Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #454
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 12/23/2003 8:53 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 454
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Jack Benny?Les Tremayne               [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      Seeking a Volunteer                   [ "Nancy Hudson" <hudson@[removed]; ]
      The Return of the Urban Legend        [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Jack Benny's final radio show         [ otrdude@[removed] ]
      Edgar H. Felix, pioneer broadcast pr  [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      12-23 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      entertainment or life!                [ vigor16@[removed] ]
      Cryptological Premiums                [ BH <radioguy@[removed]; ]
      DICKENS on OTR                        [ "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed] ]
      Cast of Granby's Green Acres          [ Geoffrey Tolle <gtolle@[removed]; ]
      Make Love                             [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      Nothing new under the sun             [ RickEditor@[removed] ]
      Re: Song of the Vagabonds and Censor  [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      Bob Dryden                            [ JayHick@[removed] ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 09:00:03 -0500
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jack Benny?Les Tremayne
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    VCR Alert!

             The (in)famous Jack Benny film "The Horn Blows at Midnight" airs
    Christmas Day at 12:15 AM/Eastern on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). I'm not
    sure if that's 12/25-proper, or if it's actually the evening of 12/25/morning
    of 12/26. Check your local listings.
    For those who have never seen it, it's really not as bad as Benny & his
    writers made it out to [removed] just did lousy box-office.
             Also, check your listings for the Cartoon Network. I believe between
    now and Christmas, they'll be re-airing "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol,"
    which features the voice of the recently deceased Les Tremayne as the voice
    of the Ghost of Christmas Present.

    Yours in the "wreath"-er!

    Derek Tague

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    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 10:07:02 -0500
    From: "Nancy Hudson" <hudson@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Seeking a Volunteer

    Charlie gave me permission to post this.

    I am on the board of directors of WRRS/RADPRIN, a radio reading service
    serving the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. (More about RADPRIN at our
    website: [removed].

    We are seeking a volunteer living in or near our area to help out around
    the studio as an engineering technician, to assist our blind station
    manager and studio engineer resolve technical issues that require sight.
    Tom and Bob are just incredible people, but certainly need a pair of
    eyes to help with things technical around the studio.

    We operate on a sub-carrier frequency to SCA receivers, and have a
    satellite uplink to pull in other radio-reading services around the USA
    to maintain 24/7/365 service.

    We also broadcast a one-hour OTR show on Sundays (grant it, it's a weak
    link to OTR, but nonetheless it IS one!)

    If you can solder two wires together, are/were a station engineer, or
    would like to be, or think you could help, and could spare a few hours a
    month to provide technical assistance at our studio at Northampton
    Community College in Bethlehem PA, we would be most grateful if you
    could join our other 200 volunteers who provide readings we broadcast to
    our print-handicapped listeners.

    If you would like to help us out, you may contact me via email OFFLINE
    at Hudson@[removed], or call the station at 610-861-5583 and speak with
    our station manager, Mr. Tom Eberts, during the week between 8:30AM EST
    and 2:30PM EST.

    Thank you (and thanks, Charlie)

    Russell S. Hudson
    Bethlehem, PA

    EMAIL: Hudson@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 10:52:02 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Return of the Urban Legend

    Dennis Mansker writes,

>     Ah, how distinctly I recall saving my Ovaltine seals until I had the
>     requisite number (what that was I don't remember), then waiting what seemed
>     like weeks for my decoder to arrive. Naturally it arrived on a Monday, so I
>     had to wait until the following Saturday to get my secret message from
>     Capt Midnight.

    This immediately pegs it as a nonradio item.  The serial version ran
    Monday through Friday, in the afternoon.  Also, I can't speak for TV, but
    the requisite number for radio was one Ovaltine proof of purchase.

>     I copied it down carefully and then I began to apply the secret decoder to
>     it. The letters began to fall into place, inexorably, one after another,
>     until finally it was done. I had it, the secret [removed] "Be sure to
>     drink Ovaltine every day"...

