------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 111
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
RE: SINGIN' SAM [ Kevin Michaels <kmichaels@doityours ]
Not all Gary Mercers-THANK YOU! ? [ Puppetmaster6789@[removed] ]
Looking For Shows [ Musiciantoo47@[removed] ]
FYI: Great American Broadcast [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
DONORA FOG [ Backus2@[removed] ]
Arsenic and Old Lace question [ "W. Gary Wetstein" <wgaryw@pacbell. ]
Radio - TV Crossovers [ "william mahan" <wmahan@[removed]; ]
singn sam [ "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed]; ]
Arsenic & Old Lace and Boris Karloff [ leemunsick@[removed] ]
Re: Seated Broadcasters [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Re: Old Time Radio in New York [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Fred Allen and the Audience [ Grbmd@[removed] ]
WGN-AM radio celebrates anniversary [ ""Cynthia \"ChibiBarako\""" < ]
Pay scales [ Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed] ]
How many radios? [ Clifengr3@[removed] ]
CD offer [ Ron and Carol <rlmartin10@[removed] ]
The Story Lady [ "Arte" <arte@[removed]; ]
Eleanor Roosevelt [ "Norman Schickedanz" <[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 16:32:14 -0500
From: Kevin Michaels <kmichaels@[removed];
To: "Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: SINGIN' SAM
I have noticed several posting about Singin' Sam but no details on the show.
His real name was Wendall Hall and he was on for Barbersol Shave Cream, with
a 15 minute request show. Remember his Theme song?
BARBERSOL,.....BARBERSOL. NO BRUSH, NO LATHER, NO RUBBIN'...JUST WET YOU
RAZOR AND BEGIN. If memory serves me right, in the later years of the show,
there was another sound-a-like- "Singin Sam" that took over the show when
Hall either left the show or died.
Kevin Michaels
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 16:42:53 -0500
From: Puppetmaster6789@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Not all Gary Mercers-THANK YOU! ?
It seems that I have to take back my statement on parochial
traders. Not all are like Gary Mercer who refuses to ship outside
of the USA. I have received an encouraging response from US
dealers who are prepared to sell to me.
I've also received a number of other e-mails offering helpful advice
on sources,etc. I will be replying to these on an individual basis
but I'd like to say a public thank you through your columns.
My faith in OTR fandom has been much restored. Thank you.
Peace and Love
Keith
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 17:32:05 -0500
From: Musiciantoo47@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Looking For Shows
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Hi; does anyone out there have any Gangbusters, Fibber McGee & Molly, or Amos
"N' Andy that they would be willing to share? It can either be sent by mail
or to my Streamload account - (Screen name: Musiciantoo47.) Thanx very much.
Kenny Snellgrove
Musiciantoo47@[removed]
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 17:32:22 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: FYI: Great American Broadcast
I just purchased a copy of Leonard Maltin's book "Great American Broadcast".
Anyone interested in this book can get it where I did, at [removed],
for $[removed] plus shipping. List price was $[removed]
The link is:
[removed]
Irene
IreneTH@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 17:32:43 -0500
From: Backus2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: DONORA FOG
On October 31, 1948, a "killer" fluoride fog enveloped the town of Donora,
Pa, (south of Pittsburgh), killed twenty people and left hundreds ill.
I vaguely remember hearing a radio program sometime in the late 40's or
early 50's dramatizing this event. I'm not sure if this was locally produced
or on something like "Cavalcade of America" or "March of Time" Does anyone
remember this program?
Dick
Backus
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 18:41:30 -0500
From: "W. Gary Wetstein" <wgaryw@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Arsenic and Old Lace question
i saw kenneth clarke's official answers to the trivia questions he posted,
and i have a question about one of them. . .
he said that the final body count was 26, 13 for the old ladies, 13 for
jonathan, and that jonathan's last murder victim was mr. witherspoon.
i can't vouch for the original play, but in the movie version i believe the
final count was 24. jonathan *claimed* he had killed 13 victims--one more
than the old ladies--, but dr. einstein, his protege, kept correcting him.
he kept saying, "they have 12, and we got 12. the old ladies is just as
good as we are." he told jonathan not to count the man at the filling
station, because he died of pneumonia. to which jonathan replies, "he
wouldn't have died of pneumonia if i hadn't shot him!" he eventually agrees
with dr. einstein and starts saying, "then all i need is one more. . ." and
thinks of his brother, mortimer. . .
also, in the movie, mr. witherspoon (who arrives from happy dale sanitarium
to commit teddy brewster) is not murdered at all. i don't remember him
being killed in the play, either, though i read the play many, many years
ago.
were these modifications to the original story when the film was made? i
had to ask, as "arsenic and old lace" has always been one of my all time
favorite comedies. . .
