------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 204
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Heartfelt thanks [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
Linkletter Wows 'Em at Emmys [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Stan Freberg in NYC cancelled [ StevenL751@[removed] ]
May 18th birthdays [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Grand Ole Opry [ "gary hagan" <grhagan@[removed]; ]
Re: Sunbeam Bread [ "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed]; ]
Hal Stone and RADIO'S FIRST 75 YEARS [ littlejc2@[removed] ]
OTR Trivia Question [ "Sunisa and Brian" <sunisa@konacoas ]
Sunbeam vs New Era [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
Sports, Pre-emptions, and "Heidi" [ Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed]; ]
Baby Dumplin, Cookie, and super suds [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
Re: Arthur Godfrey on TV [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
Election Eve broadcast, etc [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Armed Forces Radio [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
Democratic 1944 Political Broadcast [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
RE: Sunbeam Bread [ "Rheba" <rheba@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 11:21:45 -0400
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Heartfelt thanks
I am writing this note to thank everyone who has been so generous with
the MP3s. I am thrilled, surprised and a little humbled by the
massive response I got. I won't name everybody here (you all know who
you ar), but your generosity was wonderful. Thank you all so much. As
you all probably know I am a blind person and I do medical transcription.
I spend an hour and a half on the bus in the morning and anywhere from
one and a half to three hours in the evening so I have a lot of time to
do something. Well, listening to radio shows certainly works for me.
Well, now I have something to listen to. Just two more things. The
blind person I pass shows along to wanted to know if anybody had any
Fibber Mcgee and Molly and any Gene Shepherd. I told him I would ask.
Last, since I am a collector I just want to remind everybody that if you
are giving more disks away, I will always be here. Thank you all so
much. You have made my year! Kurt
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 11:22:30 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Linkletter Wows 'Em at Emmys
Art Linkletter was given a Lifetime Achievement Award tonight on the
Daytime Emmys on ABC-TV and he STOLE the show! I hope you folks had a
chance to see it. He mentioned his start in radio, and I think the length
of years that he gave for "People Are Funny" and "House Party" included the
pre-TV years. He mentioned that near the beginning of his career in 1933
there was a man in Texas who changed everything by taking a microphone out
to the streets to just talk to people. Was that "Vox Populai" that was
discussed here a short while ago? He didn't mention the name of the person
or the program, but he credits that Texan's idea for making his career
possible and starting the whole trend for talk shows, game shows, etc.
Linkletter is still an expert speaker and knows how to hold an audience.
After several minutes they started quietly playing the music to get him off
but he still started two more stories and got them all in. By the way, the
music was the theme he used for "House Party", which I think was titled
something like "You, Wonderful You."
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 11:22:49 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
1938 - The NBC Blue network presented Information Please for the first
time. The show was moderated by Clifton Fadiman.
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 11:22:59 -0400
From: StevenL751@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Stan Freberg in NYC cancelled
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For those of you who were hoping to attend "An Evening with Stan Freberg" at
the Regency in NYC next week, I just called for tickets and the shows have
been cancelled due to a "schedulling conflict". They said that they expect
he'll be rescheduled but don't have dates yet. This must be a last-minute
thing, there was an ad for the show in the paper last weekend.
Steve Lewis
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 11:24:47 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: May 18th birthdays
If you were born on the 18th of May, you share your birthday with:
05-18-1892 - Ezio Pinza, Rome, Italy - d. 5-9-1957
singer: "The Telephone Hour"
05-18-1900 - Raymond Paige - Wausau, WI (R; Los Angeles, CA)- d. 8-7-1965
conductor: "Hollywood Hotel"; "Musical Americana"; "Stage Door Canteen"
05-18-1902 - Meredith Willson - Mason City, IA - d. 6-15-1984
conductor, composer: "Maxwell House Coffee Time"; "Meredith Willson/Music Room"
05-18-1908 - Ted Malone - Colorado Springs, CO - d. 10-20-1989
commentator: "Between the Bookends"; "Pilgrimage of Poetry"
05-18-1913 - Perry Como - Cannonsburg, PA - d. 5-12-2001
singer: "Perry Como Program"; "Chesterfield Supper Club"
05-18-1924 - Jack Whitaker - Philadelphia, PA
disc jockey, sportscaster: "Jack the Bachelor"; "Sports Shots"
05-18-1936 - Joel Kupperman - Chicago, IL
panelist: "Quiz Kids"
-
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hometown of [removed] Kaltenborn
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 11:48:52 -0400
From: "gary hagan" <grhagan@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Grand Ole Opry
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Watched the rerun of "Grand Ole Opry" 75 year celebration on A&E last night.
