------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 121
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Australian Charlie Chan [ "Ian Grieve" <austotr@[removed]. ]
Dragnet details [ TRauHel@[removed] ]
Radio Fights Jim Crow [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
Cincinnati Convention Rooms [ "Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed] ]
Rooms for the Cincinnati Convention [ Richard Fisher <w9fjl@[removed]; ]
Sorry, Wrong Conversation [ Bhob <bhob2@[removed]; ]
Re: rooms in Cincy [ rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed] ]
Re: Race and Radio [ vigor16@[removed] ]
March 20th Birthdays [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
LOA noise test results [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
Daily Birthdays On The Digest [ lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed]; ]
Ronald Reagan, WHO & Wheaties [ marklambert@[removed] ]
Today in radio history 3/19 [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Cincy OTR Con Hotel [ ilamfan@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 09:56:52 -0500
From: "Ian Grieve" <austotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Australian Charlie Chan
I was hoping Jamie would jump in on this one, his experience far outweighs
mine :)
Moris, the head researcher for the Australian Group has documented 2,400
Australian series as of last weekend. Charlie Chan unfortunately is not one
of them :)
As has been mentioned, the Australian version of Charlie Chan was a Grace
Gibson Production. Grace Gibson arrived in Australia to live in 1944 and
soon after started Grace Gibson Productions. In her early years in
particular, Grace Gibson imported a lot of [removed] scripts and Charlie Chan
would have been one of those. I don't know of any actual Australian
Transcriptions, otherwise we could work out the dates from the matrix.
However, the collector with the matrix information unfortunately does not
have any Charlie Chan Transcriptions to answer the question about dates.
Personally I would have thought the Australian Charlie Chans would have been
prior to 1950, probably between 1946 and 1948. If any Transcription holders
can supply the matrix information we may be able to give a more accurate
date.
I have checked my reference books but as yet can supply no further
information. It is only a matter of time before the researchers uncover the
details, maybe in the next batch of Wireless Weekly's that arrives in my
post box or maybe next week or the week after, ah the anticipation :)
I will post details shortly of an uncirculated 52ep series that has been
supplied by a descendant of the person responsible for the story. The best
news is that contrary to the usual 'relatives' story, this person has
requested that the series be shared.
Ian Grieve
Moderator
Australian OTR Group
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 11:14:23 -0500
From: TRauHel@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dragnet details
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One of the things I enjoy about Dragnet is the fact that the cases start out
in different details, [removed] Bunco, Homicide, Juvenile. So, unlike with modern
police shows, you're never quite sure where a case might lead you.
It's still Joe Friday most of the time. I would have expected police officers
to be more or less permanently associated with a single detail. Does anybody
now about police structure, then or now?
Thanks,
Thomas
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 11:14:50 -0500
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio Fights Jim Crow
Speaking of racial issues in OTR: American Radio Works
produced a documentary a couple of years ago, called
"Radio Fights Jim Crow." I haven't heard the entire
thing yet, but I caught the end of it on our local NPR
station a few weeks ago. It focuses on racially
progressive OTR shows such as "New World A'Coming" and
"Destination Freedom." You can hear the documentary,
as well as excerpts from several OTR shows and a
recreation of 1947's "Neither Free nor Equal" at
[removed]
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 11:34:32 -0500
From: "Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Cincinnati Convention Rooms
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There are rooms available at the Best Western. If you
use the 800 number it will say they are booked.
Call Cathy Kinny at 513 671 6600. If you have a problem
call me at 888 477 9112.
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 12:32:52 -0500
From: Richard Fisher <w9fjl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Rooms for the Cincinnati Convention
I talked with Robert Newman who has a great deal to do with the OTR
convention here about the room problem that Steve had experienced. He
gave me the following information and asked me to forward it to the
digest:
"There are rooms available at the Best Western for the Cincinnati Old
Time Radio Convention. The problem is with their 800 number. You need
to call the Cincinnati hotel direct (513-671-6600). If you have any
problems tell who ever you are talking to that you wish to speak with
Cathy Kinney, Director of Sales, at the Best Western Springdale, OH."
