Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #95
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 3/25/2001 10:10 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                          The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                             Volume 01 : Issue 95
                       A Part of the [removed]!
                               ISSN: 1533-9289

                               Today's Topics:

     Extended Children's Hour             ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
     Memories                             ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
     Alfred E Neuman & Henry Morgan       [Alan Bell <bella@[removed];]
     Veola Vonn and Frank Nelson          [JJJ445@[removed]                     ]
     PAT NOVAK                            ["stephen jansen" <stephenjansen@ema]
     Jack Benny                           [William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];]
     Mrs. RUDY VALLEE LIVE INTERVIEW      [Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed]; ]
     Re: Lone Ranger Books                [Fred Berney <berney@[removed];      ]
     Reporters and books                  [Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];       ]
     WW2 correspondents due recognition   ["Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed]]
     Forget-Him-Not                       ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
     Foy as LR                            [Joe Salerno <salernoj@[removed];  ]
     Apologies for opinions and memories  [George Aust <austhaus1@[removed]]

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 11:08:41 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Extended Children's Hour

    Reminiscing about OTR shows, Tas Richardson recalls,

> >     I am old enough to remember as a kid running home from school in Banff,

    to flop down in front of our floor model Philco <snip> to enter the
    exciting worlds of: Superman, Dick Tracy, Tarzan, Tom Mix, Terry & The
    Pirates, and that AAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL--Americanboy, JACK ARMSTRONG!<<

    Wow!  Where I was, some of these shows competed with each other.  Because
    I used to listen to The Adventures of Superman, I was unable to hear Jack
    Armstrong -- they were in the same time slot on different stations.  Now,
    today, listening to both shows, I'd have probably opted to follow Jack
    Armstrong's adventures rather than Superman's, but there was no way that
    I as a kid was going to be able to compare them.

    What a bonanza!

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 11:08:39 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Memories

    Owens Pomeroy, in his (unnecessary) apology, notes,

> >     I only have my memories to go by and not reference books as some of you

    no doubt have with your vast influx of OTR knowledge. <<

    But while memories are sometimes inaccurate, they're still what makes
    some of us who lived through at least a part of the OTR era all nostalgic
    about those thrilling days of yesteryear, and what motivates up to pass
    down some of what we know and love.  Not too many postings ago, I made a
    point of discussing the first version of Jim Harmon's book, The Great
    Radio Heroes, and pointing out one of the inaccuracies in it; however, I
    also pointed out that the book was an entertaining nostalgia trip that I
    enjoy each time I read it, and that on the basis of that first book, I'd
    recommend the second.  Jim Harmon was operating from memory; and without
    that book and his Nostalgia Catalog (which also contains a few
    inaccuracies -- but look when it was written), which was also written
    from memory, I doubt I'd have been inspired to write my Captain Midnight
    book.  My only caveat was that The Great Radio Heroes, original edition,
    is a worthwhile read, but a questionable reference work.  Memories may
    sometimes go astray, yet they're the reason a lot of us are enthusiastic
    about the hobby.

    Srephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 11:08:37 -0500
    From: Alan Bell <bella@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Alfred E Neuman & Henry Morgan

    Well, I just heard something interesting on the public radio show,
    Rewind. According to Mary Dempsey, a librarian at the Chicago Public
    Library, the name of Mad Magazine's what-me-worry character had been
    suggested by Mad's readers. And THEY got it from the radio. Alfred E
    Neuman was apparently a character on Henry Morgan's radio show, and
    HE got the name from the Hollywood film composer, Alfred Newman (note
    different spelling).

    Are there any Morgan fans out there who can confirm this? Do you have
    any episodes in which the character appears?
    --
    Alan Bell
    Grandville, MI
    bella@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 11:08:34 -0500
    From: JJJ445@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Veola Vonn and Frank Nelson

    Frank Nelson and Veola Vonn were good friends of my wife and I. They lived in
    a beautiful home in the Los Angeles Hills which we visited several times.
    Veola and Hanley Stafford had purchased the home back when they were first
    married. After Hanley's passing she married Frank and they continued to live
    there. Frank and Hanley were very good friends so it isn't surprising that
    they were all buried close to each other. Veola worked with Frank on occasion
    on the Benny Show when she guested as Jack's french girlfriend.

