and a Warner Brothers contract, so why
>     should it surprise that he'd malign the reputation of someone he DIDN'T know?

    Yes, and I was fed this Standard Line at NYU in the 70's, too: "The folks on
    the Left side of the "McCarthy Years" were all White Knights, and those on
    the Right, Tools of Satan". Too bad it was more complicated than [removed] Read
    the more recent post-Soviet scolarship, including work by Eric Breindel, and
    (ex-Communist) Prof. Ronald Radosh - there was a lot of gray on both sides,
    and PLENTY of darkness on the Left. In fact, malignent lying was probably
    more a tool on that side; most knew full well that such as the Rosenbergs and
    Hiss were quite guilty as charged - but screamed the opposite with righteous
    indignation. WORSE, many still do, in the face of [removed] of evidence, to
    this day.
    -Craig Wichman

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:52:36 -0500
    From: Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Appeal of OTR or Audio Theater

    Bryan's point that
     >Personally for myself "The Theater of the Mind" has a great deal to do with
    the appeal of OTR.

    is very valid.  The pictures have all ways been better on
    the radio.  However it doesn't stop with OTR.

    Having recently watched the "Fellowship of the Rings"
    movie, my son and I both came away disappointed  because of the
    limitation of the visual. Having both experienced the "Lord of the Rings"
    as full production audio theater piece and read the books, the movie just
    didn't
    have the same appeal.  (The production values of the movie are great,
    just we both like our own interpretation of the story.)  Radio drama/
    audiotheater
    require the investment of the listener in the story and create a tighter bond,
    then the TV running in the background while you do other things at the
    same time.

      Henry Howard - moderator of  radiodrama@[removed]
    770 923 7955                   [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:47:41 -0500
    From: Jer51473@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Forgive my misspelling of Arthur

     Dont know why i do these things sometimes, but in my mind at the time of
    posting, Arthur was spelled A-u-r-t-h-u-r, sorry

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:51:13 -0500
    From: Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Godfrey's Last words to La Rosa

          Lee Munsick referred to Godfrey's praise of Julius La Rosa prior to
    his final song on the Godfrey show.  I think his final words also left the
    impression that Julius was getting a bit too big for his britches, Lee, but
    here's the segment in its entirety. OTR DIgest readers can make up their
    own minds.

    GODFREY: Now I want you to meet a young man named Julius LaRosa (long
    applause). Climb up here. It pleases me mightily whenever I see the
    reception that you give these kids and especially Julius here. Except for
    the McGuire sisters and LuAnn, who came after him, Julius is our youngest
    member, isn't he? Yeah. How long ago did you come?
    LA ROSA: It was November 13th, no November 17th, 1951. Be two years next month.
    GODFREY: Not quite two years.
    LA ROSA: Yes sir.
    GODFREY: Two years ago and that was about three years ago, then, when I
    first met you.
    LA ROSA: October 4th, 1950. (Laughter)
    GODFREY: When I first met Julie. I'll never forget when he first came up
    here and I said to him, uh, yeah I told him when he came up and did a
    couple of guest appearances with us if you remember--he was in uniform and
    I said "Well, when you get out of that man's Navy, if you don't want to
    stay in for 30 years, come on up here and I'll give you a job", and he took
    me at  my  word, and he came, and I put him to work and immediately
    everybody loved him and it always  has done my heart good to see that you
    people saw the same quality in him that I saw, which, if you have noticed,
    and I'm sure you have, is the same quality that I have in everybody in
    my  cast.  I pick them all that way. Sure he's got a good voice, but lots
    of people have good voices. There's something else that you like, which is
    a wonderful quality that it's hard to get. So, uh, I'll never forget when
    he first came here--went to work steadily--he said to me "Gee"-- you know
    how he used to say "Gee"--(laughter) "I don't know, with all those stars on
    the show" and I said to him"Julie, you don't know it but I don't have any
    stars on my show. In my show  we're all just a nice big family of very nice
    people like yourself and you hold on to that quality and you'll never have
    to worry about a thing.  You're just as big as anybody else. You just go
    on, try to improve yourself all the time, and one day you'll be the big
    star, see."  And this boy in two years time has done this.  In two years
    time he has--he and Archie have  their own recording company now--and he's
    gotten to be a great big name, and I would like Julie, if he would, to sing
    me that song called "Manhattan".  Have you got that? Huh?
    LA ROSA: Yes sir.
    GODFREY:  Sing me that .
    (La Rosa sings the song.)
    GODFREY:  Thanks ever so much, Julie.  That was Julie's swan song with us. etc.

         The rest, as they say, is history.  I know that Lee Munsick's book
    will help us to understand that history.
    Tom van der Voort

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:52:55 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Winnie, Norman, and the Goons

    From: "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed];

>     There have been a few mentions of recreated moments of history
>     for radio programmes recently. Did you know that several of
>     Winston Churchill's famous wartime speeches were actually
>     performed by actor Normal Shelley, famous years later as Dr.
>     Watson in the Carleton Hobbs Sherlock Holmes series in the 50s & 60s.

    I think this had come up here some time ago, but I do know that I
    mentioned this over on the 78-L last week in another context.  There was
    a news story about this here in the states on ABC-TV back in 1982, and I
    have an audiotape of it.  Then a few years later journalist Barry Fox
    got into a huge battle with EMI over what he felt was mis-attribution of
    Churchill recordings they had released on cassette.  EMI did not help
    matters by keeping their recording ledgers secret from Fox, but I think
    that I was able to clear up the question of why the voice sounded
    different on some of the recordings--Churchill had re-recorded a few
    speeches after the war for EMI as well as Decca.  But I think that it is
    clear that Norman Shelley was the voice on the wartime broadcast of the
    "We will fight them on the beaches . . ." speech.  I don't think he
    claimed to have done any others, but the story grew into the rumor that
    he had done a lot of them.

