Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #122
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 5/13/2008 10:18 AM

To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 122
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Philo Vance                           [ Radioclass <radioclass@[removed] ]
      Help                                  [ Radioclass <radioclass@[removed] ]
      re EASY ACES                          [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
      Re: obscure reference of the week     [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      Good ol' Button Gwinnett              [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
      ADMINISTRIVIA: Temporary Disruptions  [ Charlie Summers <listmaster@lofcom. ]
      WROW                                  [ Ken Stockinger <bambino032004-otr@y ]
      Mystery Radio Announcer               [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Kane                                  [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      5-13 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      New York Recordings                   [ "Paul Thompson" <beachcrows@sbcglob ]

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

    Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 13:57:38 -0400
    From: Radioclass <radioclass@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Philo Vance

    In a message dated May 10, Jay asked about an episode
    of Philo Vance from 1943.  The OTTR (Old Time Radio
    Researchers Group)and Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio
    Logs both have a log for Philo Vance that lists two
    shows from 1943.  The Cellini Cup, April 29. 1943, and
    The Mystery of The Singing Cat, May 6, 1943.  As
    explained by Frank Passage on his Old Time Radio Logs
    site, there is confusion regarding some dates of this
    program.

    Anne

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

    Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 13:57:49 -0400
    From: Radioclass <radioclass@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Help

    Hi everyone

    I very recently got a new computer and in transferring
    my files, I lost the link to the newspaper listings of
    old radio programs.  Can anyone point me in the right
    direction?

    Thanks

    Anne

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

    Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 15:10:08 -0400
    From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
    To: oldtimeradio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  re EASY ACES

    Ted wrote, quoting an Easy Aces script:

>     Now, after some research I discovered Button Gwinnett was one of the
>     signers of the Declaration of Independence -- not the US Constitution.
>     He was a delegate from Georgia.  He was involved with writing the Georga
>     State Constitution.  A county near Atlanta is named for him.

>     Is it just me, or does that seem like a pretty difficult remark for even
>     radio's 1940s erudite listeners to catch?

    Even more so for the 2008 audience! That's why we changed it to John Hancock
    when we performed it at the SPERDVAC convention last weekend.

    There's another joke that we didn't change and after four performances of
    this script, it has yet to get a laugh. The dialogue goes like this:

    MOTHER:   What do you mean "intentions", Janie?

    JANE:        Mother, do I have to draw a bluepoint for you?

    ACE:         Yes, mother, don't clam up.

    They get the bluepoint/blueprint joke but not the clam. Probably people on
    the east coast would be more familiar with bluepoint clams. For us uneducated
    seafood eaters, a clam is a clam.

    Barbara
    (who likes clams of any color)

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

    Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 18:18:33 -0400
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: obscure reference of the week

>     Now, after some research I discovered Button Gwinnett was one of the signers
>     of the Declaration of Independence -- not the US Constitution.  He was a

    My guess is that the scriptwriter didn't really know or was stretching a
    bit to bring in the "Button" and "Parchment" tied to "Constitution"  so
    the joke would work. Also, as I recall (possibly because of the unique
    name), his signature always brought big money prices for collectors.
    Just looking through newspapers of the forties, I see lots of references
    to his name.

    Still an obscure reference because most probably didn't know who he was.

    Jim Widner

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

    Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 19:26:43 -0400
    From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Good ol' Button Gwinnett

    "Ted" nominates a mention of Button Gwinnett as most obscure OTR
    reference of the week. He further speculates that this signer of the
    Declaration of Independence would be unknown to even the "erudite
    listeners" of the  40's.

    Goodman Ace, like Franklin P. Adams and [removed] Menken, wrote witty,
    literate prose for a wide-scale audience in the print media. Ace
    continued this in scripting "Easy Aces" and Adams did so at the mike
    of "Information Please;" few of radio listeners of that program would
    have been ignorant of Mr. Gwinnett.

    Button Gwinnett, if anything, was "famous" for being obscure, much as
    Millard Fillmore is well known by many Americans who can't name even
    ten other [removed] Presidents prior to FDR. Richard Amour, a humorist who
    made a career of mangling history (in both Playboy magazine and over
    a dozen books,) specifically mentioned only six signers when he
    humorously covered the Declaration of Independence; one of them was
    "a slovenly fellow named Unbuttoned Gwinnett."