Robert W. Newman
(513) 825-3662
Dick
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 12:56:50 -0500
From: Bhob <bhob2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Sorry, Wrong Conversation
Apart from party lines, there must have been many instances of overheard
phone calls. Anecdotal evidence suggests a variety of such calls:
In Brooklyn in the 1980s, some guys stringing wires around backyards in
a haphazard way were not from the phone company. They were attempting
installation of their own pirate lines but were so unsuccessful that
people in the neighborhood were constantly getting a mix of
conversations, until the phone company arrived to end the crossed wires.
In Texas in the late 1950s, a college phone system was launched with
such problems that students eavesdropped on conversations for weeks
before the bug in the system was eliminated.
A disc jockey in the South (late 1940s/early 1950s) put all incoming
music request callers in a single holding area. This made it possible
for high schoolers phoning in to talk together in a group conversation,
even recognize their friends and talk to them with others in the group
listening. Was this a common or uncommon practice among DJs who took
phone requests?
A question about phones: Why does telephone audio seem low-grade? To me,
it sounds no different today than voices I heard on telephones during
the 1940s. Why aren't telephones in stereo? Audio technology advanced
over decades in recordings/radio/TV/film, yet telephones remain barely
audible in many situations. Why?
A freak phone call incident: Around 1984, my phone was ringing. I picked
it up and heard a phone ringing. I waited. Someone on the other end
picked up the phone that was ringing and said, "Hello." I said, "Hello."
I then explained to that person that I had not placed a call. We had a
conversation about this curiosity. Later that day, I spoke to a phone
technician who was unable to give me a satisfactory explanation. Ten
years later, I wrote about that incident on an Internet message board,
and the person with whom I had spoken in 1984 left a message saying,
"That was me you spoke to. I remember the call."
Bhob @ VINTAGE NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS @
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 13:28:18 -0500
From: rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: rooms in Cincy
Try these places for rooms. Don't know about prices, but they're all within
half a mile of the convention site.
Baymont Inn: 513-671-2300
Howard Johnson North: 513-825-3129
Cross Country Inn: 513-671-0556
If none of these pan out, contact me and I may be able to help you work
something out.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 15:23:03 -0500
From: vigor16@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Race and Radio
Hi all,
This thing about portrayals of dialects on radio are necessary and part
of the format. In a 25 minute broadcast, it is diffacult to draw out
characters, so the dialect is a prop to help the story line to move it
along. Race and ethnicity are parts of the show. When a thug is
narrating, what do you hear--a stereotype. When a cop is on radio--he is
Irish. Why? Because NYC policemen have been associated with
Irish-Americans. Amos and Andy are Afro--Americans that the writers
assume we can identify on the spot. It is an interesting concept that
cannot be done any more. Today's media spend a lot of time drawing out
the character's personality to the point that it is boaring. Most
characters, like Bart Simson, the soon-to-be longest running TV program,
are quite uninteresting due to the attempt to unstereotype and thus the
plot line suffers. If I have to tell you and explanation of a punch
line of a joke, you just ain't going to find it funny. Amos and Andy or
the Goldsbergs don't have to explain what something or a characteristic
of a person means. Anyone who feels that a comedy is reflective of
prejudice has no sense of humor. Comedy is an exaggeration of known
stereotypical beliefs that are commonly held. We still have stereotypes.
Watch any television program and you will see different, but just as
stereotypical, kinds of portrayals. We consider them "good" stereotypes
for some reason. Maybe they show good sides of people more, but I doubt
it. Radio has one asset that other forms of media can never duplicate.
It can create a story that sets the stage in the mind and doesn't have to
resort to profanity vulgarity and/or bad taste. There are some that Amos
and Andy is bad taste. Unfortunately, these folks don't seem to
understand that Amos and Andy wasthe best thing you got regarding
Afro-Americans. In fact, short of musicians and sports, it was probably
the only characters. I'll tell one story and go. About ten years ago, I
was playing OTR for an adult care recreation club. I had a supervisor
who was black. I also had a resident who came each week who was black.