    A variant on the Ralphie story.  I cannot speak for the TV show (busy
    being in college and all that), but can state unequivocally that there
    was never an Ovaltine commercial during the Code-O-Graph era.  (In the
    radio scripts, they had both numbers and letters, though why the
    announcer would need to know what the message was beats me.)

>     I was incensed. I wanted a real secret message, one that none of my friend
>     would have without getting their own decoder. Instead I got a plug for
>     Ovaltine. I didn't even really LIKE Ovaltine.

    I can't speak for Dennis' experience, but the few messages I saw (and
    didn't attempt to decrypt because I didn't have a Puzzle Plane Decoder
    Pin) were far too short, both in wordlength and message length for a
    commercial.  Their very brevity made applying statistical analyses to
    them arguable, at best.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 11:09:37 -0500
    From: otrdude@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Benny's final radio show
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    On Jack Benny's final radio show of  05-22-55, he says at the end, "See you
    next fall". Did he decide not come back for another season or did the sponsor
    decide to stop the show?

    Andrew Steinberg

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    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 11:21:46 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Edgar H. Felix, pioneer broadcast promoter

>     From Those Were The Days --
>     1922 - WEAF once again proved to be the pillar of radio promotion.
>     This time they broadcast radio's first double wedding ceremony.

    The promotion man for WEAF during most of its AT&T years in the 20s was
    Edgar H. Felix.  I am not sure if he was working for them this early, but
    he might have been responsible for this event.  He wrote most of the
    publicity and press releases for the station.  Around 1926 he became one of
    the editors of "Radio Broadcast" magazine, and he told me that after a
    while he wrote most of that magazine singlehandedly, sometimes using
    numerous pseudonyms.  In 1927 he published one of the very first books
    about commercial broadcasting "Using Radio In Sales Promotions" and in the
    late 20s thru the mid-30s wrote a column about how to advertise on radio
    for the mainly print advertising trade press magazine "Advertising and
    Selling".  The main purpose of the column was to instruct advertising
    professionals in the unfamiliar art of advertising on radio.  It is an
    inside look into the business end of broadcasting that sheds a lot of light
    on how the industry operated.  In this column he became my hero because he
    was one of the first supporters of using recorded syndicated programming.
    He was still alive and well when I was doing my research for my [removed]
    dissertation in the 1970s, and it was most gratifying to be able to meet
    and interview him.  Unfortunately by that time he had discarded all of his
    papers except for a set of bound volumes of "Radio Broadcast", so the close
    details of his work, especially the WEAF years, were gone.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:30:46 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  12-23 births/deaths

    Tenno No Tanjobi (Emperors Birthday-Japan)

    December 23rd births

    12-23-1907 - Don McNeill - Galena, IL (R:  Sheboygan, WI) - d. 5-7-1996
    host: "Breakfast Club"
    12-23-1911 - James Gregory - The Bronx, NY - d. 9-16-2002
    actor: Captain Frank Kennelly "Twenty-First Precinct"
    12-23-1913 - Anton M. Leader - Boston, MA - d. 7-1-1988
    director: "Eternal Light"; "Murder at Midnight"; "Suspense"; "Words at War"

