Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #104
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 4/3/2001 11:42 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                          The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                             Volume 01 : Issue 104
                       A Part of the [removed]!
                               ISSN: 1533-9289

                               Today's Topics:

     Regarding April 1 [removed]          [hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];    ]
     boche radio                          [MkGuarino@[removed]                  ]
     Re: The WLS Success Story            [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
     Re: New RCA CD CR-RW MP3 Player is F [[removed]@[removed]        ]
     Marx Bros tours - correction, softly [John Henley <jhenley@[removed]]
     Oddball plot concept                 ["Jim Lewis" <jimlew2@[removed];]
     April fools edition                  ["Jim Lewis" <jimlew2@[removed];]
     Best Buy                             ["Welsa" <welsa@[removed];        ]
     have a laugh on me                   ["Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed];       ]
     Re: Problem and Solution (April fool [Bill Harris <billhar@[removed];    ]
     Lassie, Norman Corwin and my uncle   ["Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed]]
     Buck & Flash Question v [removed]          [wolowicz@[removed]                ]
     April Fool's Joke                    ["Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm]
     another April Fool                   ["Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed]]
     Re:De-Coding the Digest              [TedOTR@[removed]                     ]
     greetings and the Green Hornet       ["Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb.]
     Escape broadcast                     ["Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb.]
     Lights Out Episode                   ["Vince Long" <vlongbsh@[removed];   ]
     D. Bain & Suspense?                  [hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];    ]
     Deciphering Messages In 1945 Code-O- ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
     Secret Squadron Signal Sessions      ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
     Re: The Disappearing Claghorn        [Terry Wallace <tdwalla@[removed];  ]
     Re:OTR at Sam's Club                 [Arthur Smith <agsmith_stl@[removed]]
     Floor Model Radios                   [William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];]

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 14:24:07 -0400
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Regarding April 1 [removed]

    To the Webmaster:

    1 45 62 3 78 15 29 4 57 27 48 4 53 77 67 31 70 5 72

    Translation for those without the decoder:

    You obviously have nothing better to do with your time. Both you and your
    accomplice Stephan A. Kallis Jr. should be dragged out, blindfolded, placed
    up against a wall, and then bombarded with SPAM pellets until you beg for
    mercy.

    Seriously though. Very funny "in" bit. I always knew you had a weird streak.
    However, I hope the "Katester" has a preponderance of her Mothers genes.

    4 72 15 95 69 & 23 skiddoo.
    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    "Jughead"

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 15:39:28 -0400
    From: MkGuarino@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  boche radio

    Hello:

    I was hoping someone could help me with obtaining info on the Boche Radio
    company. I found a very primitive console radio with the Boche name. It was
    on four legs, with a cabinet that opened up. The speaker is underneath and is
    rounded. The dials are very primitive and it "turns" on with a simple switch.

    I've tried finding info on this company to research how old this radio is and
    have found nothing. Would anyone have any info on this? Does this brand name
    ring any bells??

    Thanks,
    Mark in Chicago

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 15:39:25 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: The WLS Success Story

    Bill Knowlton wonders,

>     Elizabeth or someone else, let us know how the exhaustive the WLS expenses
>     were and how the heck they made a profit with the huge overhead!

    I don't have any specific information on salaries at WLS, but I *can*
    tell you that their advertising rates were quite high -- as of 1940, they
    charged a base rate $750 an hour for evening time, and $450 an hour for
    daytime shows. Of the other 50 kw Chicago stations of the day, WGN and
    WBBM charged the same rates as WLS, with NBC's stations WMAQ and WENR
    charging slightly less. What's rather remarkable about this is that WLS
    was able to charge top dollar even though it wasn't a full-time station:
    as noted, it was sharing time on 870 kc with WENR.

    What made WLS profitable was that it very deliberately targeted itself to
    the huge Midwestern farm population, more than any other station of the
    era. During the 1930s and 1940s, the station was owned by the
    Agricultural Broadcasting Corporation -- the broadcasting arm of the
    Prairie Farmer Publishing Company -- and the "agricultural" in the name
    was not just for show. The station programmed its entire schedule -- or
    at least the part of that schedule where it wasn't obligated to carry NBC
    Blue programming as part of the time-share arrangement with WENR -- to
    reflect the tastes and the interests of farm families. As a result, and
    thanks to its powerful signal WLS was, year after year, the most popular
    station in the US among rural listeners. (WLW was its only real rival.)
    Rurally-oriented advertisers flocked to take advantage of this market,
    and in trade magazines the station proudly trumpeted its
    unimaginative-but-accurate slogan "WLS Gets Results!"

