------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2006 : Issue 151
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Horror/Mystery [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed] ]
Aviation Series, OTR Props to Jets [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
WLW Farm reports [ mmartini@[removed] ]
Re: The name's the same [ Steve Salaba <dangerdanger@sbcgloba ]
June birthdays with no death date [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Re:OTR-related street or landmark ti [ Grams46@[removed] ]
Late OTR [ "Joe" <jpostove@[removed]; ]
Misadventures in Research [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
Goldberg Variations [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
Farm broadcasting [ James Meadows <walthamus@[removed]; ]
WGN Agricultural Market Reports. [ "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@sbcgloba ]
Secret identities and Lois Lane (str [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 13:37:09 -0400
From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Horror/Mystery
In digest #150, Martin Grams replies to Mike Murphy's reply to my
original post about my opinion about Inner Sanctum Mystery being a
slightly above average horror show. They both make good points about
the non-horror nature of the show, which I agree with.
I actually was thinking about Lights Out when I was typing Inner Sanctum
Mystery. Call it a senior moment. After all, I am almost 32.
So, in regards to the original "Best Horror Show" thread, let me
re-state that I thought Lights Out was better than average, and that
Quiet Please is the clear winner.
-chris holm
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 13:41:12 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Aviation Series, OTR Props to Jets
Charlie North asks,
Can anyone think of an OTR aviation series such as Captain Midnight, or
Hop Harragan just to name two, who made if from propeller aircraft, to
jet powered aircraft?
Captain Midnight favored propeller driven aircraft, though there were
some jets appearing in some episodes. Sky King, had a jet, which he
named the Flying Arrow. Images of the Flying Arrow are immortalized, as
it were, on the Spy-Detecto Writer and Magni-Glo Writing Ring radio
premiums.
Pretty spiffy for a rancher to own.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 16:27:12 -0400
From: mmartini@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: WLW Farm reports
Hi,
Joe Martelle asked about the legendary WLW (Cincinnati) farm department.
Beginning in the 1930's and continuing through the 1960's, it was quite
impressive, primarily because of "Everybody's Farm," a 700-acre working farm
near the transmitter in Mason, Ohio. The station owned the land and employed
a "resident farm family" to farm the land using traditional methods. The
original farm family consisted of Earl and Mamie Neal. Earl was an
"old-style" farmer who was skeptical of "new" farming methods and hybrids and
would constantly question farm director Ed Mason when he suggested new
things. Also on the staff was Roy Battles, a former county extension agent.
Microphones were strung out into the fields and into the hen house, milking
barn, etc. Mamie would broadcast from the kitchen with tips for the
housewife. On weekends, thousands would come out to visit "Everybody's
Farm," with free tours of the house, barns, etc. Only the upstairs of the
house was "off limits." The main studio was in an out-building called "The
Little White Studio." On some weekends, the station would sponsor a giant
barbeque featuring membsr of the station's country music staff and over
ten-thousand came out on one occassion. Another weekly feature was an older
farmer who wrote and read essays and poetry named Boss Johnston--sort of a
pre-ruuner to cowboy poet Baxter Black and a Saturday appearance by Hoosier
poet Barton Reese Pogue. The Neals retired in the early 1950's and were
replaced by Jack and Jean Conner and their four children, who also became
regular parts of the daily broadcasts. Ed Mason retired in the 40's and was
replaced by Bob Miller. "Everybody's Farm" reports (three times daily)
continued through the 1960's until the farm property was sold and replaced by
a housing development in the 1970's. Miller and Battles also retired at
about this time. Morning and noon farm reports (via network) ended in the
early 1990's. Bob Miller is alive and well and in his 80's. The Conner's
live in New York although!
one of
the children died a few years ago. Roy Battles died last year. Hope that
more than answers your question.
Mike Martini
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 16:27:32 -0400
From: Steve Salaba <dangerdanger@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: The name's the same
At 11:50 AM -0400 5/31/06, Jim Cox wrote:
Any other towns you can think of with OTR-related street or
landmark ties beyond the Allen's Alley discussion we've had
many times?
Here in Kalamazoo, we have a Lois Lane as well as an Amos Street (one block
from an Andy Street).