    Besides radio, Veola appeared in several films.  You can catch a quick
    close-up of her in the opening musical number of Astaire's Gay Divorcee. She
    also was one of the victims in the 1953 film, "Phantom in the Rue Morgue."
    Other parts included "South Sea Woman" and "Lafayette Escadrille" (1958). The
    latter picture she once again played a french woman. Veola was a very
    attractive lady, and in one of their rooms hung a stunning oil painting of
    her that was featured in the Rue Morgue picture.

    Frank passed away in the mid-1980s and Veola passed away in 1995. They were
    both loving and very gracious people who are sorely missed.

    John Jensen
    Federal Way, WA

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 14:14:11 -0500
    From: "stephen jansen" <stephenjansen@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  PAT NOVAK

    Michael Berger  wrote:

>     Can anyone refresh our memories about who did the script writing
>     on  Pat Novak, For Hire? And was it, perhaps, the same person who
>     scripted  the Songs By Sinatra series, especially Frank's opening
>     spiel?   Both  were  in  the  "so  bad  they  were  good" writing
>     category.

        I'm not familiar with "Songs By Sinatra", myself, but the writer for
    "Pat Novak" (according to John Dunning's excellent "Encyclopedia of OTR")
    was Richard Breen until the spring of 1947 when Jack Webb left the show,
    then Gil Doud after that.  Not too much info from me on this subject, except
    that I think that Jack Webb's Pat Novak was an absolute scream!  "So bad
    they were GREAT" is how I'd have to put it.  The shows aren't really bad at
    all, they are [removed] the top.  It usually takes me a few listens to the
    same program to actually catch all of the rapid-fire comments and dark, dark
    humor.  Also, to me, the violence in these shows typically seemed much more
    graphic than in others OTR.  Maybe just the way the writer's presented it:
    from "The Agnes Bolton Case" after a woman throws herself to her death over
    an embankment - "The last I saw of Francine, she was lying down at the
    bottom, in the rain.  Her head was over to one side, and you knew with a
    little push,it would roll around as easy as a ball bearing on a plate.  Her
    face was clean, but the rain was beginning to wash the dirt down, and when I
    left, she wasn't pretty any more."  Just BEAUTIFUL writing, in a hideous
    sort of way.

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 15:04:04 -0500
    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Benny

    Due to the posting by Joseph Ross I am wondering if I somehow made some
    errors. I was hired by CBS in New York during December 0f 1944,
    transferred to KNX about June 1945. January 1946, due to a layoff I went
    to Palm Springs to build KCMJ for Dick Joy (announcer) and Don Mc Bain
    (former Don Lee engineer turned airline captain). June 1946 I returned to
    KNX and the next day caught the boat to Catalina Island to do the dance
    bands from the Casino and an interview show with Cliff Johnson. Made the
    trade papers as the only engineer in the country who had the right
    assignment at the right time.

    When I returned to the studio mid September I was supposed to go on the
    road with a short wave mobile unit to do a housewives interview show but
    the director had a hassle with the ad agency and the show was cancelled.
    We did have a couple of travelling shows, the Horace Heidt (not for
    Alemite) Talent Search and The Hormel Girls (an all girl musical show).
    (Remind me to tell about the Stedgy Prep glee club on the Heidt show. A
    screwup that never made the digests)

    During my time the Benny show was played back at 7:00 because I knew that
    he would hear Skelton's opening   comment while eating dinner,as the
    Skelton repeat would follow. Also repeats were on disc at that time. They
    were recorded at Radio Recorders. We had about five or six tielines
    between KNX master control and Radio Recorders. By the time I returned to
    New York (1981) we had two tape rooms in a store front next to
    Brittinghams.