Very interesting portrayal of the history of Radio. It showed some of the
early days of starting radio broadcasting and how it was begun. Even then
the showmanship of the entertainment business was relevant. It was
nostalgic seeing some of the old time country singers perform and learn
about how it came about. If you get a chance to see it rerun again I
recommend it for any old time radio fan.
Gary
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 11:49:23 -0400
From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Sunbeam Bread
John Purchase wrote:
Sunbeam was a national brand. <snip> It was just Wonder Bread in a
different wrapper.
As long as we're still rambling about this, I'll just add that Sunbeam is
available here in the Washington DC area, and that my wife buys it. I
respectfully disagree with the comparison to Wonder, though - I find
Sunbeam has a slightly less stiff and more dough-ey texture than the balloon
bread. Both brands, however, are nuthin' without a few pats of real butter
for flavor.
Come to think of it, one of the best things about this list is how talk of
OTR commercials can lead to such interesting sidebars. Whoever it was that
posted the info about [removed] - thank you!!! Now I have
something new (or rather, old) on which to blow my money!
Michael
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 13:13:02 -0400
From: littlejc2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hal Stone and RADIO'S FIRST 75 YEARS
OK! Chester. Let me down gently. Is my puss in it? :)
Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead
Oh, Boy! This was very much on my mind as I wrote my post. But (Alas! Sob!)
you are not in the book, Dear Hal. BUT, if it's any consolation,
your "cousin," Ezra Stone and your counterpart, "Homer," Jackie Kelk, ARE
there. In fact, there is a beautiful picture of "The Aldrich Family"
principal
cast: Jackie Kelk, Ezra Stone, Katherine Raht and House Jameson on Page
186. "Archie Andrews" is not even mentioned, a grievous omission. Sorry,
Partner and please don't shoot the messenger.
Chester
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 13:13:17 -0400
From: "Sunisa and Brian" <sunisa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR Trivia Question
Aloha to the Group,
What is the common thread, that all of these shows [removed]
"The Wonder Show"
"Pretty Kitty Kelly"
"Sky Blazers"
"Renfrew of the Mounted"
Hint: its been the topic of the day.
Looking for all of these shows, will buy or trade. Contact
me off list with what you have.
Thanks, Brian.
sunisa@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 13:13:31 -0400
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Sunbeam vs New Era
Not enjoying white bread, preferring rye, I suggest a related topic, and my
favorite food,
POTATO CHIPS! Growing up in Chicago, the home of Jays, I always preferred
New
Era, "on the alkaline side" whatever that meant. But the best of them all
was a brand,
in Ohio only apparently, called, I think, Mar-cell. Does anyone remember
those? My
gracious they were wonderful. Now this is otr related because, while
listening to the
radio and a 50's edition of Moon River on WLW, I would be eating handfuls of
those
wonderful Marcell potato chips. Please tell me they are still in business.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 13:15:28 -0400
From: Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Sports, Pre-emptions, and "Heidi"
Hal "Jughead" Stone wrote:
But the weird story I will now relate has to do with the reverse of that
situation. It happened when a tied baseball game went into extra
innings, and the local station eventually cut away so it could begin
broadcasting evening Network programming.
I wonder if that could have been called the first "Heidi" incident! :)
I'm not really a sports fan, so I don't have all of the details here, but
back in the late 1960s, NBC-TV was going to be showing the movie
spectacular "Heidi" on a Sunday evening. I don't know if this was part of
Disney's "Wonderful World of Color/Disney", or if this was going to be
aired as "NBC Sunday Night at the Movies", but NBC-TV had been *heavily*
promoting the movie all week prior.
There was an NFL game on the west coast that was still in [removed]
I think Oakland was one of the teams (I'm not really a sports fan, so I
don't remember exactly which teams were playing). The game was running
late but close to finishing the fourth quarter. However, it was coming up
close to the announced scheduled time for "Heidi" to begin, at least for
the Eastern and Central time zone parts of the NBC Television Network.
A time-out was called, NBC went to a commercial break or maybe even a
local station break. And now, it was now time to start "Heidi" according
to announced times, and "someone in charge" at Rockafeller Center decided
that since the "game was already over anyway" to instead begin the film
(or taped-dub of the film -- were they doing tape-dubs or still running
the 35-mm *FILM* in the late 1960s?) of "Heidi". The Peacock fluffed its
color feathers (The following program, is brought to you in Living Color,
on N-B-C) and then the movie started.