    I have no doubt that the majority of Ace's radio audience "got" the
    reference to Mr. Gwinnett.  My question would be: why would Peter
    Stone and Sherman Edwards leave good ol' Button Gwinnett out of their
    enormous cast of "1776"? Scandalous!

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    <[removed]>

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

    Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 10:20:05 -0400
    From: Charlie Summers <listmaster@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  ADMINISTRIVIA: Temporary Disruptions

    Folks;

       Over the next week or two, there will probably be some temporary
    disruptions to the OTR Digest, Nostalgia Pages, and Nostalgic Rumblings
    blog/podcast. As blog readers know, there are some personal issues I need to
    deal with, so there will probably be some short delays in deliveries and
    such. Understand, no mail will be lost, the Digest just may arrive in your
    inbox a little later than usual, that's all.

       This also goes for deliveries from the [removed] Shop - orders may take
    an extra day or two to get shipped out. If you haven't been to the store at
    [removed] lately, check it out. It's been remodeled with a
    fresh coat of paint, an updated shop engine, some new items, and what I hope
    is a more navigatable interface. I hope you'll approve, and agree with me
    that there isn't a better place on the Net to spend a few fins of your
    "economic stimulus" tax rebate, other than maybe the voluntary contribution
    page at [removed] - where else can you get
    the entertainment value of the shows there and the Digest itself for so
    little? (And if you have purchased from The Shop, feel free to write a review
    of your purchase to help others with their decisions!)

             Charlie

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

    Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 10:20:40 -0400
    From: Ken Stockinger <bambino032004-otr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  WROW

     The majority(if not all) of the 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers
    radio broadcasts that survive are WROW airchecks. In
    fact, one of them is interrupted for a breaking local
    news [removed] a local man was holding his
    wife and children hostage in their home. Of course,
    they went back to the ballgame. :)
                                Ken

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

    Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 10:21:17 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Mystery Radio Announcer

    There is a radio announcer at the 7 minute mark on this segment of "I Am the
    Night," and the voice is VERY familiar. At the Cincinnati OTR Convention, I
    played the segment to se eif anyone can recognize it and while a lot fo
    people said the voice was very familiar, someone suggested Larry Thor. Gary
    Lowe suggests it might also be Larry Thor. He remains uncredited in
    production paperwork.  If anyone has a few moments, click on the link and
    skip to the 7 minute mark. If anyone can be absolutely certain it's Larry
    Thor, please let me know. He did radio's SUSPENSE and BROADWAY IS MY BEAT but
    I hate to make an assumption without verification, but if a whole bunch of
    people say it's him, then I'll feel reserved to label this TV episode among
    his professional radio/TV credits.

    [removed]

    Martin
    mmargrajr@[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 10:22:35 -0400
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Kane

    Craig W. gently corrected my statement:

> >     The only  Welles character I can think of whose middle name
> >     mightbe remembered is John  Foster Kane.

    with this:

>     I think you're thinkin' of CHARLES Foster [removed]

    And Robert Birchard" <bbirchard@[removed]; sighed:

>     Perhaps Welles's character's name is not so well known after all. True,
>     the middle name was "Foster," but the first name was "Charles," not "John."
>     Perhaps you were confusing Kane with "John Charles Thomas"--or all three of
>     'em, as Durante might say.  ;-}

    This is definitely not the place to speak out without thinking.
    That's one of my favorite movies - I would say who DOESN'T feel that
    way, but, astonishingly, I've found there are a few - but I guess I
    don't know it as well as cultural literacy would require. Apropos de
    bottes, Kane is also the name of my late friend Karl Wagner's only
    series character, though I don't think Karl was familiar with that
    movie when he began writing the stories way back in high school. It's
    also the name of my largest pit bull. But neither of those Kanes have
    first names. I daresay I'll not make THAT mistake again. Funny I'd
    forget the first name but remember the middle name. But, anyhow, that
    WAS the character referred to, right?

