------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2010 : Issue 208
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
The Cinnamon Bear! [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
It's A Wonderful Life [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Whoops! Cincy Convention Date Change [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
12-3 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Favorite Detective Series [ "Ryan O" <ryano218@[removed]; ]
Shanghai radio in 1939 [ Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed] ]
NEW CINCY DATES: MAY 13-14, 2011 [ "danhughes@[removed]" <danhughes@jun ]
Tune into Yesterday newsletter [ Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed] ]
FOTR DVDs [ Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed]; ]
New website [ Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed] ]
The Winter 2011 Nostalgia Digest [ Steve Darnall <fvpress@[removed] ]
Storage of Rare Materials [ Campbell Connell <rcconnell@[removed] ]
Christmas program [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Whither Dick Beals? [ Derek Tague <thatderek@[removed]; ]
OTR on LP records [ "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
12-4 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
BBC Transcription discs [ Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:40:44 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Cinnamon Bear!
Dear Reader:
Hi, everybody! I hope by now you have established a schedule for playing
episodes of "The Cinnamon Bear." Remember, there are 26 installments
(available everywhere, including your local Borders). They should be
programmed between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Research by First
Generation Radio Archives has determined that the very first episode was
broadcast in the USA on Friday, November 26, 1937, so you will be carrying
on a tradition lasting over seventy years!
Your family will thrill to the adventures of Paddy, Jimmy and Judy Barton,
and the Crazy Quilt Dragon, as they search Maybeland for the missing silver
star that goes atop the Barton family Christmas tree. If you don't have the
program tapes, all the clubs and dealers have them, most of whom write to
this list. YES, It is time once again to celebrate THE CINNAMON BEAR, first
heard in 1937.
Charlie helped me make the Maybeland map and the eleven songs in the serial
more accessible to you this year. Just go to:
[removed]
You can print them off and use them as you listen with your kids to the
program. You'll have so much fun.
It is golden age radio at its best, with the actors who are so familiar to
you---Joseph Kearns, Elvia Allman, Gale Gordon, Frank Nelson, Martha
Wentworth, Barbara Jean Wong, Verna Felton, Hanley Stafford, Elliott Lewis,
Lou Merrill, Howard McNear, and the list goes on and on and on.
As Paddy himself says, "I'd be much obliged to you!"
Sincerely,
Dennis Crow
(via Charlie Summers, who apologies for being so late with this this year.
Remember, the best-sounding copies of these programs are available from the
First Generation Radio Archives - see:
[removed]
...for more details. Also, there is an iCalendar schedule for import into
any modern calendar application attached to the blog post at:
[removed]
The first episode, assuming you listen to one episode every day, should
have started on Monday, November 29th, so the story will end on Christmas
eve; you've got seven to catch up on if you haven't started. --cfs3)
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:41:18 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: It's A Wonderful Life
Kenneth Clarke remarked:
I just finished listening to the OTR version of "It's A Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart.
In the movie version, George Bailey took some fallen petals from a rose his daughter brought
home from school. In the radio version, however, it was a small bell. Was this done for the
benefit of the radio audience, or was this how it was originally written in the script?
Which version are you referring to? LUX THEATRE? STARS IN THE AIR? SCREEN DIRECTOR'S PLAYHOUSE?
"How it was originally written in the script" depends on which script you are talking about.
Also, radio production was usually on the ball with the script so if they used a bell instead
of a rose pedal, it was probably in the script. The answer to that question would only be theoretical.
No way to factually state why the change unless there was an inter-office memo explaining. But the
question does provide an interesting factoid.
