Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #30
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 1/27/2001 9:10 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                          The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                             Volume 01 : Issue 30
                        A Part of the [removed]!

                               Today's Topics:

     Random Relections on OTR             [Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed];]
     Bill Conrad                          [otrbuff@[removed]                   ]
     Milton DeLugg Interview              [Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed]; ]
     Groucho Marx and Ad Libs             ["Robert Fells" <rfells@[removed];   ]
     age and when OTR premiums are not OT ["J. Randolph Cox" <cox@[removed]]
     Old microphones                      ["John Moore" <john_moore@mindspring]
     Sergeant Marty Maher                 ["Hamm, Mike (HAMMCM)" <HAMMCM@UCMAI]
     "Playing Radio"                      [Arts_Militaria@[removed] (Art Funk)]
     Billy Mills                          [William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];]
     Replies                              [William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];]
     Dr. Christian theme music            [ClifSr@[removed]                     ]
     RE:  Jerry Haendiges                 ["Lee, Steve (DEOC)" <slee@[removed].]
     Subject:                             ["Kierniesky, Nicholas C." <kiernies]
     Ages & 80GB Hardrive vs. CD-R/RW     [KDKAL@[removed]                      ]
     Whitehall 1212                       ["Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed]]
     Our Ages                             ["Larry" <llittle@[removed];       ]
     Reel to reel tapes                   [Neal Ellis <tenor@[removed];       ]
     Re: Our Ages and how we got into Old [OtrHerb@[removed]                    ]
     I feel your gain ....                ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
     My age and how I got into otr        ["Marcus Antonsson" <marc-a@algonet.]

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 11:33:20 -0500
    From: Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Random Relections on OTR

          Thought I'd chime in with the many who have given their age and and
    shared their OTR experiences.
          I'm 65 and re-discovered OTR on two local stations--WETA and, a bit
    later, WAMU.  Every Sunday night the family would listen to John Hickman's
    program on WAMU (we were discouraging TV viewing on school nights).  My
    son's favorite was 'Gunsmoke'  while my youngest daughter developed a
    fondness for Johnny Dollar (the five part series) and Nick Carter.  Ed
    Walker has capably taken up the Hickman mantle on WAMU but I suspect many
    OTR fans in the Washington metropolitan area were created by John's
    marvelous broadcasts.  I recall evenings devoted to VE Day, VJ Day, FDR's
    funeral, etc.  Terrific stuff.
          The proliferation of stories on tape for young children seems to me
    to provide an opening for creating a new generation of OTR listeners. I
    have given copies of "Cinnamon Bear' to two sets of granddaughters and they
    are crazy about the program. The 'Lux Radio Theater' production of "Wizard
    of Oz" has also been a big hit.
          My tape collection started with dubs of the Sunday night WAMU
    broadcasts but really took off when I discovered the lending libraries run
    by SPERDVAC, etc.  These are impressive  resources that I strongly
    recommend to those who want to explore "new" old programming.
          I'm amazed by the large number of listeners who have discovered OTR
    for the first time.  I assumed most of us were just reliving our misspent
    youth. Apparently mp3 has given the hobby a big boost.  A quick question:
    how does mp 3 sound quality compare to high grade audio cassettes played on
    a first rate stereo system; [removed], if a transcription disc were recorded in
    analog and digital formats, would there be an audible difference?
          'Nuff for now.
    Tom van der Voort

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 11:33:21 -0500
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bill Conrad

    A poster noted that Bill Conrad directed a couple of the Gunsmoke TV
    shows.  My research indicates that, while he was greatly disappointed
    that he didn't gain the role that James Arness received, Conrad still
    produced and directed the first 26 episodes of the TV series before
    fading into oblivion for a while.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 11:56:31 -0500
    From: Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Milton DeLugg Interview

    Milton Delugg, songwriter and big band leader who worked with Bing Crosby,
    Al Jolson, and many more great entertainers will be interviewed live on
    Yesterday USA on Monday night, Jan. 29, at 10:30 Eastern.  You'll find this
    and OTR programs at [removed] on your internet "dial."
    Duane Keilstrup

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 13:20:26 -0500
    From: "Robert Fells" <rfells@[removed];
    To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Groucho Marx and Ad Libs

    Previous posters covered the water front on the extent to which Groucho Marx
    was scripted for his quiz show, You Bet Your Life.  It 's asking a lot of
    somebody, even a gifted wit like Groucho, to be spontaneously funny every
    time, for every show so we shouldn't be surprised that he had some backup
    material.  But Mr. Marx definitely had a knack for making scripted lines,
    even lines he would speak repeatedly, sound like he just thought them up.

