Subject: [removed] Digest V2001 #393
From: "Vince Long" <longv@[removed];
Date: 12/11/2001 8:04 AM

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>     ------------------------------

>                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
>                                  Volume 2001 : Issue 393
>                             A Part of the [removed]!
>                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

>                                     Today's Topics:

>      Re: Mutual's "illegal" pearl harbor   [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
>      'Twas The Night Before Christmas      [ Al Girard <agirard@[removed] ]
>      SUSPENSE WITH HOWARD CULVER           [ "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed]; ]
>      Today in Radio History 12/10          [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
>      Richard Crenna                        [ Alan Chapman <[removed]@verizon. ]
>      Spence is too kind.                   [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
>      Fibber McGee & Molly show 12/20/49    [ sojax@[removed] (Roger S. Smith) ]
>      Maybeland Map                         [ "Donald B. Strong" <donsplace@earth ]
>      home discs                            [ "Joe Salerno" <sergei01@[removed] ]
>      Re: Roses and Drums                   [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
>      Re: Cavalcade of Sports               [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
>      Fibber McGee & Molly 12/20/1949       [ sojax@[removed] (Roger S. Smith) ]
>      CBC irony                             [ John Henley <jhenley@[removed] ]
>      planet man                            [ "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed]; ]
>      Re: Cavalcade of Sports Announcers    [ Gerry Wright <gdwright@[removed]; ]
>      RECORDINGS ON CARDBOARD               [ "Ian Grieve" <ian@[removed] ]
>      Re: old discs                         [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
>      Jack and Rochester, Sitting In A Tre  [ "Chris Chandler" <chrisc@[removed]; ]
>      From "Barndance" to "Opry"            [ Udmacon@[removed] ]

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 01:07:59 -0500
>     From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: Re: Mutual's "illegal" pearl harbor broadcast

>     Much thanks to Eric Cooper for his mention yesterday of my C-SPAN
>     broadcast ten years ago of the debate from the House of Representatives
>     following FDR's Declaration of War address.  I've been crafting my
>     letter to NPR to tell them that Cronkite erred when he specifically
>     stated that NBC and CBS switched back to their studios after the speech
>     and that only Mutual did the debate.  CBS also did, and the name of
>     their reporter in the House that day was Park Simmons.  Who he???  He
>     was not listed as an accredited Capitol correspondent, and I think that
>     this was the reason he continued the broadcast that day.  He didn't know
>     any better.  He also let it go on without constant interruptions for
>     commentary unlike Mutual's Fulton Lewis Jr. who chatted a lot.  When I
>     did the C-SPAN broadcast I edited together the House floor proceedings

    >from both networks' broadcasts, using the recording which was from a

>     closer microphone with no commentary--so most of it was from CBS.  So my
>     recording of the debate is more complete than the one Cronkite used.

>     I should mention that it was not an "illegal" broadcast.  It was just
>     against the rules of the House of Representatives.  Although there had
>     been a few broadcasts in the 30s of the opening ceremonies of new
>     congresses, other than that only Joint Sessions of the House and Senate
>     could be broadcast when there was an important speech.  The Joint
>     Session ended when the Senators left the chamber, and that is when the
>     broadcast should have ended.  When the recess was declared and then when
>     the House was brought back in order, both commentators were distracted
>     with other things to describe, so they just kept right on going.  My
>     feeling is that Fulton Lewis Jr. knew what he was doing.  Both he and
>     Simmons were told at about the same time to stop the broadcasts and
>     Simmons complied.  It took a second message to stop Lewis.

>     Like Cronkite I discussed Jeannette Rankin's efforts to be recognized
>     and also played the same segments of Fulton Lewis Jr's commentary about
>     her efforts.  Unlike Cronkite I discussed the fact that although this
>     vote against entry into WW II made her unpopular, I not only mentioned
>     that she had ALSO cast a vote against entry into WW I, but also
>     mentioned that there is a statue in her honor in the Capitol building.
>     Like Cronkite I discussed Fulton Lewis Jr's flaunting of the rules
>     against broadcasting the debate, but unlike Cronkite I also discussed
>     the role that CBS played in also broadcasting the debate.  Unfortunately
>     a last minute decision on the part of CBS to charge C-SPAN SEVEN HUNDRED
>     DOLLARS A MINUTE for using the voices of any of their correspondents
>     forced us to remove the voices of their reporters.  Otherwise I would
>     have been able to play not only the segments when Lewis discussed being
>     forced to stop the broadcast, I would have also aired Park Simmons'
>     reactions over at CBS.

