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

[removed] Digest				Volume 96 : Issue 289

Table Of Contents: 

	 the Final Word about Transmitters, Call Letters, and King
	George L. Coleman
	 re Vic & Sade
	 old time radio history
	 Norn Nathan & WBZ
	 Re: Remember WENN
	 Ted Meyers, KFI
	 I need OTR stories please :)
	 "Semi-OTR" on AFN-Europe
	 Fibber and Molly and Vic and Sade -- think of the possibilities!
	 Checkerboard Square Gone
	 Vic & Sade -- Book of Scripts
	 70's radio
	 60s radio

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 06:06:06 -0600
From: Chester L. Cox <CHCox@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: the Final Word about Transmitters, Call Letters, and King
	George L. Coleman
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

By 1994, it  became obvious to radio magnate (and part-time magnet)
George Coleman that original episodes of the Lone Ranger hadn't been fed
to him over his Mutual hook-up for forty years.  In a desperate attempt to
regain a long-gone audience, he built the world's first all-wooden transmitter
tower, rising to several feet and broadcasting on an unclear channel for
almost that distance.  Similar to the new non-wire cable transmitters and
satellite feeds, he invested dozens of dollars in piping old radio
transmissions (under the theory that the transmissions never go away, but
are still floating around in the ether and chloroform) directly through the
water pipe system of Miami, Oklahoma.  With no original programming and
no turntables or tape players in his 50,000,000,000 watt station (converted
from his mother's basement), George developed his original broadcast
schedule which looked something like this:

M - F
6 am - the Breakfast Slob
8 am - Melodies Too Slow for Lawrence Welk Even
9 am - News for the Deaf
9:30 - Portia Faces East
10 am - My Mother the Car
10:30 - One Man's Pizza
11 am - When a Girl Buries (the newlywed life of the Digby O'Dell family) 
Noon - the Noon Show
1:30 - the Breakfast Club for Those of You Who Got Up Late
3:30 - the Lone Tonto
4 pm - I Don't Understand This Mystery
4:15 - the Sisko Kid (an early forerunner of Star Trek: Deep Space 9)
4:45 - I Still Don't Understand This Mystery
5 pm - Tom Slick and His Rawstone Shoot-Straights
5:30 - Dead Ryder
6 pm - Walter Whimple (and his big ol' wife) and the News
6:30 - Fibber McMolly and Mr Gee
7 pm - I Was an Idiot for the FBI
7:30 - the Chaser and Hangover Show, with Edgar Buchanan and Joseph
McCarthy
8:30 - Gunsmell
9:00 - Laser Light Show until midnight
midnight - sign off and the national anthem of Buarowai