--
Steve Salaba
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 17:22:50 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: June birthdays with no death date
06-01-1920 - Elaine Kent - NYC
actor: Jo March "Little Women"; Iris Houston "Lora Lawton"
06-01-1922 - Joan Copeland - NYC
actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "Faces Of Love"; "CBS Radio Mystery
Theatre"
06-01-1926 - Andy Griffith - Mount Airy, NC
host comedy night: "Sears Radio Theatre"
06-01-1930 - Edward Woodward - Croydon, Surrey, England
actor: "Price of Fear"
06-01-1934 - Pat Boone - Jacksonville, FL
singer: "Arthur Godfrey Time"; "Special Delivery: Vietnam"
06-02-1914 - Nicholas Saunders - Kiev, Russia
actor: Sergeant Ross "Martin Kane, Private Eye"
06-02-1920 - Toni Gilman - Chicago, IL
actor: (Sister of Lucy Gilman) "Young Widder Brown"
06-02-1922 - Gill Stratton, Jr. - Brooklyn, NY
actor: "Billy Webster "Those Websters"; Jimmy "Life with Luigi";
Freddie "My Little Margie"
06-02-1941 - Stacy Keach, Jr. - Savannah, GA
actor, narrator: "Twilight Zone"
06-02-1942 - Marie Cheatham - Oklahoma
actor" "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
06-03-1916 - Jack Manning - Cincinnati, OH
actor: David Crawford "Young Dr. Malone"
06-03-1925 - Tony Curtis - NYC
actor: "Hollywood Star Playhouse"; "Stars in the Air"; "Suspense"
06-04-1921 - Don Diamond - Brooklyn NY
actor: "Confession"; "Gunsmoke"; "Escape"; "NBC University Theatre"
06-05-1907 - D'Artega - Silao, Mexico
conductor, composer: "Enna Jettick Melodies"
06-05-1925 - Bill Hayes - Harvey, IL
singer, actor: "Arthur Godfrey Time"
06-05-1945 - June Gable - NYC
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
06-06-1932 - Billie Whitelaw - Coventry, Warwickshire, England
actor: Maddy Rooney "All That Fall"
06-07-1926 - Dick Williams - Wall Lake, IA
singer: (The Williams Brothers) "Bing Crosby Show"
06-08-1908 - June Meredith - Chicago, IL
actor: Dorothy Wallace Webb "Attorney-at-Law"
06-08-1927 - Jerry Stiller - NYC
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
06-08-1930 - Dana Wynter - London, England
actor: "Black Museum"; "Lives of Harry Lime"
06-08-1937 - Joan Rivers - Brooklyn, NY
comedienne: "Voices of Vista"
06-09-1915 - Les Paul - Waukesha, WI
guitarist: "Fred Waring Show"; "Drene Show"; "Rhubarb Red"
06-09-1926 - Mona Freeman - Baltimore, MD
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Suspense"
06-09-1933 - Dick Orkin - Williamsport, PA
comedian: "Chickenman"; "Tooth Fairy"
06-10-1931 - Hal "Harlan" Stone - Whitestone, Long Island, NY
actor, author: Jughead Jones "Archie Andrews"; "[removed], Archie!
Re-laxx!