>     NPR's web site discusses Cronkite's report as an exclusive.  Well, maybe
>     it is this year, but I scooped him by TEN YEARS, and my report was more
>     complete and more accurate.  I don't know how they missed the CBS part
>     of the story.  CBS has always had their recording of this broadcast in
>     their archive.  Part of the CBS broadcast of the debate was included on
>     an LP that was sold at the Pearl Harbor Memorial for many, many years.
>     And on Monday Dec 9, 1991 I walked over to both the Library of Congress
>     and the National Archives and gave them tapes of both broadcasts.

>     The NPR web site mentions that the segment was produced by John
>     McDonough.  John is an old friend of mine, and is the one who did all of
>     the NPR reports with Bob Trout.  The web site mentions that John found
>     the Mutual recording behind some shelves at WGN.  And yes, about 30
>     years ago John brought the discs over to my archive studio at
>     Northwestern where we dubbed them off before he slipped them back behind
>     the WGN shelves.  But this was not my only source for the Mutual
>     broadcast because I had also found a set of Wilcox-Gay Recordio discs of
>     a home recording of most of the Mutual debate at a garage sale in
>     Evanston.  Other than the Hawaiian LP, my source for the CBS broadcast
>     were the discs that WCAU gave to Temple University in 1967.  So I had
>     two sources for each network, although one for each would be
>     incomplete.  Much to my amazement, neither the Library of Congress nor
>     the National Archives had either.  And for some reason the Museum of
>     Television and Radio has never thought it important enough to ask CBS
>     for their recording.  I doubt that anybody at either the Museum or CBS
>     knows that this debate broadcast exists over at CBS!

>     EVEN WALTER CRONKITE DOESN'T KNOW THAT CBS HAS THE RECORDING.  HE
>     DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THAT CBS BROADCAST THE DEBATE.  (although I have a
>     feeling that he will know about this by the time you read this, and BOY
>     will he be pissed off!)  My C-SPAN broadcast didn't go unnoticed.  It
>     was rebroadcast 4 or 5 times that weekend, and since my part was three
>     hours in length it sometimes seemed like I was on all weekend.  Over the
>     years I've had many people mention that they saw the broadcast.  It even
>     was reviewed in The Wall Street Journal!!  Makes you wonder how they all
>     could have missed knowing any of this.

>     When I got the WCAU recordings I heard that somebody there mentioned
>     that all CBS stations had been asked by the network to destroy any
>     recordings they had of the debate but that WCAU refused.  So when John
>     came up with the WGN discs from BEHIND SOME SHELVES in the library, that
>     really set off flares in my mind.  Edward R. Murrow was in Washington
>     that day--why was Park Simmons (who he???) used to report this important
>     broadcast?  And why didn't Murrow and Friendly use any of the debate in
>     "I Can Hear It Now" when I KNOW that the recording has always been there
>     at CBS News.  I've seen it.  Was it really being suppressed?  The debate
>     broadcast was reported about in the newspapers at the time.  It's
>     amazing how forgotten a story this is.  It was almost completely unknown
>     when I did the C-SPAN broadcast ten years ago--and it got forgotten
>     again in the past ten years!

>     Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 09:24:47 -0500
>     From: Al Girard <agirard@[removed];
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: 'Twas The Night Before Christmas

>     I now have the episode of December 22, 1942
>     posted on the website.  This was the first time
>     that Teeny and the King's Men performed the
>     song that became so popular.

>     Al Girard

>     Unofficial Fibber McGee and Molly home Page
>     [removed]

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 09:25:02 -0500
>     From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
>     To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: SUSPENSE WITH HOWARD CULVER

>     A late answer to Michael Gwynne -
>     Re: Suspense show "The Search" - I was told that it was in two [removed]
>     first part was run, then the second half was preempted by something else.  I
>     have no indication that it was ever run.  I have the first part of the show,
>     and I, too, would love to have the second half if it is available anywhere.

>     Lois Culver
>     KWLK Radio (Mutual) Longview, WA 1941-44
>     KFI Radio (NBC) Los Angeles CA 1945-47, 50-53
>     Widow of Howard Culver, actor

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 09:25:17 -0500
>     From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
>     To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: Today in Radio History  12/10

>     From Those Were The Days --

>     1927 - For the first time, famed radio announcer George Hay introduced
>     the WSM Barn Dance as The Grand Ole Opry. The show's title may have
>     changed but it remained the home of country music.