    This can be documented by comparing the original theater scripts of "The
    Coconuts" and "Animal Crackers" to the later film versions that Groucho made
    with his brothers.  For years, people remarked about the wonderful ad libs
    that Groucho and Chico made up right there on the spot while the cameras
    were grinding.  Well, comparing a typewritten copy of the original
    "Coconuts" script, dated 1925, with the 1929 film reveals those great ad
    libs written out word-for-word exactly as Mssrs. Marx delivered them
    onscreen. Same thing with the 1928 "Animal Crackers" script when compared to
    the 1930 film.

    This takes nothing away from the talent of Groucho or Chico.  In fact, It is
    a tribute to them that they were able to recite those lines night after
    night and make them seem entirely spontaneous.  After all, who in their
    right mind would want to face thousands of people in a theater, or broadcast
    to millions of people, by depending on a spur of the moment inspiration to
    be amusing!?

    Bob Fells

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 13:20:28 -0500
    From: "J. Randolph Cox" <cox@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  age and when OTR premiums are not OTR premiums

    I guess I should weigh in here by admitting I'm 64, going on 65, and, like
    Al Hubin, have been listening to OTR when it was just R. In the 1950s I
    realized that there were fewer and fewer radio drama series that resembled
    the radio dramas I had heard during WW II -- and then just fewer and fewer
    at all. I recall tuning around the dial looking for shows to listen to. I
    kind of got out of the habit when I went to college in the late 50s. I think
    I started buying the occasional show on reels in the late 1960s -- my main
    source was the MarBren company. I then ordered from McCoys ... then I went
    to FOTR once in the 1970s and added a number of cassettes. Since I retired
    in 1996 and began keeping track, I've added quite a few more shows -- mostly
    the ones I was fond of while growing up -- and they are an eclectic lot!
    Someday I should make an effort to count them -- right now I'm just enjoying
    the hour or so each day when I listen to OTR -- on a Sony CD/tape
    player/radio that is set on the top of the floor model radio-phonograph that
    was in our living room when I was a boy.

    On the other matter of OTR premiums not really being premiums, I agree with
    Steve Kallis. If they weren't sold as premiums with a radio show they are
    character toys, or, at least, that's the term used in the copy of Hake's
    Price Guide to Character Toys I bought myself for Christmas. There are 10
    pages devoted to Captain Midnight alone, but some of the items relate to the
    comic book or the movie serial rather than the radio show. There's even a
    Captain Midnight plaster statue that could be found in stores in the
    1940s -- though I don't recall ever seeing one.

    Randy Cox

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 13:38:09 -0500
    From: "John Moore" <john_moore@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Old microphones

    The RCA 44 was not pattern-switchable, but was ONLY a bi-directional
    mike.  For those interested, a near exact working replica is made by
    AEA.  It lists for $2,000, but they also make a "shell" to house
    another microphone for prop use in video, and sell replacement parts
    that will fit the original RCA.  You can see the product at
    [removed].

    John Moore
    Atlanta, GA

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 13:47:28 -0500
    From: "Hamm, Mike (HAMMCM)" <HAMMCM@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Sergeant Marty Maher

    I just finished reading "Bringing Up the Brass - My 55 Years at West Point"
    by Sergeant Marty Maher.  This is the book on which the movie "The Long Grey
    Line" starring Tyrone Power is based.  It contains a lot of funny anecdotes
    about cadets who later became famous generals.