06-11-1913 - Rise Stevens - NYC
singer: "Rise Stevens Show"; "Palmolive Beauty Box Theatre"
06-11-1919 - Richard Todd - Dublin, Ireland
singer: "Rinso-Spry Vaudeville Theatre"; "Your Hit Parade"
06-12-1924 - Dave Parker - Fresno, CA
actor: Young Good Guys "Lone Ranger"; "Green Hornet"; "Challenge of
the Yukon"
06-12-1924 - George Herbert Walker Bush - Milton, MA
[removed] president: Saturday morning presidential broadcasts
06-12-1928 - Vic Damone - Brooklyn, NY
singer: "Saturday Night Serenade"; "Stars in Khaki 'n' Blue"
06-14-1914 - Loretta Lee, New Orleans, LA
band vocalist: "Your Hit Parade"; "Hollywood Hotel"
06-14-1919 - Gene Barry - NYC
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
06-15-1929 - Lucille Norman - Lincoln, NE
singer: "Time, the Place and the Tune"; "Railroad Hour"
06-18-1911 - Babe Russin - Pittsburgh, PA
tenor sax: "The Ipana Troubadors"
06-18-1919 - Mel Brandt - Brooklyn, NY
announcer: "Advs. of Frank Merriwell"
06-19-1919 - Louis Jourdan - Marseilles, France
actor: "Hallmark Playhouse"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "U. S. Steel Hour"
06-19-1922 - Gwen Davies - NYC
actor: "Advs. of Helen and Mary"; "Let's Pretend"
06-19-1923 - Estelle Levy - NYC
actor, singer: "Grand Central Station"; "Rudy Vallee Show"
06-20-1931 - Martin Landau - Brooklyn, NY
actor: "No Love Lost"
06-21-1911 - Irving Fein - NYC
producer: "Jack Benny Program"
06-21-1916 - Al Brown
actor: Og "Og, Son of Fire"
06-21-1921 - Jane Russell - Bemidji, MN
actor: Guest Detective: "Adventures of Ellery Queen"
06-21-1925 - Byron Palmer - Los Angeles, CA
actor: "Plays for Americans"
06-21-1940 - Mariette Hartley - Weston, CT
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
06-22-1932 - Prunella Scales - Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England
actor: Sybil Fawlty "Fawlty Towers"; Sarah France "After Henry"
06-22-1949 - Meryl Streep - Summit, NJ
actor. "Earplay"
06-23-1912 - John Milton Kennedy - Farrell, PA
announcer: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Tidbit Revue"
06-23-1943 - James Levine - Cincinnati, OH
conductor: "The Metropolitan Opera"
06-24-1909 - Milton Katims - Brooklyn, NY
violist, conductor: "NBC Symphony"; "Eternal Light"
06-24-1923 - Jack Carter - NYC
comedian: "Philip Morris Playhouse on Broadway"
06-25-1908 - Larry Berns - Philadelphia, PA
producer: "Jack Carson Show"; "Our Miss Brooks"; "Lum and Abner"
06-25-1924 - Sidney Lumet - Philadelphia, PA
actor: "Let's Pretend"
06-25-1925 - June Lockhart - NYC
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Suspense"
06-25-1925 - Virginia Welles - Wausau, WI
actor: Cosette (Older) "Les Miserables"
06-26-1922 - Eleanor Parker - Cedarville, OH
actor: "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Hollywood Sound Stage"
06-26-1940 - Phoebe Dorin - NYC
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
06-28-1913 - Harry Cool
vocalist, bandleader: "Fibber McGee and Molly"s
06-28-1926 - Mel Brooks - NYC
comedian: "Jean Shepherd Show"
06-29-1925 - Cara Williams - Brooklyn, NY
actor: "Harold Lloyd Comedy Theatre"
06-29-1934 - Chuck Schaden - Chicago, IL
host: Those Were the Days"
06-29-1937 - Ivan Cury - NYC
actor: Bobbie Benson "Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders"
06-30-1910 - Sundra Love - Chicago, IL
actor: Kay Fairchild "Stepmother"; Ethel Foster "Guiding Light"
06-30-1917 - Lena Horne - Brooklyn, NY
singer: "Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Home state of Nancy Dickerson
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 22:09:26 -0400
From: Grams46@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:OTR-related street or landmark ties
Jim Cox writes:
Any other towns you can think of with OTR-related street or
landmark ties beyond the Allen's Alley discussion we've had
many times?
andy devine avenue in kingman arizona.
bob hope drive in both burbank california and rancho mirage california.
dale evans parkway in apple valley california.
gene autry way in anaheim california.
jack benny drive in waukegan illinois.
roy rogers drive in victorville california.
rhymer drive in the city of normal was named for paul rhymer.
rhymer used several real names of places in normal illinois in his classic
program - vic and sade. among them miller park and virginia avenue.
peace from kathy
support our troops; end the war
john 3:16
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 22:11:07 -0400
From: "Joe" <jpostove@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Late OTR
One of my favorite subjects within the OTR field is the state of network
radio in its latter days, mostly the late 50's and early 60's. Those that
know the era (Jim Cox has a wonderful book " Say Goodnight Gracie: The Last
Years of Network Radio") will find an interesting story of the networks
struggling to maintain a full service for their affiliates, even as almost
all major talent had left for television and local stations were turning
more often to disc jockey programming as an alternative to what was seen as
ineffectual network offerings (and poor ratings).