Great liberty was taken when adapting motion-pictures for radio productions due to
time restraints, sound effects, music scoring and the fact that movies were originally a visual
medium. Since the story ends with "Every time you hear a bell ring, an angel gets his [removed]"
it would be obvious to incorporate a bell instead of a rose pedal to help eliminate a few lines
of descriptive dialogue about rose pedals and help tie it in with the ending.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:54:30 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Whoops! Cincy Convention Date Change
Folks;
Got a revised flier from Bob Burchett this evening; looks like the
Cincinnati Old Time Radio and Nostalgia Convention had to change dates. Grab
the latest version of the flier at [removed]
Charlie
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:54:38 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 12-3 births/deaths
December 3rd births
12-03-1857 - Joseph Conrad - Kiev, Russian Empire - d. 8-3-1924
author: Some of his works were adapted for radio
12-03-1873 - Atwater Kent - Burlington, VT - d. 3-4-1949
inventer and radio manufacturer: Maker of Atwater Kent radios
12-03-1889 - Ferdinand Munier - San Diego, CA - d. 5-27-1945
actor: Rene Michon "Count of Monte Cristo"
12-03-1897 - George Riley - Rochester, NY - d. 5-30-1972
comedian: "Furlough Fun"
12-03-1897 - Reed Brown, Jr. - Texas - d. 7-26-1962
actor: Capt. Gordon Wright "Roses and Drums"
12-03-1900 - Lester Matthews - Nottingham, England - d. 6-6-1975
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-03-1902 - Bill Slater - Parkersburg, WV - d. 1-25-1965
emcee: ""Uncle Jim's Question Bee"; "Twenty Questions"; "Dunninger Show"
12-03-1902 - Bob Beaupre - d. 12-xx-1985
newscaster: WJOY Burlington, Vermont
12-03-1904 - Roberto Marinho - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - d. 8-6-2003
Owner of Brazil's Organizaces Globo radio
12-03-1907 - Connee Boswell - Kansas City, MO - d. 10-11-1976
singer: (The Boswell Sisters) "Kraft Music Hall"; "Chesterfield Supper
Club"
12-03-1908 - Anna Sten - Kiev, the Ukraine - d. 11-12-1993
actor: "March of Time"; "Stagedoor Canteen"
12-03-1909 - Dana Suesse - Kansas City, MO - d. 10-16-1987
composer: "Good News of 1938"
12-03-1913 - Bill Green - Massachusetts - d. 3-13-2005
pianist: "Matinee with Bob and Ray"; "Stumpus"
12-03-1915 - Robert H. Forward - San Diego, CA - d. 1-30-2001
director: "And Sudden Death"; "Special All-Star Revue"
12-03-1916 - Rabon Delmore - Elkmont, AL - d. 12-4-1952
guitar, singer: "Grand Ole Opry"
12-03-1916 - Whitfield Connor - Rathdowney, Ireland - d. 7-16-1988
actor: Harry Davis "When a Girl Marries"
12-03-1917 - Kermit Slobb - d. 2-21-2004
writer: "Jack Armstrong, The All-American Boy"
12-03-1923 - Frank Guarrera - Philadelphia, PA - d. 11-23-2007
operatic baritone: "Metropolitan Opera Audition of the Air"
12-03-1923 - Moyra Fraser - Sydney, Australia - d. 12-13-2009
actor: "As Time Goes By"
12-03-1925 - Dick Noel - NYC - d. 10-xx-1991
announcer, "Lowell Thomas"
12-03-1927 - Isabelle Lucas - Toronto, Canada - d. 2-24-1997
guest panelist: "Quote-Unquote"
12-03-1927 - Lloyd Barry - NYC
actor: "Big Town"; "The Shadow"; "When A Girl Marries"
12-03-1943 - Jennifer Harmon - Pasadena, CA
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
12-03-1944 - Malcolm Brodrick - NYC
actor: Peter Marriott "The Marriage"
December 3rd deaths
03-13-1914 - Bob Haggart - NYC - d. 12-3-1998
bass: "The Bob Crosby Show"; "Eddie Condon's Jaxx Concerts"
03-17-1906 - Michael O'Shea - Hartford, CT - d. 12-3-1973
actor: "Textron Theatre"; "Radio Reader's Digest"; "Philip Morris
Playhouse"
03-21-1915 - Hank D'Amico - Rochester, NY - d. 12-3-1965
clairinetist: "Rumpus Room"; "Saturday Senior Swing"
06-11-1919 - Richard Todd - Dublin, Ireland - d. 12-3-2009
singer: "Rinso-Spry Vaudeville Theatre"; "Your Hit Parade"
06-22-1925 - Basil Beardsley - d. 12-3-1991
disk jockey: WJER Dover, Ohio
06-30-1913 - Harry Wismer - Port Huron, MI - d. 12-3-1967