The resident kept bothering me wanting me to play A&A. She would tell
me that could remember where she was when she heard the program. I asked
my supervisor if she'd be offended, knowing the shows are historic. She
said, being younger, that she would and did not allow me to play it. The
resident persisted and even appealed to the supervisor. One day the
supervisor gave in and said that she'd look the other way while we
listened. I picked out a great show. So, the big day came. I wish I
could remember the one I picked, but I love all OTR, so I don't have
favorite episodes. As we played the tape, the resident was tickled
enough to tell me where she was when she first thought she'd heard the
broadcast. The supervisor, in the midst of the broadcast, sat down and
listened for the first time. It was the first time she'd ever stayed in
the room while the club was meeting. The supervisor told me later that
she never heard A&A before. So who creates stereotypes? A couple years
ago, I got a video where Jessie Jackson said that A&A was good for black
identity. So I don't open that box very often. I take shows on face
value in the context of the time they were made. I know all Irishmen are
not cops. All blacks are not lazy--just Kingfish. I know that all
Jewish people are not stingy or whatever the stereotype happens to be. I
take people one person at a time. In radio, as the liberals say to
everybody but themselves, if you don't like it, turn it off. I found OTR
to be the best way of learning what fun is. The problem these days is
that we should feel guilty about having fun. That's why hobbies, like
ours, is not considered legitimate by a lot of people today. Just like
that supervisor, our impressions are based on what we think we hear, not
what we know. That's it. Forgive me, I am a conservative sociologist.
How's that for a stereotype buster?
Deric
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 15:23:17 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: March 20th Birthdays
If you born on March 20th, you share your birthday with:
1890 - Lauritz Melchior - Copenhagen, Denmark
1906 - Ozzie Nelson - Jersey City, New Jersey
1908 - Stuart Metz - Buffalo, New York
1908 - Sir Michael Redgrave - Bristol, England
1914 - Wendell Corey - Dracut, Massachusetts
1918 - Jack Barry - Lindenhurst, New York
1922 - Jack Kruschen - Winnipeg, Canada
1922 - Ray Goulding - Lowell, Massachusetts
1923 - Carl Reiner - Bronx, New York
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 15:56:36 -0500
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: LOA noise test results
OK, I listened to one of the Little Orphan Annie eps to hear if surface
noise would reveal if the open/close was from a record. The surface noise on
the transcription obscured any change in background noise, if there was any.
The side is filled with organ music to the end
Joe Salerno
Video Works! Is it working for you?
PO Box 273405 - Houston TX 77277-3405 [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:33:04 -0500
From: lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Daily Birthdays On The Digest
This is long over due but I want to publicly Thank
Ron Sayles for all the time and hard work he puts into
the daily birthdays he posts on the digest. Thanks
Ron, I for one enjoy the every day!!!!!
Lynn Wagar
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 17:39:20 -0500
From: marklambert@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ronald Reagan, WHO & Wheaties
The Des Moines Register often publishes little historical notes about Iowa.
In the 3/18/03 edition of the paper, it mentions that Wheaties sponsored
radio baseball broadcasts in the 1930s, and that Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, a
sportscaster for WHO Radio in Des Moines, won a trip to Hollywood in a
contest among broadcasters on the Wheaties-sponsored programs. That trip
marked the beginning of the future President's Hollywood career.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 22:43:11 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history 3/19
>From Those Were The Days --
1928 - Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll left WGN in Chicago to head
across town to WMAQ. They weren't able to take their previously popular
radio show names with them due to contract limitations. So Sam and Henry
were no more. However, Gosden and Correll came up with a new name for
the show that became even more popular than the first. A year later it
was the national hit: Amos and Andy.
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 23:41:36 -0500
From: ilamfan@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed] (OTR Bulletin Board)
Subject: Cincy OTR Con Hotel
Hello, everybody!
Thanks for the help with my problems finding hotel info for the Cincy
Con -
evidently I was not going through the correct channels. I called 1 (513) 671-
6600, got through to the desk properly, and booked my room at the Best Western
with no problem, this time. WHEW!
Hope I didn't rattle anyone too badly, making them think that there were
no rooms left. Probably all my own fault. But really, don't wait till the
last minute to get your rooms - don't want to miss the Convention!
Thanks again! See you all there!
Stephen
--
Old Time Radio never dies - it
just changes formats!
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #121
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