    In one part of the book Maher writes about appearing on radio shows:

    "The first time I appeared on the air was at Radio City.  I made a mistake
    during the broadcast and said, 'Oh, Jesus!'.  The announcer rectified that
    immediately and told me they did not like swearing on the radio."

    "I was on WE, THE PEOPLE and I nearly got weak when I saw the pay envelope.
    It was the highest pay I ever got - a dollar a second."

    "....THIS IS YOUR LIFE, which was going to be about my old friend, Brigadier
    General Blondy Saunders."

    "....LUNCHEON AT SARDI'[removed] this program with me was a lady named Ella
    Fitzgerald.  She was very nice, although no relation to the Fitzgeralds I
    knew in [removed] man that asked the questions on this show was Bill
    Slater, who had graduated in 1924 from West Point.  As a cadet Bill was so
    gangly I could barely teach him to swim."

    If anyone has tapes of these shows, I would love to buy or trade for a copy.

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 13:47:34 -0500
    From: Arts_Militaria@[removed] (Art Funk)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "Playing Radio"

    Neal Roger's interesting post reminded me of something from my
    childhood.  He mentioned "playing radio" with his brother. I used to do
    that too.  Would ad lib intros and commercials and "do" the news reading
    from the Miami Herald and would close "That's 30 from your Herald
    reporter," using the sign off tag of my favorite local newscaster,
    Gordon Shaw.

    Regards,
    Art Funk

    [removed]  While I'm here I should contribute to the age thread.  I'll be 60
    this year (ouch!) and so had the pleasure of hearing OTR, as someone
    else said, when it was just R.  I've been fascinated with OTR trivia and
    nostalgia all my life and had a few cassettes that I had taped off the
    air or picked up in bookstores etc.  But when I got my Webtv about 4
    year ago and discovered the internet I became an active if not dedicated
    collector.  My favorite program is the Lone Ranger but I enjoy most
    particularly YTJD w/ Bob Bailey,  Rocky Jordan w/Jack Moyles and the
    Great Gildersleeve w/Hal Peary.

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 14:33:27 -0500
    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Billy Mills

    Billy Mills was a studio orchestra leader.

    Bill Murtough

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 14:33:31 -0500
    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Replies

    First, several comments were made referring to remotes as "Jazz Remotes".
    They were "Dance Band Remotes". I did have one that could be called
    "jazz". "Wingy" Manone from the Hickory House on West 52nd Street in New
    York, "Swing Alley".  He was "Wingy" because he had only one arm, holding
    his trumpet with his false arm, and keying with the [removed] I recall it
    was only three or four musicians. The band stand was inside of a very
    long oval shaped bar. One night as I was setting up I noticed a guy
    sitting at the bar, bundled up in an overcoat and felt hat.  He looked
    familiar and I noticed that he was staring at me. As I put on my
    headphones I asked the bartender if he knew who the guy was. It was Bob
    Crosby. When I turned back, Bob laughed and said that it wasn't until I
    put on the "cans" that he figured out who I was. That was how he always
    saw me when I broadcast his band for Mutual from the Aquacade in
    Cleveland. Talk about type casting!

    Bill Murtough

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 14:43:47 -0500
    From: ClifSr@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dr. Christian theme music

       Thanks to Shaun Hayes for bringing up "Dr. Christian."  Jean Hersholt's
    accent and Rosemary DeCamp's distinctive voice are two of the great audio
    memories that live forever in the heads of us who listened way back there.
    The show's theme song was a very appealing tune, "Rainbow on the River," no
    doubt chosen to fit with the good doctor's location in River's End.  Boy
    soprano Bobby Breen, discovered and promoted by Eddie Cantor, has a nice
    recording of it on the three record set, "Those wonderful Thirties."  I seem
    to recall hearing Bobby several decades later in a disastrous attempt at
    becoming a rock singer.  I also have the song on an unlabeled theater organ
    tape.

