Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #414
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 10/22/2002 7:20 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 414
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Old telephone prefixes                [ Bill Harris <radioguy@[removed] ]
      telephone system                      [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
      old telephone service                 [ EdHowell@[removed] ]
      Dial telephone system                 [ JamesAltenburg@[removed] ]
      Correction                            [ SNowitz@[removed] ]
      Dial Telephone Letters                [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Re: Dial Phone Sevice                 [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
      The Fifth Horseman                    [ Joyce Brabner <jbrabner@[removed]; ]
      Conrad                                [ Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed] ]
      Re: Audio of FOTR talks?              [ StevenL751@[removed] ]
      Peter Potter                          [ "Harry Machin, Jr." <harbev5@earthl ]
      A Quick Note                          [ "Shawn A. Wells" <swells@[removed] ]
      OTR Announcers                        [ pamwarren2002@[removed] ]
      Warner Brothers Studio                [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]
      Thurl Ravenscroft; old telephone num  [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
      Breaking Stories                      [ SeptSev@[removed] ]
      Obscure shows and poor sound          [ "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed] ]
      Tony the Tiger                        [ "glen schroeder" <gschroeder10@char ]
      Dial telephone, more info             [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 10:20:28 -0400
    From: Bill Harris <radioguy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Old telephone prefixes

    "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];

>     Because he knew that only one such combination was used, for those digits,
>     in that area.  (The writers perhaps weren't aware that, in dial systems,
>     letter prefixes were usually used only with six- or seven-digit numbers; a
>     five-digit dial number would usually be given as, for example, 2-2428.)

    While restoring on of my vintage radios, I pulled a tube for
    testing. It had a label from a long ago radio shop with the shop
    name and the number to call for any further service. The number
    was 2 longs and a short. Those of you who had telephones in rural
    areas in earlier times will understand.

    Bill H.

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 10:21:30 -0400
    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  telephone system

    "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed]; gives us a lot of valuable info on
    how the telephone system worked.
    Now, for a little personal rememberings:
    When my two brothers & I went to live with our aunt in a small town in
    western Pennsylvania in early 1957, this was the telephone system:
    We had a round-base telephone in the livingroom. The phone didn't have a
    dial; it just had a number-plate on the front which showed our four-digit
    phone number (4333, if I remember right). To make a call you picked up the
    handpiece & listened to hear if there was anybody else on the "party line"
    making a call. Assuming the line was clear (& it usually was, since we were
    on a two-party line, rather than one with four parties on it), you clicked
    the receiver-plate twice to get the (live) operator's attention; then you
    would tell the operator the number of the phone that you wanted to connect
    to. She (it was always a female operator) would connect your [removed]
    When our phone rang we had to listen to the "ring pattern" before picking
    up to make sure that the call was for "our" phone (even though we paid a
    monthly rental fee to the Telephone Company for the instrument). I think
    ours was 2 long, 1 short.
    The telephone switching station was downtown, on the second floor of the
    Bank Building. Its big windows allowed the Operators to see what was going
    on on the main streets of our small town. When the fire siren, which was
    mounted on the roof of the Bank Building, sounded, all the volunteer
    firemen in the area could rush to the Fire Station to respond to the
    emergency. Some of the firemen volunteers who lived/worked away from
    downtown usually called the operators in the Bank Building to ask where the
    fire was - then they'd drive directly to the site of the emergency, and
    meet the fire company there.
    No big historical/cultural/technoligical judgements - that's the way it was.

    Herb Harrison

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 11:31:27 -0400
    From: EdHowell@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  old telephone service

    Slightly off topic but since old dial telephones have been mentioned, I
    recall working at radio stations where they had removed the dial from the
    phone to prevent our calling out when on duty. I just lifted the handset to
    get the dial tone and then clicked the hangup switch the proper number of
    times for each number and never had any trouble getting the person I was
    calling. "Where there is a will, there is a way!"