    Columbia Records had a recording room under Brittingham's with two
    recording engineers and a supervisor. They used KNX studios. However they
    did not do our recording work.  As I recall they had two "lathes"
    (recorders). KNX finally had a Brush BK-401 portable (portable due to it
    being enclosed in a canvas bag) which I initiated doing a Christmas and a
    New Years greetings from the movie stars on paper tape. George Fisher was
    the interviewer. More on that at another time.

    The comedy show I would watch at Radio Recorders was not the Texaco show.
    As I mentioned, this was about the time of the advent of a
    transcontinental video cable. I think there was only one circuit.

    Radio broadcasting in those days was vastly different than we think of
    now!

    Bill Murtough

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 15:15:40 -0500
    From: Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Mrs. RUDY VALLEE LIVE INTERVIEW

    Eleanor Vallee, widow of Rudy, will be interviewed live on The Yesterday
    Radio Networks on Tuesday night, March 27, 2001, at 10:30 EST.  For more
    details and to listen, "tune" us in at [removed] where OTR shows
    and vintage music are featured around the clock.
    Duane Keilstrup

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 17:14:23 -0500
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Lone Ranger Books

    I was in an antique store today and found four Lone Ranger books, written
    by Franz Striker.

    One was titled The Lone Ranger Returns, another Trapped in a Cabin and I
    don't recall the other two. The one book I looked at was dated 1941. These
    are hard back books, not comics.

    Are they rare? I didn't see any prices on them so I have not idea of what
    they sell for. Anybody know anything about these books?

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 19:49:27 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Reporters and books

    John Davis" <WolfpackFan@[removed]; asks:
     >>>> Does
    anyone have any recommendations on books about reporting news during WW [removed];<<<

    There are a number of books and it is dependent upon what you are looking
    for. Here are several - some are out of print and you have to hunt for them.

    William L. Shirer - Berlin Diary
    Max Jordan - Beyond All Fronts
    HV Kaltenborn - Fifty Fabulous Years
    HV Kaltenborn - I Broadcast the Crisis
    Reporting World War II (Vol 1 & 2) - this are actual words of the writers
    and broadcasters.
    Parts of "In All His Glory" by Sally Bedell Smith (about William Paley)
    There is a new book of the collected broadcasts of William L. Shirer
    In Search of Light - Words of Edward R. Murrow
    The Murrow Boys by Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 19:49:26 -0500
    From: "Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  WW2 correspondents due recognition

    The last few years have seen documentaries, monuments and museums of and to
    our service personnel of World War 2. They are well deserved and in some
    cases long overdue.

    One aspect of that war has, I feel, been either overlooked or given little
    attention - the contributions of the Allied radio networks and print media
    and the correspondents that served both. During the 50th anniversary years -
    1991-1995 - the only thing I recall was a feature that aired on WAMU-FM,
    Washington, as part of the Sunday evening Big Broadcast program. I believe
    it was a syndicated series drawn from radio and newsreel narration. Beyone
    that I'm not aware of anything that gave recognition to the men and women
    who brought the story to the [removed] and its allies.

    In a sense, those reporters served in much the same way as the five services
    and merchant marine. They shared the same conditions, ate the same food and
    were exposed to the same dangers in many cases. And as we know, some paid
    the supreme price - Ernie Pyle, Tom Traynor of NBC, Guy Baym of the BBC and
    a couple print journalists who went down on the raid Edward R. Murrow
    described as "orchestrated hell" - to name a few.

    Perhaps there are programs, etc., I'm not aware of and I would stand
    corrected. But, with all the attention - again, well deserved - given the
    fighting forces, why not a museum or some other permanent repository to
    honor the efforts of the press and radio - they, too, contributed to the war
    effort.

    A couple other things - in 1977 I was part of a group that recorded about 65
    dramas, etc., in the production studios of WELI, New Haven (then physically
    in Hamden) CT. We worked with Jack Grimes, Raymond Edward Johnson and
    perhaps two or three others with radio experience. We were instructed when
    we turned a page to hold the script at the dead side of the mic (RCA 44's)
    and as gently as possible lift it and place it behind the last page. I'm
    sure there were at times some who dropped pages but I agree with those who
    feel it could be noisy and a safety hazard.