sportscaster: "Harry Wismer Sports Show"; "Champion Roll Call"
07-08-1934 - Marty Feldman - East London, England - d. 12-3-1982
comedian, writer: "Round the Horne"; "We're In Business"
07-29-1876 - Maria Ouspenskaya - Tula, Russia - d. 12-3-1949
actor: "Towards the Century of the Common Man"; "Treasury Star Parade"
07-29-1922 - Johnny Barricks - d. 12-3-2005
disk jockey: WKAY Glasgow, Kentucky
08-07-1902 - Charles Cornell - Budapest, Hungary - d. 12-3-1993
composer: "Boston Blackie"; "Date with Judy"
08-08-1917 - Ann Francine - Philadelphia, PA - d. 12-3-1999
singer: "Hour of Charm"
08-16-1904 - Wesley Beans - d. 12-3-1992
baritone: KFSG Los Angeles, California
08-23-1902 - Carl Hohengarten - St. Louis, MO - d. 12-3-1968
orchestra leader: "Double Everything"; "Knickerbocker Playhouse"
08-30-1926 - Jeff Brown - NYC - d. 12-3-2003
actor: "Little Blue Playhouse"
11-13-1850 - Robert Louis Stevenson - Edinburgh, Scotland - d. 12-3-1894
author: Several of his works adapted for radio
12-05-1918 - Ralph Blizard - Kingsport, TN - d. 12-3-2004
fiddler: At age 12 formed "The Southern Ramblers"; Appeared on many
Tri-cities radio stations
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:54:40 -0500
From: "Ryan O" <ryano218@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Favorite Detective Series
Answering Kenneth's message about my top five favorite detective series.
1. Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (the five-part shows from the Bob Bailey era)
2. Dragnet (I know they are cops, but I still think it counts)
3. Sam Spade (the Howard Duff era)
4. I Love a Mystery (the East Coast run with Russ Thorson)
5. Tales of the Texas Rangers (I know I'm cheating a little, but I'll still
call Jace Pearson a detective with a horse)
Honorable mentions: Night Beat, The Falcon, Barrie Craig, Richard Diamond
and Pat Novak.
RyanO
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:55:11 -0500
From: Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Shanghai radio in 1939
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Hi Amanda and others.
If you go to the Media Network Vintage Vault website ( and go to the postings
for September ) you'll be able to hear a documentary that Jonathan Marks did
that includes a bit about wartime radio from Shanghai.
Cheers ! Graeme ( ORCA / UK )
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:55:02 -0500
From: "danhughes@[removed]" <danhughes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: NEW CINCY DATES: MAY 13-14, 2011
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I just had a phone call from Bob Burchett, founder of the Cincinnati Old-Time
Radio Convention: DATES HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOR THE MAY 2011 CONVENTION! NEW
DATES MAY 13-14! The previous dates were the same as the largest amateur
radio hamfest in the world, the Dayton Hamfest. One major dealer could not
have attended then, and several of our regulars go to the Dayton Hamfest every
year. Keep up with the Cincy Convention doings at the Cincinnati OTR
Convention bulletin board/discussion board, at [removed]. ---Dan
Hughes
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:55:23 -0500
From: Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Tune into Yesterday newsletter
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Issue 61 of ORCA's Tune into Yesterday newsletter is now available. This issue
includes articles about the BBC radio series of Dr Finlay's Casebook, American
radio coverage of the Holocaust, the first 25 years of AFN in Europe 1943 -
1968, plus the usual mix of archive news, and old programmes for members to
hire.
Membership in the UK is 6 pounds per year from John Wolstenholme, PO Box 1922,
Dronfield, S18 8XA.
Graeme Stevenson Editor: Tune into Yesterday ORCA/UK
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:55:28 -0500
From: Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: FOTR DVDs
The editing on the DVD for the FOTR convention is almost complete. We
are starting to ship orders that we received at the convention.
