Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #61
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 2/17/2004 3:23 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 61
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Gambling, Long John Nebel redux       [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]
      Celery Tonic                          [ dougdouglass@[removed] (doug dougla ]
      2-17 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Fletcher's Castoria                   [ "Glen Schroeder" <gschroeder10@char ]
      Drama Hour question                   [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
      MGM in Chicago                        [ mickey <mickey44@[removed]; ]
      OTR magazines                         [ "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed] ]
      Re: Metro Golden Memories             [ OTRGURU@[removed] ]
      RE: Mason Adams                       [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
      Bob Bailey - other radio work?        [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
      Cod Liver Oil                         [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      Looking for Some Song information (d  [ Richard j Smith <rjsmith608@charter ]
      Re: Spike Jones Laughing Record       [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      Allen's Final Show                    [ "William Schell" <bschell@[removed] ]
      Jack's song                           [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Youth Wants to Know                   [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      Jack Benny's Song                     [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Chicago OTR store                     [ "Kris Stone" <anaheim47@[removed] ]
      cod liver oil                         [ Mike Sheets <msheets@texarkanacolle ]

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 14:56:35 -0500
    From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Gambling, Long John Nebel redux

    My thanks to the numerous kind folk who replied both on- and off-Digest, to
    my recollections about Rambling With Gambling, Long John Nebel, etc.

    In the process, I was reminded that my first visit to John Nebel's program
    caused one of my most memorable faux pas.

    I am sure that most readers here are familiar with the various "Blooper"
    records by Kermit Schaefer.  In one of his first, a hapless announcer has
    been assigned a script for use through the Christmas and New Year's
    gift-giving period.  It was for some kind of a gift, encouraging the listener
    to go out and buy it!

    The script ended with two tag lines.  The announcer was supposed to use
    whichever one was appropriate for the day he was reading:

    1)   On Christmas, say Merry Christmas!

    2)   At New Year's, say Happy New Year!

    Our hapless friend, perhaps having partaken of a bit of holiday cheer,
    proceeded happily to read both!  That was his entree to the Blooper Hall of
    Fame.

    The first time that I visited John Nebel and his all-night show at WOR, it
    was near the end of December.  I think he was looking forward to future
    visits, Perhaps he already had in mind putting together a cadre of folk to
    share talk duties with him, and provide a group of voices to become familiar
    to his listeners, rather than just his and one guest per night.  In time,
    this became the norm on his programs, and I became part of that group.

    In any case that first visit, John noted that I was the morning man at a
    small station in New Jersey, and was visiting on sort of a busman's holiday
    to his program.  Without warning me, he said, "Let's see how you can handle
    some sponsor's [removed]"

    Thrusting a piece of copy in my hand, he told me to read it.  Cold.  Then.
    So I did.  I have never been susceptible to mike fright.  But sitting there
    in the WOR transmitter building, and knowing that my voice was going out over
    one of the most powerful and widely-listened stations in the New York market,
    if not the [removed] did give me a thrill!

    The copy was from Bulova.  Older readers will recall that their ads required
    the announcer to spell out their name in very fast, staccato fashion.  Not
    easy without learning how to do it and rehearsing it, almost like a chant.
    As a kid, I'd done that rapid-fire B-U-L-O-V-A by my radio at home many
    times.  So  I smiled, and figured I'd impress Nebel with my ability to toss
    it off without a hitch.

    I only mildly nervously but gleefully took the copy.  He did not give me a
    chance to read it through.  Nevertheless, I was determined to do well by it.

    I narrated through to the best of my ability.  Including both of the two
    tag-lines at the bottom, exactly like the old B commercial in the Blooper LP!

    To be frank, like Kermit's original, I didn't even know what I had done,
    until John started to laugh.  Then, of course, I realized what I'd read, and
    undoubtedly turned ash white, then beet red.    Ever since, I've had a
    kinship with that first Blooper-er, and I have to laugh at myself all over.

