Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #350
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/13/2005 5:36 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2005 : Issue 350
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      This week in radio history 12-19 Nov  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      "The Original Amos 'n' Andy"          [ "David Ballarotto" <balla@earthlink ]
      Sponsorship                           [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
      Hercule Poirot                        [ Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed] ]
      Huttons -Oops                         [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
      Benny stamp makes the papers          [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Lord of the Rings (on Radio?)         [ "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@acs ]
      NBC Chimes Museum = =                 [ RBB <oldradio@[removed]; ]
      The year of two Thanksgivings         [ Richard Carpenter <newsduck@[removed] ]
      Jack Carson - no respect              [ Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@yahoo ]
      11-13 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      XM causes a search                    [ Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@earthlin ]
      Hercule Poirot on OTR                 [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]

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

    Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 20:44:15 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  This week in radio history 12-19 November

     From Those Were The Days --

    11/14

    1921 - KYW radio, Chicago, IL broadcast the first opera by a
    professional company. Listeners heard Samson Et Dalila as it was being
    performed at the Chicago Auditorium.

    (From Today in History at the NY Times -- In 1922, the British
    Broadcasting Corp. began its domestic radio service.)

    11/15

    1926 - Network radio was born. Twenty-four stations carried the first
    broadcast from the National Broadcasting Company. The program was a gala
    4 1/2-hour broadcast from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.

    11/18

    1307 - The story of William Tell shooting the apple off of his young
    son's noggin is said to have taken place on this day.

    (If it hadn't been for Tell there would have been no opera, if there had
    been no opera there would have been no overture, if there had been no
    overture the Lone Ranger wouldn't have had the theme music we know. <g>
    --ed)

    Joe (that's a joke son, I say that's a joke).

    --
    Visit my home page:  [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 20:44:59 -0500
    From: "David Ballarotto" <balla@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "The Original Amos 'n' Andy"

    I just finished reading Elizabeth McLeod's book and want to echo what
    others here who've read it have said, and highly recommend it to anyone
    thinking about getting it for themselves or an OTR fan for the upcoming
    holiday season.    Since we only know of a few surviving  episodes of the
    serial version of the show, it was very informative to read more about the
    show in its now less-familiar form, and to read the script excerpts which
    are used quite heavily to give the reader a look at the show as it relates
    to its criticisms and controversies over the years.   While the focus is on
    the serial, the parts about the later sitcom format are fair and balanced,
    too. The shift in the spirt of the characters is explained quite well and
    put into context with the other shows on the air at the time. Maybe that
    explains why I personally feel the show was particularly well done during
    the Rexall years.  The Pittsburgh Courier's attempted boycott is also
    looked at in fresh new detail and again puts into context the boycott and
    the publisher's motives.
      I also like the fact that she doesn't take a pot-shot at "The Amos 'n'
    Andy Music Hall," which is often derided as something beneath Gosden and
    Correll. The few shows in circulation seem to show not only an interesting
    attempt to keep the franchise alive during a time when radio was changing
    (not to mention giving Amos a larger role again), but also take Gosden and
    Correll back to a setting where they seemed more comfortable: alone in a
    studio.
     The appendix at the back of the book looking at the show's ratings over
    the years and putting the numbers in context is also especially valuable if
    you want to know when the show had its largest audiences.
    If the debate over which books are indispensable ever ignites again on this
    list, this book and Melvin Ely's "The Adventures of Amos 'n' Andy" should
    be on the list if you want a good look at a chapter of broadcasting history
    that is clouded by controversy.

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

    Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 20:45:33 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Sponsorship

    The scholarly Elizabeth McLeod, responding to the question about
    sponsorship, quoted the NBC & CBS ad revenues, classified for industry in
    1940,

>     1. Foods/Beverages ----------$21,156,602
>     2. Drugs/Toiletries -------- $18,459,526
>     3. Tobacco Products --------- $8,256,260
>     4. Soaps/Household Products - $7,568,395
>     5. Automotive --------------- $3,903,597
>     6. Petroleum Products ------- $2,977,443

    Whereas Jim Cox notes,

>     Well, if you really wanna know ... did ya ever
>     hear of "cigarette operas," "cereal operas,"
>     "automobile operas," "food and bread operas," or
>     "pharmaceutical operas"?  I really don't think so!

