Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #370
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 1/1/2007 2:09 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 370
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      1-1 births/deaths                     [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      The Thing on the Fourble Board        [ blsmass@[removed] ]
      The New York Times Knoxville Connect  [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      XM radio vs. Sirius                   [ "[removed]" <asajb2000@ ]
      Movie Stars on OTR                    [ "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed] ]
      RE: Halls of Ivy                      [ "N&B Brickman" <nbbb2@[removed]; ]
      Jack Holden, etc.                     [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
      Re: Johnstone & ATWT                  [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
      Resolved: to set a collection plan i  [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
      Richard Widmark & Sandy Koufax        [ <vzeo0hfk@[removed]; ]
      Casey Crime Photographer comics       [ Joseph Webb <drjoewebb@[removed]; ]
      movie actors and radio                [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      amos and andy in wikipedia            [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2006 23:35:31 -0500
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  1-1 births/deaths

    January 1st births

    01-01-1867 - Lew Fields - NYC - d. 7-20-1941
    comedian: (Weber and Fields) "The Eveready Hour"; "George Jessel Show"
    01-01-1878 - Edwin Franko Goldman - Louisville, KY - d. 2-21-1956
    bandmaster: "The Cities Service Concert"; "The Pure Oil Band"
    01-01-1879 - [removed] Forster - London, England - d. 6-7-1970
    novelist: "NBC University Theatre"
    01-01-1889 - Alexander Smallens - d. 11-27-1972
    conductor: "Rising Musical Star"
    01-01-1889 - Charles Bickford - Cambridge, MA - d. 11-9-1967
    actor: "Radio Hall of Fame"
    01-01-1895 - Art Gillham - St. Louis, MO - d. 6-6-1961
    piano playing vocalist: (Whispering Pianist) Plugged songs to sell
    sheet music
    01-01-1895 - Bernard Schubert - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-4-1988
    writer, producer: "The Falcon"; "Murder and Mr. Malone"
    01-01-1897 - Walter Greaza - St. Paul, MN - d. 6-1-1973
    actor: "Columbia Workshop"; "Suspense"
    01-01-1900 - Xavier Cugat - Tirona, Spain - d. 10-27-1990
    bandleader: (King of the Rhumba) "Camel Caravan"
    01-01-1904 - Lou Kosloff - Chicago, IL - d. 3-xx-1986
    orchestra leader: "Blondie"; "Sad Sack"; "Sherlock Holmes"
    01-01-1905 - Dick Aurandt - d. 7-xx-1984
    orchestra leader: "Voyage of the Scarlet Queen"; "Steve Canyon"
    01-01-1905 - Richard Keith - NYC - d. 9-16-1976
    actor: Ray Hunt "Myrt and Marge"; Frank W. Brock "Special Investigator"
    01-01-1908 - Bob Russell - d. 1-24-1998
    singer, songwriter: Helped create " Name that Tune"
    01-01-1909 - Dana Andrews - Collins, MS - d. 12-17-1992
    actor: Matt Cevetic "I Was A Communist for the FBI"
    01-01-1909 - Frank Kettering - Monmouth, IL - d. 6-xx-1973
    bass player: (Hoosier Hot Shots) "National Barn Dance"
    01-01-1911 - Hank Greenberg - NYC - d. 9-14-1994
    baseball great: "Play Ball"; "We the People"; "Philco Radio Time"
    01-01-1911 - Leona Ledoux - d. 8-16-1987
    actor: Robespierre Higgins "Baby Snooks"; Bumstead Children "Blondie"
    01-01-1913 - Norman Rosten - d. 3-7-1995
    writer: "Cavalcade of America"; "An American in Russia"
    01-01-1915 - Irv Orton - d. 5-xx-1960
    musical director: "Double or Nothing"
    01-01-1916 - Earl Wrightson - Baltimore, MD - d. 3-7-1993
    singer: "Highways in Melody"; "Getting the Most Out of Life"
    01-01-1917 - Shelby Storck - Kansas City, MO - d. 4-5-1969
    actor: Speed Robertson "The Air Advs. of Jimmie Allen"
    01-01-1917 - Ted Cott - Poughkeepsie, NY - d. 6-12-1973
    announcer, emcee: "So You Think You Know Music?"; "Music You Want"
    01-01-1919 - Carole Landis - Fairchild, WI - d. 7-5-1948
    actor: "Warner Brothers Academy Award"; "Command Performance"
    01-01-1938 - Norma Jean Nilsson - Hollywood, CA
    actor: Kathy Anderson "Father Knows Best"; Cookie Bumstead "Blondie"

    January 1st deaths

    For all the people who died on January 1st, what a bad way to start
    the year.