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 11:31:54 -0400
    From: JamesAltenburg@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dial telephone system
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    When was that dial exchange in Aberdeen.  I know Medford, Wisconsin near my
    hometown had a very early dial exchange like 1912 or so and St. Petersburg,
    Florida I know was 1912.  Incidentally 40 years ago when I was a teenager, we
    used to frequent a joint called Tombstone in Medford -- like a meeting place
    for kids from all over.  It was owned by three young guys who sold beer to
    18's and over (it was legal then) and soda or pop as we called it, to the
    younger kids.  Tombstone Bar was named so because of an adjacent little
    cemetary.  Anyway, I inherited quite a lot of money (about $250,000 in
    today's value) from my father when he died and my brother, the same amount.
    My brother's best friend was the local banker's son -- he also owned a
    automobile agency (Plymouth) as did my father (Ford) and in fact he was
    president of another bank.  Hmm, thinking about it the families were mirror
    images.  But, I digress.  I remember when I was 18 my brother said his friend
    wanted to meet with us and and the young owners of the Tombstone Bar because
    they were starting to sell pizza and were looking for investors.  They were
    just starting to sell it to local stores.
    I seem to dimly remember the figure of $10,000 being tossed around and of
    course I declined as did my brother.  Well, could have been buying all the
    OTR tapes I wanted and living next to Rosie O'Donnell (ugh) over on Star
    Island here on Miami Beach today if I had invested that ten grand with those
    guys.  Their business expanded and expanded and Tombstone Pizza was sold to
    Kraft about ten years ago.  That $10,000 probably would have cashed out at
    $1,000,000 in those 30 or so years.   On the Kraft Tombstone web site -- and
    I think even on the boxes -- after they first bought it, they had the story
    of the Medford, Wisconsin boys who started it but interestlingly, now, last
    time I checked web site and boxes, no reference, instead believe it or not
    they suggest that Tombstone is Tombstone, Arizona.  However, pizza is still
    made in Medford.  I confirmed that by the want ads for plant workers recently
    in our local Wisconsin weekly newspaper.

    And now you know the rest of the story.  Which brings another thought to
    mind.  I read on the Digest once where Paul Harvey was like Bill Stern.  I
    thought they were referring to his voice but in listening to old Bill Stern
    shows I recently found, discovered the voices are dissimilar but the formats
    of Harvey's Rest of the Story and Bill Stern's shows from the '40s and ''50s
    were very similar and Harvey obviously got the idea from Stern.   And now you
    know the rest of the rest of the story.

    Have a great day everyone.

    Jim Alton (Altenburg)
    WKAT Miami  1964-1979

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 12:58:07 -0400
    From: SNowitz@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Correction
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    The record on Columbia This old house was the B SIDE to the
    hit HEY THERE both sides mad the charts Hey there for 12
    Weeks at NO1 This old house at NO6 for 8 weeks. I
    played it as a 78 vinyl white label as a [removed] That was the last
    year for DJ 78's 45"s started to be sent to Radio stations.
    it cost back in those days $125 to convert a huge RCA
    Transcription player to 45. Two years later Gates Radio came
    out with a 16 inche three puck driven turntable.
                                                  Saul  Nowitz

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 12:58:42 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dial Telephone Letters

    As has been pointed out, the original telephone numbers had exchange
    names such as PEnnsylvania, MUrrayhill, RHinelander, and suchlike.  (In a
    literary contest, someone combined two movie titles to get BUtterfield
    8-2001.)  Though this was also a slight mnemonic in recalling numbers, it
    had few other uses back then.

    However, in one story, the telephone dial was used as a cipher device.
    The Green Hornet discovered a light was blinking in a certain order:
    first, a set of flashes running from two blinks to nine.  This was
    followed by a second set of flashes, varying from one to three.  After a
    bit of thought, he discerned that the telephone dial was being used as a
    cipher table.  The first set of flashes determined which number was
    associated with a trio of letters; the second, which of the three
    letters.  (For instance "CAT": would be "** ***," "** *," "******** *,"
    where the asterisks represent flashes.)  This would be awkward
    cryptographically, as it would take a lot of time to spell out words, and
    relatively easy to crack (according to the story, the Hornet did it in
    his head), but the sender and receiver would be able to locate a gadget
    to decipher the message in any house and most businesses.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 13:00:59 -0400
    From: Shenbarger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Dial Phone Sevice

    In a message dated 10/22/2002 9:29:59 AM Central Daylight Time, Ted Kneebone
    writes:

>     I am happy to report that my town, Aberdeen, SD, was the first city in the
>      US to have dial telephone service.

    I recall a news story on the occasion of closing the last operator service
    and switching to dial. The location was Santa Catalina Island. One of the
    persons interviewed was a child who said he didn't know how to dial and
    needed to ask the operator to call his mommy. Naturally this was a radio news
    broadcast.

    Don Shenbarger

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 13:01:22 -0400
    From: Joyce Brabner <jbrabner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Fifth Horseman

    This eight episode 1946 series was broadcast on NBC "from Hollywood" to
    warn Americans about the dangers of atomic war. Each broadcast  was
    narrated by a different star, beginning with Henry Fonda, then William
    Bendix.  About the time I was listening to Robert Young caution against
    giving up civil liberties in anticipation of  nuclear terrorism, I
    realized how progressive mugh of the writing was (somebody named
    Marquis, I think).  Does anyone know the story behind these shows?  Who
    sponsored/funded "The Fifth Horseman"?