I'll be posting clips from the DVDs on Youtube next week. If you want
to see a very short and funny clip from one of the radio plays, take
a look at this.
[removed]
Fred
Check us out for old time radio & TV shows & Movie Serials
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:55:33 -0500
From: Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: New website
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Hi Folks.
A new website for anyone with an interest in radio broadcasting during the
Cold War era:
[removed]
Cheers ! Graeme ( ORCA / UK )
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:55:41 -0500
From: Steve Darnall <fvpress@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Winter 2011 Nostalgia Digest
I just wanted to let everyone know that the Winter 2011 issue of Nostalgia
Digest is back from the printer, and we're proud to include contributions
from three veteran contributors to this group: Bill Oates (who contributed
our cover story abotu Groucho Marx), Martin Grams Jr. (who provided us with
an excerpt from his upcoming book on The Shadow), and Jack French (with an
article about Sandra Michael, the creator of "Against The Storm"). There are
also articles about Dorothy Lamour, Tony Curtis, Batman on television, and a
few moments from our conversation with the great Peggy Webber. (And of
course, each issue has the full schedule for our radio shows, "Those Were the
Days" and "Radio's Golden Age".") You can find out more at
[removed].
Steve
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:55:48 -0500
From: Campbell Connell <rcconnell@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Storage of Rare Materials
For anyone who has any rare materials related to OTR, in addition to making
copies, please consider how you store it. Leaving paper products on your
basement floor is probably the worst place possible for storage. Mold can
develop even without a flooded basement, and flooded basements are certainly
common. Perhaps even consider copying the materials and donating them to a
University that maintains an archive of radio history. Universities will
have the know-how and the facilities to keep the materials for years to come.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:55:55 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Christmas program
I have a favorite Christmas program I want to recommend. It is "The white
Christmas of Archie Nicotine." The CBC produced it. I would call it a
human, funny celebration of the holiday as seen through the eyes of a
minister's wife. It is dated 12/26/82. I am told that the CBC no longer
has radio drama on its network.
I wish my mother, a minister's wife, could have heard this program. It is a
gem!
Ted Kneebone. Old Time Radio:
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:56:01 -0500
From: Derek Tague <thatderek@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Whither Dick Beals?
I saw a TV ad the other night for Alka-Seltzer and although 't'was nice to see
the product's mascot "Speedy Alka-Seltzer" back in action, it was apparent
that our old OTR friend/performer Richard "Dick" Beals was not providing the
voice for the character -- a voice he originated (1950s? 1960s?). Duz anybody
out there in the ether know why Mr. Beals has been unceremoniously
plop-plopped,
fizz-fizzed from one of his signature characters and how he is doing health-
and
well-being-wise these days?
Derek Tague
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:57:31 -0500
From: "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR on LP records
Not so many years ago someone lamented to me that he/she wished it was
possible to still find three-speed turntables. I didn't pursue that because
I have a very good one which has been in our family for decades and works
like a charm. Today I received a circular in the mail from JCPenney's
Outlet chain advertising an $80 Jensen unit for $50, complete with
three-speed stereo turntable and AM/FM stereo radio, plus some added
features. I have no idea if this is a deal and think this brand or another
might possibly be had online (or found in competing retail stores) perhaps
for less. That's not my point. My point is: such equipment is still
available and presumably of good quality, backed by warranties. If you've
been unable to play your LPs (and there is a whole lot of OTR on those vinyl
discs from yesteryear) maybe this is the Christmas to fix your problem.
They're out there at what seems to me to be a reasonable sum. I'm not
advocating one brand or store over another, just mentioning their
availability in case you've overlooked them.
