------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 376
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
More comments on Ohio-isms [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
Ciro's Scary Drink Tab [ Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed] ]
Re: Mystery Science Theatre 3000 [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
Cavalcade of America & Challenge of [ "Chuck Case" <ccase3@[removed]; ]
Shortwave radios [ danhughes@[removed] ]
Re: "Empire Builders" [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Accenting Accents [ "david rogers" <david_rogers@hotmai ]
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar Five Part [ Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed]; ]
Of sacks and bags and pokes [ "Charles Sexton" <csexton@[removed] ]
The Investigator [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
regional dialects [ "Mike Mackey" <[removed]@[removed] ]
Tales Of The Frightened [ Musiciantoo47@[removed] ]
Perry Mason [ "Sharon Wright" <write@[removed] ]
RE: Thanksgiving twice in 1939? [ "Cynthia Van Cleave" <cvc@[removed]; ]
Yesterday USA [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 17:19:59 -0400
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: More comments on Ohio-isms
Craig mentioned:
Go get some Pop, at the Groshery store acrosst the [removed]
Yep! That sounds good to me. EXCEPT we left off the "e" in "groshry."
And Irene got me to wondering about the bags/sacks thing.
In Northern California, at least in the Bay Area, we also leave the market
with our
stuff in bags, [paper or plastic] not sacks.
When they're filled with groceries, I might say a "bag" of groceries, but
when they're empty, I definitely call them "sacks". For example, "Bring me
an empty sack to put this stuff in" or "Please take out that sack of
garbage". A garbage BAG is normally plastic, not paper. I've never had a
plastic sack. So the grocery clerk has to ask "paper or plastic" [bag].
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. :)
Interesting stuff.
Barbara
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 17:41:05 -0400
From: Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ciro's Scary Drink Tab
Whether or not Ciro's restaurant was haunted, what raised the hairs on the
back of my neck the only time I ever entered the place was not that I was
standing next to Bob Hope one Friday night, but that the price of my beverage
was something like $[removed] for the Vodka Tonic I was used to paying thirty five
cents for down at my usual watering hole. (I sorta jumped the gun in my
introduction to John Barleycorn. at the beginning of the 'Fifties. *Grin*
CAB
---
conradab@[removed] (Conrad A. Binyon)
Encino, CA
Home of the Stars who loved Ranches and Farms
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 17:58:28 -0400
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Mystery Science Theatre 3000
I am a huge MSTie fan and know that particular episode
very well. It was the earliest film they [removed]
"I Accuse My Parents" via "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" should still be
available on Rhino Video. This particular installment, BTW, is also the one
I mentioned awhile back that had so many OTR references, most memorably one
to Fibber McGee's closet. (And those references came from the 'Bots, *not*
from the movie itself.)
Dixon
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 18:08:25 -0400
From: "Chuck Case" <ccase3@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Cavalcade of America & Challenge of the Yukon
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Hi All,
I would like some help finding as many shows of the series Cavalcade of
America and Challenge of the Yukon as I can. I have read that there are many
many episodes of these shows available but I have only been able to find about
200 of each. If anybody has any information about where I can get more of
these shows please e-mail me off list or send responses to the list.
Thanks
Chuck
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Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 18:08:56 -0400
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Shortwave radios
A few points:
1. Early this summer I bought a cute little 7-band radio at Big Lots for
something like eight bucks. Alas, it would not pick up a single
shortwave station so back it went. I have a Sony portable that does
marginally well; it cost maybe $125.
2. Shortwave stations, like AM stations, seem to no longer boom in like
they did just a few years ago. More and more electrical interference in
the air, and budget-cutting (power-cutting) and closing of international
broadcast stations share the blame.
3. When I go to Indianapolis (90 miles east of Champaign, IL, where I
now live) I seem to get much better reception with my shortwave radio.
Closer to the Atlantic? Surely not less interference there??
---Dan
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 19:38:42 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: "Empire Builders"
On 10/16/03 2:01 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
Has anyone ever heard of a radio show called "Empire Builder"? If so, I'd
like some info on it--and in particular are there any copies and/or scripts
available.
"Empire Builders" was heard over NBC-Blue from January 1929 to June of
1931, and is one of the earliest major network dramatic series. It was a
presentation of the Great Northern Railroad, and during its first season
the program stressed dramatizations of stories from the history of the
Northwest US, with an emphasis on how the railroad aided regional
expansion. The series took its title from Great Northern founder James J.
Hill, a larger-than-life nineteenth-century railroad magnate who relished
his press reputation as "The Empire Builder."
The program's second season featured an unusual promotion -- several
scripts were written by listeners, probably the first time this gimmick
was used on radio.