>      Joe

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

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 11:12:56 -0500
>     From: Alan Chapman <[removed]@[removed];
>     To: Old-Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: Richard Crenna

> >     ...Crenna did a brilliant TV show in the mid-60s in which he > played a
> >     California state [removed]

>     Most recently, Crenna appeared in a recurring role on "Judging Amy" as
>     a wealthy suitor of Judge Amy's mother, Maxine. Don't know whether
>     that character will return or not, but I'm sure you can catch him in
>     reruns (which will likely start soon -- it seems that reruns begin
>     after only 4 or 5 new episodes these days).

>     Alan Chapman

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 11:55:22 -0500
>     From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
>     To: <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: Spence is too kind.

>     Spence acknowledged my recent posting by saying:

> >     I can believe the part about your performing for the studio audience, because
> >     I remember well the wild laughter coming so often from the kids in the
> >     audience.  (Yes.  I'll have to admit it.  I also listened to your show.)

>     Opps! That admission sounded almost apologetic. :)

> >     So you, Hal, can take pride in knowing that you entertained young
> >     people who would someday grow up to be the leaders of this nation.  Like
> >     members of Congress.  Wait a minute.  Strike that.  You shouldn't have to
> >     shoulder *that* responsibility.  Make it our police and fire fighters.

>     Thanks for making that distinction, Spence. But there are a few in
>     Government today that I wouldn't mind knowing I had once entertained. :)

>     And as far as the "hero's" of today that you [removed] My hunch is that
>     none of them are still active, but enjoying retirement along with me.

>     Hal(Harlan)Stone
>     Jughead

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 12:51:54 -0500
>     From: sojax@[removed] (Roger S. Smith)
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: Fibber McGee & Molly show 12/20/49

>     In answer to Bryan Wright's post in issue #392. I have the show in my
>     reel to reel collection. I  listened to it and mine ends the same. Teeny
>     sings with the group and after the singing the announcer says "stay
>     tuned for Big Town coming up next on NBC" bing, bing, bong then an WMAQ
>     announcer "WMAQ and WMAQ fm NBC in Chicago".  My copy sure sounds like
>     it is the complete broadcast as there is a very slight turntable rumble
>     and the rumble is not interrupted.  If someone would have cut the ending
>     it would be audible. I have one more copy on a very early reel  in my
>     collection that I will also check but if you do not hear from me that
>     will indicate that it is the same. So long for now, Roger.

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 13:21:56 -0500
>     From: "Donald B. Strong" <donsplace@[removed];
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: Maybeland Map

>     I rarely post to the digest, but in this case I just have to send a
>     public very big THANK YOU to Mr. Crow.

>     Recently, he offered to send a copy of a map of Maybeland to anyone who
>     requested one. Not only did he send a copy to me lightning fast, but he
>     has been a joy to correspond with and very, very, gracious.

>     It never ceases to amaze me that list subscribers are so kind, giving,
>     forgiving, and just plain great folks, and Mr. Crow is a shining example
>     to us all.

>     Again, Thank You!

>     -- [removed] (donsplace@[removed])
>     "Prevent truth decay - study the Bible daily."

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 15:40:14 -0500
>     From: "Joe Salerno" <sergei01@[removed];
>     To: <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: home discs

>     Mr Wells:

> >     I actually have a couple of these old discs.

>     Do you know what they are of?

>     Joe Salerno

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 15:40:38 -0500
>     From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
>     To: <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: Re: Roses and Drums

>     On 12/10/01 9:21 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

> >     Hello again from someone who hasn't written often but always enjoys learning

>     >from all the folks in this group. Does anyone know of a show which was on in

> >     the early thirties called "Roses and Drums" which was, I believe, a
> >     fictional Civil War story. My mother enjoyed it as a girl and I told her if
> >     any shows were available someone in this group would know.

>     "Roses and Drums" was during most of its run a sort of Civil War
>     melodrama, with dramatized historical scenes mixed in with a serialized
>     romance story about a young nurse torn between two lovers -- one a Yankee
>     and the other a Rebel. The program was sponsored by the United Central
>     Life Insurance Company, which during the Civil War Centennial craze of
>     the early sixties, issued a promotional LP of "Music from Roses and
>     Drums." I've been told that they might also have issued an LP containing
>     an actual episode from the program, but I've never actually seen this
>     record, and am skeptical as to whether or not it actually exists. All the
>     "Roses and Drums" scripts are at Duke University, as part of the J.
>     Walter Thompson archive, but no recordings are in that collection.