Since the West Coast would be getting the "Heidi" movie later on, they saw
the NFL game until its final conclusion. And during that time when the
Eastern/Central time zone feeds had broken away to begin previously
scheduled Sunday evening programming, the trailing team scored a touchdown
to actually win the game. But this was *not* seen in the Eastern and
Central time zones.
It did cause a bit of a "stink" for NBC, and since then, whenever
something similar happens -- when live coverage of *any* kind of live
event is broken away from because "nothing further is going to happen",
yet something important *DOES* occur -- that result has been dubbed a
"Heidi". [removed], industry people would say something like "last night,
Fox did (or 'pulled') a Heidi"...
Mark J. Cuccia
mcuccia@[removed]
New Orleans LA USA
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 13:45:50 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Baby Dumplin, Cookie, and super suds
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I remember super suds as a sponsor of Blondie and the song-jingle went
something like "super suds, super suds, lots more suds with super suuu-uuuds"
and then a rhyming line following that. Does anyone remember a national
contest as a promotion to name the newborn, either baby dumplin or the
newborn cookie? I assume it was cookie as i guess baby dumplin was always
there, or was he? I was just a young child then, but seem to remember my
mother entering the contest. Not sure if it had to do with the comic strip or
the the radio progrm or both. After cookie was born, it probably seemed
confusing to have the oldest child called baby dumplin so they switched to
alexander? Does anyone remember the contest or is my imagination at work
again?
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 14:28:14 -0400
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Arthur Godfrey on TV
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I just took a swing last time at the years of Godfrey's TV series, but now I
have them:
"Arthur Godfrey Time" (his morning show, the one on which he fired LaRosa):
1949-56
"Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" (1949-57; 1958-59)
"Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" (1948-58)
Didn't *anyone* ever think it struck them as being rather egomaniacal to call
his supporting cast "the Little Godfreys"? Or did he do that on purpose as a
joke?
Dixon
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 17:58:12 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Election Eve broadcast, etc
Chris Chandler wrote:
I remember reading years ago this [1944] broadcast caused
such a stir a couple of networks--the very next day--changed
their rules so it could 'never happen again'.
I have a home recorded Recordio disc with two sections from a gala November
1, 1948 election-eve broadcast called "The Dewey-Warren Bandwagon." So
these types of programs DID continue on at least one network. One segment
on the disc is part of Abbott and Costello doing "Who's On First." I think
the other section contains Frank Morgan, but the disc was mislabeled "Henry
Morgan."
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
As you wondered in your message, on what grounds could they do that.
I believe that the broadcast was a paid political broadcast which I
understand was aired on both CBS and NBC. Am I wrong about that?
Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 REQUIRED stations to make
available time on an equal basis to all candidates for a particular public
office if they make time available to any candidate for that office. That
doesn't mean requiring stations to give free time to candidates if their
opponents buy time. One buys then they can all buy. One gets free than
they all HAVE TO get free. They could refuse to sell time at all, but the
FCC has considered that type of decision to not be in the public interest.
CBS earlier in 1944 had refused a political broadcast by a Senator
whose name I can't recall, but who was seeking the Republican
nomination, and his broadcast contained very strong attacks
against FDR. CBS was forced to air the broadcast, and informed
they could not censor political context during a campaign.
Broadcasts made under Section 315 could not be censored by a station. They
had to be aired as submitted. But Section 315 broadcasts had to be "USE"
of the station "BY the candidate". Broadcasts or announcements originating
from anybody but the candidate do not come under 315. This is why
sometimes you might hear a short statement in the candidates voice saying
something like "The announcement was paid by the Joe Blow for Senator
committee." I heard one like this yesterday.
I am not sure about the 1944 broadcast you mention, but it might also be a
misremembering of a 1936 broadcast I detailed in my dissertation and
mentioned here some time ago. It concerns a program broadcast by a Senator
who was not up for election himself, but was speaking as a Republican
spokesman in opposition to FDR's re-election. Ironically, it was not the
Republican candidate's voice that was heard in this broadcast, it was the
Democrat's!!!!! In 1932 the Republican National Committee commissioned
Gennett Records of Richmond, Indiana to make recordings of some of FDR's
1932 campaign speeches. This always mystified discographers with access to
the Gennett ledgers until I uncovered what the recordings were used for.