George L. Coleman, and his station KGLC, remain the high entertainment
draws of Miami, which is sad when you think of it.
*jeep!
~~~~Chet
---------------------------------------------------
quote of the day: "The brotherhood of man is not a mere poet's dream;
it is a most depressing and humiliating reality."  --Oscar Wilde

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 08:45:25 -0700
From: [removed]@[removed] (Donald Dortmund)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re Vic & Sade
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
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  I'm not a V&C fan, but I know there is a book available with a history 
  and scripts. I have seen it at the MGM shop, in Chicago. Sorry I don't 
  have th title, why not call or write for a catalog?
  
  Metro Golden Memories
  5425 W. Addison St.
  Chicago, Il 60641
  312-736-4133
  10am-6pm Chicago Time

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 10:14:45 -0400
From: Platecap@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: old time radio history
Message-ID: <960819101445_459934907@[removed]>

Part of what makes OTR what it is is that is a part of American
communications history.  That is an undeniable fact.  When we talk about the
specific shows or stars, that is a very specific and narrow range of
discussion, and can certainly be interesting (or boring) in itself depending
on where your interest lies.    Without the people, the radio stations and
the networks, none of these shows would exist.  Some basic background history
on this aspect is very helpful to a radio historian to understand how the
broadcast industry functioned in those days (A LOT different than today).
 This was a factor in specifically why certain shows were produced, their
content, [removed] also the technical aspects.  If you wondered why an aircheck
we may have from a certain station sounded so surprisingly good (perhaps the
only copy that exists), we may have learned recently on the digest that is
because it was a 50,000 watt clear channel station.
Not every aspect of OTR is interesting to me.  But I'm always glad to get
some historical information.  The Earl C. Anthony and other background has
been fascinating.  Thanks to those who provided that information.
Bob Burnham; BRC Productions; Platecap@[removed]

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

Date: 19 Aug 1996 10:59:17 -0400
From: "Belanger Walter" <Belanger_Walter@[removed]>
To: "OTR" <otr@[removed]>
Subject: Norn Nathan & WBZ
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

 Someone inquired about Norm Nathan at WBZ.
  Norm is the regular Sunday overnight talkhost at  'BZ. Where he liked to
tell us "the studios are plush but not overly ostentatious" Yes, his show is a
pleasant diversion from some of the talk shows these days. 
        I don't know if he is involved in OTR re-creations. I do know he's old
enough to have worked during the golden age.  
  The best of this style host that I can recall was Larry Glick on this same
station. He did M-F overnights and for years he was the friend of insomniacs
in thirthy eight states and some foreign countries. This was the era of
genuine clear channel stations.
 WBZ still advertises itself today as a "clear channel station". 
  -- Walt

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 11:22:20 -0400
From: OTRDSIEGEL@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Remember WENN
Message-ID: <960819112219_263185943@[removed]>

   I have been watching, and taping as many episodes of this program as I
could, but have missed a few. The last broadcast was program 11. I wonder if
anyone has a list of the titles (or plot outlines ie. A) Quiz Show, B) Bling
Girl  C) Color Blind Radio, etc.) for all eleven episodes broadcast (by
program number) and if they do, would they be willing to share same.
   Thanks.  Dave Siegel

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 96 08:46 PDT
From: lois@[removed] (Lois Culver)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ted Meyers, KFI
Message-Id: <m0usWX3-0007gjC@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>  Ted 
>Meyers was doing announcing for Channel 9 as recently as three or so 
>years ago.  When I got his autograph in 1944 he looked at me and said, 
>"You haven't any idea who I am, do you?"  But I knew his voice instantly. 
>He was the announcer of "The World We're Fighting For."
>
>Bruce Toor


Ted Meyers was honored at SPERDVAC several months ago.  The man has changed
so little since he was the News Editor of KFI, Los Angeles in the 
40's, early 50'[removed] for growing shorter.  He was the man who couldnt
be "broken up", and they tried everything, even having a sexy woman sit on
his lap during a newscast, undressing him as he worked!

Lois Culver

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 10:03:10 -0700
From: Rick_Botti@[removed] (Rick Botti)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: I need OTR stories please :)
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="[removed]"

[removed]
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I write a column about classic radio for my local 
chapter of the Ford Model A Club (Model A Fords 
were produced from 1928-1931). I need stories 
about radio stations, shows, etc from the roaring 
20s to the early 1930s.

If anyone has a story they would like to share 
with our club, please send it to me at: 
Rbotti@[removed] Thanks!

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 13:33:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Henry A. Campbell-Ickes" <hacickes@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: "Semi-OTR" on AFN-Europe
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Here's one I've been kicking around for a while:  while I was in the Army 
in Germany (1965-67), I listened a lot to the American Forces Network - 
Europe.  Somewhere in the middle of that period, acouple of the GI staff 
announcers, I believe named "Army Sgt." Jim Davis and "Army Specialist" 
Nolan Kenner, created a comic series called "Thurman and the Captain",
including (of course) sound effects and occasional hidden references to
things I remember hearing when I was a kid.

Thurman (played by Kenner, as I recall) was a good-natured young guy, and 
played the straight man to Davis' "Cap'n. Dirty", whose arrival nearly 
always was announced by the roar of a motorcycle, followed by screeching 
tires.

Having exhausted you all by that:  anyone out there remember that?  
Anyone have air-checks of it?  And, has anyone heard anything of Davis 
and Kenner since then?  As I recall, Davis rotated out of Germany in late 
'66 or early '67, when the series ended.

Thanks!

Hank C-I

(P. S.: anyone interested in some anecdotes about WCBS-AM vs. WCBS-FM 
programming in the '50s, and an anecdote involving station breaks during 
N. Y. Yankees ball games, please e-mail me.  Some folks are getting 
sensitive about some of this . . .)

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 13:52:10 -0400
From: Bigkids@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Fibber and Molly and Vic and Sade -- think of the possibilities!
Message-ID: <960819135210_388844987@[removed]>

I'm delighted to see so much interest in Vic & Sade, and to see how many
other OTR fans share my enthusiasm for the show. I feel like a V&S newbie,