    December 23rd deaths

    01-03-1909 - Victor Borge - Copenhagen, Denmark - d. 12-23-2000
    comedian, pianist: "Victor Borge Show"; "Kraft Music Hall"
    01-30-1862 - Walter Damrosch - Breslau, Germany - d. 12-23-1950
    conductor, commentator: "Baulkite Hour"; "Music Appreciation Hour"
    02-08-1886 - Charlie Ruggles - Los Angeles, CA - d. 12-23-1970
    comedian: "Texaco Star Theatre"; "Suspense"; "This Is My Best"
    04-02-1920 - Jack Webb - Santa Monica, CA - d. 12-23-1982
    actor: Joe Friday "Dragnet"; Pete Kelly "Pete Kelly"s Blues"
    04-06-1924 - Mimi Benzel - Bridgeport, CT - d. 12-23-1970
    singer: "Jack Pearl and Mimi Benzel"; "Railroad Hour"
    07-01-1901 - Irna Phillips - Chicago, IL - d. 12-23-1973
    actress, writer: Mother Moran "Today"s Children"; "Guiding Light"; "Road of
    Life"
    07-02-1910 - Jeff Alexander - Whidbey Island, WA - d. 12-23-1989
    conductor: "Amos 'n" Andy"; "Light Up Time"; "Tums Hollywood Theatre"
    10-25-1924 - Billy Barty - Millsboro, PA - d. 12-23-2000
    comedian: "Spike Jones Band"
    11-11-1911 - Patric Knowles - Horsforth, Yorkshire, England - d. 12-23-1995
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:31:41 -0500
    From: vigor16@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  entertainment or life!

    Hi all,

    I saw a few postings regarding my comment about the Waltons.  That shows
    how the point can be missed.  The Waltons was never reality.  It was one
    man's adult reflections of his years as a teenager and the world he
    described.  The Waltons is a great study of our idealic view of the years
    we spent as youth. It was one man's view.  It was never said to be
    reality by anyone.  In fact, the radio shows they featured at times were
    out of sink with the period of the episode at times. We all see our
    younger years as idealic.  It is entertainment only.
    The question should be more like "Should entertainment reflect real
    life?". I hope not.  Most Liberals love "It's a wonderful life".  Can we
    call that reality? It is depression, isn't it? Are there flaws in the
    armour of "Miracle on 34th street"? I like it and that's all.  I like to
    be entertained and I don't care if it is "reality".  If I don't like the
    language, plot, or show, I turn it off.  I don't attack it for its
    "reality" content. My "reality" is a lot different from yours.  Yours may
    be different from the next guys.  If one wants to argue the Waltons, why
    don't they get an interview with the creator (name excapes me at the
    moment) and find out what they were doing.  We should ask about the
    depression of people who lived then and realize that every person feels
    it different.  I had a friend tell me recently that he didn't remember
    where he was when JFK was killed and another person in the group said,
    "Sure you do".  That is what got me thinking about this "reality" thing
    that we have been skirting for years in OTR. I doubt there really was a
    Lone Ranger or Matt Dylan, but probably folks who had enough personality
    to be noticed in folklore.

    enough

    Deric

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:32:50 -0500
    From: BH <radioguy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Cryptological Premiums

>     a Decoder Belt Buckle as part of a belt premium.

    <snip>

>     deciphering using it would be a bear!

    At least without your pants falling down.

    Bill

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:33:02 -0500
    From: "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  DICKENS on OTR

    A few more:

    On NBC University Theater   [removed] Pickwick Papers.
    [removed] Expectations.
    On Lux Radio Theater    [removed] Tale of Two Cities.

    Merry Christmas and happy Holidays to all you great OTR Digesters.  ( I
    started to leave out the "OTR" but the mental images were scary.

    Roby McHone
    Fairbanks, Alaska

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:33:16 -0500
    From: Geoffrey Tolle <gtolle@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Cast of Granby's Green Acres

          I'm afraid that my radio books were socked away during a recent
    mode and I haven't been able to find them. Does anybody know the
    character cast (not actors) of "Granby's Green Acres" and general
    descriptions of them? Thanks.

                        Geoffrey Tolle

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:32:01 -0500
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Make Love
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    Hi again, Gang!:

         With all this talk about the escalation of the amatory stakes involved
    in the phrase "making love" & how the term started out innocently & then, as
    Mae West would say, "drifted," I'd like to add that there was a song from the
    OTR days called "Make Love With a Guitar." Ouch!
          But don't "fret." "Making love" was simpler then. As for the song, I've
    only heard it within Warner Bros. cartoons.
    "There! I've said it and I'm glaaaad!