    02-04-1908 - Gordon Fraser - Lawrence, MA - d. 1-1-2000
    newsman on the Blue Network
    02-15-1907 - Cesar Romero - NYC - d. 1-1-1994
    actor: "Movietone Radio Theatre"
    04-17-1915 - Joe Foss - Sioux Falls, SD - d. 1-1-2003
    south dakota governor: "Tops in Sports"
    04-25-1919 - Albert Aley - NYC - d. 1-1-1986
    actor: Hop Harrigan "Hop Harrigan"; Bob James "Stella Dallas"
    05-16-1911 - Margaret Sullavan - Norfolk, VA - d. 1-1-1960
    actor: "Electric Theatre"; "Hollywood Playhouse"
    08-17-1899 - Ralph Goll - d. 1-1-1957
    scriptwriter: "The Lone Ranger"
    09-12-1888 - Maurice Chevalier - Paris, France - d. 1-1-1972
    actor, singer, host: "Chase & Sanborn Hour"; "This is Paris"; "Bing
    Crosby Show"
    09-17-1923 - Hank Williams - Georgiana, AL - d. 1-1-1953
    singer: "Louisiana Hayride"; "Grand Ole Opry"; "Health and Happiness"
    12-02-1914 - Ray Walston - New Orleans, LA - d. 1-1-2001
    actor: "The Woolworth Hour"
    12-16-1890 - Jane Morgan - North Platte, NE - d. 1-1-1972
    actor: Mary Lane "Aunt Mary"; Mrs. Margaret Davis "Our Miss Brooks"
    12-25-1902 - Barton Maclane - Columbia, SC - d. 1-1-1969
    actor: "Thirty Minutes In Hollywood"
    xx-xx-xxxx - Joan Winters - d. 1-1-2001
    actor: Alice Ames "Girl Alone"; Sylvia Bertram "Road of Life"

    Ron Sayles

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 00:13:22 -0500
    From: blsmass@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Thing on the Fourble Board

    The reason The Thing on the Fourble Board got so popular was that for a
    long time it was the only quiet please people could find.  I think it was
    on a Radiola disc probably with some totally different series on the
    other side.  It wasn't till later that some of these shows came along.
    Ted is right about the audio quality too, a lot of it is really terrible.
     FGRA has tried to redress that wrong with mixed success I think.  I wish
    there existed some of the Cooper Lights Out shows to compare the show
    pre-Obler.  Kurt

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 00:42:54 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The New York Times Knoxville Connection

    Jim Cox <otrbuff@[removed]; commented:

>     On numerous occasions I have been reminded how dependent many of us
>     investigators are on the wealth of material published and archived by The
>     New York Times.  Speaking strictly for me, I know of no other newspaper as
>     comprehensive, reliable and accurate for confirming little known and obscure
>     details that are a boon to researchers in diverse fields, including vintage
>     radio.  I'm grateful that the journal launched as "The New-York Daily Times"
>     in 1851 has remained healthy in an era of rapidly diminishing print media.

    Of course, this is an appropriate time to mention the Times as it
    gave its name to the home of New Years', Times Square, and also
    created the tradition of the falling ball. As a Knoxvillian I must
    lay claim to a tiny bit of the history of  the paper by way of Adolph
    Ochs who got his start in journalism here before going on to publish
    the Chattanooga Times and, finally, the New York Times, coming up
    with the "All the News that's fit to print" slogan. Of course, this
    is stretching the OTR topic, but the Times Square New Years
    celebration WAS heard on radio long before TV.