>     The late actress Florence Williams, who was a friend of mine late in
>     life, had her first featured radio role on "Roses and Drums" beginning in
>     early 1935. She played a young Quaker girl -- and found it ridiculous
>     that she was required to appear at the microphone in full costume. For
>     the benefit of the studio audience, the entire cast broadcast while
>     wearing appropriate Civil War regalia, including complete military
>     uniforms for the men and hoop-skirt gowns for most of the women, which
>     were constantly bumping into the microphone [removed]

>     Elizabeth

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 15:40:56 -0500
>     From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
>     To: <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: Re: Cavalcade of Sports

>     Chris Chandler wrote:

> >     A sportcaster named Brian (or Bryan) Field  He is apparently the prime CBS
> >     sports announcer at the time this material picks up in 1935--he calls all
> >     the Kentucky Derby races, etc.  His presence carries over to the beginning
> >     of Gillette sponsorship of the races in [removed] after what's obviously a
> >     disastrous call of that May's Derby, he vanishes, replaced by Clem
> >     [removed] to turn up again in the late 1950s, in sort of an elder
> >     stateman role.

>     This name rings a bell with me, but try as I might under every variant
>     spelling I can think of I can't find a listing for him anywhere in the
>     1939 Variety Radio Directory -- which is quite unusual for anyone with
>     even a regional reputation. I'll take a look at the "Broadcasting"
>     magazine microfilms when I get a chance and see if he shows up anywhere
>     there.

> >     Also, does anybody know anything about the actual "Gillette Cavalcade of
> >     Sports"?  I'm familiar with Ted Husing, Clem McCarthy, [removed] looking for
> >     the correct names of a couple of the [removed] sounds like "George
> >     Walsh"...

>     George Walsh is listed as the sports/news/special events director of
>     station WHAS in Louisville, and also has credits for "actor, NBC-CBS,"
>     although no program titles are listed. I believe this is the same George
>     Walsh who climbed the ladder at CBS to end up the announcer for
>     "Gunsmoke" and other programs in the 1950s.

> >     another is "Fred Capanella"...there's also one that sounds like
> >     "Matt O'Lowry"...

>     No listings for these two under any variant spellings.

> >     and finally a "Bill Korom", who was the Gillette Announcer
> >     and apparently a longtime sportswriter, but who left broadcasting to become
> >     President of Churchill Downs!

>     Bill Corum (correct spelling) was a sports columnist for various New York
>     papers at various times, most notably the Journal-American, and was a
>     fixture on sports broadcasts thruout the thirties and forties, and on
>     into the early fifties. He is most often identified by his role as a
>     pre-game commentator during World Series broadcasts dating back to the
>     early 1930s -- he would give "the inside dope" on the teams and players
>     before turning the broadcast over to the play-by-play announcer. He would
>     then return at the end of the game to analyze the key plays. He filled a
>     similar role on Gillette's broadcasts of college football bowl games and
>     major boxing matches. Corum's connection to the Kentucky Derby goes back
>     at least to 1925 -- and it was he who came up with the idea of calling
>     the race "The Run For The Roses."

>     Elizabeth

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 15:41:21 -0500
>     From: sojax@[removed] (Roger S. Smith)
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: Fibber McGee & Molly 12/20/1949

>     My second reply to Bryan Wright's question on the Fibber McGee & Molly
>     Christmas show. I listened to the other reel that I have and BOY what a
>     difference. On this reel at the end of the song there is a start of
>     applause then a very sharp cutoff and bing, bing, bong and that's it, no
>     more. This has me going, however as I said in my first post it sounded
>     legit as the turntable rumble was not interrupted. I have the show on a
>     third reel but it is missing. Sooooo Bryan you really have started
>     something (heh heh). You are about to drive me nuts. So long for now,
>     Roger.

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 17:49:31 -0500
>     From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: CBC irony

>     Only a little while after I follow the nifty link to
>     the Canadian [removed] website, and listen to the archived
>     (and delightful) interview with Paul Frees, than the
>     following comes across the AP wire:

>     TORONTO (AP) - Television and radio technicians for the Canadian
>     Broadcasting Corp. walked off the job in a dispute over wages,
>     forcing Canada's public broadcaster to cancel local news broadcasts
>     and air [removed]
>     Slawko Klymkiw, executive director of programming, said local news programs
>     would be replaced by BBC feeds for the duration of the strike, except in
>     Montreal where there is a different union.