    And by the way, that is great news that some more early Goon Shows have
    been found, and we'll be looking forward to their legitimate restored
    release.  Has any more FILM ever been found, other than the short silent
    segment shown on the Peter Sellers documentary, and the published
    videotape of "The Last Goon Show Of All" (BBCV 6386  PAL system only)?

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:52:16 -0500
    From: "William Harper" <whhsa@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: johnny dollar comics

    Dear Folks:
    The people at Moonstone Comics are planning a Johnny Dollar book as well as
    a Bulldog Drummond, Boston Blackie and The Phantom.  You can contasct them
    at
    [removed]
    Bill

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 12:48:54 -0500
    From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: [removed] District Attorney - Date

    Looking for date for episode of NBC Bristol Myers episode titled  "The Case
    of Baby, Cradle, and All" starring Jay Jostyn.  Have found an ET copy (in
    only fair condition)
    which I will be working on, but cannot find log with date. The title is
    correct as verified by its mention on the show.  Maybe we will run it on the
    new Heritage Radio Theatre
    series (starts on Jerry Haendiges' OTR site along with his new show 2/3/02) on
    [removed] Jerry will be encoding at 30kbps for unprecedneted
    sound quality. Programs will change frequently, and we'll try to get as many
    OTR "originals"
    like the Mr. [removed] on as possible,  along with our guests, OTR news and other
    surprises. More info as I get it.
    Tom Heathwood - Heritage Radio Theatre - Heritage Radio Classics  - Boston
    1/25

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 13:37:03 -0500
    From: "Ryan Hall" <pezman419@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: re: Internet as boon to OTR

    I have to say that in my own personal experience, when I finally got hooked
    up to the internet, I was astounded that there were other people like me who
    liked OTR. I just sort of picked up the habit because I had an old record
    when I was a kid back in the 80s (I know, I'm a young geezer) which had an
    old radio show on it. Then I found some sherlock holmes OTR shows on
    cassette in the book store one time, and fell in love, but I thought for the
    longest time that I was only person in the world that enjoyed such, but even
    then I just thought of it more as a novelty than a real hobby.
    Then when I discovered the internet OTR realm with this digest and Lois'
    chatroom, and actually got to meet some people online like Harry Bartell and
    others, even the (in)famous Jughead. And what's more, I found a literal
    treasure trove of OTR shows that I had never even heard of, much less knew
    existed. And before I knew it, I had 100s, if not thousands of episodes at
    my fingertips. And as for computers and OTR, through MP3, I was able to
    listen to all these shows and not have rooms filled with cassettes or reel
    to reels.
    Well, enough about myself. Just thought I'd put my two cents [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 13:38:16 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Former Sponsors

    Walden Hughes mentioned OTR sponsors, which brings up a few items worth
    sharing.  Nick Carter, Master Detective, was sponsored by Old Dutch
    Cleanser.  Towards the end of the show's run, the formula was improved,
    so it was announced and labeled as "New Old Dutch Cleanser."  "New Old"
    sounded silly, so they renamed it "Dutch Cleanser."  Now it's Old Dutch
    Cleanser again.

    Ovaltine, which sponsored both Little Orphan Annie and Captain Midnight,
    was originally Wander Corporation.  It then was merged with Sandoz,
    creating Sandoz-Wander.  Then it became Sandoz, and eventually Novartis.
    However, though Novartis is the source of Ovaltine, it's distributed by
    Himmel Nutrition.

    Rexall, which sponsored Phil Harris-Alice Faye, evolved into Rexall
    Sundown, primarily a manufacturer of herbal remedies.

    Anyonwe else have backgrounds on former sponsors?

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 13:39:35 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Listen!  Is That a White Horse Approaching?

    Jim Knaggs, speaking of the appeal of OTR, notes,

>     Turn on your favorite OTR program, close your eyes <snip>, and you are
>     experiencing essentially exactly the same thing <snip> that a person
>     listening to that program was experiencing when they listened to it first
>     run in the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.

    Well, geezt!  Some of those folk are still alive! :-)

    But having lived through the period, I must gently point out you're in
    error.  There was a whole thing about listening to OTR back then.
    Usually, for family favorite shows, there was a major "living room"
    radio, and listeners would congregate there to listen to its shows.  But
    while people were listening, they almost invariably did so with eyes
    open, "multitasking" with some other activity like assembling a jigsaw
    puzzle, doing a crossword, or the like.  If there was a divergence of
    opinion on shows and there were multiple radios, then those with
    interests in specific programs might go to another radio to hear what
    they wanted.  But it was rare that any would have their eyes closed.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 23:57:12 -0500
    From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: RE: THE PEAK OF OTR

    To answer Jim Knaggs question as to whether OTR has reached its peak today.
    Having been around this hobby for the past 30 years, IMHO the peak was in
    the 70's when there were no less than 20 OTR Clubs around the country, both
    "mail-order" and  active meeting -wise clubs.  Now there are no less than 9
    or 10 clubs still  active  today.  This drop in the peak of OTR  was due to
    a lot of business people who saw a gold mine and $$$ in this "new" venture.
    Most of us were stricly hobbists who traded tapes back and forth between
    clubs of within the club itself. Alot of the clubs were closed to dealers
    (due to the copyright laws),who would join some of these clubs just to get
    the tapes to sell for a profit.  Now, with the internet available to OTR
    enthusists, I can see within the next decade the  decline of the OTR Club as
    a non-profit social endesavour.  This is just one OTR "Buffs" HO.  I know
    many of you will be expresing yours.  Let's hear from you.

    Owens [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #28
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