For the first two seasons, the program was aired out of New York, but
beginning in the fall of 1930, NBC announced a policy to transfer all of
its dramatic series to Chicago, to take advantage of the newly
constructed Merchandise Mart production facilities. "Empire Builders"
had been perhaps the most elaborate drama program produced in New York
during its tenure there -- NBC's sound effects department even erected a
steam-locomotive whistle on the roof of 711 5th Avenue in order to
generate realistic outdoor train sounds, but their effort was foiled by
the constant din of Manhattan traffic noises bleeding into the background
when the effect was used. The move to Chicago was accompanied by even
more elaborate sound effects, including the construction of a complex
bell-and-whistle system on the Merchandise Mart roof for generation of
the train sounds.
The central figure of the series was a character known as "The Old
Timer," who during the first two seasons was a sort of living-embodiment
of Northwestern lore, acting as a sort of omniscient narrator figure, but
during the third season the series changed its focus -- and with it came
a change in the Old Timer's role. Beginning in the fall of 1930, the
series focused on stories revolving around events on board "The Empire
Builder," Great Northern's flagship train on the Chicago-to-Seattle run,
and the Old Timer began to take a direct role in the stories themselves,
as a wise old Great Northern employee who often acted as an advisor to
the characters in the stories.
A number of important radio actors were featured in the series,
especially during the Chicago season, where Don Ameche frequently played
male leads, opposite a young actress by the name of Bernardine Flynn.
Both these performers would, of course, go on to other things.
The Old Timer was played thruout the run by Harvey Hays, who was a
mainstay of the NBC dramatic staff in New York thruout the late twenties.
He was an old-time Broadway actor who had spent most of his adult life
playing wise old men, and he played variations of this character on a
great many programs during the network's early years, his most unusual
being "Halsey-Stuart's Old Counselor," an Old Timer clone who gave out
investment advice on behalf of the Halsey-Stuart brokerage house.
The New York series was supervised by Raymond Knight -- better known for
his comedy work -- and the Chicago season was helmed by Don Bernard.
Great Northern had airchecks made on uncoated aluminum of most of the
1930-31 season, and these were last known to be in the posession of the
James J. Hill Reference Library in St. Paul, Minnesota. The discs were
transferred to tape in the mid-1980s in the studios of a local radio
station, a procedure which was poorly done using incorrect equipment --
and the audio was badly compromised as a result. There was also evidently
corrosion on some of the discs, a consequence of poor storage. About half
the programs that were transferred later leaked into OTR circulation, and
are available from several dealers.
These are, as has been mentioned, the earliest known recordings of a
network radio drama -- and they do, indeed, confirm that "crude" is not a
word properly applied to top-level radio drama in the early thirties. The
programs also reflect the casualness about profanity that tended to
characterize 1930s radio drama: hells and damns are heard frequently in
the scripts.
A complete episode from the program (contributed by me) -- and a
fascinating article on how the Chicago run was produced -- can be found
at Rich Samuels' excellent NBC-Chicago website,
[removed]
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 19:39:27 -0400
From: "david rogers" <david_rogers@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Accenting Accents
I have been sick lately (vertigo - again!) so I have been listening to a
couple of otr mysteries, namely:
"Paul Temple and the Conrad Case"
and
"Have is Carcass" (with Ian Carmichael)
I must say that to my (English) ears the accents fit the roles very well.
Also to my ears the Home Counties, upper class accents had a soothing impact
on me.
My question is regarding hearing US accents on OTR shows and the impact that
they have. (A southern accent makes me [removed] a New York makes me [removed]
A Texan accent makes me [removed]). What/who do you like/dislike etc?
Related to this my wife was telling me that the BBC website had an article
about non-native English speakers reaction to different English accents and
the finding said that many of them preferred a Birmingham accent. Well I
come from about 20 miles from Brimingham and I must say that a lot of
English people do not like the accent. It is interesting the different
reactions that different groups of people have.
Love as always, David Rogers
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 20:27:42 -0400
From: Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar Five Part Serials
A few Parts of the Yours Truly Johnny Dollar Five Part Serials are
missing from my YTJD collection. For instance, I missed the thrilling
conclusion to The Sealegs Matter because Part 5 is missing. Other
missing parts are: Part 3 of The McClean Matter; Part 2 of the Salt
Lake Matter; Part 4 of the Lonely Hearts Matter; and Part 2 of the
Imperfect Alibi Matter. Anyone know where to find these missing Parts?