>     If I may say so, it seems to me that a cosmic sense of humor was
>     in play today.

>     John Henley

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 18:12:36 -0500
>     From: "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed];
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: planet man

>     hi
>     since i owned the discs at 1 time there are 78 eps
>     with 1 and 4 missing, the person i bought them from
>     had the same, and the person i sold them to has never
>     found 1 and 4, and good chance these will be put on
>     cd in the near future.
>     it is a hokey story line, but so were alot of the 50s shows
>     ed

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 19:11:11 -0500
>     From: Gerry Wright <gdwright@[removed];
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: Re: Cavalcade of Sports Announcers

>     Chris Chandler asked >

> >     Looking specifically for correct names, spellings, or any info on:

> >     A sportscaster named Brian (or Bryan) Field

>     GT, pg. 142 [ca. 1936] -- "The CBS crew for the Kentucky Derby consisted
>     of Bryan Field, turf expert for the New York Times who described the
>     race, Bob Trout, and Westbrook Van Voorhis."

> >     am looking for the correct names of a couple of the [removed]

>     sounds like

> >     "George Walsh"

>     GT, pg. 162 [ca. 1938] -- "Good old 'Scattergood Baines' first showed up
>     on the air that year. George Walsh and Roger Krupp would announce."

> >     "Bill Korom"

>     BB, pg. 224 [Sports and Sportscasters] -- "Bill Corum, who appeared at
>     countless World Series and prizefight broadcasts to make succinct
>     comments on the action in his gravel-voice."

>     See <[removed]; for Corum's
>     involvement with Churchill Downs.

>     Nothing found on these two "Fred Capanella" and "Matt O'Lowry"

>     Sources:

>     [BB] The Big Broadcast. By Frank Buxton and Bill Owen. The Viking Press,
>     1972.

>     [GT] Golden Throats & Silver Tongues: The Radio Announcers. By Ray
>     Poindexter. River Road Press, 1978.

>     A possible source of additional information may be the American
>     Sportscasters Association (ASA), their contact information can be found
>     at:

>     <[removed];

>     Gerry Wright
>     ZoneZebra Productions
>     San Francisco

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 19:35:18 -0500
>     From: "Ian Grieve" <ian@[removed];
>     To: <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: RECORDINGS ON CARDBOARD

>     There has been discussion on records pressed into cardboard etc.  There have
>     been examples of the records discussed but I have a confession to make.

>     The only time I have seen an example of a cardboard record was a record of
>     sounds supposedly involved in the shooting of JFK.  It was distributed by
>     none other than Playboy in the middle of one of their magazines.  I don't
>     remember it being the centrefold.  This was many years ago when I was very
>     young and only read Playboy for the pictures.  I recall playing the record
>     on my record player, but cannot remember the details.  I may even have kept
>     the record.  So the practice of cardboard records must have continued in
>     some form into the late sixties early seventies (not sure when the record
>     was released) can't even remember the year let alone the month, hmmm Miss
>     July rings a bell.

>     Ian Grieve

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 21:10:08 -0500
>     From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: Re: old discs

>     At 09:21 AM 12/10/01 -0500, you wrote:

> >     Does anyone know if there was a time limit on using the blank disks before
> >     they became too old and would not record? Dad had some blanks and I tried to
> >     record on them to no avail.

>     If my memory serves me right, I seem to recall putting oil on my discs if
>     they started to age, before cutting them. Just a small amount of something
>     like 3 in 1. It would keep the stylus from scraping the  disc.

>     Fred
>     For the best in Old Time Radio Shows [removed]

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 21:17:24 -0500
>     From: "Chris Chandler" <chrisc@[removed];
>     To: <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: Jack and Rochester, Sitting In A Tree?  :)

>     Elizabeth whispers a naughty [removed]

> >     Jack Benny and Eddie Anderson -- There have been some
> >     mind-bendingly bizarre interpretations of this relationship by
> >     our friends the cultural-studies academics (read Joseph
> >     Boskin sometime and you'll never think of those "Wake up,
> >     Boss" bedroom scenes in the same way [removed])

>     I find it interesting that some of these latter-day cultural revisionists
>     blast Benny's treatment of Anderson and Rochester as blatantly racist--then
>     turn right around and suggest Benny was actually liberal enough to create
>     American broadcasting's first same-sex couple!  It can't be both!