    Clif Martin
    [removed]~ticsota

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 14:58:43 -0500
    From: "Lee, Steve (DEOC)" <slee@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE:  Jerry Haendiges

    RE:  Jerry Haendiges

    I can't speak for Jerry, but I am a regular customer. We have exchanged
    e-mails within the past two weeks, and I have had merchandise sent to me.  I
    can say from experience that there are times that he does seem to disappear,
    but I think that has to do more with his busy schedule. You're are correct
    about Jerry being one the most cordial OTR associates on the circuit.

    Steven Lee

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 16:08:53 -0500
    From: "Kierniesky, Nicholas C." <kiernies@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Subject:

    I just finished listening the Radio Spriits 60 episode Gunsmoke package.

     (I [removed] [removed], but I got it really cheap at a price club!)

    Most of the tapes had a noticeable "echo" after and sometimes before a
    short piece of dialogue.  What causes this? This doesn't happen when
     I record?  It was a minor distraction to an otherwise nice collection.

    Nik Kierniesky
    Mount Saint Mary's College
    Emmitsburg, MD 21727
    kiernies@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 17:27:38 -0500
    From: KDKAL@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Ages & 80GB Hardrive vs. CD-R/RW

    Kevin Pearson asked about storing his collection on another HD of 80GB, or
    getting a CD-R/RW.  I hope the following helps:
    The pro's for a hard drive: convienient, quick storage and access, easy to
    catalog and organize. The drawbacks: hard drives have been known to fail and
    could result in unrecoverable data, thus you should back up anything you
    don't want to risk losing, which takes time, a lot; lack of portability --
    you can't take it with you; capacity -- eventually you'll run out of space
    again, cheaper, but still costly.

    The pro's for a CD-R/RW: convienient, infinite storage cability (multiple
    CD's, of course); reasonably safe, but a damaged CD limits your loss to that
    CD; you can store about a 100 or more 1/2 hour shows in MP3 format, about 2
    in real time recording; very portable - from PC to PC, to the home stereo
    system, to a portable CD player, to the car's CD player, to a portable MP3
    player; brand name CD's are down to about 30 cents a piece now; RW's can be
    rewritten; old CD's because instant backups if saved; name brand CD-R/RW
    drives are down to $100 or less now; while slower initial access than a hard
    drive, once put in the reader, it's basically the same time; easy to organize
    on a CD.  The CD cons, the time to record (depends on speed of the drive),
    the CD's are not indestructible, storing the discs(use the thin cases and you
    can store 2 in the space of a standard case), organizing across CD's.  There
    are other pro's and cons of each, I listed those I thought the obvious (to
    me) ones.

    As for me, I'm 58, loved listening to the radio programs way back when and
    forgot about them once TV hit our home in the 50's. Quite recently
    rediscovered (stumbled upon while looking for something else) OTR on the
    internet and can't get enough listening to these old programs and their
    commercials.  Many heartfelt thanks to all of you who post these shows to
    share with others.

    Ken Kalitowski
    Vernon Hills, Illinois
    This is my first post to this group, and having a lot of problems (use AOL
    6), so I hope this gets there using AOL 5.

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 17:41:34 -0500
    From: "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Whitehall 1212

    Hello Folks,

    I know we discussed The Black Museum several months ago, but does anyone
    know if The Black Museum and Whitehall 1212 are one and the same show.
    I am 53 years old and remember a little of OTR from the radio.  Mostly
    though I remember listening to OTR on AFN.  We lived in Germany from 1956
    throuogh 1960, and at the time, AFN only broadcast TV for a few hours a day
    Monday through Friday and a little more on the weekends.  But AFN radio
    broadcast quit a few re-runs of OTR.  I have been hooked since then.