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 00:54:57 -0500
    From: "[removed]" <asajb2000@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  XM radio vs. Sirius
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I have had Sirius Satellite Radio since Father's Day, 2006 and Generally I am
    happy with it.  However, the main selling point from their end (Howard Stern)
    is not something I am specifically interested in.  XM does have Bob Edwards
    and Bob Dylan and Major League Baseball but there are things that Sirius has
    as well that XM does not.  There are more similarities than each company
    would like to admit.
    What I want to know is (for those people who can objectively tell me) what is
    the difference and is one better than the other?  I was considering the
    Crutchfield deal because you can listen to satellite radio (albeit delayed
    and not live) and you actually come out $40 ahead if I understand it
    correctly, so it's a no-brainer.  However, I already have satellite service
    from the other guys (Sirius) and needed to know whether it really makes sense
    to go to all the trouble to jump ship so to speak.  It may all be moot, since
    the servies have peaked as far as subscribers and may eventually merge (Mel
    Karmazin of Sirius keeps that subject alive because the market cannot support
    two satellite radio companies, especially with HD Radio readily available and
    with the combined debt of the two companies.
    Andy Blatt

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
      ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 02:50:45 -0500
    From: "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Movie Stars on OTR

    Just want to thank those who posted about movie stars on OTR in the last
    edition of the Old Time Radio Digest. Their posts were all very informative
    and brought up some points I had not heard before about what movie actors
    had to do to adjust to being on radio shows.

    When I listen to old time radio shows I almost never think of the actors
    standing in front of a microphone reading a script they make the shows sound
    so natural like the events in the show are actually happening. So I can
    understand why an actor used to doing retake after retake in the movies
    would have problems having to read an OTR script and deliver their lines
    right the first time since the shows had to be finished in a certain time
    frame.

    Andrew Godfrey

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 12:05:18 -0500
    From: "N&B Brickman" <nbbb2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: Halls of Ivy

>     The theme was released on a single.  Ed Walker drags it out occasionally on
>     WAMU's The Big Broadcast, usually in the fall when school starts up.
>     If you listen to the Big Broadcast ([removed]), and there's no reason you
>     shouldn't be listening anyway, you might try hassling them to play it this
>     spring during graduation season.

    Halls of Ivy is also one of my favorite shows.  If you want to hear the
    entire theme show an easy way is to purchase the episodes from May 5, 1950
    (Student Actress) or from November 21, 1951 (The Minister's Son).

    	Several years ago a set of 89 radio episodes and 10 TV soundtracks
    of Halls of Ivy was compiled in mp3 format, including 9 radio episodes that
    had previously been lost but for which an OTR fan had preserved from
    original wire recordings.  If you think you might have one of the remaining
    lost episodes I would appreciate hearing from you and we can discuss
    details.

    		Norman

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: I will post one of the episodes mentioned above to the OTR
    podcast at [removed] sometime later this week; if you you
    prefer one of the episodes, 5/5/50 or 11/21/51, drop me a note at
    charlie@[removed] - the episode with the most votes is the one I'll post!
    --cfs3]

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 12:03:48 -0500
    From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Holden, etc.

    On Sunday, December 31, 2006, at 11:35 PM, Ron Sayles wrote:

>     10-21-1907 - Jack Holden - Alba, MI - d. 6-xx-1971
>     announcer: "National Barn Dance"; "Uncle Ezra"

    If only Ron had only one more line in his 100th Anniversary Dates for
    Holden, he could have added an important cast credit: title lead in
    "Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters."

    Many of us remember only the last and longest "Tom Mix", Joe "Curley"
    Bradley, but before him there were other actors portraying the owner of
    the T-M Bar Ranch at the microphone.  Jack Holden, who was a mainstay
    at WLS in Chicago, won the role of "Tom Mix" when the production was
    moved from New York to Chicago for the 1934-35 season. He would be the
    voice of  Tom for two years at WGN.

    Meanwhile over at WLS, Holden did a little of everything, and did it
    very well. Wearing rimless glasses, he spent a lot of time at the
    microphone, appearing on not only "National Barn Dance" and "Uncle
    Ezra" (as Ron has pointed out) but also several other WLS shows,
    including "Uncle Jack and his Junior Stars" a talent show for
    youngsters which Holden hosted. Soon Chicago audiences could identify
    him by just his voice.