    This loyal rural audience was the secret of the station's success -- not
    just in its appeal to advertisers, but as a direct source of revenue for
    the station. The station operated a "WLS Artists Bureau," and regularly
    promoted personal appearances by its staff of artists all over the
    Midwest. Between 1932 and 1939, over ten million people paid admission to
    attend more than 4700 such performances. During 1938 alone, total
    attendance for WLS personal appearances came to 1,229,025 people --
    meaning they outdrew both of Chicago's major league baseball teams during
    that year! The station also charged admission to the regular Saturday
    night performances of the National Barn Dance, and between 1932 and 1939,
    over 777,000 people paid 75 cents a head to see these shows.

    There were still other sources of revenue for the station: all of its
    staff performers were under contract to the WLS Artists Bureau, so the
    station received a percentage of their recording proceeds and profits
    from licensed merchandise. Any collector of 78rpm records knows how
    common records by Lulu Belle and Scotty or the Hoosier Hot Shots are even
    today -- so it's pretty obvious these were selling quite well. Plus there
    were various novelty products marketed over the years around the Barn
    Dance performers, things like guitars, clothing items, and other sorts of
    doodads. All this meant more money for the station.

    And, finally, the station operated a "WLS Home Talent Show" department,
    which was an enterprise along the lines of the old Joe Bren Producing
    Company -- an organization that sent professional talent coaches to work
    with local lodges and civic clubs in putting on hometown minstrel shows
    or barn-dance revues: receiving fifty per cent of the gate as their fee.
    The WLS Home Talent department put on nearly five hundred of these shows
    during 1938, bringing in still more money.

    Even without detailed profit-and-loss sheets, then, it's very obvious
    that WLS had no need to fear the wolf at the door. It was, without
    question, one of the most extraordinary success stories of 1930s
    broadcasting.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 16:31:22 -0400
    From: [removed]@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: New RCA CD CR-RW MP3 Player is Finally
     Available!

    Has anyone purchased this model yet for OTR playback?

    Fred Berney, you are usually the first on the block to get one.

    Any reviews on the Rio Volt?  The MP3 [removed] site is
    giving both so-so reviews--but for music, that is.

    It's too bad that the Kerbango radio was cancelled; I looked forward to
    getting that one.

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 16:51:28 -0400
    From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Marx Bros tours - correction, softly

    A. Joseph Ross said of the brothers Marx:

>     After Thalberg died, the studio wasn't interested in doing road tours and
>     didn't do one for their next film.

    To be clear - the next film after Opera was of course
    A Day at the Races and Thalberg was alive for much of
    the preproduction work.  According to Joe Adamson, the
    Marxes did a tour for Races and the "Operating Room"
    scene was worked over heavily.  In fact there is at least
    one still photo extant from a stage presentation of the
    OR scene.
    Thalberg died about a week-and-a-half into shooting, and
    by most accounts the finished film - which took several
    more months of rewriting and shooting - didn't much resemble
    the script they were shooting under Thalberg.
    After that, naturally, they were at Mayer's mercy.

    A bit OT so that's all.

    John Henley
    jhenley@[removed]
    ph  (512) 495-4112
    fax (512) 495-4296

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 17:28:03 -0400
    From: "Jim Lewis" <jimlew2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Oddball plot concept

    I was listening to an episode of Rocky Jordan(4-24-1949, Consignment for
    Naples).Rocky is similar to the Bogart character in Casablanca and even has
    his own cafe in Cairo called the [removed], the plot concept of this
    particular episode is that somebody is smuggling some "dehydrated food"
    (powdered eggs anyone??) on this plane that is bound for Naples, [removed]
    plane crashes and never gets to Italy and there is this effort to track down
    the [removed] question is were things that bad in Italy in 1949 that somebody
    would choose dehydrated food to smuggle as opposed to gold,diamonds,or the
    usual [removed] fact that it was dehydrated food seemed incidental,it
    could have been most anything,so that makes me think that people of that
    time period would find this a normal thing to [removed] know that the Berlin
    airlift was around this time period but there was no Soviet influence in
    [removed] on now ,smuggling dehydrated food into Naples?I was also curious
    about the Lone [removed] he did his laundry did he have a spare mask that
    he wore,or did he take a chance and remain unmasked while his mask was being
    [removed] really am serious about the Rocky Jordan part and the food
    smuggling.

