Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #167
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 5/16/2004 4:18 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 167
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      5-16 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      WENDY WARREN AND THE NEWS             [ "Frosty R. Povick" <frosty@prodigy. ]
      Quick as a Flash                      [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Re: Easter War Time                   [ David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@yahoo. ]
      [removed]                        [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
      Blackouts                             [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Blackouts                             [ "Bruce Williams" <deltaskipper@hotm ]
      Wendy Warren & The News               [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
      gram scale                            [ edcarr@[removed] ]
      Wendy Warren and the News             [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      Amos And Andy Candy Is Dandy          [ ilamfan@[removed] ]
      This week in radio history 5/16-22    [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Re: Blackouts                         [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      bill idelson with dick van dyke       [ "Louie Johnson" <ljohnson@[removed]; ]
      Re: Blackouts                         [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 19:29:34 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  5-16 births/deaths

    May 16th births

    05-16-1882 - Mary Gordon - Glasgow, Scotland - d. 8-23-1963
    actress: Mrs. Emmett "Those We Love"; Mrs. Hudson "Sherlock Holmes"
    05-16-1896 - Margaret Sullavan - Norfolk, VA - d. 1-1-1960
    actress: "Electric Theatre"; "Hollywood Playhouse"
    05-16-1905 - Henry Fonda - Grand Island, NE - d. 8-12-1982
    actor: "Eyes Aloft"; "Romance"; "Suspense"
    05-16-1913 - Woody Herman - Milwaukee, WI - d. 10-29-1987
    bandleader: (The Thundering Herd) "Wildroot Show"
    05-16-1919 - Liberace - West Milwaukee, WI - d. 2-4-1987
    pianist, singer: "Stars for Defense"

    May 16th deaths

    03-29-1890 - Joe Cook - Evansville, IN - d. 5-16-1959
    comedian: "House Party"; "Shell Chateau"
    04-04-1904 - John Brown - Hull, England - d. 5-16-1957
    actor: Digby "Digger" O'Dell "Life of Riley"; Melvyn Foster "A Date with Judy"
    12-09-1902 - Margaret Hamilton - Cleveland, OH - d. 5-16-1985
    actress: Aunt Effie "Couple Next Door"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    For a complete list:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 19:30:32 -0400
    From: "Frosty R. Povick" <frosty@[removed];
    To: old time radio list <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  WENDY WARREN AND THE NEWS

>     Does anyone else remember it that way?  None of the
>     researchers/documentarians I have depended upon, at
>     least to my recollection, claim that the drama
>     preceded the newscast.  Could it, for whatever the
>     reason, have been "tried" as an experiment for a brief
>     time and
>     dropped?  (Still would wonder why.)  If so, I'd
>     venture that it didn'thappen during summertime when a
>     number of us on this forum were listening every day.

>     If I'm wrong, I beg a thousand pardons.  I'd really
>     like to know if anybody else remembers the story being
>     aired before the news at any time.

>     Jim Cox

    I listened to Wendy Warren every day during the summer
    when I was a kid, too.  I definitely remember the news
    first, then Wendy would go off to her "life" after
    delivering the news.

    I also found this by googling (what did we DO before
    Google?):

    440 International
    Those Were The Days
    Archives June 23

    1947 - "Wendy Warren and the News" debuted on CBS
    radio. The broadcasts continued until 1958. No, the
    program was not a newscast, in the traditional sense.
    It was a serial -- one of many of the time. The unique
    thing about this particular show, however, was that
    "Wendy Warren and the News" did utilize a real
    three-minute newscast to open the show. The
    newscaster, delivering the news as part of the show,
    chose not to stay in the entertainment side of radio,
    but continued to be a true journalist and a legend at
    CBS. That newsman was Douglas Edwards.  (NOTE:  "...TO
    OPEN THE SHOW."

    Here's the link if anyone is interested:

    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 19:30:40 -0400
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Quick as a Flash

    Hi Everybody,

    I would like to find a copy of the show Quick as a Flash.  My Aunt would
    like to hear a copy of the show.  She remembers as a child.  Thank you for
    any help,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 19:31:10 -0400
    From: David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Easter War Time

    Richard@lifebuoy wrote:

>     I was led to believe that here in Great Britain
>     during WWII the clocks going forward 2 hours was
>     called "DOUBLE BRITISH SUMMER TIME" and was intended
>     mainly for farmers to be able to work longer hours in
>     daylight, thereby increasing food production.