    Actually, "Soap Operas" are a special case, aimed at women -- housewives
    -- doing domestic chores, most involving saponified products -- washing
    clothes, dishes, and dirty surfaces.  And the genre has transferred to
    television, though shortened to "the soaps."

    Interestingly enough, a short-lived soap opera, Sweet River, starred Ed
    Prentiss, who played Captain Midnight for most of its 11-year run.
    Nobody was immune.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 20:49:03 -0500
    From: Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Hercule Poirot

    MJ's son (digest 349) wants to know if the adventures of Agatha Christie's
    creation Hercule Poirot have been dramatized (or dramatised) for radio.

    The BBC broadcast a number of Poirot stories, mostly as short-run series, on
    Radio 4 beginning with The Mystery of the Blue Train (6 parts starting Dec.
    1985 )and ending with Taken at the Flood (5 parts ending Nov. 2003).  This
    according to a published online log
    ([removed]).

    Some of these were apparently released commercially by the BBC, format and
    current availability unknown. I believe some may have been recently
    rebroadcast on BBC Radio 7 ([removed]).

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

    Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 20:49:27 -0500
    From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Huttons -Oops

    Well, my face is a bit red from confusing Betty Hutton with Barbara Hutton.
    I'm a bit more familiar with 1940s actresses than with 1940s heiresses.  But
    then, in 60 years I wonder how many people will be able to identify Paris
    Hilton?  Thanks to all who set me straight.

    And, while I'm here, thanks to whoever pointed out the Edison recordings
    page here a week or so ago.  I've just been listening to an episode of "Seth
    Parker", Philip H. Lord's first series, from 1929.  This and the other
    rarities from the late 1920s are available at

    [removed]

    This stuff has much greater historic value than entertainment value, but its
    fascinating nonetheless.

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

    Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 20:49:39 -0500
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Benny stamp makes the papers

    Hi folks,

    I'm happy to say that the Benny  stamp campaign is starting to generate some
    media publicity.  Don't forget  to come to [removed] and sign the
    petition, and find out other ways you  can support the  effort!

    [removed]

    --Laura  Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 20:50:08 -0500
    From: "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lord of the Rings (on Radio?)
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I have just finished watching all three movies comprising the LOTR Triliogy
    (DVDn with extra scenes of course) First, I am struck once again with what a
    fablulous movie it is. Knowing that it was inspired by the World War I was
    wondering if this ambitious tome had ever been attempted on radio.

    Then I noticed the character of Aragorn from LOTR in Ron S.'s most recent
    list.

    Did LOTR ever become an OTR or newer radio series?

    Ciao

    - -------------------------
    Tom Barnett, PMP

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
      ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

    Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 23:49:38 -0500
    From: RBB <oldradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  NBC Chimes Museum = =

    Congratulations to Michael Shoshani for the new website, The NBC Chimes
    Museum - what a terrific presentation of information!!  An
    excellent body of work with contributors this list would recognize.
    Kudos all!!

    When I was an NBC Page at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago in the late
    1960's, they had a set of chimes in one of the announcing booths. I used
    to set up the announcer's cue book pages, one day I asked Tom Mercein
    when he entered the booth to give the station ID ("This is WMAQ in
    Chicago"), or the system cue ("NBC Chicago") why the manual chimes were
    still there.  He replied "they were for the announcers to play a little
    tune waiting for the program to end!"  Then he returned to the
    announcer's lounge to wait for the next station break.

    I would watch the staff announcers pace themselves from the announcer's
    lounge to the announce booth on the other side of the
    19th floor.  Some would stride casually, (Mercein and Gregg Donovan),
    one might be reading a script (George Stone), others often hummed (Gus
    Chan, a Latin-jazz  melody, of course, he did an afternoon jazz show
    called "Rio Rhythms") as they walked through the lobby past the elevators.