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 18:24:08 -0400
    From: "Jim Lewis" <jimlew2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  April fools edition

    I also sent Charlie an e-mail with my initial opinion of the new encoding
    [removed] suggestion is that Charlie make up a special digest forwarding
    some of the most amusing emails he received and send it out as a special
    [removed] else agree

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: He, he, I have to tell you my mail for the last two days has
    been absolutely priceless; but I'm not certain it would be a good idea to
    publish the letters, at least not un-edited. What I may consider doing is
    posting a web page with a copy of the issue, and non-identifying excerpts
    from some of the letters. I honestly don't want to embarass anyone, but I
    have to admit that some of the mail is pretty hysterical and kept me
    chuckling for most of the [removed] me privately at charlie@[removed] if
    you think that would be somethnig you'd like to see.

    And before I forget, I want to thank EVERYONE here for being such good
    sports. It seemed that those who fell for it the hardest were also those who
    laughed about it the [removed] that's the most gratifying of all. Some of
    you even sent me comments ciphered with the Code-O-Graph, and since I never
    wrote a decrypt program, I had to decrypt the comments MANUALLY before I
    could answer! But I kinda figured I deserved [removed]

    I want to especially thank Stephen A Kallis, Jr. - when I got the
    hair-brained idea and took it to Steve the beginning of last month, instead
    of telling me I had lost my mind (which he may have thought) he sent scans of
    the various Code-O-Graphs, worked to make sure the computer program was
    outputting _legitimate_ ciphers (some of you actually decrypted the issue, as
    I expected, so I knew I couldn't cheat on the encryption!), and even
    corrected the language of the "cover" letter to keep it authentic. He
    deserves a whole bunch of credit for the prank's [removed] maybe that
    should be "[removed]"  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 19:36:10 -0400
    From: "Welsa" <welsa@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Best Buy

    Someone was asking if Sam's Club still had the Radio Spirits OTR sets.  I
    don't know about that.  But I was in the local Best Buy today and they had
    several of them mixed in with their boxed CD sets.

    Ted

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 19:37:19 -0400
    From: "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  have a laugh on me

    hi everyone
     sunday when i received my copy of oldradio digest i became so
    [removed] off i wrote charlie that i thought it was the most stupid idea i have
    ever heard of, of course he had to remind me what day it was and you know,
    after i found out i laughed so hard tears came to my eyes, very good charlie
    very good, :))))))))) i am still laughing
      ed

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 21:22:00 -0400
    From: Bill Harris <billhar@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Problem and Solution (April fools joke)

    OK folks, no more emails, I did get the joke (as should have been indicated by the
    last sentence of my posting below) and am certainly not mad at good ole Charlie. I
    admit, I was taken aback at first, I even had my wife read it and her comment was
    "he's nuts", I then reminded her what day it [removed] one Charles. We'll deal
    with that Kallis feller later.

    Bill Harris

>      After all, this is April One in the year two thousand and one and there [removed]
>     [removed] [removed] One? AW RATS!!!

>     23-20-24-24  18-25-19-19-11

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: Look at it this way, [removed] played an inadvertant
    prank yourself. And tell your wife that mine agrees completely.  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 21:21:12 -0400
    From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lassie, Norman Corwin and my uncle

    Hi Gang,

    The mentions of  Lassie bring to mind something I've not thought about for
    many, many years.  I had a very charismatic uncle: right out of a Damon
    Runyon story.  His real name was Max but everyone called him "Junky or
    "Uncle Junky" until illegal drugs tarnished the other context of the term:
    he'd been a junk dealer.  He had amazing contacts: Judges, hotel owners,
    race horse owners, whatever. My family was staying at a Summer resort (I
    guess circa 1956) in upper New York State and getting the royal treatment
    because either he was friends with the owner, or the owner owed him
    something.  Well, I suppose that it was one of the Weatherwaxes who was
    staying there at the time, because we got to meet and pet Lassie and (what
    was the name and breed of Jeff's chubby friend's dog?) _____  .  I think
    that we have color slides that my dad shot that evening.

    Jump cut to a conversation between Norman Corwin and me pershaps 30 years
    later.  I mentioned (and this is still the case) that because I'm a dog
    lover, that "Odyssey Of Runyon Jones" is my favorite Corwin radio
    production.  He told me that he successfully sued CBS and or Weatherwax
    because they'd done an episode in which the boy (Lassie or Tim I don't
    recall the details) dreamt a sequence that constituted plagirism of the
    Corwin work.

    Woof Woof!
    Shiffy

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 21:21:10 -0400
    From: wolowicz@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Buck & Flash Question v [removed]

    First of all, thanks to EVERYONE who responded with info on the series(s).
    Y'all are great.

    Now the question.  Does anyone know if either of these series still exist?

    Help is appreciated.  Have a great day!