--w. gary w.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 18:42:02 -0500
From: "william mahan" <wmahan@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio - TV Crossovers
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I was a kid who grew up on television in the early fifties. I didn't know
there was network radio until I got a Roy Rogers set for Christmas. That
night I turned it on after my room was dark and much to my surprise I heard
Groucho Marx doing "You Bet Your Life." I was shocked that it seemed just as
funny without the visual comedy that seemed so necessary to the TV version
(double takes, knowing looks, embarrassed reactions, the duck etc.). I
actually thought Groucho did two shows, one for TV and a second for the radio.
"Gunsmoke" surprised me for another reason. All the voices were different and
I wondered how they could call it "Gunsmoke" when all they did was copy the
names. To a ten year old it seemed like they were getting away with cheating
and I refused to listen to it. Of course today I recognize both versions for
the classics they were, but I still wonder why didn't change the names.
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 18:42:20 -0500
From: "Ed Carr" <edcarr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: singn sam
hi
anyone who is interested in singn sam on audio cd can email me
at edcarr@[removed] my copies are from the orig 16in discs
they are scratchy as the discs were beat up, but even so some
good sound was salvaged from them,
i'll even sell the discs or trade for other discs, looking for 16in
jubilee shows, 1 night stands, command performance, others
ed
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 18:42:30 -0500
From: leemunsick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Arsenic & Old Lace and Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff reprised his role in the film version of "Arsenic and Old Lace".
In one scene, his character becomes incensed and insulted when another
character says that the Karloff character looked like that movie character
Boris Karloff. The reaction is just beautiful!
Lee Munsick
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 18:44:06 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Seated Broadcasters
Hal Stone recollected:
[removed] for one thing. I don't recall EVER sitting around a table
reading from scripts. We always worked standing in front of a microphone.
Hal's experience was definitely that of the majority -- there were only a
few programs where the performers habitually sat. As has been mentioned,
Correll and Gosden performed seated at a table for the first fifteen
years of Amos 'n' Andy -- this helped their concentration, and they also
found it easier to control the angle and distance of their approach to
the microphone while seated. During their broadcasts there was always a
lot of upper-body movement back and forth to get the right distance from
the microphone to create the illusion of multiple characters, and they
were more comfortable doing this seated than while standing: to play
Henry Van Porter, for example, Correll would hold the edge of the table
and push himself back to arms' length, and then deliver his lines in a
much louder voice than he used as Andy. Bracing against the table allowed
him to get the precise distance right every time, without having to worry
about where his feet were, and without having to worry about the change
in voice volume causing blasting. This sort of pinpoint accuracy was
essential, especially if one actor was doing both voices in a
conversation between two characters.
Chet Lauck and Norris Goff performed "Lum and Abner" seated for the same
reasons. Both shows switched to stand-up performances when they mutated
into half-hour live audience sitcoms.
Another exception was "Easy Aces," which was performed around a folding
bridge table with a 1930-vintage RCA 4-A condenser microphone mounted in
a square hole cut in the center. The microphone element faced upward, and
protruded slightly from the hole, while the amplifier box containing
three tubes and a transformer was suspended below the table --- the
result looked more like an ash tray sitting in the middle of the table
than a microphone. Goodman Ace felt that this promoted a more casual,
conversational delivery for the performers -- of the three principals of
"Easy Aces," none had been professional actors before the show began and
all apparently had some degree of mike fright. Sitting down and doing the
show as though they were just casually chatting, with no obtrusive
microphone visible, tended to relieve this tension. As a result of this,
"Aces" was probably the last network series to use the old 4-A
microphone, sticking with it for more than a decade after ribbon mikes
had taken over everywhere else.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 18:46:49 -0500
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Old Time Radio in New York
From: Ivan Watson <watsoni@[removed];
I'll be visting New York for the first time in a few days and would
like to visit some of the city's "OTR" history.
The first place would be the RCA Building which is a mecca of Art Deco
architecture. If you can't get a TV show ticket, you can go on the NBC
tour--but you'll just have to imagine what the studio floors looked like
in the OTR days before their numerous renovations. They've even
destroyed the elevators' wonderful original mahogany interiors.