    John Nebel had been a carnival "barker", although he told me that the correct
    carnie term was "talker".  He prided himself that nobody could crack him up.
    Over my months with the program, I saw many people try without success,
    including professional comics like Jackie Gleason.   One morning, I think
    magician and psychic debunker James Randi, "The Amazing Randi", and I were
    chatting with John, when time came for the "food break" which we usually took
    roughly between 2:30 and 3:00 [removed]  John remained in the studio to do some
    commercials, and Randi and I moved to the little lunch room.

    As we sat talking and munching, we suddenly became conscious of a silence
    coming from the speaker monitors.  We looked at each other with puzzled
    expressions, knowing Nebel was never without words.  Then we realized it
    wasn't actually silence.  There was a sort of gasping sound.  Alarmed, we
    both shot from our chairs and bolted across the round transmitter building,
    staring through the glass window at John Nebel.  He was seated at the table,
    his face red, his mouth curled into a leering smile, helplessly looking at
    us.  The gasping we'd heard was actually uncontrolled laughter, which he was
    nearly--but not completely--trying to stifle and silence.  He tried a couple
    of times to gain control and begin to talk normally, but off he went again,
    completely beside himself.  He waved frantically at us to come in and take
    over.  He got up to leave, and waved his hand around in the "keep it going"
    signal.

    Over the next 15 or 20 minutes, Nebel regained his composure and walked in,
    sat down at his mike and nodded that we should keep going.  Each time he lost
    it again, and bolted from the room.  It was over a half-hour before he
    finally managed to control himself and sat down with us, and another while
    before he was finally able to rejoin the conversation.   He indicated not to
    bring up the subject.

    During a recorded commercial, we asked him what the dickens had happened.  He
    couldn't explain it.  Something, he told us, had struck him [removed]
    couldn't even recall what!  Once he was gone, he was gone!  Lowell Thomas
    occasionally had the same problem.

    As it turned out, nobody but nobody could crack up Long John Nebel.  Except
    Long John Nebel!  In the months to come, he admonished us not to ever remind
    him of it, for fear he'd suffer a relapse with the same result.  We never
    mentioned it again.

    Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year!
    Lee Munsick

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:23:39 -0500
    From: dougdouglass@[removed] (doug douglass)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Celery Tonic

    Here in New York, it's sold as "Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Soda" in an aluminum
    can tinted green.

    Doug Douglass

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:50:07 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  2-17 births/deaths

    February 17th births

    02-17-1897 - Marion Anderson - Philadelphia, PA - d. 4-8-1993
    singer: "The Circle"; "Telephone Hour"
    02-17-1907 - Larry "Buster" Crabbe - Oakland, CA - d. 4-23-1983
    actor: "George Jessel Show"; "Hollywood Showcase"
    02-17-1908 - Staats Cotsworth - Oak Park, IL - d. 4-9-1979
    actor: David Farrell "Front Page Farrell"; Mark Trail "Mark Trail"
    02-17-1908 - Walter "Red" Barber - Columbus, MS - d. 10-22-1992
    sportscaster: (The Old Redhead) "Schaefer Star Revue"
    02-17-1914 - Arthur Kennedy - Worcester, MA - d. 1-5-1990
    actor: "Best Plays"
    02-17-1914 - Wayne Morris - Los Angeles, CA - d. 9-14-1959
    actor: "Radio Reader's Digest"; "NBC university Theatre of the Air"; "Lux
    Radio Theatre"
    02-17-1919 - Kathleen Freeman - Chicago, IL - d. 8-24-2001
    actress: California Artists Radio Theatre"
    02-17-1923 - Buddy DeFranco - Camden, NJ
    bandleader: "Glenn Miller Orchestra"
    02-17-1925 - Hal Holbrook - Cleveland, OH
    actor: Grayling Dennis "Brighter Day"
    02-17-1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips - Philippines
    actor: "Twilight Zone"