    Rich Samuels has a chime story to trick an announcer on his website
    about NBC and The Merchandise Mart studios:
    [removed]

    "Norman Ross Sr <wls/1941[removed];. gets credit for the most
    creative trick, played upon Bill Kephart in the early 1930's before NBC
    had implemented the mechanical chimes. In those days, announcers played
    the chimes manually. Each studio was supplied with a small device
    consisting of three small metal bars mounted in close proximity to three
    resonators. When it came time to identify the network, the announcer
    would hold the assemblage near the microphone, say "This is the National
    Broadcasting Company" and then serially strike each of the bars with the
    tip of a small, hard mallet. If all went well, the listener would hear
    the familiar notes G-E-C that audibly signified NBC. On one occasion,
    however, announcer Ross secretly "prepared" the chimes announcer Kephart
    was about to sound by removing the bolts that held the three metal bars
    to their mounting. Moments later, in anticipation of a network
    identification, Kephart picked up the chimes. The metal bars fell to the
    studio floor with a clatter heard from coast to coast. Presumably there
    was no graceful recovery from this mishap."  Thanks, Rich.

    =Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 23:50:04 -0500
    From: Richard Carpenter <newsduck@[removed];
    To: Old Radio <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The year of two Thanksgivings

    Listening to old time radio can be educational. The
    other night I was listening to a 1939 Jack Benny show,
    during which there were several mentions that there
    would be two Thanksgivings that year. An Internet
    search informed me that the reason was because
    President Roosevelt had, by proclamation, changed the
    date of Thanksgiving from the last Thursday of the
    month to the fourth Thursday. This did not sit well
    with some states because President Lincoln had begun
    the tradition of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday; as
    a result, some people held steadfast to that date.

    I myself am celebrating two Thanksgivngs this year
    because I was in Canada on Oct. 12, the date Canadians
    celebrate Thanksgiving. One turkey dinner down and one
    to go!

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 01:57:59 -0500
    From: Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Carson - no respect

    I was doing a transcription of Jack Carson AFRS, which
    I had gotten from Australia, which isn't funny in
    itself, but the note on the sleeve (an Australian had
    written back then) said "of doubtful entertainment
    value."  Ouch!  It wasn't all that great, but it was
    bearable.

    It brings to mind that this is one of many shows that
    seems to get ignored.  Alan Young is another, but it's
    actually pretty good.  Jack Kirkwood's in the same
    overlooked boat too.

    The disc had a warp (which was noted back in '44 on
    the sleeve,) which makes the first part of track 2
    impossible to track right even with a GE VR-I.  The
    warp was barely even noticeable to the eye, yet even
    the heaviest cartridge wouldn't stay on, even with
    coaxing.

    Speaking of obscure shows, I dug up my master reel of
    a presently uncirculated Green Hornet (Serve IN
    Silence (part 1 only).  And a short program "The
    Lion's Roar with Col. Stoopnagle.  Good thing I found
    it as the glass disc is very thin and cracked and I
    didn't want to have to take another dub off it.  I'll
    post them on
    [removed] (usenet)
    when I dub them.  Since most of the Hornets exist,
    there's probably a cleaner copy in existence, when and
    if they come into circulation one day.

    Trav

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 11:07:40 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  11-13 births/deaths

    November 13th births

    11-13-1850 - Robert Louis Stevenson - Edinburgh, Scotland - d. 12-3-1894
    author: "Mercury Theatre of the Air"; "This Is My Best"
    11-13-1903 - Conrad Thibault - Northbridge, MA - d. 8-10-1983
    singer: "Show Boat"; "Packard Hour"; "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round"
    11-13-1913 - Alexander Scourby - Brooklyn, NY - d. 2-23-1985
    actor: Herbert Temple "Young Widder Brown"; Philip Cameron "Against the Storm"
    11-13-1913 - Helen Mack - Rock Island, IL - d. 8-13-1986
    producer, director: "Beulah Show"; "Affairs of Ann Scotland"
    11-13-1917 - Robert Sterling - Newcastle, PA
    actor: Michael Shayne "Michael Shayne"
    11-13-1932 - Richard Mulligan - New York, NY - d. 9-26-2000
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