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

    Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 10:22:45 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  5-13 births/deaths

    May 13th births

    05-13-1842 - Arthur Sullivan - London, England - d. 11-22-1900
    composer: (Gilbert and Sullivan) Several of his works were adapted
    for radio
    05-13-1899 - David Broekman - Leiden, The Netherlands- d. 4-1-1958
    conductor: "Mobil Magazine"; "Texaco Star Theatre"
    05-13-1907 - Daphne du Maurier - London, England - d. 4-19-1989
    author: "Campbell Playhouse"; "Several of her works were adapted for
    radio
    05-13-1907 - Warren Angell - Brooklyn, NY - d. 5-6-2006
    singer: "Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians"
    05-13-1909 - Ken Darby - Hebron, NE - d. 1-24-1992
    singer, choral conductor: (The King's Men) "Fibber McGee and Molly"
    05-13-1911 - Maxine Sullivan - Homestead, PA - d. 4-7-1987
    vocalist: "Night Life"
    05-13-1912 - Helen Craig - San Antonio, TX - d. 7-20-1986
    actor: "Crime Does Not Pay"
    05-13-1912 - Phil Alampi - d. 11-4-1992
    farm newscaster: ABC, WJZ New York, New York
    05-13-1914 - Bill Rose - Fort Dodge, IA
    actor: Chuck Ramsey "Captain Midnight"; Shamus "Houseboat Hannah"
    05-13-1914 - Joe Louis (The Brown Bomber) - Lafayette, AL - d. 4-12-1981
    heavyweight boxing champ: "Fred Allen Show"; "Freedom's People"
    05-13-1915 - Ruth Doering Reynolds - Chicago, IL
    singer: (Doring Sisters) "Contented Hour"
    05-13-1928 - Nils-Bertil Dahlander - Gothenburg, Sweden
    composer, drummer: "Thore Ehrling Radio Band"

    May 13th deaths

    01-24-1913 - Gwen Bagni - d. 5-13-2001
    writer: "Suspense"; "Family Theatre"; "Escape"
    02-27-1902 - Gene Sarazen - Harrison, NY - d. 5-13-1999
    golf legend: "Tops in Sports"
    03-05-1922 - Robert Burr - Jersey City, NJ - d. 5-13-2000
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    03-06-1905 - Bob Wills - Limestone County, TX - d. 5-13-1975
    western singer: (Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys) "Rexall Rhythm
    Round-Up"
    04-22-1939 - Jason Miller - NYC - d. 5-13-2001
    playwright: "Earplay"
    05-30-1896 - Whispering Jack Smith - The Bronx, NY - d. 5-13-1950
    singer: "Whispering Jack Smith"
    07-24-1875 - Frank Moulan - NYC - d. 5-13-1939
    comedian: :Roxy and His Gang"
    08-16-1904 - Ruth Gillette - Chicago, IL - d. 5-13-1994
    actor: "Theatre Five"
    11-04-1902 - Frank Jenks - Des Moines, IA - d. 5-13-1962
    actor: "The Navy Comes Through"
    12-23-1924 - Floyd Kalber - Omaha, NE - d. 5-13-2004
    news correspondent: NBC; News Anchor for WMAQ and WLS in Chicago

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 10:24:35 -0400
    From: "Paul Thompson" <beachcrows@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  New York Recordings

    Joe Webb asked:

>     Many of the recordings in the late 50s and 60s of CBS shows and
>     sports events (like baseball games) seem to exist only because a lone
>     radio enthusiast in the Albany, NY took the time and spent the money
>     on recording tape to preserve the shows. Does anyone know who this
>     collector was? Without the effort of this person, many Johnny Dollar
>     and Suspense shows would have been forever lost to collectors.

    I don't know who might have recorded shows in Albany but a trading
    partner of mine in the 60's and 70's, the late Pat Rispole who lived
    in Schenectady, NY, taped many, many sporting events and Suspense and
    Johnny Dollar shows as they were aired. I know that he taped all the
    Dollar and Suspense shows from 1959 until conclusion. Pat's catalogs
    listings, some of which I still have to this day, were remarkable for
    the time period. He had runs of syndicated shows and network series
    which would make many collectors today envious. In addition to trading
    shows with each other I also taped for Pat a number of SF Giant
    ballgames from start to finish which back then, were for the most
    part, aired only regionally here in the west. I have no idea what
    happened to his collection when he died, but it was a treasure trove.

    Paul Thompson

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #122
    *********************************************

    Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
      including republication in any form.

    If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
       [removed]

    For Help: [removed]@[removed]

    To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

    To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
      or see [removed]

    For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
      in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

    To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

    To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]