    February 17th deaths

    02-12-1904 - Joseph Kearns - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 2-17-1962
    actor, host: Melvyn Foster "A Date with Judy"; Man in Black "Suspense"
    03-13-1908 - Paul Stewart - NYC - d. 2-17-1986
    actor: Gyp Mendoza "Life Can Be Beautiful"; Richard Rogue "Rogue's Gallery"
    03-17-1901 - Alfred Newman - New Haven, CT - d. 2-17-1970
    composer, conductor: "Hollywood Star Time"; "Radio Hall of Fame"; "Silver
    Theatre"
    06-17-1922 - Jerry Fielding - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 2-17-1980
    conductor: "Hardy Family"; "Jack Paar Show"; "You Bet Your Life"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:50:20 -0500
    From: "Glen Schroeder" <gschroeder10@[removed];
    To: "otr" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Fletcher's Castoria

    Hi listers.

    The cod liver oil thread brought back to mind when I was small and my mother
    used to give me something called Fletcher's Castoria.  I think it was a
    laxitive and I got a spoonful most every night.  I think the name Castoria
    came from the fact that it had castor oil in it.  From what I've heard about
    the taste of castor oil, the Castoria taste pretty.  To keep this on topic,
    I do remember that there was a kids show that had it for a sponsor, but I
    don't remember which one.  Does anybody remember this stuff or what show it
    sponsored?

    Love Dis List

    Glen Schroeder

    Madison  WI

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:51:20 -0500
    From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
    To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Drama Hour question

    I have yet to connect successfully to the new Drama Hour web site.

    There is little info there. Is there a schedule for what shows are
    available, or at least a series title? Or perhaps they provide shows on a
    more random basis.

    Joe Salerno

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:51:39 -0500
    From: mickey <mickey44@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  MGM in Chicago

    Philip Chavin asked:

>         I've heard rumors that Metro Golden Memories, the long-established store
>     selling OTR tapes and discs, etc., on the northwest side of Chicago, last
>     known address on Addision St. near Central Ave., has gone out of business --
>     permanently, apparently.

    Sorry to say, Philip, but they're definitely gone.  I live very close to
    this location
    and indeed was an occasional customer for most of about 15 years or
    so.  I hadn't been in for a year or more and was surprised several months ago
    to find it cleaned out, with a sign offering the fixtures for sale.

    I have no more clues except to say that I believe OTR stalwart Chuck Schaden
    owned the store at one time, but possibly not in its later years.  He
    shouldn't be
    hard to track down and should have a definitive answer.

    m

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:15:39 -0500
    From: "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR magazines

      Recently I won an Ebay auction for a 1947 OTR magazine called Radio Mirror
    and have really enjoyed reading it as it shows faces of some of the stars
    like Anita Ellis of the Red Skelton show who I had never seen a photo of
    before. The magazine only cost $[removed] after shipping so very reasonable for a
    57 year old magazine.
      Dinah Shore was on the cover which showed her before she had blonde hair.
    Had no idea Dinah Shore went that far back as a star with her own radio
    show.
      Reading the magazine has given me a better picture of what is was like
    back in OTR days as I was only 3 in 1947.
      The cover price was only 25 cents and I got it for about what new
    magazines sell for today. So if anyone else like me missed out on what OTR
    was like in the 30's, 40's and 50's there are magazines on Ebay that can be
    found. I am not a dealer or promoting any [removed] wanted to share this
    with the OTR fans on the digest.
       Andrew Godfrey

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:14:44 -0500
    From: OTRGURU@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Metro Golden Memories

    Philip Chavin wrote:

>     I've heard rumors that Metro Golden Memories, the long-established store
>     selling OTR tapes and discs, etc., on the northwest side of Chicago, ... has
>     gone out of business --permanently, apparently.  Would any Digester know
>     definitely whether or not that rumor is true?  Any details?