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 13:27:27 -0400
    From: Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Conrad

    Dan Hughes wrote:

>     Any William Conrad experts?  I have a small book of photographs called
>     WATERSEDGE, Santa Barbara, by William B. Conrad.  The book is dedicated
>     to Hope, and inscribed to Frankie Fowler, Christmas 1949.

>     Is this the OTR William Conrad, or somebody else?  Did our Bill dabble in
>     still photography?  Was his middle initial B, did he know a woman named
>     Hope, who is Frankie Fowler?

    This may be a series of coincidences. I  never heard the middle intial "B"
    used but Bill Conrad was a collector of hobbies, among them photography. He
    talked me into using a Rolleiflex. There is a Hope Ranch in Santa Barbara
    and Frank Fowler was an actor-director at Santa Barbara City College. I
    worked with Frank as an actor in 1937 at the Pasadena Playhouse. If it is
    the same Conrad, he never mentioned the book.

    Harry Bartell

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 19:49:23 -0400
    From: StevenL751@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Audio of FOTR talks?
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    In a message dated 10/22/2002 10:30:09 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     Hello, just wondering if there will be someone taping the talks given at

    the

>     FOTR convention? I'm out in Phoenix, so I won't have a chance to get there,
>     but I was really interested in most of these workshops. If anyone will be
>     taping, could there be a site to put the audio up on, or could it be

    traded?

>     Thanks a lot.

    All the panels and performances at FOTR are both audio and video taped, and
    the recordings are made available for sale a few months later as a
    fund-raiser for the non-profit FOTR organization.  I encourage everyone to
    help support the organization in this way, the money raised goes directly
    back into the annual convention and helps us to keep our registration fees
    down.

    Send convention chairman Jay Hickerson (JayHick@[removed]) an e-mail in January
    and he should be able to refer you to the person handling the sales for this
    year's tapes.

    Steve Lewis
    committee member, Friends of Old-Time Radio

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 19:49:56 -0400
    From: "Harry Machin, Jr." <harbev5@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Peter Potter

    The mention of Peter Potter by Harry Bartell and
    Sandy Singer brought back a memory.  While in
    the navy, in the early '50s, I attended a broadcast
    (in Hollywood) of what I recall as being "Peter Potter's Platter Parade."
    The guest judges were James Arness and Barbara Britton.  Songs were played
    and Potter would ask if the song would be a hit or a miss.  I think there
    was a sound effect for "hit" and "miss."  I don't recall the show being
    called Juke Box Jury --- I've always remembered it as I noted above.  But
    that was at least 50 years ago and my memory isn't the best.  I
    am curious, though, about the correct title of that show.  I also remember
    the heavy makeup worn by Arness and Britton, which was necessary in the
    early days of TV.
    Harry Machin, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 19:49:30 -0400
    From: "Shawn A. Wells" <swells@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  A Quick Note

    If any of you are interested, I have opened a new section of my catalog.
    I called it 'Direct From Transcription.' Each show has been carefully
    transferred from the original broadcast discs, digitally restored and
    are in full beautiful rich sound. Each set will contain 10 Compact Discs
    (not mp3) full of all kinds of shows. If there is enough interest, then
    I will release a new set each month.

    Thanks
    Shawn A. Wells
    The Old Time Radio Shop
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 20:01:42 -0400
    From: pamwarren2002@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR Announcers

    Attention OTR Buffs,

    Does anybody have a collection or collections of OTR radio announcers,
    specifically Tom Hanlon, Maurice Hart, Hal Sawyer, Harry Von Zell?

    I am still looking for the L. Ron Hubbard radio broadcasts of 1950-51 and all
    the above were on the same station at the same time as Mr. Hubbard's
    broadcasts.

    Contact me if you have any data. Thanks.
    Pam Warren and Trevor Simington - 323 953-3336
    pamwarren2002@[removed]

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: Please contact the poster directly; this thread is now ended.
    --cfs3]

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 21:06:37 -0400
    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Warner Brothers Studio

    There was some postings about KFWB and the Warner Brothers Studios They
    were on the South side of Sunset just below Gower. I was working at KNX
    at Sunset and Gower from 1945 to 1951, when I transferred back to CBS-New
    York. We used a KFWB theater studio regularly. It was a converted sound
    stage. The audio amplifiers were  RCA vintage of the 1930's, a model 40-A
    line amplifier and  41-B pre-amplifiers. When Gene Autry first returned
    to the air I was assigned there for three weeks covering for the regular
    engineer who was on vacation. During the break before the show Gene would
    take the director and I out for breakfast. A very enjoyable situation.
    One Sunday just before "air time", during the audience warm-up, my RCA
    40-C line amplifier "bit the dust". Even though it was ancient I was
    familiar with it, and knew which tube had blown. Gene's manager, Mitch,
    quickly cleared the control room, and at my request the KFWB standby
    engineer got me a replacement tube. I made it and got on the air on time,
    but was sure a "hairy" few moments. By the way, Mitch would later become
    the producer of the Captain Kangaroo television shows which I would
    substitute on, but our paths never crossed. However, I would run into
    Gene from time to time. I think the last time was when I was spending the
    summer on Catalina Island broadcasting the dance bands nightly from the
    Casino. My announcer, Cliff Johnson and I were having lunch on the patio
    off the country club between rounds of golf when Gene, along with [removed]
    Wrgley, his friend and the owner of Catalina Island, passed by. I also
    ran into him once after I returned to the New York studios.

