------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 260
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Re Ovaltine Shake [ "Thomas Mason" <batz34@[removed] ]
LLDT [ Edward Loyer <eloyer@[removed]; ]
Candid microphone not telephone [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
more soft drink nostalgia [ "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed] ]
Sun Spot radio ads [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
Random Follow-Up Thoughts [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
Children's serials and a few other t [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@delphiau ]
N A B I S C O [ "William Harper" <whhsa@[removed] ]
Birth programs [ Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed] ]
Those confounded initials [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
Re:Re: What we drank while we listen [ "Garry D. Lewis" <glewis@[removed] ]
CBS chimes [ "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed]; ]
Deleware Punch and Nu Grape [ wa5pdk@[removed] ([removed] L.) ]
Lombard/Benny [ DSmith7855@[removed] ]
Re:recycled Johnny Dollar scripts [ Thomas Butts <trbutts@[removed] ]
Lunt and Fontanne [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
1/2 shows [ "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 10:20:48 -0400
From: "Thomas Mason" <batz34@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re Ovaltine Shake
I also remember the great cold shake of Ovaltine, milk and ice in an ole
Orphan Annie or Captain Midnight shake up mug. I thought it was quite a
[removed] especially after Ovaltine came out with "Sweet Chocolate Flavored
Ovaltine". The previous malt-like blah flavor was never my favorite, but I
still can't see why some people have this disdain for Ovaltine to this day.
I still keep a jar in the house. Its great sprinkled over cereal. And a
year or so ago, they offered a decoder ring (finally.)
It don't get much better than that.
Tom Mason
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 10:20:56 -0400
From: Edward Loyer <eloyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: LLDT
Thanks to Bill Rockhold for re-kindling the memory of Lucky Lager Dance
Time. I worked in Yellowstone National Park during the summers of 1957 and
1958 and listened to LLDT every night. It was about the only program we
could get at night in the northwest corner of Wyoming. As I recall it
originated in Texas. Interesting now to recall the kid from Ohio listening
to Patti Page singing "Old Cape Cod" in Wyoming broadcast from Texas, guess
thats America.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 10:42:17 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Candid microphone not telephone
according to buxtons Big Broadcast and it began in 1947. Would still like to
know if anyone remembers seeing funts shows also in the movies as shorts at
about this same time. The only one i can recall is one that had funt on the
streets of a big city (probably new york) and he was selling these furry
looking hats from a stand. Anyone else remember?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 10:42:29 -0400
From: "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: more soft drink nostalgia
In Chicago in the 1940s (at least), bottled soft drinks were often
called "pop". (Soda-fountain-made soft drinks were called "phosphates", at
least in my neighborhood). Two local soft drink brands were Nedlog's (their
orange-flavored drink was, I believe, non-carbonated) and Old Colony
(carbonated; several flavors). It's quite possible one or both of those
companies sponsored local-Chicago-area radio programs -I don't recall.
One then-local (or Midwest?) soda pop brand that definitely had spot
commercials on the radio was Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer! Those popular
commercials consisted only or mainly of a catchy jingle (sung with a
rumba/tom-tom beat) simply repeating the drink's name. Oh, how I'd love to
hear a surviving recording of that jingle! I've searched for such a
recording for years, in [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 10:48:03 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Sun Spot radio ads
I think they were on the radio back in the forties. Anyway it was an orange
soda with black print on the bottle of a scene that included the sun. The sun
was simply a clear circle on the glass bottle that showed up orange, like the
sun, because of the color of the drink inside. Sun Spot disappeared in my
area in the early to mid forties (could have been a little later) and Sun
Crest showed up for the first time on radio and in the stores. Ive always
wondered if they were the same drink just with a name switch. Does anyone out
there remember Sun Spot and was it the same as Sun Crest?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 11:10:13 -0400
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Random Follow-Up Thoughts
Hi Gang:
Re: "Candid Microphone."
I remember when I was in high school in the late 1970s when the vocabulary
word "candid" came up. To illustrate an example of this word, the teacher
commented that for many years there was a program on TV called "Candid
Camera"; the instructor added that it was on the radio, too. The student
sitting next to me & I turned to each other and said almost simultaneously,
"How can you have 'Candid Camera' on the radio?"...Little did we know.
Re: "Buried Alive":
Though I can't reacall the details, some caskets during the Middle Ages
were supposedly equipped with a cord attached to a bell above-ground so that
somebody who was accidentally "buried alive" could pull on the cord, & ring
the bell to alert somebody of his/her plight. This is where the expression
"saved by the bell" originated. I read about this in the Matilda Ziegler
Magazine for the Blind.