The Address Of The Stars, CBS's 485 Madison Avenue still stands, as does
501 Madison Avenue which was the location for Ed Wynn's very short-lived
Amalgamated Broadcasting System in 1933. The tiny lobby is where Vaughn
de Leath is claimed by Ben Gross to have fainted from heat exhaustion
(and Kate Smith nearly so) in the opening night crowd. I believe 711
5th Avenue still stands. It was the original NBC studio building, and
when they moved to 30 Rockefeller Plaza it became the home of the major
recorded syndicator, the World Broadcasting System.
I know about the Museum of TV and Radio and some of the venues when
the great big bands braodcast from (Cotton Club, Rainbow Room, etc.
The great jazz clubs on 52nd street have been replaced by buildings like
CBS's Black Rock--51 West 52nd Street. They did a great renovation job
on the Rainbow Room 10 or 15 years ago to bring it back to its original
style, but I am not sure if it is still open. It was closed for a
while. The renovation of Grand Central Terminal has brought it back to
better than it had ever been, and should be seen whether you liked the
radio program or not. The renovated Radio City Music Hall should be
seen--there probably is the Easter show going on. The theatre that was
adjacent to it and was actually used for radio programs was torn down
many years ago, but the Music Hall was built for Roxy, and he was a
major force in early radio. Don't bother going to Madison Square
Garden--it ain't the same one from OTR days. And don't get me started
on the MT&R, but you might go to their original building at 1 East 53rd
Street where Bill Paley built a park next to it dedicated to his father
Samuel Paley.
I might say, sadly, that what is now called "Ground Zero" used to be
"Radio Row"--Courtland Street. It used to be a mecca for radio
enthusiasts in the 1920s into the 50s, and hi-fi enthusiasts in the 50s
and 60s. I bought all my audio equipment there starting in 1959, and my
uncle told me he had bought his first crystal set parts there 35 years
earlier.
If you have a car and a chance to go over to Jersey, go across the
George Washington Bridge and go North on the Palisades Interstate
Parkway. In a few miles you will see a HUGE three-armed tower. This is
Major Armstrong's tower that he built to continue his FM development
after Sarnoff kicked him out of the Empire State Building. It was still
being used by some FM stations and utilities when most of the NYC TV
stations had to find a place to transmit from while space was cleared
for them on the Empire State Building. We all got a sense of
satisfaction that WNBC-TV had to broadcast from Armstrong's tower--but
THEY go a sense of satisfaction when they got back onto the Empire State
Building and HEAVILY promoted the fact.
While you're in New Jersey you ought to go to see the re-opened Edison
National Historic Site in West Orange. As you pass thru Newark,
remember that a lot of famous stations started out there--WJZ and WOR to
name two.
Michael (a transplanted New Yorker in Kentucky) Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 18:47:24 -0500
From: Grbmd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Fred Allen and the Audience
Hal Stone said:
And speaking of Fred Allen, as you did earlier. He hated doing his show in
front of a Studio Audience. He commented that a live studio audience ruined
the purity of radio. (Or words to that effect)
Maybe so, but I remember his hamming it up for the audience at one of his
broadcasts.
When I was a small kid of maybe 8 or 9, which would put it in the late
Thirties, my dad took me to New York to see a broadcast of Fred Allen's show.
I don't remember too much else from the show, but this image stuck with me.
During an instrumental break by the orchestra, the band leader (Peter Van
Steeden maybe?) was facing away from Fred. As he was conducting, Fred
sneaked up behind him and pretended to be combing his hair while looking into
the seat of the conductor's pants as if he could see his reflection. In
those days, with the clothing materials of the day, the seat of one's pants
could get shiny with use if you were cheap enough and kept them too long. So
Fred was implying the band leader was cheap.
Fred may have preferred no audience, but he obviously enjoyed the audience
reaction that night.
Spence
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 18:47:37 -0500
From: ""Cynthia \"ChibiBarako\""" <cvc@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: WGN-AM radio celebrates anniversary
WGN radio in Chicago (720 kHz AM) is celebrating its Diamond Anniversary
this year. There is a link on its website to suggest items to feature
in its "History" page. Wouldn't it be great if WGN remembered its roots
in OTR?
[removed]
Cynthia
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 20:00:12 -0500
From: Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Pay scales
Hal Stone and Anthony Tollin have covered Brian West's questions very well.