    I can confirm that Metro Golden Memories HAS gone out of business.  I started
    the store in back in the mid-70s and sold it about six years ago in an effort
    to start taking life a little easier.  The new owners worked hard to make a
    go of it, but could not survive the struggling economy and other problems.
    They
    closed the store and went out of business in mid-July, 2003.  All the
    inventory was sold before they closed the doors and nothing remains.

    Chuck Schaden
    [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:14:59 -0500
    From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE:  Mason Adams

    The series that John Mayer was asking about might be the series which ran
    from March, 1952 through November 1960, "Whispering Streets."

    Mason Adams appeared in the following episodes of the CBS series "21st
    Precinct."
    06/09/1954  The Book
    06/30/1954  The Red Tiger
    11/17/1954  The Bottle
    02/09/1955  The Surety
    03/09/1955  The Squawker
    08/20/1955  The Checks
    09/10/1955  The Homecoming
    10/07/1955  The Ditch
    10/14/1955  The Alarmist
    12/02/1955  The Trouble
    12/16/1955  The Heirs
    02/02/1956  The Drive
    08/09/1956  The Bottle
    09/06/1956  The Red Tiger

    Signing off for now,

    Stewart

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:15:24 -0500
    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bob Bailey - other radio work?

    Did Bob Bailey do much other radio work besides Yours
    Truly, Johnny Dollar and Let George Do It? I've never
    heard his voice crop up in the background in any of
    the Hollywood shows from late 40s/early 50s, but it
    seems likely (given his talents) that he would have
    been a good candidate to be a regular irregular. The
    only things I've been able to dig up are the
    following:

    Arch Oboler's Plays 05/17/45 Mr. Ten Percent
    Bruce Elliott, Bob Bailey, Mary Jane Croft, Everett
    Allen, Earle Ross, Rose Ann Murray, Evelyn Scott,
    Harold Cornsweet, Harry Lang

    Family Theater 09/21/49 Queen of Angels
    Eugene Biscaloose (LA County Sheriff), Leo Carrillo,
    Robert Bailey

    Lux Radio Theater 05/29/44 Old Acquaintance
    Alexis Smith, Miriam Hopkins, Otto Kruger, Robert
    Bailey

    Screen Director's Playhouse 03/20/49 The Perfect
    Marriage
    Loretta Young, Bob Bailey

    Suspense 08/08/46 Dead Ernest
    Wally Maher, Robert Bailey, Verna Felton, Jerry
    Hausner, Cathy Lewis, Elliot Lewis, Jay Novello,
    Walter Tetley, William Wright

    Surely there are more?

    Cheers,
    Kermyt

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:37:39 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Cod Liver Oil

    I am forwarding this from my German friend, Bernard who is having problems
    getting email through:

    Why should you Americans be the only ones to complain about having tasted it?!
    Over here in post-war Germany we had to swallow it as well!
    It, indeed, was regarded as a remedy for and against everything. It came in
    brown bottles and 2 spoonful would do us good, our mothers said.

    I wonder if it did do us any good- perhaps it helped us in our later days
    to turn to OTR ?

    Bernard Wichert
    Germany  "

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 18:18:26 -0500
    From: Richard j Smith <rjsmith608@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Looking for Some Song information (doodly
     Boop Song)

    Hi Gang~
      I know that this isn't OTR related, but I am looking for some song
    information.
       There is a old Christmas song I think called the Elusive Doodly
    Boop.  Does anyone have any information for me on the singer and what
    year and album it was recorded?  I found the song going through a bunch
    of my grandpa's old real to reals and just recently digitized it.
       More info would be greatly appreciated.

    Sincerely~
    Richard j Smith

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 21:24:24 -0500
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Spike Jones Laughing Record

    With all the talk the last few weeks about laughing record, I found my copy
    of the Spike Jones record and posted it on my web page in a Real Audio format.

    Go to [removed]

    Select the old time radio image. Then look on the lower right hand side of
    the page for a heading called SOUND CLIPS. It is under a heading called
    INTERESTING INFORMATION.