    Shawn

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

    Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 23:12:50 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  April Fool's Joke

    That was pretty damn funny.

    I loved it!!!
    Martin

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 00:47:32 -0400
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  another April Fool

    I bought the whole thing like it was on sale.  Carried on for about twenty
    minutes until it occurred to me that it might be a joke.  I did, however,
    like the reproduction of the manual.

    This seems to have been a pretty fruitful April 1: Natalie got shnockered by
    a news release she saw about how someone was going to project advertising on
    the moon with a laser.  It took longer than I thought it would to convince
    her that it was a joke.

    I wonder if we're all getting a bit too serious.

    Mark Kinsler

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 01:47:42 -0400
    From: TedOTR@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:De-Coding the Digest

    Charlie,
    Well, you took me hook, line and sinker as well.  I got the de-coder and
    looked at all those numbers and didn't even try.  I was going to send in an
    UNSUBSCRIBE message, but didn't get around to it that day.  I had completely
    forgotten about April 1st.  When I saw today's Digest, I really felt stupid.
    My compliments Charlie.

    Ted Davenport
    Radio Memories
    <A HREF="[removed]">
    [removed]</A>

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 08:36:55 -0400
    From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
    To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  greetings and the Green Hornet

    Hello all,
    It has been quite a while since I have been a part of the diegest, but it is
    good to be back.  It is also good to see what a sense of humor our
    administrator has.
    I was noticing while reading through the latest Radio spirits catalog, that
    more and more episodes of the Green Hornet seem to be resurfacing.  There
    seem to be quite a few from late 1946 that are popping up.  Does anyone know
    if more of the series is being made available, including the Jack McCarthy
    years from 1947 to 1952?
    RyanO

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 08:36:53 -0400
    From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
    To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Escape broadcast

    Hello all,
    This discussion of east and west coast broadcasts sparked a question in my
    mind.  I own a very interesting of Escape called, "Papa Benjamin."  This
    episode stars Frank Lovejoy as a band leader who ticks off the wrong voodoo
    man.  The story is interesting enough, but what really makes this show is
    the music.  Unfortunately, the version I own features an organ with a couple
    of horns thrown in.  I know there is another version available with a full
    orchestra, because I heard it once on line.  Does anyone happen to own the
    orchestra version?  Also, I am looking for the original broadcast of, "A
    Shipment of Mute Fate," with Jack Webb.  The version I own has about five
    minutes missing from the middle.  Does anyone own the complete broadcast?
    Thanks in advance?
    RyanO

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 09:06:57 -0400
    From: "Vince Long" <vlongbsh@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lights Out Episode

    Which episode of "Light Out" had the story about the mad scientist who could
    turn people inside out?

    Vince

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 10:03:16 -0400
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  D. Bain & Suspense?

    Dave Phaneuf asked meŠŠ

>     Do you know if it was Donald Bain who did the Suspense show "Two Birds with >
>     One Stone"
>     5/17/45?

    Dave, this "Stone" doesn't know the answer about that "Stone" show.
    Since I don't remember what "coast" Suspense originated from, if it wasn't
    out of New York, it wasn't Bain. I hate to admit it, but I don't have any of
    the reference books that you guys use, so I'd only be guessing. When I post
    something, I can only speak from personal experiences, (and what you OTR
    fan's tell me). :)

    I recall there may have been one or two other animal impersonators in the
    business in NY, but Bain was the acknowledged master. I remember a female
    named Biner or Miner, (or something like that) pops into my head.  No,
    definitely not Jan Miner. (Boy, did I have a teenage crush on her!)

    We recently learned about who the "master" animal voice was in [removed], but I
    would imagine Chicago and Detroit, being fairly busy with program
    origination's, also needed similarly talented individuals.

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    "Jughead"

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 11:35:47 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Deciphering Messages In 1945 Code-O-Graph Style

    Dennis Crow notes, anent Digest #102,

> >     .  I went so far as to even  print the code-o-graph. Then  I knew, with

    all those numbers, it would be an impossible task to decipher the
    messages let alone even think about [removed];<

    Actually, if you _want_ to, it's fairly easy, if you have on your
    computer any word-processing software with the proper functions.  I use
    Corel WordPerfect.  Here's all you have to do:

    1)  Copy the message and paste it into a document.

    2)  Set the Code-O-Graph's rotor to the Master Code ([removed], #102's X-1)

    3)  Go to the top of the document.  Go to the first two-digit number.
    Find out its letter equivalent.

    4)  Using your word-processing edit function, do a "search and replace."
    replacing the number with the letter.

    5)  Go to the top of the document again.  Find next two-digit number, and
    repeat the process.  Keep doing this until you've run out of two-digit
    numbers.