    This did not sit well with Charley Claggett, the advertising rep from
    Gardner Advertising Company in St. Louis, who managed the Ralston
    Purina account, and therefore managed the "Tom Mix" radio show.
    Sometimes we forget how much power the advertising rep could have on a
    radio series. I interviewed Claggett in the early 70s and he confirmed
    that he had more power on that series than the director, who was one of
    many people that Claggett could hire and fire. In addition to choosing
    the cast, director, and writers,  he also oversaw the story line,
    picked the radio premiums, and scheduled personal appearances of the
    stars.

    So when juvenile listeners started asking "Hey, ain't that Tom Mix?"
    when they heard Holden on WLS shows, Claggett confronted Holden and
    told him he's have to give up his WLS roles, particularly "National
    Barn Dance." Holden refused so Claggett fired him and the next day
    brought in Russell Thorson, the actor who sounded the most like Holden.
    Thorson would continue in the role until 1942.

    Claggett also told me about another memorable firing on the "Tom Mix"
    show involving a regular character, "Amos Q. Snood." Sid Ellstrom
    played that comic villain. Asking for a raise on radio could be risky
    for even the stars (Earle Graser, the Lone Ranger at WXYZ,  was
    threatened with firing when he asked for a modest raise) so actors were
    very careful when to raise this issue. In an attempt to negotiate from
    strength, one technique was to somehow get the writers to let you peek
    at the story line for the next month if you worked on a serial. Then if
    you found your character was an integral part of the next several weeks
    scripts, you  demanded a raise.

    Ellstrom got such a peek and found the next several weeks would involve
    "Amos Q. Snood" in a lengthy adventure, starting with a burglary of his
    office. Sid then located Claggett and demanded a raise. But it
    backfired.  Charlie not only refused Sid's request, he also fired him.
    Claggett's next step was to go to  the writer and instruct him to
    re-write the burglary scene to end with Snood discovering the burglar
    who attacked Snood and broke his jaw before escaping. For the next
    show, a minor actor was given Snood's lines, mumbling them as through a
    broken jaw. After a few weeks, when the youngsters had forgotten
    Ellstrom's voice, the replacement actor "recovered" from his injury and
    spoke normally.

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    <[removed]>

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 12:06:21 -0500
    From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Johnstone & ATWT

    Stuart Lubin recently opened a paragraph with this unobjectionable bit:

>     One of the best "shadows" that I knew, Bill Johnstone, left Hollywood radio
>     to take a New York soap role on "As the World Turns"

    However, he then went on to claim that:

>     Needless to say, there are no radio actors on that soap today.

    Don Hastings never did radio???

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 12:07:12 -0500
    From: <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Resolved:  to set a collection plan in motion

    All my life one of my passions aside from OTR has been railroading.  As a
    railfan I devour lots of material about the topic and take one or more long
    distance excursions by rail annually.  I was pleased to see an article in
    the February issue of Trains magazine titled "Got a plan for your
    collection?" with subtitle "More fans -- now-- need to work on estate
    planning for their photos, books, and paper items."  It's a relevant subject
    for me in dual fields, and seems especially apropos to many radio hobbyists
    with burgeoning collections.  I'll adapt a small portion of that treatise to
    the situation encountered by many of us in OTR.

    The article notes that many hobbyists face a serious dilemma in what to do
    with their lifelong collections.  For historians, they often constitute a
    priceless capsule of relevant history.  The writer notes that most
    collectors pass away without having determined how their lifetime
    collections will be disposed of.  All those efforts can be for naught as old
    recordings are discarded and rare materials are sent to a flea market to be
    sold for a fraction of what they are worth.

    The author observes that every artifact accepted by an institution is like a
    family adding a mouth to feed.  The typical public library spends several
    dollars adding each book to its shelves, factoring in cataloging, security
    strips, overhead and staff.  "Public library turnover is potentially vicious
    as well; a rare book donated by a well-meaning donor may find its way to a
    sale shelf in short order if nobody understands its importance," says
    reporter Alexander Mitchell.