On Saturday [removed], 1936, Republican Michigan Senator Arthur Vandenburg
had a national address scheduled on CBS which would be broadcast from a
Chicago rally. Shortly before the broadcast the CBS personnel noticed that
a phonograph was being set up next to Vandenburg's podium, and they
discovered that Vandenburg intended to debate with the recorded
pre-election pledges of FDR from 1932. Citing their rule against the
airing of recordings on the network, CBS Chicago [removed] H. Leslie Atlass
tried to get the Republicans not to use the recordings, then ten minutes
before air ordered that the broadcast be cut off when the recordings were
played. He changed his mind two minutes before air, and allowed the
broadcast to commence as originally planned. There was a delay in getting
that message to the network operation facilities, and a studio announcer
announced that the program was cancelled, but then the opening of the
program was heard anyway. New York then cut the program off of the 22
stations it fed, but the 43 CBS stations in the rest of the country heard
the whole program. This was front page news the following day all over the
country. To work on the publicity, as well as get the program to the
cities that didn't hear it, Vandenburg did a recorded version of this
address which was aired on local stations. The first 15 minutes of this
survives.
There are two ironies about this event. The director of the Public
Relations Division of the Republican party was Hill Blackett of the
Blackett-Sample-Hummert Advertising Agency which had recently sparred with
the networks over the re-broadcasting of recordings of their soap operas
produced by Frank Hummert of the agency. Blackett knew full well that the
recording ban covered all types of broadcasts, but tried to worm out of it
by saying he believed the ban was put in place ONLY to protect performers
from not getting paid for recorded re-broadcasts. BUT, here is the other
irony, CBS HAD made an exception to this rule when at 11:15 [removed] January 4,
1935 they rebroadcast via recording FDR's entire State of the Union Address
given 11 hours earlier. This 1935 broadcast was not cited in any of the
reports of the Vandenburg broadcast I have read, but it would have been
quite a political football if someone had remembered it. Even today I
don't think that this broadcast has ever been noted anywhere since 1935 but
in my dissertation--and now the OTR Digest.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 17:58:49 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Armed Forces Radio
Herb Harrison wrote:
We missed those commercials, because their absence reminded us of what our
families were seeing on their TVs at home - and of what products we
couldn't buy at our Base PXs.
As I recall, one of the reasons those commercials were "denatured" was due
to studies that hearing the commercials lowered morale because of the "wish
I was home" aspect. They found the troops, while appreciating hearing the
program, tended to get less depressed when they couldn't hear the product
promotions, etc.
Your comments suggest the opposite.
Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 18:00:38 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Democratic 1944 Political Broadcast
Several comments:
Someone wondered if the program was paid for or not. The answer is yes, it
was a paid political broadcast over all four networks of the time. The GOP
did also pay for one to follow immediately.
Derek Tague mentions if someone would
tell us the story about Jimmy
Durante's slot being filled by some badly played organ music at the
conclusion of the rally, which sounded so bad, it prompted potential voters
to turn off their radios & not listen to the following [removed] broadcast?
Eric Barnouw recounts this in his trilogy on radio broadcast history. He
mentions that what happened was that the comedian (he doesn't mention it to
be Durante) was not able to go on because his sponsor nixed it and because
it was a last minute decision, Corwin needed to fill the time. The Dems
were worried that their program would build an audience for the Republican
program to follow. But Barnouw says that the Dems or Corwin had nothing to
do with it. Because the comedian had withdrawn, it left a gap because the
program ended early. Subsequently, according to Barnouw "A Republican
sponsor had caused the organ music" to fill the gap before the GOP program
began. The music caused many to turn off their radios thinking it was an
end-of-day for the stations. According to Barnouw it was all a fluke that
some tried to credit to the Dems as a brilliant ploy.
Dixon Hayes comments:
And what's interesting, I've not seen many signs that Bogie's career
suffered tremendously because of his politics.
Probably because he recanted his actions in an article in Photoplay after
he was "burned" by the "unfriendly" witnesses at the HUAC proceedings, whom
he went to Washington to support. In the article he tells readers he was
not a communist only an American Dope. It appears it worked, though I
suspect it was also due to his immense popularity - fans simply could
forgive his actions because they liked him so much as an actor.
Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 18:01:00 -0400
From: "Rheba" <rheba@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Sunbeam Bread
From: JPurc64093@[removed]
Sunbeam was a national brand. <snip>
Sunbeam is still widely available here in Dallas. Even our little dinky
corner grocery store has it.
Rheba
--
rheba_otr@[removed]
Streamload ID: rheba
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #204
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