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:57:40 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 12-4 births/deaths
December 4th births
12-04-1887 - Louise Ballman - d. 2-25-1970
violinist on experimental station 5ACW Fort Smith, Arkansas
12-04-1889 - Buck Jones - Vincennes, IN - d. 11-30-1942
actor: "Hoofbeats"
12-04-1889 - Isabel Randolph - Chicago, IL - d. 1-11-1973
actor: Rhoda Harding "Dan Harding's Wife"; Mrs. Abigail Uppington
"Fibber McGee and Molly"
12-04-1897 - Doc Whipple - d. 2-28-1963
orchestra leader: "Ma Perkins"; "The Mysterious Traveler"
12-04-1903 - Cornell Woolrich - NYC - d. 9-25-1968
writer: "Radio City Playhouse"; "Starring Boris Karloff"
12-04-1910 - Mary Hunter - Bakersfield, CA - d. 11-16-2000
actor: Marge "Easy Aces"; "Against the Storm"
12-04-1915 - Allan Jackson - Hot Springs, AR - d. 4-26-1976
newscaster for the CBS network for 32 years
12-04-1921 - Deanna Durbin - Winnipeg, Canada
singer: "Eddie Cantor Show"
12-04-1930 - Harvey Kuenn - West Allis, WI - d. 2-28-1988
baseball great: "Tops in Sports"
12-04-1931 - Wally George - Oakland, CA - d. 10-5-2003
producer, host: "The Sam Yorty Show"; "The Wally George Show
December 4th deaths
01-13-1910 - Jack Mercer - d. 12-4-1984
actor: Popeye "Popeye the Sailor"
03-07-1925 - Richard Vernon - Reading, England - d. 12-4-1997
actor: Slartibartfast "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
04-12-1911 - Joseph Blazak - d. 12-4-1993
newscaster: KGFJ Los Angeles, California
06-14-1902 - Carl Esmond - Vienna, Austria-Hungary - d. 12-4-2004
actor: "Mayor of the Town"
06-19-1917 - Robert Karnes - Kentucky - d. 12-4-1979
announcer: Started his career in his native Kentucky
06-20-1897 - Bob Howard - W. Newton, MA - d. 12-4-1986
pianist-singer: "Calsodent Presents Bob Howard"; "Sing It Again"
07-02-1910 - Jeff Alexander - Whidbey Island, WA - d. 12-4-1989
conductor: "Amos 'n' Andy"; "Light Up Time"; "Tums Hollywood Theatre"
08-04-1909 - Alan Kent - Chicago, IL - d. 12-4-1993
announcer, emcee, writer: "Duffy's Tavern"; "Career of Alice Blair"
08-13-1895 - Bert Lahr - NYC - d. 12-4-1967
comedian: "Hildegarde's Raleigh Room"; "Manhattan at Midnight"; "Royal
Vagabonds"
08-31-1922 - John Hanson - Ontario, Canada - d. 12-4-1998
singer, actor: "Children's Hour"; "Songs from the Shows"; "Variety
Bandbox"
09-01-1887 - William Daly - Cincinnati, OH - d. 12-4-1936
condctor: "Raleigh Review"; "Voice of Firestone"
09-07-1903 - Margaret Landon - Somers, WI - d. 12-4-1993
author: "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-12-1916 - Ed Binns - Philadelphia, PA - d. 12-4-1990
actor: "This Is My Story"
10-08-1897 - Rouben Mamoulian - Tiflis, Georgia, Russia - d. 12-4-1987
film director: "Theatre Guild On the Air"
11-22-1913 - Benjamin Britten - Lowestoft, Suffolk, England - d.
12-4-1976
composer: "Columbia Workshop"; "An American in England"
11-23-1894 - Rosetta Duncan - Los Angeles, CA - d. 12-4-1959
singer: (Topsy and Eva) "Wireless Vaudeville"
12-03-1916 - Rabon Delmore - Elkmont, AL - d. 12-4-1952
guitar, singer: "Grand Ole Opry"
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 14:57:47 -0500
From: Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: BBC Transcription discs
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The latest edition of the British Library's Sound Archive magazine 'Playback'
has an article by Paul Wilson stating that recently a hoard of BBC
Transcription Service discs were found at a British Antartic Survey station in
the South Pole. The discs date from the 1950's - 1970's and contain drama,
features and music. No other details given in the article though.
Graeme ( ORCA / UK )
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--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2010 Issue #208
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