    He suggests that while most people have general collections with little
    focus, if you have managed to assemble every piece available on a single
    topic, it should be considred for preservation as a whole.  Some ideas for
    disposal include:

    1. Giving or selling to an individual.  However, warns Mitchell, there's
    nothing assuring you that the recipient will maintain the collection's
    integrity, or even dispose of it properly himself.

    2. Clubs and local museums are often the default destination for
    collections.  While they are enthusiastic recipients, predisposed to caring
    about your items, few groups have the resources to handle collections
    properly, often without inventory or control in place, and stuff is
    frequently relegated to a closet shelf.

    3. While larger museums have excellent physical plants and adequate
    resources to store and catalog collections, you run the risk of their
    receiving duplicates or too much to process, hence they are selective in
    what they keep.

    4. University libraries offer great security in regard to fireproof and
    archival storage quality while maintaining unyielding policies that restrict
    usage of archival materials.

    I'm merely passing along some thoughts of others here, so nobody, please,
    come after the messenger.  There are surely some possibilities worth
    considering Mr. Mitchell hasn't included.

    Meanwhile, as a new year dawns, here's an issue that some probably ought to
    quit neglecting and get serious about.  Restating an old maxim that never
    seems to go out of style, "A word to the wise is sufficient."

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 12:12:24 -0500
    From: <vzeo0hfk@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Richard Widmark & Sandy Koufax

    Donald was right - it was indeed Sandy Koufax who was
    Widmark's son in law until the Koufaxes divorced.

    Happy New Year Y'all,

    Howard Blue

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 12:13:06 -0500
    From: Joseph Webb <drjoewebb@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Casey Crime Photographer comics

    I am looking for the Casey Crime Photographer comic books, issues #3 and 4. I
    should be contacted at drjoewebb@[removed]

    I have issues 1 & 2. It seems the short-lived series ran a pattern of two
    stories adapted from radio scripts and then a new story.

    It, of course, is odd to see images of the characters as the artists and
    writers conceived them compared to what's in the imagination of the listener.
    (I didn't know Ann Williams was blonde; and Casey had an awful blue raincoat).

    It's interesting that the comic only ran four issues. It was at the tail end
    of the golden age of comics (and serious problems at Marvel Comics), concerns
    about comics and children, the beginning of radio's decline in favor of TV,
    and the decline in the overall quality of the show. Casey always was a
    popular and endearing show, but it was not among radio's finest. There were
    many things working against it; I suspect that had the comic started in 1946
    or 1947 it would have had a better run.

    Cover pages can be seen at [removed];_sT=49
    Staats Cotsworth is on all the covers, though that's hard to tell on issue 1.

    Issues #1 and 2 seem to be easy to find among comic dealers. Perhaps the
    print runs were much larger than #3 and #4.

    I am interested in color scans of the pages of these issues if I cannot get
    actual copies of the comics.

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 15:49:31 -0500
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  movie actors and radio

    History question:

    Broadcast radio started in the early 1920's, with networks coming along
    fairly soon after that.

    Movies with sound began somewhat later, in the late '20's.  So any movie
    actors who appeared on radio would have been silent movie actors, I suppose.

    I read that many silent movie actors could not make the transition from
    silent to sound because they had un-American accents or voices more suited
    to cartoon characters.

    So here we have two mediums, or media: one has pictures, with no sound, and
    the other has sound, but no pictures, and they existed side-by-side for at
    least a few years.

    Does anyone have a sense of how silent movies and radio worked together, if
    at all?  Movie actors were big celebrities, so I suppose it must have
    occurred to radio people to bring them to radio in some context.  And the
    popularity of radio would have given movie people some ideas.

    M Kinsler
    512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
    [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 15:50:50 -0500
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  amos and andy in wikipedia

    Okay: who wrote the very fine article about Amos 'n' Andy in Wikipedia?
    Elizabeth is quoted and cited extensively, but I'm not sure that she would
    have written the main article itself.  Anyone know?

    In any case, go read it.  There's also a fine, almost haunting charcoal
    sketch of the gentlemen themselves, done for a magazine.

    M Kinsler

    512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
    [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #370
    *********************************************

    Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
      including republication in any form.

    If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
       [removed]

    For Help: [removed]@[removed]

    To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

    To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
      or see [removed]

    For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
      in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

    To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

    To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]