Interestingly, in my opinion, some forms of OTR were maturing in the 1950's
into relevant and realistic art, and were quite well done. Unfortunately by
this time TV was king and as the radio was relegated to the kitchen, bedroom
and car, many missed a real blooming of radio into a true alternative to
television. Drama, in particular, was often adult, well written and often
acted with a subtly missing from the tube, and just right for radio.
One of the major events of the late 50's in network radio was the ABC Radio
Network's attempt to revive it's lagging chain with the introduction of a
"Live And Lively" format that brought back live variety programming (Don
McNeill's Breakfast Club, Jim Backus, Jim Reeves, and Merv Griffin were part
of the nets lineup of variety shows with full bands, singers, and a real
"Big Time" sound that was rarely heard on network radio by the time this
format was introduced in 1957). They even changed the name of the network to
"ABN" the "American Broadcasting Network".
Evidently the whole idea was ill conceived as the "Live And Lively" format
was scuttled just five months in and ABC went back to a typical late 50's
radio network, continuing to struggle with lots of sustained programming. As
with the other networks ABC would cease wall to wall programming by the
early 60's.
The point of this is that I have not seen in all my years of interest in OTR
any dissertations or much of anything about this intriguing attempt by ABC
to rivive its flagging fortunes. And I have never heard an aircheck. Except
some later Jim Reeves Shows, which were rebroadcasts for the AFTRS, and had
most of the "network specific stuff" like spots, ID's, and other ABN extras,
cut out.
Has anyone here ever read much about or heard airchecks of the "American
Broadcasting Network"? While a short period in the end days of radio, it
nevertheless, is an interesting time and I would certainly like to see more
about it.
Thanks,
Joe Postove
jpostove@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 22:12:10 -0400
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Misadventures in Research
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Agatha- and Ray Stanich Award-winning OTR historian and author Jack French
wrote in part about his experiences at the Thousand Oaks Archive:
I stumbled across a "Candy Matson" parody of three
pages, obviously written by Monty Masters, probably for a social in his
home. Pointing out to the librarian that this could not have been
copyrighted, I asked for permission to Xerox it. "Absolutely not" was
the official reply. I went on to argue that since Monty and Natalie
Masters owned the show, and they were dead, as was their sole heir (the
son) I could not get written permission from the "copyright holders."
This plea also fell on deaf ears.
This reminds me of something akin to such that once happened to me at the New
York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, Billy Rose
Theatre Collection (Third Floor)--whew! A research client needed a photo of
OTR character actor Carl Kroehnke ([removed]), one-time actor on the later "Vic 'n'
Sades." "Billy Rose" had one c. 1943 with an NBC Radio press release attached
to the back. I enquired from the librarian on-duty about how to go about
getting a copy struck of this really cool 8 X 10 g;glossy portrait photo of
Kroehnke wearing a fedora. The fee to strike a negative would've cost around
$[removed] after these requirements were met: 1) permission from NBC [lotsa
bureaucratic red tape, but not impossible]; 2) permission from Kroehnke or his
survivors; and 3) since a photographer's credit was etched in the corner of
the photo, permission from the photographer or his heirs. The credit was a
common name like Miller, and the credit read something like "Miller/Chicago."
Now somebody tell me how to go about finding a photographer with such a
common name from 60 + years ago in a big city like Chicago.
B Rose usually allows for four call-slips at a time (or fewer at the
discretion of the librarian in the event of staff shortages and/or customer
backlog). I avoid wasting a call-slip opportunity to access a photo file
filled with photos they're not going to let you copy anyway. Talk about
Vic-'n'-Sadism.
That's about the size of it.
Derek Tague
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 22:12:39 -0400
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Goldberg Variations
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Ron Sayles, the Birthday Man, recently posted in his daily almanac:
05-29-1936 - Arlene McQuade - NYC actor: Rosalie Goldberg "The Goldbergs"
So, does anybody have any contact info on Ms. McQuade? If so, how's her
health? Has she ever been a guest at an OTR convention? Let us know.