I would like to add two things:
.(1) The major portion of actors and announcers working in radio worked as
freelancers. The amount of income at the end of the year depended on the
amount of jobs they were called for. Orson Welles and Dwight Weist were by
no means average players. One cannot compare Welles's $1,000 per with the
$75 the supporting cast was [removed] and that for a commercial broadcast. As
Hal pointed out, sustaining broadcasts, among which IMHO some of the best
radio was done, paid considerably less. The great majority of actors, at
least on the West Coast, worked for scale which increased very slowly over
the years through negotiations , and sometimes strikes , by AFRA and later
AFTRA. To make a general statement about income is almost impossible. If
the actor worked frequently he could do very well. Otherwise he also sold
insurance, refrigerators or greeting cards.
(2) Comparing the value of the dollar in 1945 and 2002 wasn't mentioned.
Graduating college students didn't start out with $50,000 jobs. So, the pay
scales which seem now to be so small, were actually able to provide
considerable comfort. Just as an example, when my wife and I were married
in 1940, our studio apartment in Pasadena cost us $30 a month. Of course,
the garage for our 1930 Model A coupe was another $5.
Harry Bartell
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 20:23:55 -0500
From: Clifengr3@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: How many radios?
I was listening to an episode of The Great Gildersleeve today that brought to
my mind a question about radios sets in the household.
In this episode, Leroy was home from school in bed with a cold, and since it
was Birdie's day off and Marjorie was at school, Gildy had to stay home and
care for the sick lad.
Leroy was bored in bed alone and asked for the radio. Gildy had to lug the
radio set up the stairs to his room.
So I was [removed] many radio sets did the average family have during
the Golden Age? Was it just the one? Did you have to be "rich" to have more
then one? It seems to me that a household like Gildy's could afford more then
one. After all, they did have a maid.
I'd be interested in hearing from those who were around then. I was born in
1944, so I came in at the tail end. We were more of a t_________ family. My
brother and I had a small set with a plastic case in our room (Philco I
think), and my parents had a wood case table model Emerson by their bedside.
I don't remember us ever having a radio of any kind, table or console, in the
living room. Jean Shepherd frequently talked about the radio his mother had
in the kitchen.
So, what say you? Can those who were there share with us their memories of
radios around the house.
Jim Yellen
[ADMINISTRIVIA: Television is not a dirty word here. Just ask all of the OTR
folks who continued to work in TV. --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 21:09:55 -0500
From: Ron and Carol <rlmartin10@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: CD offer
Hi! I haven't posted for some time. I was going to offer a CD with Easter
programs for free however, I could only come up with about 40 shows. What I
am offering are the first 2 CDs (mp3) I have of the Lone Ranger. I will send
them to the first 15 people to e-mail me with their mailing address. All I
ask is that you make a contribution to the Digest you are reading. Disk 1 is
692mb with 84 episodes from 1935 to 1938, disk 2 is 696mb with 87 episodes
from 1938 to 1941. I hope in this way more donations will be made by those
receiving the CDs than by my single small contribution.
Really enjoy everyone's posts
Ron Martin
rlmartin10@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 11:16:33 -0500
From: "Arte" <arte@[removed];
To: "OldRadio Mailing List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The Story Lady
Barb Watkins wrote:
Yes, they were definitely Joan Gerber and Byron Kane.
... Gary Owens was also involved with them.
I first heard The "Story Lady" on Gary Owens' show on
AFRTS in the 60's. He also featured "Return to Paper Plates"
and a lot of shorts with Mel Blanc, Jerry Cosgrove and
others.
I especially enjoyed "A Song is Born" where they dramatized
apocryphal origins of popular songs. (and sometimes popular
origins of apocryphal songs.)
Speaking of songs, Owens' theme was "March of the Bullfrogs"
featuring a Jew's-harp. I sure would like to find a copy of
that.
You can hear "The Story Lady" at [removed]. Updated
weekly (more or less).
"Stay [removed] insegrevious FM"
Arte
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 11:16:47 -0500
From: "Norman Schickedanz" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "Old-Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Eleanor Roosevelt
Hi.
I'm looking for any radio talk by Eleanor Roosevelt, on cassette. I know
she had three programs - "Pan American Coffee Bureau Series" from 1941 to
1942, "The Eleanor and Anna Roosevelt Show" on ABC from 1948 to 1949, and
"The Eleanor Roosevelt Show" on NBC from 1950 to 1951. I don't see anything
listed on the Internet dealer catalogs I've checked. Any clues?
Thanks for any help.
Norm Schickedanz
Tucson
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #111
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