since I was bored by the show when I was a kid and only recently
(re)discovered it and how wonderful it is.

What a blessing that so much OTR material survives. I know that lot is lost
forever, but the huge amount of comedy, drama, music, adventure, etc., that
is still available, is just astonishing. And while some of it, of course, is
mediocre or worse -- it's amazing how much of it is just magnificent.

Thanks to those who alerted me to the existence of both the 1972 and 1976 V&S
books. Now I'm on the prowl for copies.

And special thanks for Max Schmid for making hours of V&S available again.
(And also to Radio Spirits, whose V&S material first turned me on to this
splendid show.)

Now, regarding Fibber McGee and Molly, and how they could have a maid despite
living in otherwise modest circumstances . . .

I'm afraid that people who object to politics and sociology in the Digest are
going to be annoyed with me (again). But in the era of OTR wages were
extremely low, and the "modern" concept of equal pay for equal work was
nowhere to be seen.

Consequently, if you were (a) black, or (b) female . . . you could expect to
earn an extremely small wage. Remember that the original Federal Minimum Wage
-- I'm not sure of the year it was adopted, but I think it was circa 1940 --
was 25 cents an hour! And many, many jobs were not covered by the law.

Now, if you were both female *and* black, you could expect to make a very,
very modest income. I think it was Hattie McDaniel (or one of the other black
acresses of the era, who specialized in "female domestic" roles) who was
criticized for taking such roles, and responded, "I'd rather play a maid in
the movies and make $7000 a week than *be* a maid in somebody else's house
and make $7 a week!"

Hmm, maybe that line belongs to Louise Beavers.

Well, whoever . . .

Remember, you could buy a brand-new car for somewhere between $500 and $1000.
The comfortable but very modest house I live in now, which is worth well up
in the six-figure range, sold in 1944 for $4000 . . . and a few decades
before that, I am told, would have been worth $750.

On a much more mundane and modest level, an ice cream cone or a soft drink
cost 5 cents, a daily newspaper cost 2 cents, a Sunday paper cost 5 cents, a
68-page comic book cost 10 cents, a paperback novel cost 25 cents, and a
restaurant meal could run anywhere from a dime to a dollar, depending on your
taste in eateries. 

A cup of coffee was a nickel. A gallon of gasoline was 15 cents. A movie
ticket . . . well, never mind. I'm sure I've made my point, and I'll start
boring you if I keep enumerating.

But even if you didn't make much money, your "take home" was pretty close to
your total earnings. There were few and small deductions, and taxes were very
low.

So if Fibber made, say, $35 a week, he could maintain that comfy little house
on Wistful Vista, support himself and Mollie, drive a Chevy or a Plymouth,
and pay the salary of a maid.

Yes, he could.

If you don't believe me, just ask Bob Dole. He remembers, and would obviously
like to take us back to those days.

Dick Lupoff

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 14:08:23 -0500 (EST)
From: SAH@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Checkerboard Square Gone
Message-id: <01I8GNXUVWTU8WW8VH@[removed]>
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

   Ralscorp which used to be Ralston Corp. has sold its CHEX line and
   everything that goes with it to General Mills.  The first casualty
   of the recent cereal price wars.  Probably the real reason why the
   company has not picked up on the premiums it used to issue back in
   those "golden" days.  Wonder what General Mills will do with the
   reputation build up over so many years?

   + + +

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 11:20:42 -0700
From: ALfred Vesik <alfredv@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Vic & Sade -- Book of Scripts
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In 1972, McGraw-Hill Book Company published "The Small House Halfway
Up In The Next Block" -- a hard-cover that contained THIRTY of Paul
Rhymer's brilliant scripts for "Vic & Sade."  Edited with an 
introduction by Mary Frances Rhymer -- and a foreward by Ray Bradbury --
it sold originally for $[removed], complete with photographs of Art Van
Harvey (Vic) -- Bernadine Flynn (Sade) -- William Idelson (Rush) --
and Clarence L. Hartzell (Uncle Fletcher) and, of course, Mr. Rhymer.
The book credits Paul with having written 3,000 episodes of a program
where nothing much ever happened, but 7,000,000 listeners didn't seem
to care.  They loved it, and gave it their continual support.  Paul
Rhymer passed away in 1964.                                             
                                                                        
   As has been noted in a previous Digest, his scripts for Vic & Sade 
were donated by Ms. Rhymer to the Mass Communications History Center at 
the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1969. Unfortunately, these 
were only a fraction of the total that were written for the series.

   In 1946, an attempt was made to change the format of Vic & Sade to
a half-hour situation comedy (with audience), but that met with only
mediocre success.  Copies of individual shows from that Mutual series 
are in circulation.

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 96 13:36:41 CDT
From: serag@[removed] (Sera_Gene)
To: otr@[removed], Radiodrama@[removed]
Subject: 70's radio
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

This really does not qualify as old time radio, but I'm hoping maybe someone out there has a lead or maybe even recordings.  What I'm looking for are either news recaps of each year or maybe radio programs that highlighted the top popular tunes for that year(note I'm interested in the 70's).  I'm almost certain I heard lots of programming similar to that which I describe near the end of the decade [removed] in Decmber of '79.  Most specifically, I know that when American Top40 hosted by Casey Kasem was still on the air then the show did a production at the end of each year highlighting  Billboard's top 100.  If any one has any of this type of info or recording I'd really appreciate it.

Gene
serag@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 12:44:45 +0100
From: tinsley@[removed] (Tinsley)
To: otr@[removed] (Old Time Radio)
Subject: 60s radio
Message-Id: <v01530500ae3e0203feb0@[[removed]]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Thank all of you for some very interesting info about stations that I
listened to as a kid in South Carolina; stations such as WBZ, in Boston,
WLS in Chicago, WABC in NY, WOWO in Ft Wayne, WCKY in Cincinnati, and
several others that I can't remember right now. Thanks to everyone for all
the information.
Does anyone know what ever happened to Ron Reiley from WLS around 1965? I
remember "Ron Reiley's Batman Club" of which I was a card-carrying member.
I also remember the all-night DJ on WBZ, "O'Hara, The World's Most Famous
Private Eye", anyone know his whereabouts today? Just curious. Thanks!
Gene Tinsley


 




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End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #289
*******************************************

