Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #266
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/14/2002 7:38 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 266
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Straight Arrow Opening                [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
      Re: Coca-Cola and Cocaine             [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      Renfro Valley                         [ ClifSr@[removed] ]
      What next in radio?                   [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
      Soda, Tonic, etc.                     [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Pop and Pepsi                         [ "Thomas Mason" <batz34@[removed] ]
      Re: Oil Companies                     [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      correction on origin of gunsmoke      [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
      Diamond in the Rogue                  [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
      Re: Tape Hiss                         [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      Re: Candid Mike in the movies         [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      Bob and Ray and all day otr           [ Chris & Carla White <cncwhite@ricon ]
      All-channel radio requirement         [ "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed]; ]
      period pubs                           [ zbob@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 06:58:11 -0400
    From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Straight Arrow Opening

    After I posted that I had never heard a Straight Arrow episode nor had
    even heard of the show till I read about it on this digest,  Lois Culver
    was kind enough to send me an email with the opening of the show in an
    attachment. I am very grateful to Lois for her kindness and found it
    really interesting, but I honestly have to say that I never heard this
    show during the OTR era.
    As I mentioned in my post, at our house supper was eaten promtly at 5:00
    pm and the only radio program allowed during the meal was the news. This
    was during WWII so the news was often bad and not pleasant to have to
    eat with.  But come to think of it we watch the news on tv now during
    dinner and the news nowadays is decidedly harder to digest.  So this
    maybe why I never got to hear the program. I'm sure that it was my loss.
    Of course there had to be lots of programing that one did not hear even
    if you were a regular listener,  but I think that I tended to stay with
    the shows that I liked and didn't explore other shows much.  I remember
    being upset when summer came and the regular shows went on vacation and
    their summer replacements were often a disappointment to me.
    I'm going to tell you something now that you should keep to yourselve.
    I wouldn't want Hal Stone to hear about this,  but I never heard the
    Archie show either at least as far as I remember, and I still haven't
    heard it  to this day.  My mother did not believe in boys sitting around
    the house when they should be outside getting into trouble. So daytime
    programing was limited to those days that I was sick. Living in Southern
    California there weren't even many bad weather days to use as an excuse
    to get to listen to all those neat shows.
    So my thanks to Lois for her thoughtfulness and remember not a word to
    Hal.

    George Aust

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 07:00:23 -0400
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Coca-Cola and Cocaine

    As Mr. Harrison <herbop@[removed]; has challenged my facts re: Coke and
    cocaine, I long to respond in detail. Alas, I fear Mr. Summers would never
    stand for that; the subject of soft drinks, even though their sponsorship was
    an important part of OTR, is already straying into OT. In a nutshell, let me
    just say that, other than the matter of what some people call some other
    people,  Mr. Harrison is mistaken in his particulars. I will be happy - well,
    at least willing - to justify my remarks off list.

    However, if our good moderator will permit some brief points: Mr. Harrison
    says "[Cocaine] has not been used 'until recent years' by any ethical doctor,
    dentist, or other health care professional as a pain killer." I refer you to
    the entry "Topical Anesthetics, Cocaine" by Drs. Revis and Seagal: "Today
    cocaine continues to be used for recreational and medical purposes. Medical
    use is confined primarily to operative procedures of the nose and throat and
    treatment for dermal lacerations in children."

    Further, he states: "Subsequent research proved that it is, indeed, highly
    addictive." Research has failed to demonstrate convincingly that cocaine is
    addictive in the absence of specific environmental factors. In fact by FAR
    the majority of users who begin to find its use is starting to interfere with
    their lives simply QUIT, with no need for treatment. The mental health and
    drug enforcement industries, along with the occasional professional victim
    who wishes to blame all his failings on a "disease" beyond his control, have
    popularized the notion that cocaine is, in some fashion, addictive. Sometimes
    the term "psychologically addictive," which is medically meaningless, is
    used. Many of us here are "psychologically addicted" to OTR, but few of us go
    on crime sprees to support our habit, though I have heard of sporadic
    outbreaks of piracy. There is a big difference between substances that are
    "addictive" and those that are "habituating."