    Derek Tague

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    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:32:09 -0500
    From: RickEditor@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Nothing new under the sun
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         During the past few months, during which I've been helping e-bay sellers
    of OTR pay their motrgages, one thing has stood out as I listened. Whether it
    be comedies, sci-fi, horror stories, detective yarns, whatever, a significant
    percentage of the time I notice similarities in the programs I've watched on
    television from the '60s on. Even the TV shows I thought of as the most
    original -- "Star Trek" and "Outer Limits" -- and the plots of countless
    sitcoms and
    quiz shows, mirrored, I now realize, storylines I'm hearing on OTR. I'm sure
    someone more familiar with pre-radio literature, including the classics,
    notice even more universal plots.
         I usually can tell, especially when watching a romantic comedy in the
    movies, all the "borrowing" from Shakespeare -- the mistaken identities, the
    power struggles, the male-female wars.
         But while there may be "nothing new under the sun" (a phrase that traces
    its roots to Ecclesiastes), I'm hooked on OTR -- derivative plot and all.
    These days, I like nothing more than to don my Bose sound-canceling earphones
    and
    switch on an mp3 of "Suspense," "The Fat Man," "Abbott and Costello," "X
    Minus One" and "Information Please!" while the rest of the family roars at
    "Everybody Loves Raymond, "Friends" and their eye-straining video and
    ear-piercing
    canned laughter.

    rick selvin
    philadelphia

    end

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    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:32:50 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Song of the Vagabonds and Censorship

    At 03:12 PM 12/12/2003, Elizabeth wrote about "Song of the Vagabonds" in
    the thirties:

>     and I don't believe there was ever a single attempt to censor the lyric.

    I forgot to mention that this was not the case in the forties. I have a
    telegram from NBC for their Blue Network production of the "Wheeling Steel"
    program that reads:

    "Program Approved. As substituted re 'Song of the Vagabonds' delete the
    words 'To Hell with Burgundy' and 'Bastard King'."

    In an even more interesting censorship the telegram continues:
    "Also delete 'female' from 'In My Arms.'

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 22:28:25 -0500
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bob Dryden

    Bob Dryden recently died.  He was a frequent attendee at our convention.
    His daughter sent the following obituary

    ROBERT DRYDEN OBITUARY

    Robert Dryden, whose acting career spanned over four decades and scores
    of radio, television, theater, and film appearances, died on December 16,
    2003.  He was 86.

    Mr. Dryden, who has Parkinson's disease, died at the Actors Fund Nursing
    Home in Englewood, New Jesrey.

    Born in New York City, Mr. Dryden began his career in summer stock at the
    Barter Theater in Virginia and performed on Navy radio during World War
    II.  After the war, he settled in New York City and appeared in numerous
    radio series including "The Shadow," the National Lampoon Radio Hour, and
    CBS Radio Mystery Theater.  He performed on the Voice of America in
    November 1963 on the President John F. Kennedy memorial program.

    He appeared in several Broadway and off-Broadway productions, in numerous
    productions at the Lucille Lortel White Barn Theater in Westport,
    Connecticut, and in such films as "Happy Hooker," "The Good, The Bad, and
    The Ugly," and "Prince of the City."  He was the voice-over for hundreds
    of radio and television commercials and had recurring roles in television
    dramas such as the Jackie Gleason Show, the Phil Silvers Show, Playhouse
    90, "The Edge of Night," "Kojak," and on Saturday Night Live.

    He was married to Harriet Davis Dryden, who died in 1998.  Mr. Dryden is
    survived by his daughter, Emma D. Dryden, of New York City.

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

    Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 10:34:08 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history

     From Today in history, the NY Times --

    In 1928, the National Broadcasting Company set up a permanent,
    coast-to-coast network.

    Joe

    --
    Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #454
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