    Roby McHone

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 19:02:29 -0500
    From: "Larry" <llittle@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Our Ages

    I'm 58 and been lurking here for awhile. Somebody recently remarked about
    taping shows using alligator clips in the old days and that brought back
    memories as I used  to do the same thing. I remember listening to the radio
    shows in the '50s such as X-1, Suspense and occasionally Gunsmoke. I got
    re-interested in OTR in the '80s, buying some vinyl LPs with show on them.
    Got interested again in the 90's when I got catalogs from R$. I now am
    acquiring shows via MP3 mainly (although I found a site on the internet that
    had tapes of the old Bobby Benson and B Bar B Riders, which I had looked for
    a long time). I would be interested in hearing some of the Mr. Keen shows as
    I am not really familiar with any of those and it seems people either really
    like them or really hate them.
    Cheers,

    Larry
    llittle@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 19:02:20 -0500
    From: Neal Ellis <tenor@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Reel to reel tapes

    I have a number of reel to reel tapes of otr that I am
    tring to get rid of.  I need the space.  You can have
    them (all or some) for the cost of the blank reels.
    If you're interested e-mail and I will send details.

    Neal Ellis
    (tenor@[removed])

    =====
    Neal Ellis
    Sound Engineer (National Public Radio)
    Librarian (First Generation Radio Archives)

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 19:02:18 -0500
    From: OtrHerb@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Our Ages and how we got into Old Time Radio

    My age is now approaching 65, and I became interested in OTR as a youngster
    living in the small town of Leadville, CO. It is about 100 miles from Denver,
    high
    in the mountains at an elevation of 10,200 ft. In the daytime we were
    dependent
    on a couple of Denver stations, but at night we had a pretty good choice of
    the
    clear channel stations, among my favorites were KOMA, KSL, KVOO, WWL,
    AND WGN. Many a night I went to sleep listening to Sleepwalker Serenade on
    Tulsa's KVOO.
    I began my modest collection of OTR around 1970 after someone gave me a LP
    called "Themes Like Old Times" which was produced by Radio Yesteryear.
    I still have the original catalog that they sent me. My 7,000 programs are
    mostly
    on open reel, with a few cassettes. I have tried to include examples of all
    kinds
    of programs along with a number of shows form a favorite series.
    Herb Cramer

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

    Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 19:55:00 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  I feel your gain ....

    Brian Johnson asks,

> >     If I could have a little clarification [removed] are we talking about how

    old we are chronologically? Or how old do we FEEL?<<

    I'm pretty sure we want to limit this to chronological age for a coupla
    reasons.  One is that it gives the rest of us some idea about how the
    appeal of OTR may span generations.  (25-year-old Tricia Grattan noted
    that comedies, save Jack Benny, didn't aged as well as other forms, but
    then confides that she's never heard a Phil Harris/Alice Faye program,
    which, IMHO, is the most timeless and "modern" of them all.)

    Besides, some mornings I feel a lot older than others.

    Jerry Bechtel notes,

> >     I can't find any Tom Mix shows. There doesn't seem to be a lot of

    Captain Midnight available either. <<

    Well .... this gets a little interesting.  There are scattered Tom Mix
    shows from prewar to postwar, but there aren't many.  Before I moved, I
    had maybe four or so; now I have maybe one somewhere.  Captain Midnight's
    a bit different.  There are something under two dozen Ovaltine shows,
    where the Secret Squadron was added, and with only one group of four
    shows where there's any day-to-day continuity.  However, there are many
    consecutive programs of the previous shows syndicated Skelly Oil, before
    Captain Midnight was scheduled nationally.  Although the addition of the
    Secret Squadron and its associated Code-O-Graphs supercharged the show,
    there were solid areas of continuity between the Skelly stories and the
    Ovaltine adventures.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2001 09:17:57 -0500
    From: "Marcus Antonsson" <marc-a@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  My age and how I got into otr

    Hello all!
    I guess I'll have to come out too and tell you that I'm 26 years old and I
    started to collect American otr in 1995. I discovered it through another
    Swedish collector  when he made a few programs about it for the Swedish
    radio. It opened a new world to me. I had been recording and collecting
    Swedish programs since I was 10, but I didn't know about the
    English-languaged gold mines until I heard those programs. Soon after that
    I got on the internet and found you all. So far I've bought most of my
    collection from different dealers, I've also traded a few times. I've not
    been downloading much as I don't have a cd-burner or portable mp3-player.
    My collection consists mostly of cassettes, but also of open reels and
    audio-cds.

    Cheers!

    Marc Antonsson
    Jonkoping, Sweden

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #30
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