    Finally, in reference to my statement that, according to the Snopes site,
    Coke still contains a cocaine derivative he says "Coke contains caffeine,
    which is a stimulant. I don't know if that is what you mean when you mention
    a 'derivative of the coca plant.'" Not at all, Herb; I daily enjoy my fix of
    coffee and can readily distinguish the mild euphoria of caffeine from the
    jangly buzz of cocaine. The ingredient in question is referred to as
    "decocainized flavor essence of the coca leaf." Of course, this invites the
    question: if the formula for Coke is secret, how does anyone know WHAT
    ingredient it contains? Possibly we know of this particular ingredient
    because a special DEA permit is required to import and process the coca leaf.

    Finally, Mr. Harrison affirms: "By the way, I prefer Pepsi, as a rule." Well,
    I, for one, buy RC when I can find it, not so much for its superior flavor,
    nor even because I'm a Southerner, but to protest alleged efforts by Coke and
    Pepsi to, between them, crush a competitor. Besides, though _Foucault's
    Pendulum_ never specifically referred to RC Cola's ties to the Rosicrucians,
    those pyramids that once adorned its label hint at its mystic origins.

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 07:00:43 -0400
    From: ClifSr@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Renfro Valley

    John Lair's Renfro Valley has a wonderful site at
    [removed]
    Lair had one of those memorable voices that we can still hear in our heads
    after many decades.  Check it out.

    Clif Martin

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 07:57:48 -0400
    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  What next in radio?

    Jim Cox asks, in part:

>     The industry appears hell bent on putting the industry
>     out of business. The day may come when there is no trace of CBS (or ABC)
>     on radio any more. For some running networks today, will it take nothing
>     short of self-destruction to bring some relief? If so, what then?

    The other day I was twirling the car radio dial in search of another AM
    station that carried the "Clark Howard" show. From stations in San Diego to
    Orange County to Los Angeles County, I heard the same talk show, at the
    same time, on five (FIVE) AM stations, out of about 23 English-language
    stations that I heard.
    What's the future?
    After the Clearchannel/Infinity/Fox megamerger, we'll be treated to:
    BILL O'REILLY - all the time, all the stations.
    Maybe it's time to contact our Congress persons and express our opinions on
    the future of radio (and other supposedly public media)?

    Herb Harrison

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 08:51:45 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Soda, Tonic, etc.

    Richard Carpenter, speaking of what one called that carbonated stuff that
    once was packaged in glass containers, notes,

>     Here in the Boston area (and nowhere else, as far as I know) we call it
>     tonic.

    This was probably derived from the quinine-water mixer known as "tonic"
    in "gin &."  The Boston area is (or at least has been) singular in its
    choice of names of potables.  For instance, what the rest of the [removed]
    calls a "milkshake" the Bostonians call "frappes."

    That aside, Mark Kinsler notes,

>     National brands of soft drinks are a relatively recent phenomenon.
>     Pepsi and Coca-Cola were, I think, the only ones for a very long time.

    Well, my father was an Army officer and as a result we moved frequently
    as I was growing up.  Two other brands I saw widespread in the 1940s were
    Dr. Pepper and RC Cola.  The former had a clock with the 10, the 2 [PM]
    and the 4 [PM] highlighted; the latter had pyramids (Egyptian model) on
    its label.

    Back then, Orange Crush was regional and came in thick, brown-colored,
    bottles (the shade used in prescription medicine containers, though a tad
    darker).