Jim Kitchen
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 21:26:01 -0400
From: "Charles Sexton" <csexton@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Of sacks and bags and pokes
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With all the chatter about sacks and bags, I'm surprised no one has mentioned
pokes - as in "Don't buy a pig in a poke." In other words, don't buy
something you haven't examined first. I heard this term used mostly in the
south but we used it occasionally in Indiana, too. My book of curious
expressions even gives the size of a poke. "It's an old fashioned name for a
bag smaller that a sack"!! No foolin'
Charles Sexton
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Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 21:29:32 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Investigator
I just discovered a legitimate link to a recording of the famous 1954 CBC
anti-McCarthy drama "The Investigator" complete with the program open and
close which I've never heard before. It is an authorized transfer from the
CBC's master tape. Go to the Journal of Multi Media History
[removed] and go down to the From the Archive title and
click on The Investigator. There also are two detailed articles about the
background of the program and of its author, Reuben Ship. I had no idea
that he had been one of the main writers on the radio version of The Life
of Riley, and that during the McCarthy witchhunts of the early 50s he was
deported to his native Canada. This program was written in retaliation to
that action. I'll tell you that from now on I will be having a much
greater appreciation of The Life of Riley programs.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 22:20:07 -0400
From: "Mike Mackey" <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: regional dialects
As concerns regional dialects, I think I, too, have noted the
blurring of regional terminology that is on the air, especially with
the loss of local programming of local radio and the homogenizing of
broadcast speech, as others have already noted. I think once one is
listening to every day speech (not on air), however, it is amazing
how many unique regional idioms persist. When my family moved from
Oklahoma to Oregon when I was 11 years old in 1966, the change in
speech to us was dramatic. I haven't been back to OK since '69 and
I've wondered how much change in language use I would note. I suspect
the differences would still be significant, though different.
If we had the level of radio drama and comedy today that we had in
the Golden Age, I wonder how our regional dialects would be reflected
by the writers, directors and actors today. Garrison Keillor does a
good job in this area, I believe.
The differences noted by other participants here don't seem odd at
all to me, isn't that interesting? Sack or Bag? I'm sure I use them
inter-changeably today. But when was the last time you heard it
called a "poke"? I remember my mother in the mid-sixties telling me
she wanted me to "give her a little sugar" (kiss). But I don't recall
her using that expression again even with my younger brother and
sister. Mom always kept alot of her accent, but lost most of the OK
terminology. Oregon had its influence.
"Regionalisms" that I remember as a kid that were not only
interesting, but in some cases downright confusing were ones such as
lunch/dinner/supper (I remember our family in 1967 almost showing up
at noon for a "dinner" invitation, when it was, of course, intended
for the evening meal.)
Couch/sofa/divan/davenport (We always called that long settee
the "divan" when I was a kid in OK and I'll never forget the
expressions on the kids at school in Oregon. They had no idea what I
was talking about. They'd never heard the word.)
soda/pop/soda-pop (In our part of Oklahoma, we called it "pop" and
when those on national television called it "soda" it sounded prissy
to us.)
Slacks, trousers, britches, pants (In Oklahoma in the 50s and 60s,
we usually called them britches, unless we were going to Church when
we wore slacks. The use of the word "pants" that we heard in Oregon
was down right embarrassing since the only use of the word we'd ever
heard before was in reference to under-garments, ie "under-pants".)
Perhaps we're getting afield of OTR here, but when dramatizing a
regional dialect, as they so often did in "old" OTR (30s & 40s),
accuracy was important, or those who actually lived in that region
would catch the error immediately and might even possibly be
offended. On the other hand, it was important that the national
listening audience understand the meaning of any conversation.
Language is a wonderful thing and I delight in its analysis and, as a
purely auditory medium, radio--especially Old Time Radio--is based on
it
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:19:09 -0400
From: Musiciantoo47@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Tales Of The Frightened
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Hi - just wondering if anyone has a copy of Boris Karloff's "Tales Of The
Frightened" or "Thriller" LP that they have or could put on CD that they
would be
willing to part with a copy of, and for how much? Of course I'm glad to
compensate or return the favor. Emails always welcome!
Thanx,
Kenny
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Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:19:27 -0400
From: "Sharon Wright" <write@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Perry Mason
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Does anyone know how many complete Perry mason stories still exist? I have
many shows but no complete story.
Sharon
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Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 23:34:18 -0400
From: "Cynthia Van Cleave" <cvc@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Thanksgiving twice in 1939?
"Matthew Bullis" asked:
Was there some question as to when
Thanksgiving should be celebrated in 1939? Thanks a lot. Matthew
IIRC there was some discussion whether Thanksgiving should be the
*fourth* Thursday in November or on the *last* Thursday in November
(which may but needn't also be the fourth). I recall a Warners Brothers
cartoon on the topic, with a very frazzled turkey running from Thursday
to Thursday (IIRC also featured a walk-through by animated Marx
Brothers).
Cynthia Van Cleave
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 00:20:38 -0400
From: BryanH362@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Yesterday USA
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This weekend on Walden Hughes' program on Yesterday USA .
Friday , Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 EDT / 7:30 PDT
[removed]
Friday
Bing Crosby KFI special produced by Frank Bresee
Saturday
A. Interview with Les Brown JR.
B. Sandy Singer interview-- part three of Gordon Jenkins
C. Gassman interview with Stan Freeberg
D. Gassman interview with Lou Marrow Children.
Sunday Tanya Tucker
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End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #376
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