    Click on the SOUND CLIPS link and you will be taken to a page where you
    will find a link called SPIKE JONES. Double click on that an in a minute or
    so you will here the entire record. If you don't have a Real Audio player,
    there is a link on that page that will take you to the Real Audio site for
    the player.

    Now that this page is in place, thanks to my webmaster Lou Genco, I'll be
    putting other interesting clips up there. So check it out from time to time.

    Fred
    [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 23:59:44 -0500
    From: "William Schell" <bschell@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Allen's Final Show

    I just listened to a tape of Fred Allen's final radio show aired 6-26-49.
    The guests were Henry Morgan and Jack Benny.  A couple of times Fred
    mentioned that it would be his last walk down Allen's Alley but not much
    else was said about it being the last show.  It apparently went long as
    there was nothing after the point where Jack Benny announces he is the
    shister that owns the Mohawk Loan Company.  The next thing on the tape is ,
    "This is NBC the National Broadcasting Network".   Does anyone know what we
    missed?  Were there goodbyes, any cracks by Allen?
    Bill
    Magalia, Ca

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 00:00:52 -0500
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack's song

    Dan Hughes asked:

>     Just listened to the JB episode where Danny Kaye, Frank Sinatra, Groucho
>     Marx, and George Burns do a riotously funny version of Jack's song If I
>     Say I Beg Your Pardon.  Does anyone know if Jack himself actually wrote
>     that song?

    Sure did.  Jack sat down and wrote an intentionally bad song, and despite
    many requests over the years, refused to publish it because it WAS so bad.  I
    still get requests from people asking for the sheet music.

    I long held a fantasy of going on the Tonight Show and playing Stump the Band
    with "When You Say I Beg Your Pardon, Then I'll Come Back to You".  I can
    just imagine Johnny's face if a 15-year-old girl came out with that gag (not
    to
    mention Fred deCordova's amusement).

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 07:43:13 -0500
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Youth Wants to Know

    Was there was a radio or television show called "Youth Wants to Know?".
    Google has nothing pertinent under that title, but I'm sure it existed.

    Mark Kinsler
    512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
    [removed]~mkinsler1

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 07:43:51 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Benny's Song

    Dan Hughes notes,

>     Just listened to the JB episode where Danny Kaye, Frank Sinatra, Groucho
>     Marx, and George Burns do a riotously funny version of Jack's song If I
>     Say I Beg Your Pardon.

    One of the interesting things about the song, which was really, "If You
    Say 'I Beg Your Pardon,' Will I Come Back To You?" was that on one
    program, a Mexican musical group guesting on the show started singing it
    in Spanish.  It sounded really good that way!

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 12:05:20 -0500
    From: "Kris Stone" <anaheim47@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Chicago OTR store

    Unfortunately Metro Golden Memories has gone out of business for good.
    Chuck Schaden was part owner of the store for sometime but sold his interest
    a while back.

    Having lived in Chicago, I spent a number of weekends browsing the store's
    many offerings.  It is sad to know that Metro Golden Memories is no more.

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 12:06:10 -0500
    From: Mike Sheets <msheets@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  cod liver oil

    A great number of folks gave their children cod liver oil because they
    "knew", or  "had heard", that it was good for them, or because they
    themselves were given it as children.  Anecdotal evidence attributed
    (and still attributes) marvelous powers to the stuff.  However, it was
    known by the middle to late 1800's that cod liver oil prevented rickets,
    a softening of the bones on children due to lack of vitamin D.  Since
    milk is now fortified with vitamin D, rickets is rare in our country.
    Interestingly enough, there evidence that children who take cod liver
    oil have less problems with ear infections, etc.

    What might be frightening to those of you who swallowed gallons of the
    oil as kids and have sworn off of it as adults, is a report released
    yesterday that seemingly confirms that cod liver oil  reduces the
    problems associated with osteoarthritis,. Maybe Mom was right.  Luckily,
    the "nasty" oil is available in gel caps now.  Bon appetite.

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #61
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