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 08:53:01 -0400
    From: "Thomas Mason" <batz34@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Pop and Pepsi

    As a youth, we always called it "pop".   I never heard the term soda
    [removed] would call it soda-pop.  A particular fun thing for us to
    do on our way home from school in the afternoons was to stop at the local
    sundry store and purchase one of those big bottles of [removed] the
    owner would always tell us we were going for quantity instead of quality.
    We would down the pepsi as quick as we could and then jump up and down to
    generate the most horrendous, loud belches.  Sounds a bit weird now, but
    then it was fun to gross out the girls.
    When Jolt Cola came in, it advertised that it had twice the caffeine and it
    only used real [removed] this came the closest to tasting like the old Coca
    Cola of the forties.  Alas, they have now gone and augmented the sugar with
    the fructose corn syrups of the modern day and it does not taste the same
    anymore.  That real sugar gave it that zip.
    Tom Mason

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 09:40:18 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Oil Companies

    On 7/13/02 7:19 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     In listening to a Calling All Cars the other day which was sponsored in the
>     Southwest by Rio Grande "Cracked" gasoline, I got to wondering what ever
>     happened to Rio Grande.  Were they bought by another gas company like
>     Signal, or Douglas?  And what happened to those two?

    The Rio Grande Oil Company was originally one of the many independant
    companies that dotted the western US, but in 1932 it was absorbed by
    Harry F. Sinclair's Consolidated Oil Company as that firm's first
    penetration into the West. It remained in operation as a Consolidated
    subsidiary, retaining its own identity -- but Rio Grande products and
    Sinclair products were identical but for the branding. In 1936, as part
    of a complicated bankruptcy reorganization, the Rio Grande subsidiary was
    transferred to the Richfield Oil Company of California (Sinclair acquired
    Richfield's holdings in the East as part of the deal.)

    Richfield continuted to operate Rio Grande as a separate brand until
    1953, when Rio Grande outlets were converted to the Richfield brand --
    and in 1968, after the merger with the Atlantic Refining Company, all
    Richfield outlets were converted to the new "Arco" brand.

    The Signal brand was sold to Standard Oil of California in 1947, which
    leased the right to use the "Signal" trademark from the original Signal
    Oil and Gas Company -- which remained in operation as a crude-oil
    producer. Standard of California in turn sold the Signal subsidiary to
    Standard Oil of New Jersey in 1960, which in 1967 converted the Signal
    stations to its Enco brand, and these were convered to Exxon in 1972.
    When the change to Enco was implemented, the rights to the Signal name
    reverted to the original company, which operated a small chain of Signal
    stations into the 1980s.

    The Douglas Oil Company was bought out in 1951 by Continental Oil
    Company, as part of Conoco's unsuccessful plan to expand marketing onto
    the west coast.

>     also what did they by
>     mean "cracked gasoline"  I thought all gasoline had to be cracked.

    "Cracking" is the process of increasing the volatility of the refined
    gasoline by reducing the size of its hydrocarbon molecules. The process
    was introduced in 1913, using heat and pressure, and as various
    proprietary improvements were developed in the 1920s, a number of
    companies touted their own variations on the "cracking" process as a
    marketing gimmick. Thermal cracking was supplanted in the late 1930s by
    catalytic cracking, which is the process  still used today.

    And just to prove that everything comes back to OTR, one of the
    scientists who refined the cracking process in the 1920s, one F. A.
    Kormann, had a son who, in the 1930s, became a smalltime radio actor
    under the name of Phillip Terry -- appearing in CBS's 1937 Shakespeare
    cycle among other productions.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 10:18:09 -0400
    From: Jer51473@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  correction on origin of gunsmoke

     I posted a few days ago that i didnt consider gunsmoke legitimate otr when
    comparing to programs like jack armstrong, just as an example. I wasnt
    comparing the quality of either show, but instead just pointing out that GS
    was rarely mentioned in otr writings to the same extent as the shows of the
    thirties and forties. As for me, i dont identify with shows that originated
    in the fifties. I think this was because of that new kid on the block called
    tv. Even in the forties i was not a big fan of any of the westerns on radio
    even though i was a western movie and comic book  fanatic and still am, at
    least with western movies. Im very nostalgic, as all of us posters are im
    sure, and for me my interests are forties radio and fifties tv among other
    things of those same eras. I do plan, however, as has been suggested to me,
    to listen to a couple of gunsmokes although my main enjoyment in otr is
    comedy with some drama occasionally. Btw, i posted that GS came on the air in
    1955 and i used a question mark.  Buxtons "Big Broadcast" lists it as coming
    on cbs in 1955 while Dunnings Encyclopedia has it as 1952. Was it on another
    network before 1955 or is Buxton and Owen just wrong? Or is Dunning wrong?