    I can only relate it as my mother-in-law told it to
    us.  Unfortunately, she died in 1996, so I have no way
    to delve deeper into her memories of that time.  I'm a
    50's Baby Boomer, and American, so I have no first
    hand knowledge of what happened in Great Britain.  I
    assume that she couched it in current terms (already
    it was 35-40 years after the events occurred, when she
    told us about it, so she was well "Americanized", by
    that time).  She called it double daylight savings
    time, but it could very well have been termed 'British
    Double Summer Time'.

    Whether it was primarily for farmers or for lights in
    the cities, I don't know.  I only know that, as my
    mother-in-law described it, it was to avoid lights on
    as targets.

    I would assume that the effect would be the same,
    whether for farmers or for factories, small country
    stores, or larger urban markets -- more daylight in
    which to conduct commerce and labor.  Certainly the
    cities would be more the prime targets than rural
    areas.

    A further purpose comes to mind, and that is the
    conservation of power and fuel for the war effort.

    As I said, I did not live during that era, and my one
    main source of information is now gone to her eternal
    reward, so I'm conjecturing as to purposes and effects
    beyond what she told me.  Then too, though she lived
    through those perilous times in Great Britain, it is
    quite possible her perception of the reasons for the
    double daylight savings is not accurate either.

    D W Phaneuf

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

    Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 19:31:48 -0400
    From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  [removed]

    [removed] writes:

>     I've often wondered about wartime blackouts.  Here Phaneuf is referring to
>     English cities, but didn't they have blackouts in the US too?  Was it just
>     coastal cities?

    Yes, there were blackout drills here in the US as well and not limited
    to coastal [removed] I was very small but I remember when we lived  near
    Army Camp Barkely near Abilene TX, every so often there would be a
    blackout drill and military personell from the Camp would come by and
    order us to either extinguish our lights or pull the shades.
    As a side note, when I was in the first grade in 1946, our school room
    was one of the old barracks buildings from the Camp. The school had
    burned down the year before.

    Bill H.

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

    Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 19:35:25 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Blackouts

    Chris Holm ask, concerning World War II,

>     I've often wondered about wartime blackouts.  Here Phaneuf is referring to
>     English cities, but didn't they have blackouts in the US too?

    Speaking from first-hand experience, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, at
    the Army fort where we lived, things were blacked out, if we had to be
    outside at night, we used flashlights with several layers of blue
    cellophane over the lens.  After the attack, wives and children were
    often transported by a bus to a makeshift bomb shelter for the night.  We
    would walk along the sidewalk in the direction of the shelter, and a bus
    (with shielded lights) would travel at about twice walking speed.  As it
    passed, our mothers would toss us onto the bus, then hop aboard
    themselves.  I can close my eyes and visualize that blue circle of light
    on the sidewalk from my mother's flashlight while we walked.  It didn't
    show much, but probably helped us from stumbling over anything left on
    the sidewalk.

    I suppose that the faint blue glow was effectively invisible to any
    overflying pilots.

    FWIW, soldiers were told that the red glow from the end of their
    cigarettes could be seen by a pilot from several thousand feet.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 21:53:01 -0400
    From: "Bruce Williams" <deltaskipper@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Blackouts
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

       As a child I spent the first few war years in Vallejo, CA.  We lived
       about two/three blocks from the Mare Island Straight and had a great
       view of Mare Island.  Whenever an unidentified plane came around we
       would have an air raid warning where the whole city was blacked out
       and  nothing moved except emergency vehicles and Air Raid Wardens on
       foot.  The vehicles had headlights with all but a little slit covering
       the light.  For some reason I recall that the city pulled the plug on
       the electricity and we used candles for light.  One of my fond
       memories of Kindergarten was that we were tought how to put out
       incendiaries and the times we hudled under the building for practice
       air raids.  This was probably 41-42.

       Later in life I worked with people in San Diego who lived/worked there
       during the war at the Aircraft plants.  The whole area  where Lindberg
       Field is was under camaflouge (SP) netting to hide the factories.

       We listened to a lot of OTR at that time.  The main difference is that
       it was New Time Radio.

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

    Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 23:10:23 -0400
    From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wendy Warren & The News

    RE: Wendy Warren & The News - as discussed by  A. Joseph Ross, Esq., et al,
    and Jim Cox -   The format from 1947 to 1958 was always the same - with Doug
    Edwards doing a 3-min. newscast followed by
    a Wendy Warren report  "from the women's world" -  the news segment closed,
    and we heard Wendy leave the radio studio and enter the soap-opera fantasy
    world for the next (approx.) 8 minutes.
    The idea was to capture the 12 NOON (Eastern Time) listener's with
    a brief newscast and then keep them listening to CBS with a quick transition
    back to their steady diet of soaps.   CBS admitted the news was a
    "cowcatcher", but it was a valid report and well done by one of their ace
    newsmen.  No -
    the newscasat was never at the end of the program.    <<Tom Heathwood>>>
    Heritage Radio Theatre.   05/15