>     It's also interesting that whenever anybody mentions this subject on the
>     Digest, it is abandoned faster than an airline reservation to Afghanistan.
>     Nobody dares touch it!  Why not?

>     Elizabeth's referring to the school of interpretation (enunciated or
>     repeated by authors Boskin, Margaret McFadden, Michelle Hilmes, and perhaps
>     others) that Jack and Rochester were a happy, if decidedly kinky, homosexual
>     couple.

>     Certainly the signs are all there, if you set out to find them:     Jack's
>     'character' is a man at LEAST in his '40s, who has never been married.  He
>     occasionally dates women, but never seems overly interested in doing so.
>     (In fact, he invariably winds up spending New Year's Eve home alone with
>     Rochester!  [removed])   He's wildly over-concerned about his appearance, to
>     the point of fussiness.  He idolizes Barbara Stanwyck.

>     And once the series hit television in the early 1950s, viewers were treated
>     to the sight of Jack in a giant cradle being rocked to sleep by
>     Rochester--with both men in their pajamas!  Now that's just plain WEIRD.
>     And heaven knows what would have happened if authors Boskin and McFadden had
>     dug a little deeper and discovered that some of "Jack's" closest friends
>     were a bunch of 12-year old boys called The Beavers!  :-)

>     In other words, it seems crystal clear, right?  And heaven knows 'Jack
>     Benny' may not have been the only radio closet case.  Cliff Barbour
>     practically screams it:  perpetually estranged from his dad; a little
>     toooooo close to his mother; unable (sometimes thru death, but not always)
>     to sustain relationships with women; some unknown mental anguish tearing at
>     him-- literally to the point where he can't function in society.  I'm also
>     thinking of the extant run of "Big Sister" soap episodes in which hubby John
>     Wayne runs off to New York to "find himself".  It seems not too much of a
>     stretch to interpret the scripts as implying that he's at least bisexual.

>     And there's the problem:  it *IS*, in fact, too much of a stretch.

>     That's the major trouble with these latter-day critiques and revisionist
>     interpretations; these critics are assigning subtexts and attitudes the
>     original authors never intended in a million years.  And you can't view
>     these 50-year old characters and their actions through the prism of modern
>     society.  It's doubtful to the point of near-certainty the "Big Sister"
>     writers didn't intend to make their male lead radio's first gay soap hero!
>     The sponsor, the network, the audience would never have gone for it.  And of
>     COURSE Morse, Harlan Ware, and other 'One Man's Family' staffers never
>     intended troubled Cliffie Barbour to come out of the closet, for the same
>     set of reasons, and perhaps others.

>     As for Jack and Rochester, there's ample evidence the Benny writers never
>     even DREAMT they were sending a 'secret message'.  Milt Josefsberg's 1970s
>     reminsence THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM includes a long passage debunking rumors
>     that Jack HIMSELF was gay (that WALK seems to have been the leading piece of
>     supposed evidence), but he completely glosses over the Jack-Rochester
>     'controversy'.  It apparently never occured to him to address it.  Worse,
>     his description of the Benny staff's "token faggot" (his quote) leaves
>     little doubt he and the other writers were far too insensitive and ignorant
>     of gay culture to have secretly spent 20 years telegraphing a homoerotic
>     fantasy.

>     In short, while it would have been wonderful for a teenager struggling with
>     his sexuality to be able to turn on the radio and hear even ONE character he
>     could identify with, the truth is that there WAS no such character.  Radio's
>     big postwar drive for 'tolerance' extended only to race and religion, not
>     sexual orientation.  It took another 30 years for that dam to begin
>     bursting.  And THAT's why today, 'cultural studies' types like Boskin and
>     Hilmes end up pulling this stuff out of thin air--because in the reality of
>     old-time radio, the material they seek is just NOT there.

>     Chris

>     ------------------------------

>     Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 09:04:36 -0500
>     From: Udmacon@[removed]
>     To: [removed]@[removed]
>     Subject: From "Barndance" to "Opry"

>     On Dec. 11, 1927, George D. Hay changed the name of the "WSM Barndance" to
>     the "Grand Ole Opry."

>     Bill Knowlton, "BLUEGRASS RAMBLE," WCNY-FM: Syracuse ([removed]), Utica ([removed]),
>     Watertown NY ([removed]) since Jan. 1973. Sundays, 9 pm est: [removed]

>     --------------------------------
>     End of [removed] Digest V2001 Issue #393
>     *********************************************

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