Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #102
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 4/22/2008 10:18 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2008 : Issue 102
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Dennis Crow                           [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Re: A&A and racial references         [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Radio Spirits                         [ Dick Fisher <w9fjl@[removed]; ]
  Twilight Ranger                       [ "Ian Grieve" <austotr@[removed]. ]
  4-22 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  Memorial Service: Dennis Crow         [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  Amos 'n' Andy                         [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  Re: passing of "Mr. Cinnamon Bear"    [ Joemartelle@[removed] ]
  More on Dennis Crow                   [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:39:53 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Dennis Crow

I am sad to hear about Dennis Crow. He and I exchanged a number of
coorespondences over the years. We began communicating when I came across an
unused plot synopsis of "Timothy John," a proposed radio serial by Carlton E.
Morse that was "clearly" a rip-off of THE CINAMMON BEAR, right down to a
teddy bear that spoke an Irish accent. While I did not ask for anything in
return (I merely thought he'd get a kick out of it, which he did), he sent me
a coloring book of The Cinammon Bear that young niece enjoyed.
He will be missed.
Martin

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:40:00 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: A&A and racial references

On 4/21/08 11:57 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

Did the program, in its several incarnations, ever have the characters refer
directly or obliquely to their race. Was there ever an instance(s) where
they spoke about their economic condition that could be associated with
their inferior status, then, as Americans? Was any of this even ever
inferred?

There are detailed discussions of these points in my book, "The Original
Amos 'n' Andy," published by McFarland in 2005. Although the common myth
is that race was never referred to in the program, the fact is that Amos
and Andy occasionally referred to themselves as "colored people," as in
when they arrived in New York the first thing they did was ask a
policeman where the colored people lived. There were occasional veiled
mentions of segregation as far back as "Sam and Henry," in which the
title characters ride north from Birmningham in "that front car" -- Jim
Crow coaches were always located closest to the locomotive. And there's a
rather notable instance in a 1930 episode where Amos talks about how he
was given extremely poor service by a clerk in a hat store - a clerk who
felt he "had no business being there." This was a situation all too
familiar to any African-American of the time.

There was also an instance in 1934 in which *Northern* segregation was
explicitly acknowledged -- Amos and Andy, on a cross country road trip,
spent a night in a "Colored Tourist Camp." The NAACP immediately wrote in
to criticise this, claiming rather unconvincingly that segregation didn't
exist in the North, and that the episode gave a poor impression. Correll
and Gosden immediately struck any mention of "colored accomodations" from
any future scripts.

The Depression era episodes often referred to poverty in Harlem. There is
a sequence from the bitter winter of 1931 in which Amos and Andy, while
running a lunchroom, talk about boxing up their leftovers to give to the
many homeless, hungry people they see on the streets each day. This was a
real-life occurence in many poor urban neighborhoods in 1931, regardless
of race.

Amos and Andy regularly voted once they arrived in the north, and Amos
could always be counted on to deliver a strongly-worded speech at least
once of year stressing the importance of participation in the election
process. How these words from a black character were received by Southern
listeners has never been documented.

White characters very rarely appeared in the serial A&A -- the
non-dialect characters heard from time to time were presented as
educated, middle-class African-Americans, not whites, and this is another
point often misinterpreted by modern listeners. When white characters did
appear, they were invariably presented with either a Jewish or an Irish
accent, denoting the white ethnic groups most likely to be encountered by
Harlem residents in the 1930s. This use of dialect also had the unique
effect of presenting these whites as "Others" and outsiders in Amos and
Andy's" world, ensuring that listener identification remained on Amos and
Andy and their friends. Correll and Gosden were unique in radio for their
careful and deliberate manipulation of dialect characterization for such
purposes.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:36:11 -0400
From: Dick Fisher <w9fjl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio Spirits
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At the Cincinnati convention Radio Spirits had a large stack of catalogs
on the sign-in table.  I took one and found something that I wanted and
called in the order to their 800 number last Monday April 14.  I had
expected to receive the item certainly last week.  As of today's mail
nothing had arrived.  I then called their customer service number which
turns out to be a number where the customer must pay for the call. I was
advised that with luck my order would be shipped on Wednesday April 23.

I would say not very good service and the customer having to pay for the
call to check on an order is certainly not appreciated. But then
possibly I am expecting too much with all the problems they have had
recently and if so my apologizes to their staff and crew.

Just thought I would let you know what to expect about how the new Radio
Spirits handles your orders.  I also noted that at least 90% of the
catalogs on the table were still there when the convention closed. That
is really too bad for their business.