    KFWB was a very active station.  Cliff Johnson returned to Chicago and
    had a "chat" program on CBS from around his breakfast table with his
    wife, Lou, and their three little girls, one of whom was born on Catalina
    while we were there.

    BILL MURTOUGH

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 21:06:51 -0400
    From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Thurl Ravenscroft; old telephone numbers.

    In addition to his portrayal of Tony the Tiger, Thurl
    Ravenscroft also did the singing in "How The Grinch
    Stole Christmas (Boris Karloff did the narration).

    Re advertisers who use names in telephone numbers, a
    construction company in the Detroit area continues to
    use one: TY 8-7100 (TY for Tyler).

    And in addition to novels and movies that use named
    telephone numbers, such as BUtterfield 8, let's not
    forget the song, "BEachwood 45789" by the Marvelettes.

    Rick

    [removed] Speaking of old phones, we have one in one of the
    stores in the Streets of Old Detroit at the Detroit
    Historical Museum. I ask younger visitors what's
    different about that phone from ones we have today (no
    dial). Then I ask how they'd call someone without a
    dial. Some know; some don't; and some come up with
    imaginative solutions.

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 21:07:27 -0400
    From: SeptSev@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Breaking Stories

    This is  awriting question, either for those on the list who wrote for radio
    or who know about the process.

    I was a TV writer for over 10 years, both for sit-coms and hour dramas.  In
    TV, comedies were almost all gang written in a "writer's room."  Hour drama
    was "broken" (outlined) sometimes by the whole writing staff, and then
    assigned to a writer.  I have also been on staffs where I would pitch my
    story to the exec producer, get notes, and write my draft.

    Does anybody know how it was done in radio?  I assume that comedy was written
    by a staff, but what about drama?  Did GUNSMOKE, for example, have  a staff,
    or were they all freelance scripts?  The Shadow?  Anybody know?

    Regards

    Thom

    Thomas Bray
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 21:07:45 -0400
    From: "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Obscure shows and poor sound

        Thanks to Elizabeth Minney for posting, in #410, a nicely-detailed
    description of the Charlotte Greenwood Show (1944-45), tapes of which she's
    enjoyed listening to despite the fact that her copies are "muffled-sounding
    and often hard to understand".

        Her posting reminded me that: (a) lesser-known or unfamiliar OTR
    programs can provide us with enjoyable and/or interesting listening and (b)
    even muffled, hard-to-understand OTR recordings can be enjoyed by us when
    recordings of those broadcasts or programs with good sound are not
    available.  And that reminds me that, to my understanding, a few years ago
    Radio Spirits acquired from Radio Yesteryear recordings of OTR broadcasts
    unavailable elsewhere but RS has refused to make many of them available to
    OTR buffs (or anyone) because the shows aren't well-known enough or because
    the sound is not excellent.  (If my understanding is incorrect, please let
    me/us know.)

      --Phil C.

    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 21:08:03 -0400
    From: "glen schroeder" <gschroeder10@[removed];
    To: "otr" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Tony the Tiger

    Hi Walden and list.

    You mentioned the song This Old House from 1954 having Tony the Tiger in it.
    Another record that I think has his voice is Dance With Me Henry by Georgia
    Gibbs from 1955. It sure sounds likie the same voice to me. Hope this isn't
    off topic Charlie. Oh, by the way Walden, I sure like your shows on YUSA.
    Thanks.

    Love Dis List.

    Glen Schroeder

    Madison  WI

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

    Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 21:08:15 -0400
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Dial telephone, more info

    Here are a few more details on the first dial telephone system in the US,
    from our Dakota Prairie Museum director, Sue Gates.
        "In 1905, Aberdeen (SD) became the first city in the country to have
    automatic dial [removed]  In 1917, the first commercial long distance
    service in the country was introduced to customers in Aberdeen, Huron, and
    Watertown (SD)."
        The name of the telephone company was Dakota Central Telephone Company,
    which was founded by J. L. Zietlow.  The company was originally called the
    Aberdeen Telephone Company and was operational in 1887.
        There is more information on the subject, but I'll await your questions.
    Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
    OTR: [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #414
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