    November 13th deaths

    03-03-1924 - Barbara Jean Wong - Los Angeles, CA - d. 11-13-1999
    actress: Judy Barton "Cinnamon Bear"
    04-09-1906 - Antal Dorati - Budapest, Austria-Hungary - d. 11-13-1988
    conductor"; "CBS Symphony Orchestra"
    04-14-1917 - Valerie Hobson - Larne, Ireland - d. 11-13-1998
    actress: Guest Contestant "One Minute Please"
    04-29-1915 - Donald F. Mills - Piqua, OH - d. 11-13-1999
    singer: (The Mills Brothers) "Mills Brothers Quartette"
    05-29-1892 - Mario Chamlee - Los Angeles, CA - d. 11-13-1966
    singer: Tony "Tony and Gus"; "Arco Birthday Party"; "Swift Garden Party"
    06-13-1903 - Jack Fulton - Philipsburg, PA - d. 11-13-1993
    singer: "Ben Bernie, The Old Maestro"; "The Kraft Music Hall"
    06-29-1893 - Alma Kitchell - Superior, WI - d. 11-13-1996
    singer, commentator: "Melody Hour"; "Brief Case/Streamline Journal"
    07-25-1901 - Lila Lee - Union Hill, NJ - d. 11-13-1973
    actress: "Fleischman's Yeast Hour"
    09-15-1908 - Penny Singleton - Phildelphia, PA - d. 11-13-2003
    actress: Blondie Bumstead "Blondie" Penny Williamson "Penny Singleton Show"
    10-08-1904 - Wally Brown - Malden, MA - d. 11-13-1961
    actor: "The Jack Kirkwood Show"; "Joan Davis Time"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 13:12:16 -0500
    From: Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  XM causes a search

    This is only a bit off topic, as it involves Frank Parker of early NBC and
    later CBS fame with Arthur Godfrey.  Indirectly, at least.

    As is my wont, I listen to XM Channel 4 (1940s stuff) while at my computer,
    and often elsewhere, in the car, etc.  Also the radio channel, Sunny (24) and
    various others.

    This Sunday morning they started to play what I would swear was a Frank
    Parker recording, with the sound of 1920s or 30s (despite being the 1940s
    channel).  I went to see what it was, and the artist listed was Jacques
    Renard.  He sounds exactly like Frank Parker.  I ran a search and found a
    Victor VE record for sale recorded by M. Renard, and as it's about the same
    timing, I thought perhaps it might be Parker using a pseudonym for some
    reason.  Now I wonder if Frank knew about Renard and how alike they sounded.
    Wish I'd known of this in my visits with Frank.  Drat!

    Further searches indicate apparently that is not the case.  Renard recorded
    for Victor and Brunswick in the early 1930s at least.  He directed a 1980s
    French film about the Resistance in WWII.  His IMDb list runs from 1984 into
    2005.  IMDb shows the name Jacques Renard as two listings, one as director,
    one as singer, but could be the same person or even pere et fils.

    The singer Jacques appeared in a 1932 film called "Rambling 'Round Radio
    Row", so apparently he was in this country at the time.  This was one of at
    least eight made 1932-1934 with the same title, some with numbers after.
    He's not alone in thus appearing on the silver screen via this series - so
    does practically every other singer, budding movie star, comedian and so on.

    These look like wonderful films to acquire.  Does anyone know if any exist,
    and if so how one can purchase them?
    I hope I can receive a positive answer from someone more familiar with such
    activities.

    My wife Charlotte and I loved seeing so many old and new friends at FOTR.  On
    the platforms, in panels, wonderful re-creations, out in the halls.  Wasn't
    that something!

    Many thanks.  Lee Munsick

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 19:36:14 -0500
    From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Hercule Poirot on OTR

         In answer to your question regarding Hercule Poirot on
    OTR, John Dunning mentions that there was such a program.
    Although I can't provide you with specifics (dates, names,
    sponsors and times), I do have some recordings of this program
    in my personal collection.

    Another OTR Fan,

    Kenneth Clarke

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #350
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