Dick

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Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:11:00 -0400
From: "Ian Grieve" <austotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Twilight Ranger

In issue 101 Joe Salerno supplied a link to a blog on Australian Comics and
made the following comment:

An interesting article on comics and radio shows down under. The
Twilight Ranger would be post WW2 OTR

It makes me want to hear some -

Me too Joe.  I knew about the series from Michael Noonan's autobiography and
we have the following detail in the Encyclopaedia of Australian Radio Shows
database (EARSdb):

1953 - Quarter Hour episodes

Set in Texas about 1890 this thrilling Western serial is woven around Jess
Palmer, idealistic young cowboy, who prefers his fists and a lariat to a
gun. When Long twilight, Chiefton of an Indian Tribe, gives Jess a lucky
charm called "Thunder Hoof" he tells him he will remain unharmed if he wears
it continually. The charm is put to the test when Jess determines to clean
up a savage Mexican Terror gang who are working a protection racket."

At this stage we don't have any episodes, nor do the National Archives, but
they do have some scripts donated by Reg James.  I will ask Reg if he knows
of any episodes surviving.

Michael Noonan's scripts and material related to his books and scriptwriting
are held at the National Library of Australia.  I have checked out some of
his scripts in the case of Undercover Carson and the draft scripts of Grey
Goose, but his widow doesn't allow copying or full access to the materials,
by anybody, which is a shame as Michael Noonan put them there for access and
he himself used the NLA holdings for research for his numerous books.

Ian Grieve
Moderator
Australian Old Time Radio Group

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:16:37 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  4-22 births/deaths

April 22nd births

04-22-1887 - James Norman Hall - Colfax, IA - d. 7-6-1951
writer: "Words at War"
04-22-1900 - Joan Blaine - Fort Dodge, IA - d. 4-19-1949
actor: Joan Houston "Tale of Today"; Mary Marlin "Story of Mary Marlin"
04-22-1902 - John W. Vandercook - London, England - d. 1-6-1963
commentator: "Newsroom of the Air/News of the World"
04-22-1905 - Ed Ludes - d. 7-xx-1987
sound effects: "Fibber McGee and Molly" Created the closet effect
04-22-1906 - Eddie Albert - Rock Island, IL - d. 5-26-2005
actor: Walter Mitty "Secret Life of Walter Mitty"; "Eddie Albert Show"
04-22-1907 - Elmer H. Wavering - Quincy, IL - d. 11-20-1998
inventor: With Bill Lear, invented first commerial car radio (Motorola)
04-22-1909 - Ralph Byrd - Dayton, OH - d. 8-18-1952
singer, actor: Local and Hollywood radio
04-22-1915 - Dick Dudley - Louisville, KY - d. 2-2-2000
announcer: "Archie Andrews"; "Believe It or Not"
04-22-1916 - Maurice Webster - Gibbon, NE - d. 6-20-2001
announcer: "Scattergood Baines"; "Meet the Missus"; "Surprise Party"
04-22-1916 - Yehudi Menuhin - NYC - d. 3-12-1999
classical violinist: "New York Philharmonic"; "Pause that Refreshes"
04-22-1917 - Glynn Croudace - England
author of about 100 radio plays
04-22-1920 - Hal March - San Francisco, CA - d. 1-19-1970
comedian: Matt Henshaw "December Bride"; Mr. Cook "Too Many Cooks"
04-22-1921 - Candido Camero - Havana, Cuba
drummer: CMQ radio
04-22-1921 - Charlotte Lawrence - California - d. 10-20-1993
actor: Stacy McGill "Advs. of Christopher Wells"; Reba Britten "Just
Plain Bill"
04-22-1921 - Vivian Dandridge - Cleveland, OH - d. 10-27-1991
writer: "The Beulah Show"
04-22-1922 - Charlie Mingus - Nogales, AZ - d. 1-5-1979
jazz bass player: "Here's to Veterans"
04-22-1924 - Bill Simmons - d. 1-24-2005
southern gospel musician: (Light Crust Doughboys)
04-22-1932 - Bill Bircher - d. 12-1-1988
disk jockey: WTNJ Trenton, NJ; WBCB Levittown, PA
04-22-1939 - Jason Miller - NYC - d. 5-13-2001
playwright: "Earplay"
04-22-1942 - Andre Major - Montreal, Canada
author of radio plays
04-22-1949 - Rin-Rin-Tin - d. unknown
dog: Rin-Tin-Tin "Rin-Tin-Tin"