Yours in the ether--
Derek Tague
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 22:12:47 -0400
From: James Meadows <walthamus@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Farm broadcasting
I can't resist chiming into the discussion about
farm broadcasting, to mention the agricultural
programming at WILL (AM 580) out of Urbana Illinois,
where I work as a news reporter.
Farm broadcasting is rare in public radio, but
WILL-AM features commodity market reports throughout
the day, wrapped up with a half-hour Closing Market
Report in the afternoon. There's also a weekly
commodity market talk show on Saturday morning. If you
want to find out more, WILL's ag programming web
address is [removed].
WILL has been broadcasting since the 1920s, and has
a 5-thousand watt daytime signal that reaches several
counties in east-central Illinois and western Indiana.
That sort of coverage area in a largely rural area
makes it a natural for farm broadcasting. Still, I
don't know if the station has featured broadcasting
for rural audiences all that time. I think WILL's farm
broadcasting, in its current form at least, may only
date back 20 or 30 years. We're all a little hazy
about what the station did in the OTR era, but it
included a lot of strictly educational programming,
cultural talks, University of Illinois spots coverage
and classical music. The U of I, which owns WILL, also
operates Illinois' Cooperative Extension Service, and
perhaps they were a source of programming for rural
audiences on the station back then.
Nowadays, farmers and others who follow the farm
commodities markets are an increasingly smaller
percentage of the listening audience, so I'm not
surprised that longtime farm broadcasters like WCCO
and WGN are cutting back on their farm programming.
After a certain point, the audience share is just too
small for a traditional broadcaster using an AM or FM
transmitter. It's not too small for WILL yet, but we
do package the ag programming for listening via our
website, through an ag-specific audio stream, archived
programs and podcasting.
I suspect that in the the future, more ag
programming will be available through specialized
channels via the Internet or satellite radio, and less
of it through traditional broadcasting. But it might
be some of the same people producing the programming
--- I feel like I've been hearing WGN's Orion
Samuelson forever!
Jim Meadows
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 22:12:54 -0400
From: "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "The Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: WGN Agricultural Market Reports.
WGN had the Noon Show 6 days a week along with early morning reports, but
the Noon Show Mon - Fri was discontinued for lack of sponsors. Every week
day before 5:00 AM Orion Sanualson or Max Armstrong report weather forcast
aimed a farmers. Then after 5:00 Am they report on the price of corn,
grain, soy beans etc. then live stock reports ( Bob Collins called the Hog &
Frogs report)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 22:13:54 -0400
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Secret identities and Lois Lane (street)
Jim Cox,
There is a street named Lois Lane in Southfield, MI.
Karen Lerner,
I'd have to listen to my various _Superman_ tapes to
recall at what point either Batman or Superman knew
the other's true identity (and who learned it first,
if it wasn't mutual); but I did listen to the
collection "Superman With Batman and Robin on Radio"
while driving down to the Cinci convention, and in the
story "Dr. Bly's Confidence Gang" (9/4/45-9/21/45),
Supes knows Dick Grayson is Robin. It seems logical to
assume he learned Batman's identity of Bruce Wayne
sometime before that.
In one scene at the courthouse, Clark (I cannot keep a
secret if my life depended on it) Kent asks Jimmy
Olsen to go into the courtroom and tell Robin to come
out.
"Robin?" A perplexed Jimmy asks.
"Ah, er, I mean Dick Grayson," said Mr. Blabbermouth.
I mean Kent.
Of course Dick Grayson himself was a student of the
Clark Kent School of Almost Giving Away Your Secret
Identity. Early in the story, as he is going with Lois
and Jimmy to the amusement park, Dick starts to say,
"Batman and I once-" when Jimmy cuts in.
"Batman and you?"
"Er, ah, I mean I've _read_ so much about Batman, it
feels like I was with him."
Fortunately, for both Clark and Dick (and probably
Bruce Wayne as well), no one grilled them on these
faux pas.
And lest anyone get the wrong idea from these
character flaws, the _Superman_ radio episodes are
_very_ good. They aren't written down to the target
audience. Especially not such classics as "Superman
Vs. the Atom Man" or "The Knights of the White
Carnation."
Rick
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #151
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