Re: Comic Strips made into OTR Programs
In a survey of Chicago Tribune comic strips, the post-er said "For
Better or Worse" is less than 20 years old. Not true. It started c. 1978.
Said post-er also asked if there was any connection between "Hi & Lois"
and "Blondie." Well, they are both syndicated by King Features. Lois Flagston
is actually the sister of Beetle Bailey (both strips were created or
co-created by Mort Walker). However, there is a connection between the
Flagston & Bumstead families.
In the early 1970s, there was an anthology cartoon series on ABC-TV
called "The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie." One particular episode was titled
"Popeye Meets The Man Who Hated Laughter" which brought together Popeye and
virtually every other King Features character at the time (Blondie & Dagwood,
Hi & Lois, Little Iodine, Quincy, Tiger, the Little King, Snuffy Smith, Maggie
& Jiggs, Beetle Bailey, the Phantom, Mandrake & Lothar, Prince Valiant, et.
al.). The titular villain hated laughter & tried to kidnap the comic strip
characters who generated a great deal of it. In the cartoon's narrative,
Blondie & Dagwood are next-door neighbours to ...Hi & Lois.
Re: Crankshaft.
The author of this strip Tom Batiuk (rhymes w/ "static") also draws
"Funky Winkerbean." Within the last 6 months, there was a storyline concerning
a character who gets on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" where he is asked the
secret identity of the Shadow.
re: the day I was born
Well, I was born Friday, 26th October 1962 at 11 [removed] Seems that OTR
ended on 30th September 1962 (the day before Johnny Carson took over "the
Tonight Show"). For those who accept 09/30 as the last day of OTR, I was born
a month too late. That's why I like to say that OTR lasted 'til 1972 w/ Arthur
Godfrey's (hi, Lee Munsick) last b'cast. That way I can say I was born during
the OTR era. But, what was on on 10/26/1962? Probably coverage of the on-going
Cuban Missile Crisis.
Incidentally, being that my Jack Benny/39th birthday occurred during
last year's FOTR convention in NJ, my room-mates & I threw a big party to
celebrate. I would like to belatedly thank everyone who attended & helped
make the celebration the success it was [I would also like to apologise for
the split-infinitive in the previous sentence & for all the British
spellings--my heritage is showing]. I would have posted my gratitude back in
October, but I wasn't on the 'Net then.
Re: "To Be or Not to Be"
When Joan Benny first came to FOTR/NJ to promote "Sunday Nights at
Seven" in the early 19990s, I asked her if she had a personal favourite of
her dad's films. Without hesitation, she responded "To Be or Not to Be."
Speaking of [removed]: A coupla years ago, I saw a billboard in downtown
Newark (NJ) that read "Your Money or Your Life--Tobacco Companies Get Both."
Ironically, "The Jack Benny Program" from which the
money/life quote is rooted was sponsored by a tobacco company. [removed]
Re: Whistling OTR themes
I can't think of any other OTR shows using whistling theme-songs;
however, the first TV incarnation of "The Life of Riley" from 1948
(Jackie Gleason version) featured a whistled version of the familiar radio
show theme. (did this song ever have lyrics?).
As for other whistled TV themes, there's always "The Andy Griffith
Show."
I guess I'll be shoveling off.
Yours in the ether,
Derek Tague
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 11:10:32 -0400
From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Children's serials and a few other thoughts.
I was born in 1974, so there was no OTR playing the day I was born. Perhaps
the CBS Radio Mystery Theatre was playing? In what time frame did it run?
Anyway, I've been listening to some of the tapes I picked up at the
Cincinnati convention, particularly Radio Memories Captain Midnight vol. 4,
and a set of Jack Armstrong (16 tapes) that chronicles the adventures of Jack
trying to recover sunken uranium in the Philippines. A few things have
struck me.
First, some of those premiums sound really cool. The luminous dragon's eye
ring sounds like fun, but the best offer I heard is the Captain Midnight
airline map. Just stop by your Skelly (sp?) oil service station, and you can
pick up a 4 color map suitable for hanging. This map shows the routes of
every airline in the nation, along with pictures of the major types of
aircraft used by the airlines. I'd love to see one of these. Does anyone
have a scan of one of these maps they can email?
Second, I know that these are kid's shows from sixty years ago, but it's hard
for me to listen to these shows and not listen with modern interpretations.