    Bill Murtough mentioned Sam Taub being sponsored by Adam Hats over Yankee or
    Colonial. If he can recall whether the feed went to Boston to WNAC or WAAB
    (prior to 1941 or so when the duopoly thing kicked in), that will tell which
    network. WNAC was the Yankee flagship station, WAAB the key of the smaller
    Colonial. The latter ended up in Worcester, Mass., after Colonial was phased
    out, in order that John Shepard 3rd would retain the station.

    Sorry for the long bandwidth - I'll try to keep it shorter next time.

      Bob

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 20:03:58 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Forget-Him-Not

    Speaking of OTR memories, Tas Richardson asks,

> >     How could I have forgotten 'Capt. Midnight' in my previous listing of

    kid's shows I listened too?<<

    Possibly because, despite its time slot, it wasn't really a kids' show.
    It had a high minority, nearly 50%, of its audience being grownups.  In
    the book Enola Gay, the history of the atomic bombing in World War II,
    the authors speak of the Air Corps personnel's listening habits at the
    time FDR died,

    "Beser, like most of the 509th [Composite Group], had heard the news of
    Roosevelt's death over the radio.  Some of the men had been listening to
    NBC's 'Front Page Farrell'; others had been tuned to CBS's 'Wilderness
    Road'; by far, the majority had been following the adventures of ABC's
    highly popular 'Captain Midnight.'"  [Stein & Day, 1977, p. 111]

    The 509th was stationed in Utah, and so was on Mountain time.

    There are shows popular with kids that, from my perspective at the time,
    I didn't consider kids' shows.  Besides Captain Midnight, I included The
    Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet in the "not kids" category.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 01:15:21 -0500
    From: Joe Salerno <salernoj@[removed];
    To: OTR List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Foy as LR

    Fred Foy portrayed the Lone Ranger once when Beamer was ill. No I don't
    remember the date but the show is on Foy's CD.

    Joe Salerno
    Video Works! Is it working for you?
    PO Box 273405 - Houston TX 77277-3405
    [removed] joe@[removed] Fax: 603-415-7616

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

    Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 01:36:35 -0500
    From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Apologies for opinions and memories

    Owens Pomeroy's apology for sharing his memories of OTR with the rest of
    us on this list is totally unnecessary. We all have memories which
    sometimes are not quite on the mark, and indeed sometimes are amazingly
    far off. There are those on this list who can correct those mishaps of
    the mind in a way that does not offend  and in fact is appreciated by
    all of us including the original poster.
    There is on the other hand such a thing as a unique experience which a
    poster may have experienced, which few others may know about . This
    makes knowledge of that experience even more valuable because it did
    "not" happen to everyone who was involved in OTR. There are those
    experiences, such as dropping script pages on the floor (obviously this
    did happen, even though it may not have been the "norm" among radio
    actors) which is a very minor part of OTR but is interesting perhaps
    because it did not happen very often.
    Why someone would take offense at this memory being shared is beyond me.
    There is the old saying that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing".
    In this case it may be that a lot of knowledge is a dangerous thing. One
    can begin to believe that one knows everything! Or at least that being
    surrounded by all those reference books and not ever having heard of
    such a thing means that it never happend.
    I also thought that the purpose of this digest was the exchange of ideas
    and memories and where when we asked we could could have questions
    answered. Not the kind of place where one would expect to find an
    intellectual bully. Yes I want to know the true facts as well as anyone
    but sometimes the truth is not a singular thing. Sometimes there are
    several truths regarding a particular matter. We should all keep an open
    mind and learn and enjoy and add what we know and what we have
    experienced. And if after reading a posting you have your doubts so be
    it. It is not necessary to convince and convert everybody that you and
    only you are right.
    I would hate to think that there is one person out there that maybe
    afraid to post their thoughts for fear of embarrasment by someone else
    on the list.

    George Aust

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #95
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