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

    Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 00:30:34 -0400
    From: edcarr@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  gram scale

    hi
    since i started doing my own transcriptions i have come
    upon a problem that is driving me crazy, repeats in
    shows, i don't think i have enough weight on the arm
    but i can't figure out what the gram is, is there anyone
    who can put me in touch with someone who sells a
    gram scale (its not for rolling, smoking, its not the name
    of anyone on here) it's for measuring weight on a tone
    arm, i need to know when i reach 5 grams, i tried the
    internet but most don't look like what i want, i need, i
    believe something that looks like the scale of justice
    any help?
    thanks ed carr

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

    Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 11:36:36 -0400
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wendy Warren and the News

>     Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 13:16:00 -0400
>     From: <otrbuff@[removed];

>     For the life of me, I can't figure this one out.  We were listening to
>     Wendy Warren virtually every day all summer long during that period while
>     my mother prepared lunch and served it and never recall anybody other than
>     Douglas Edwards delivering the news headlines immediately followed by
>     about a one-minute "news report from the women's world" given by Wendy
>     (actress Florence Freeman) starting at straight up 12 o'clock.

    Well, I don't know exactly when I listened, but I don't think it was the
    summer, but more
    likely an off-day from school, in the fall of 1954.  And I seem to think was
    later than noon,
    eastern time.

    It's also possible, of course, that I'm simply remembering it wrong.  I have
    a damn good
    memory for this stuff, but it's not perfect.  I'd be very interested if this
    could be verified
    definitively one way or another.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 11:37:31 -0400
    From: ilamfan@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed] (OTR Bulletin Board)
    Subject:  Amos And Andy Candy Is Dandy

         Last issue Elizabeth wrote about A & A licensed products: "in the
    confectionery field the exclusive licensee was the Williamson Candy
    Company of Chicago, best known as the makers of O'Henry. Williamson's
    "Amos 'n' Andy" brand chocolate-coated vanilla wafer bar was sold from
    1930 to 1937."

         Dang if this didn't make me laugh out loud, it struck me as SO FUNNY!
    Chocolate-coated vanilla wafer bar!  Maybe there were 2 bars in each package
    (1 Amos, and 1 Andy)?  Maybe the wrapper was a taxicab yellow?  Or checkered?
    Maybe an open top on the package (Fresh Air)?
         One more of the many, many things that may have been considered
    acceptable in it's time, but seem terribly WRONG in today's "politically
    correct" society.
         IMAGINE, a couple of VANILLA wafer bars, trying to pass themselves off
    as CHOCOLATE!  It doesn't matter that they might taste [removed] doesn't
    matter that we like them so much that we even add an intermission in the
    middle of dinner to eat them, this is just WRONG, and should be STOPPED!
    It's just not fair to the REAL chocolate bars.
         Well, I thought it was funny, anyway.  Made me Chuckle.  Hey, isn't that
    another candy?!?

         Was there ever any goofy ruckus like this, that went on about the A & A
    candy bar?

    Stephen Jansen

    --
    Old Time Radio never dies - it
    just changes formats!

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

    Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 11:37:43 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  This week in radio history 5/16-22
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

     From Those Were The Days --

    5/17

    1938 - The NBC Blue network presented Information Please for the first
    time. The show was moderated by Clifton Fadiman.

    5/18

    1942 - David Harding, Counterspy was heard on the NBC Blue network for
    the first time.

    5/19

    1921 - The first opera presented in its entirety over the radio was
    broadcast by 9ZAF in Denver, CO. The opera, "Martha", aired from the
    Denver Auditorium.

    5/20

    1933 - Charlie Chan was heard for the final time (in this series-ed) on
    the NBC Blue network after only six months on the air.

    5/22

    1955 - Jack Benny signed off his last live network radio broadcast after
    a run of 23 years.  (His show continued in re-runs for a while longer -ed).

    Joe

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

    Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 11:38:54 -0400
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Blackouts

    I guess I'm reasonably qualified to answer Chris Holm's question about
    blackouts.

    I was 10 years old when WWII started. When the Country mobilized, we went
    into all sorts of Wartime conditions. Food and gas rationing, tin and metal
    collection drives promoted by the Boy Scouts, making bandages at Local Red
    Cross centers. Etc.

    Among other wartime activities was the institution of Air Raid safety
    precautions and procedures.