For example, when the announcer mentions Captain Midnight's love for his
lieutenant Chuck Ramsey, I interpret that statement in an entirely different
way than I'm sure they intended the kiddies to interpret it. It kind of
changed the dynamics of the whole show for me as I listened to the rest of
the tapes. :)
But that's not really a big deal. The dynamics of Jack Armstrong are very
different, especially in the role of Jack's sidekick, Billy. Almost every
radio hero has a sidekick of some sort. The Lone Ranger has Tonto, The
Shadow has Margo Lane, The Green Hornet has Kato, [removed] Of course the
sidekick is never as strong and smart as the hero, but they are all capable
and reliable, even if they do have to be rescued occasionally. (Well, Margo
had to be rescued almost every [removed]) Anyway, take Gunsmoke's Chester for
example. He will never be the lawman that Dillon is, but he is the only man
that Dillon trusts absolutely. He is reasonably accurate with a gun though
not fast on the draw. He is always there to back Matt with a shotgun. There
are several different shows where Chester has thrown rocks to disable bad
guys and I think he even used a rock against a snake once. There was even
one show where Chester stopped an outlaw who had escaped Matt by dropping a
chamber pot from a second floor window onto the outlaw's head. The point is
that Chester was capable, and sometimes succeeded where Matt had failed.
On the other hand, consider Billy in the Jack Armstrong serial. From the
shows I've listened to so far, (admittedly, only about 36) Billy is just dead
weight. He is never as good as Jack in anything, and often impedes their
progress. Billy falls in quicksand and has to be saved. Billy slides down
the mountain and has to be saved. When analyzing any dangerous situation, he
always gets it wrong and his plans are always dropped in favor of the ones
thought up by Jack or Uncle Jim. If he sees something in the distance, he
always misidentifies it and is corrected by Jack. He can never do ANYTHING
better than Jack in ANY situation. Because of this, I have trouble seeing
him as a real character. Chester is an individual with real skills and
abilities that fit well with those of Matt, he feels like a real person.
Billy just feels like an artificial construct whose only purpose is to create
implausible cliff hangers.
Perhaps this comparison is a bad one. Is it really fair to compare Gunsmoke
(one of radio's best shows) to Jack Armstrong? I don't know, but does anyone
else have similar (or different) impressions? I'd love to hear them.
-Chris Holm
Who loves the comic strip The Boondocks, who believes that The Boondocks and
Dilbert are the most brilliant comics to come out in the last couple of
decades, and wishes his local paper carried it.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 11:10:45 -0400
From: "William Harper" <whhsa@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: N A B I S C O
Dear OTR Folks;
Peace.
Great openings remembered! I know I only heard the last year of Straight
Arrow regularly, for sure (as we did not have a station exclusively Mutual
until 1950 and Straight Arrow ended 1951). And for years I could recite the
entire opening. If fact it was this remembrances that got me involved with
OTR. I will always remember Frank Bingman's first phone call (through the
kindness of Lois Culver) one Saturday morning when he introduced himself
with the famous Straight Arrow opening. Today when talking about Straight
Arrow I often find persons my age or older who cannot remember the show,
become animated and excited when I go into my Bingman voice and do the
opening.
Manituwah
Bill
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 16:53:33 -0400
From: Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Birth programs
The radio shows on the dayI was born consisted of a lot of dots and dashes.
Harry Bartell
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 16:53:56 -0400
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Those confounded initials
Hal Stone inquires why those confounded initials of Phil Clarke and James
Kelly are so important. Because when you're looking at dozens of
plausibles in Social Security files, if you can cut the numbers to a
handful, the search for biographical information advances far more
rapidly. Get it? Incidentally, not surprisingly, there hasn't been a
hint yet for either man. Has no one on this list ever seen an initial
(or other name) for them? Hal, you will endure The Hallelujah Chorus if
you can provide same! Just give me your phone number whne you supply the
right initials!
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 16:53:23 -0400
From: "Garry D. Lewis" <glewis@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:Re: What we drank while we listened
Or so I believe. Is there any way to confirm if prune juice was, indeed,
Dr. Pepper's secret ingredient?
[removed]
[removed]~[removed]#q7
[removed]
yours and there's on coca in Coke either,
Garry D. Lewis
--
enlightenment is just a light socket and hairpin [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 16:54:44 -0400
From: "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: CBS chimes
Mike Paraniuk (bourdase@[removed]) wrote:
But my question is: why did CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System, never
seem to agonize about synchronicity as did NBC? How did the Columbia
Network notify THEIR affiliates that the network was switching over for
thirty seconds to the local station before the broadcast of the next
program?