    6)  Then, and only then, do the same with single-digit numbers.

    7)  When you run completely out of digits, you've deciphered the message.

    Now this is only practical (if kludgy) if your software's
    search-and-replace software has a "replace all" function.  The maximum
    number of passes needed for a complete decipherment is 26; usually, fewer
    are necessary.  The software mightn't be able to handle the hyphens, but
    the result will still be readable.

    So, if you _must_ , the job shouldn't be too onerous.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 11:35:48 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Secret Squadron Signal Sessions

    Kenneth Flowers, speaking of the cut-out Code-O-Graph and the "secure"
    Digest #102, notes,

> >     The decoder is great and works very well.  It all brings back fond

    memories of my youth in the forties and the fun of decoding the Captain
    Midnight messages every day at the end of the
    [removed];<

    Ahh ... all our memories embellish the good stuff.  I wish it had been
    every day.  It was usually once or twice a week, but those were special.
    I've mentioned this before, but it's been long enough ago that not every
    subscriber knows the story, and insignificant enough so that those who've
    been exposed to it before might have had it slip their minds.  Some 20
    years ago, I received recordings of some of the few Ovaltine-sponsored
    Captain Midnight programs.  I was playing one of the World War II
    episodes when the announcer said, at the close of the show, "Get pencil
    and paper handy to take down tonight's Secret Squadron Signal Session."
    I leaped out of my chair, ran to where I got a pad and ballpoint pen, and
    got back just in time to jot down the message.  It didn't occur to me
    that since the show was a recording, I could have merely stopped the tape
    while hunting up writing materials.  It was as close as you can get to a
    conditioned reflex.  (Since I had at least one copy of every Code-O-Graph
    in my collection by that time, decrypting the message was only a matter
    of determining which year's model it was.)

    Actually, Ovaltine has to be commended for the regular broadcasts of
    secret messages, because each one ate into commercial time.  Admittedly,
    Ovaltine's commercials were among the industry's longest, particularly
    for 15-minute shows.

    This is one of the things that distinguishes Code-O-Graphs (Secret
    Squadron _equipment_) from ordinary radio premiums.  Ordinary premiums
    had a life span starting with either a tease (if the item was to become a
    plot element) or the announcement of its availability, and in either
    case, ending when the offer was over.  Code-O-Graphs were used throughout
    the program, from the introduction of the model until it was replaced in
    the next season (the only exception being 1943-1944 seasons, when
    materials shortages during the war precluded manufacture of metallic
    Code-O-Graphs).

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 11:35:50 -0400
    From: Terry Wallace <tdwalla@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: The Disappearing Claghorn

      Might the de-emphasis of the character been in
    response to the rise of Strom Thurmond and the
    Dixiecrats? It was a campaign year in which the
    Democrats were being split regionally, and radio was
    very touchy on politically sensitive matters back
    then.
      This is a theory only.
      Cheers,
      Terry

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 11:35:52 -0400
    From: Arthur Smith <agsmith_stl@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:OTR at Sam's Club

    Hello,
    The SAM's Club in St. Louis carries them again after a
    short absence, possibly post-holiday. The $[removed] sets
    are, I believe, $27 something.

    Art

>     Does anyone know if Sam's Club is still carrying
>     old-time radio collections from Radio Spirits?

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

    Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 13:18:59 -0400
    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Floor Model Radios

    The year was 1930 when my mother purchased our first floor model radio.
    It was a Crosley, with an electro-dynamic speaker. That meant that the
    magnetic field in the loudspeaker was supplied by a coil which also acted
    as a choke coil in the AC power supply circuit. The speaker had to always
    be plugged into the chassis in order for the set to work. By that time
    most new home radios were consoles. Who could resist the  announcer
    belting out in dulcid tones, "MAJESTIC, MIGHTY MONARCH OF THE AIR" over a
    large studio orchestra playing   "Pomp and Circunstance". I do not recall
    whether Atwater Kent ever went to a console. Their first was a
    "breadboard" with each of the components (variable condenser, variometer,
    and the tubes being mounted on what looked like a small cookie tin. The
    board was varnished and was about eight inches wide by about 24 inches
    long. The lodspeaker was a curved horn. One of our "well-to-do" (do to
    the fact that they didn't have kids) neighbors had one. Later models were
    in a metal box.

    Also I noticed mention of Verne Smith. I first knew him when he was a
    staff radio announcer at CBS in New York. He had a passion for operating
    elevators so one would frequently find him operating the elevator at 485
    Madison. A nice guy!

    Bill Murtough

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #104
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