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 10:39:26 -0400
    From: Ga6string@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Diamond in the Rogue

    I wrote:

>     ...I was intrigued to discover that Diamond also sang in at least one of
>     the episodes of "Rogue's Gallery," which preceded "Richard Diamond, Private
>     Detective."

    Oops! Of course, I meant to say that Dick Powell, not Diamond, sang (in
    character) in "Rogue's Gallery."
    Sincerely,
    Bryan Powell (no relation)

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 10:39:56 -0400
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Tape Hiss

    This question was posted a few issues ago and I'm just catching up on my
    reading, so it may have already been answered. But, if not, the hiss may be
    caused by magnetized tape heads on your recorder.

    If you own a tape head degausser, then turn off the tape recorder and use
    the degausser on all of the heads on your machine. If you don't own one,
    you may be able to buy one at Radio Shack or some of the mail order stores
    specializing in recording supplies.

    Years ago, some company had a device that they claimed would remove the
    hiss from tapes. I never tried it and I'm guessing that it was some kind of
    magnetic that erased the high frequency of the tape, so I'd stay away from
    such a device.

    Cool Edit has an excellent tape hiss reduction utility. If after degaussing
    your heads, the tape still has hiss, try running the material into your
    computer and get a copy of Cool Edit and give it a try.

    If you want to send me one of your tapes, I'd see what I could do.

    Fred
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 10:57:44 -0400
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Candid Mike in the movies

    I also remember seeing the candid microphone shorts at the movies. Every so
    often when I would attend one of the Saturday morning shows that included a
    serial, 10 cartoons, two features and a short subject (all for 14 cents)
    the short subject would be candid microphone. And it is interesting that
    even though it was on film, the short was called Candid Microphone, not Camera.

    Back then popcorn was 25 cents and 50 cents for buttered popcorn. The extra
    large box, as I recall was $[removed] Boy, have times changed.

    Fred
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 12:48:21 -0400
    From: Chris & Carla White <cncwhite@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bob and Ray and all day otr

    Hi,

    I just recently listened to several episodes of "The Bob and Ray Show" and
    it is hilarious. I recommend it to anyone who likes dry humor, spoofs and
    sketches of other radio shows, and no canned laughter. I was wondering
    where I could get some more of these shows. Does anyone know? Also, I read
    about someone wanting to know about all day otr and I believe there are
    several sets of all day otr on mp3. I believe the most common ones are the
    first day of the war complete broadcast day and the D-Day complete
    broadcast day. I have seen these being sold on eBay and by various otr
    dealers. I hope this helps a little.

                                              Bryant White

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 12:51:34 -0400
    From: "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  All-channel radio requirement

    Patrick McNally <pcmcnally@[removed]; wrote:

>     Transistors made portable radios useable.  No one could afford batteries
>     for a tube radio.  Trouble is, through the 50's transistors didn't work at
>     FM broadcast frequencies.  Then in the early 60's transistors started
>     working. Now FM had potential.  Still, you could have bought a station for a
>     song. Radios continued getting cheaper.  Then the FCC required that radios
>     that sold for more than $15 had to be able to receive FM.

    Nope.  Never happened.  It's an urban legend.  This idea was widely
    discussed in the 1970s, but Congress never passed enabling legislation, and
    so the requirement never became a reality.  The industry did just fine
    making FM radios widely (and cheaply) available without a gun to their
    heads, though even in the early 1980s it was still possible to get an
    AM-only factory car radio.

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

    Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 13:17:29 -0400
    From: zbob@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  period pubs

    Elizabeth's comments on contemporary radio magazines
    are on the spot, as [removed]
    Radio Guide not only had articles about the stars,
    etc., but - as in the 9/7/35 issue - an article by a
    star.  In this case, Fred Allen's comments.    Bob

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #266
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