By simply saying, "This is the Columbia Broadcasting System." This became
"This is the CBS Radio Network" when CBS reorganized in 1951, but for
decades afterward was still known as the "system" cue. Much later the cue
for TV was simply "This is CBS," and today on radio the cue is "CBS News."
CBS *did* briefly have a chime "logo" of its own, but it was only used on
TV, as part of their color intro. This was created by Eric Siday, who
called his electronic jingles "Identitones." You can hear it at
[removed]#siday; it's the last item in the
clip, at about 1:08.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 16:56:03 -0400
From: wa5pdk@[removed] ([removed] L.)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Deleware Punch and Nu Grape
Those were my favorite drinks back when my folks ran a little grocery
store and I had my choice of all of the cold-drinks. Later on, I used
"Deleware Punch" to help kids remember state capitals. They would
never forget the capital of Deleware when I told them .... I "dove"
(for Dover) into a Deleware Punch. <grin>
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 16:57:14 -0400
From: DSmith7855@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lombard/Benny
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
I had the pleasure of appearing on the A. & E. "Biography" of Carole Lombard
this past September. I was invited because of a lengthy article I had
written on Carole which is to be part of my book, "Hoosiers in Hollywood."
Carole was never supposed to appear with Benny in "To Be or Not to Be."
Miriam Hopkins had been cast but Hopkins thought her part was too small and
decided she did not want to do the movie. Lombard had always wanted to work
with Lubistch and she thought Jack Benny was hilarious in "Charley's Aunt."
When she let Lubitsch know she was available, she was cast immediately. She
had seen Robert Stack give Deanna Durbin her first screen kiss and told
Lubitsch she thought his good looks might be suppressing a talent for comedy.
Besides Stack had been a friend of the Lombard (Peters) family since
childhood. Lombard's husband, Clark Gable, did not care for either Benny or
Lubitsch. He tried to dissuade her from taking the role. Carole, was not be
be deterred. She took the role and had a great time with Lubitsch and Benny.
When Carole's plane crashed, Benny was devastated. He did not appear on his
program the week of her death. Years later he would say he only liked three
of his movies, "Charley's Aunt," "George Washington Slept Here," and "The
Meanest Man in the World." And, he would say, he only loved [removed]"To Be or
Not to Be."
Dave Smith
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 16:57:42 -0400
From: Thomas Butts <trbutts@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:recycled Johnny Dollar scripts
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, chronologically and when Bob Bailey took over
in October 1955 and the format changed to a weekly story in five daily
15-minute segments I realized that most of the first programs I listened to
were ones I had heard before in a single half-hour broadcast.
There are actually quite a few - I do not recall the exact number. I would guess
20 or more of the 56 [?]
75-minute shows were adaptations. Most, if not all, of them were written by John
Dawson [E. Jack Neumann] and appeared earlier on Edmond O'Brien or John Lund
versions. "Tears of Night" was an expanded version of a Sam Spade episode. A
classic is the Clinton Matter which was earlier The Little Red Schoolhouse Matter
[or something like that] and was also adapted as the Civic Pride Affair for one of
the last episodes of Sam Spade.
Tom Butts
Dallas, TX
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 16:58:09 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Lunt and Fontanne
A friend of mine and a member of the Milwaukee Area Radio Enthusiasts has been
named an official docent for Ten Chimneys, the Genesee Depot, Wisconsin home
of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Ten Chimneys has been converted into a
school for acting. She is trying to get as complete a set of their radio
appearances as possible. She has several, but is missing the following.
THEATRE GUILD ON THE AIR
Strange Interlude Part 1 3/31/46
O Mistress Mine 1/9/49
There Shall Be No Night 9/24/50
I Know My Love 1/6/52
The Old Lady Shows Her Medals 2/3/52
CAVALCADE OF AMERICA
The Gentleman from the Islands 7/6/42
If you can be of assistance please contact me off line.
Thank you.
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 16:58:29 -0400
From: "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 1/2 shows
hi to all
i mentioned this awhile back.
those of you who collect 16in discs, if you have 1/2 shows, part 1 of this or
part 2 of that, if you'll send me your list i will keep track, in going through
a closet awhile back i found a number of harry lime/ 3rd man 1/2 discs
this mean more to add to my 1/2 show stack. nuts
and i just received in 2 suspense shows on cd, someone told me these
up to now have been in poor sound, these are beautiful
kaleidescope 07/12/55
and i believe the other mentioned was
freedom this way, 1/27/57
both are from 16in discs.
take care, ed
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #260
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