    For the life of me, I don't understand why. We were so remote from the
    Pacific and Europe, that the enemies planes of that period didn't have the
    range to reach us. I think it's possible that the Government instituted a
    system of neighborhood Air Raid Wardens just to give [removed] Citizens  a sense
    of urgency and seriousness about the War, so they would support the War
    Effort to a greater degree. For example, Raw materials conservation,
    purchasing War Bonds, savings stamps, putting up with shortages, working in
    Armament factories, etc.

    I can speak with a fair degree of authority about Air Raid Wardens. My
    father was one. I remember he wore a gray painted helmet, like the World War
    One style, with the word WARDEN painted on it in black, And an arm band that
    read "Air Raid Warden". I don't remember how much of the immediate
    neighborhood he was responsible to patrol, but probably no more than a few
    blocks. His job was to make a brief nightly patrol, making sure that all the
    homes in our residential area had their blackout curtains drawn, and no
    lights were visible from the street.

    As for automobile traffic, it was obviously limited at night. But automobile
    headlights were modified for Blackout purposes. The top half (or top two
    thirds, were painted black. That left a narrow slit on the bottom for
    illumination. And one drove very slowly.

    Then two, numerous Air Raid sirens were set up around the community. so
    everyone was in earshot of the warning, in case of an air raid. We would
    occasionally have had Air Raid drills, and Air Raid siren tests.

    My Father also worked in a factory that made pontoons for naval flying
    boats.  He then took a job with the forerunners of the Navy [removed]"s
    (Construction battalion) and went to Iceland as a grade foreman to build an
    airfield for military planes in Reckvyck (Spelling).  On the way home, their
    transport ship was torpedoed and sunk. He was rescued by a British
    destroyer. Although he was too old to enlist, he did his part for the war
    effort. I was proud of him.

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 13:37:04 -0400
    From: "Louie Johnson" <ljohnson@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  bill idelson with dick van dyke

    I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this already, so I guess it's
    up to me.
    On the recent CBS special Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited, they actually
    brought back
    the very talented Bill Idelson, Rush Gook of Vic and Sade, to reprise his
    role of Herman Glimsher,
    nerdy boyfriend of Sally Rogers. He only had a few lines, but was included
    in the group as they sat on
    the Petrie's sofa. It was great to see him smile.
          I recently found a very good piece about his writing career and
    comedy-writing workshops,
    and it includes a recent photo:
                  [removed]
    Since he's fixed in my mind as the eternally 14 year old Rush Gook,  my
    reaction at seeing him
    as he is 60 years later reminded me of a Bob & Ray routine in which they
    reunite a brother and sister
    who haven't seen each other in 45 years. After exchanging minimally-polite
    hellos, there's a pregnant
    pause and the sister says matter-of-factly "You've changed."
         Anyway, for all the Vic and Sade fans who'd like to catch a glimpse
    of Bill Idelson as he is
    today, the Van Dyke special will be rerun on Tuesday, May 18 at 9 pm (EDT)
    on TVLand. If I recall
    correctly, his first appearance occurs about 25 minutes into the program.

    Apperson Jackrabbit, Hudson Terraplane, Henry [removed] [removed] all them cars,

    Louie Johnson

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

    Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 16:48:47 -0400
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Blackouts

    Chris Holm asks how people and vehicles got around during the WW II
    blackouts.  There is an interesting report from Edward R. Murrow early in
    the blitz that discusses how much he likes cigarettes, not only to smoke
    but because they act as warning lights as people walk thru the blacked out
    city streets.  He said that years ago in the countryside he "walked bang
    into a cow" and ever since had wished man and beast could have "running
    lights" at night.

    The great Gracie Fields also recorded a song "Crash! Bang!  I Want To Go
    Home" about the subject.  The record starts out with her going Ohh and Ohh
    as she trips along the street telling people to get out of the way until
    after two loud beeps she says "Ooohh, sorry, I had no idea you were a bus!"
    And from memory, these are close to being the words of the song:

    Oh what a great big black out.
    How can I make my track out?
    How can I make my shack out?
    Crash! Bang! I want to go home.

    I collided with a tailor,
    a soldier,
    yes, and then a sailor.
    And if I every get home
    I will never want to roam.

    Oh, stumbling along life's byway
    Stumbling along the highway,
    Oh I never can find my way,
    Crash! Bang! I want to go home.

    (Talking) Where are the lights of London town?
    Somebody's gone and turned them down.
    Turned them off, I ought to say.
    Everybody's lost their way.

    Singing the blackout ditty,
    Somebody must take pity
    And light up the great big city,
    Crash! Bang! I Want to go home.

    This was reissued in the 1970s on a World Record Club LP called "Britain
    Can Take It."

    Michael Biel   mbiel@[removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #167
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