April 22nd deaths

01-09-1913 - Richard Nixon - Yorba Linda, CA - d. 4-22-1994
[removed] president: "Image Minorities"; "Kennedy-Nixon Debates"
02-04-1901 - Tom McKnight - d. 4-22-1963
producer, director, writer: "Beulah Show"; "Gibson Family"
02-22-1908 - John Mills - North Elmham, England - d. 4-22-2005
actor: "A Christmas Carol"; "Charlie Chaplin"
03-01-1885 - Lionel Atwill - Croydon, England - d. 4-22-1946
singer: "Eveready Hour"
03-09-1902 - Will Geer - Franfort, IN - d. 4-22-1978
actor: Penny "Bright Horizon"
03-12-1899 - Amparo Iturbi - Valencia, Spain - d. 4-22-1969
concert Pianist: (Jose's sister) "Concert Hall"
03-30-1922 - Anne Pitoniak - Westfield, MA - d. 4-22-2007
actor: "Radio City Playhouse"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Magnificent
Montague"
04-20-1924 - Patricia Peardon - Allendale, NJ - d. 4-22-1993
actor: Mary Aldrich "Aldrich Family"; Joan Worthington "Orphans of
Divorce"
04-21-1891 - Dr. Howard W. Haggard - d. 4-22-1959
alcoholism expert: "Devils, Drugs and Doctors"
05-31-1921 - Alida Valli - Pola, Istria, Italy - d. 4-22-2006
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood"
06-12-1912 - Janet Fox - Chicago, IL - d. 4-22-2002
actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "The Big Story"
06-12-1926 - Bob Pfeiffer - Iowa - d. 4-22-2003
announcer: "Answer Please"; "The Bickersons"
06-25-1932 - Helen Batts - d. 4-22-2005
woman's program on WPET Greensboro, North Carolins
07-19-1910 - Fred Kirby - Charlotte, NC - d. 4-22-1996
country, bluegrass: "Briarhoppers"
08-08-1906 - Joe DuVal - Wisconsin - d. 4-22-1966
actor: Professor Wiz the Owl "Cinnamon Bear", Big Town"
09-15-1904 - Tom Conway - St. Petersburg, Russia - d. 4-22-1967
actor: Sherlock Holmes "Sherlock Holmes"; Simon Templar "The Saint"
09-21-1967 - Christopher Price - Norfolk, England - d. 4-22-2002
radio journalist: "BBC News 24"
10-13-1891 - Irene Rich - Buffalo, NY - d. 4-22-1988
actor: Faith Chandler "Dear John"; Irene Davis "Lady Counsellor";
Judith Bradley "Glorious One"
10-30-1924 - Norman Bird - Coalville, England - d. 4-22-2005
actor: Major Burnaby "The Sittaford Mystery"
11-10-1907 - Jane Froman - St. Louis, MO - d. 4-22-1980
singer: "Florsheim Frolic"; "Bromo Seltzer Hour"; "Gulf Musical
Playhouse"
11-16-1894 - Ruth Cornell Woodman - d. 4-22-1970
creator, writer: "Death Valley Days"; "Cavalcade of America"
12-28-1903 - Earl "Fatha" Hines - Duquesne, PA - d. 4-22-1983
bandleader: "Band Remotes"; "Chamber Music of Lower Basin Street"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:42:37 -0400
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Memorial Service: Dennis Crow

Shirley Crow, widow of Dennis, has informed me that his memorial
service will be held at the Assembly of God Church, 39800 Highway 26,
Sandy, OR 97055, on Monday, April 28th beginning at 4 PM.

Family suggests that donations in his name can be made to any one of
the below three organizations:
1) Mt. Hood Hospice, [removed] Box 1269, Sandy, OR 97055
Dennis was in their care prior to his death on April 20th.

2) Sandy Historical Society, [removed] Box 652, Sandy, OR 97055
Dennis served on the board of this group and was very much involved
in their fund raising projects, including the annual quilt show, in
which both Dennis and Shirley were very active.

3) Sandy Baptist Church, [removed] Box 1359, Sandy, OR 97055
Dennis and Shirley attended this church for over 20 years; Dennis was
a former deacon there and current adult Sunday School teacher.

Shirley wishes to extend to all a sincere "I am much obliged to you,"
in the grand tradition of the Cinnamon Bear.

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:43:23 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Amos 'n' Andy

Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:42:38 -0400
From: "Joe" <jpostove@[removed];

Did the program, in its several incarnations, ever have the characters
refer directly or obliquely to their race.

I can't speak to the Amos 'n' Andy show itself, and I presume
Elisabeth will.  But in Jack Benny's first radio show for CBS in
1948, Jack arrives at the CBS studios and meets Amos & Andy.  After a
brief exchange of hellos, Amos says to Andy (or maybe it's Andy to
Amos), "Jack Benny is such a great commedian, but he didn't say
nothin' funny!"  And the other replies, "Well, y'see, it's like I
told you, he ain't nothin' without Rochester."  This is greeted by a
loud audience applause.

Then Jack says to Mary, "Amos & Andy have been in show business for
years, but they didn't say anything funny!"  Mary replies, in an
immitation of Andy (or Amos), "Well, y'see, it's like I told you,
they ain't nothin' without the Kingfish!"

Not a direct reference, but certainly an indirect one.

There's also a show where Amos & Andy are guests, and they tell a
story of Jack first meeting Rochester while Rochester is working for
the Fresh Air Cab Company.

--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
 92 State Street, Suite 700                   Fax [removed]
Boston, MA 02109-2004           	         [removed]

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

Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:14:21 -0400
From: Joemartelle@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: passing of "Mr. Cinnamon Bear"
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I'm saddened to learn of the passing of 'Mr. Cinnamon Bear,' Dennis  Crow.
Every year, as we approach Christmas and the holiday season, I would look
forward to read his postings about this special children's program, which he
obviously loved so much.
I join many others in expressing my deepest condolences to his wife,  Shirley
and their family.

God Bless

Joe Martelle

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Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:17:19 -0400
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  More on Dennis Crow
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It's been a sad month for OTR enthusiasts with the news of the passings of
retr-OTR actor and voiceman Jeff David, screenwriter Kay Linaker (who, as
"Kate Phillips" co-wrote the screenplay to "Buck Benny Rides Again!"), and
well-respected OTR fan/historian Dennis Crow. Without a doubt, I am very
saddened by Jack French's news via Dennis's widow Shirley about his sudden
demise. Dennis was a gentle soul who loved OTR, particularly a certain
Christmas-themed serial known as "The Cinnamon Bear."

What Elizabeth McLeod is to "Amos 'n' Andy," what Terry Salomonsen and Jim
Nixon are to "The Lone Ranger," what Lee Munsick is to Arthur Godfrey, what
Anthony Tollin is to "The Shadow," and Stephen Kallis is to "Captain
Midnight"...that's how passionate Dennis Crow was about Paddy O'Cinnamon.

I first met Dennis at FOTR about 15 years ago very [removed] was
seated at the same banquet table as  me. After sundry introductory
preliminaries, the first thing he asked me was if I was familiar with "The
Cinnamon Bear." And so the adventure [removed]

Dennis attended the FOTR gathering a couple more times after that, but due to
expenses and logistics, later opted to attend the Seattle/REPS convention
which was closer to his Greasham, Oregon home. Actually, we had lost contact
with each other throughout most of the 1990s but rekindled our friendship
about 5-6 years ago thanks to his postings here on the Digest.

One thing I treasured about Dennis is that he actually liked my jokes and
really didn't mind getting caught in the crossfire at FOTR's when Ed Clute and
I were going at it with extraneous puns.

He was quite knowledgeable about OTR beyond the realm of the  Cinnamon Bear.
One of his biggest thrills was when he got his name mentioned in the
acknowledgments of a doctoral dissertation published and presented [removed]
University of Sao Paolo (by way of qualification, I was mentioned in the same
paper). It seems a Brazilian gentleman named Fabio Soares Petrarca contacted
this forum with questions about Orson Welles and "The War of the Worlds." Both
Dennis and I -- as well as several other scholars here on the OTR Digest --
assisted Mr. Soares Petrarca. It's nice to know that Dennis's effect on the
hobby has reached an entirely different hemisphere.

Maybe it's hoping too much, but I seriously hope that there exists among
Dennis's compatriots in the erstwhile "Cinnamon Bear Brigade"  someone with as
much knowledge of and passion for the CB. If not, a true heart of knowledge
has been prematurely and permanently extinguished.

According to a message Jack French received from Dennis's widow Shirley,
"Dennis had a great faith and I was thrilled to get to hear him say 'It will
be a great honor to go to the other side.'" Rest easily, friend. You've earned
it.

With tears in the ether,

Derek Tague

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End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #102
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