Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #98
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 3/27/2007 3:36 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2007 : Issue 98
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      REPS 2007 Convention                  [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
      I LOVE A MYSTERY                      [ John Ruklick <ruklick55@[removed]; ]
      3-27 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Tippi and The Birds                   [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      GROUCHO AND YOU BET YOUR LIFE         [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
      GODFREY                               [ "thomas heathwood" <HeritageRadio@m ]
      Bob Elliott                           [ "thomas heathwood" <HeritageRadio@m ]
      Re: Ampex tape recorder               [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:25:34 -0400
    From: BryanH362@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  REPS 2007 Convention
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    The Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound (REPS) are hosting another Old  Time
    Radio Convention,  in the Seattle area, this June 22nd and  23rd.
    A registration form will be available on the REPS web page this coming  week
    at (_[removed]_ ([removed]) ) and also inside the
    next Air Check newsletter.  If you are coming from out of town , the Air
    Check and the web
    site will provide details on lodging and how you can get a discount if  you
    plan to fly Alaska Airlines.

    REPS Showcase XV June 22-23 2007

    Coast Bellevue Hotel, 625 116th  Avenue NE, Bellevue WA 98004
    425-455-9444 or  800-663-1144

    Room rates are $109 before taxes for the REPS  Showcase convention rate,
    single or double.
    Reservations must be made 10 days prior to June 22, 2007 for this  rate.  Two
    level suites are also available (at a different rate).

    Scheduled Guests to Appear-

    Eddie Carroll
    Katherine Crosby  ( wife of the late Bing Crosby)
    Donald Buka
    Bob Hastings
    Rosemary Rice
    Dick Van Patten
    Dick Beals
    Gloria McMillan  " Our Miss Brooks"
    Chuck McCann
    Gil Stratton
    Frank Bresee
    Tommy Cook
    Esther McVey

    .............................................additional guests to be
    announced.

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    Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:26:59 -0400
    From: John Ruklick <ruklick55@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  I LOVE A MYSTERY
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    No [removed] am 38 years old, and I would give up one of my kidneys to be able
    to hear one or two, or 5 complete uncirculated ILAM series. If they do
    exsist, and someone has hoarded them for all these years, it is a crime to
    humanity. This is a true lost American art for and the ILAM shows were one of
    the Very [removed] Picasso of OTR.
          I implore you: release the lost treasures!!!!!!!
      PRAYING,
      [removed]

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    Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:27:05 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  3-27 births/deaths

    March 27th births

    03-27-1892 - Ferde Grofe - NYC - d. 4-3-1972
    conductor, composer: (The Grand Canyon Suite) "Florsheim Frolic"
    03-27-1892 - Thorne Smith - Annapolis, MD - d. 6-21-1934
    writer: "Advs. of Topper" based on his book
    03-27-1895 - William W. Chaplin - d. 8-18-1978
    newsman: White House correspondent for NBC
    03-27-1898 - Gloria Swanson - Chicago, IL - d. 4-4-1983
    panelist: "Hollywood Byline"; "Suspense"
    03-27-1902 - Sidney Buchman - Duluth, MN - d. 8-23-1975
    movie writer: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    03-27-1904 - Hal Kemp - Marion, AL - d. 12-21-1940
    bandleader: "Phil Baker Show"; "Lady Esther Serenade"; "Gulf Gas
    Program"
    03-27-1906 - Pee Wee Russell - Maple Wood, MO - d. 2-15-1969
    clarinet: "Eddie Condon's Jazz Concerts"
    03-27-1907 - Mary Treen - St. Louis, MO - d. 7-20-1989
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    03-27-1914 - Budd Schulberg - NYC
    writer: "Free World Theatre"; "The New Theatre"
    03-27-1914 - Richard Denning - Poughkeepsie, NY - d. 10-11-1998
    actor: George Cooper "My Favorite Husband"; Jerry North "Mr. and Mrs.
    North"
    03-27-1914 - Snooky Lanson - Memphis, TN - d. 7-2-1990
    singer: "Snooky Lanson Show"; "Your Hit Parade"
    03-27-1915 - Hugh Conover - Washington, [removed] - d. 9-27-1992
    announcer: "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill"; "Big Sister"; "Right to
    Happiness"
    03-27-1915 - Robert Lockwood, Jr. - Turkey Scratch, AR - d. 11-21-2006
    guiatrist: "KFFA King Biscuit Time"
    03-27-1916 - Howard Merrill - NYC - d. 4-20-2002
    writer: "Advs. of Leonidas Witherall"; "Leave It to Mike"; "Secret
    Missions"
    03-27-1921 - Fletcher Markle - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - d. 5-22-1991
    actor, director, producer: "Columbia Workshop"; "Studio One"
    03-27-1921 - Fred Foy - Detroit, MI
    announcer, narrator: "The Lone Ranger"
    03-27-1921 - Harold Nicholas - Winston-Salem, NC - d. 7-3-2000
    dancer: (The Nicholas Brothers) "Big Broadcast of 1936"; "Ben Bernie
    Show"
    03-27-1924 - Sarah Vaughn - Newark, NJ - d. 4-3-1990
    singer: "Guest Star"; "Your Rhythm Revue"
    03-27-1930 - Jack Adams - Hobart, OK - d. 6-14-2003
    singer in nightclubs and radio

    March 27th deaths

    01-10-1916 - Don Gardiner - NYC - d. 3-27-1977
    newscaster: "Monday Morning Headlines"
    01-17-1904 - Grant Withers - Pueblo, CO - d. 3-27-1959
    actor: "Calling All Cars"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
    06-18-1908 - Elmore Vincent - Amarillo, X - d. 3-27-2000
    actor: Phineas Peabody "Lum and Abner"
    06-22-1906 - Billy Wilder - Sucha, Austria-Hungary - d. 3-27-2002
    screenwriter, film director: "Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre"; "Lux
    Radio Theatre"
    07-08-1911 - Gertrude Niesen - Mid-Atlantic Ocean - d. 3-27-1975
    singer: "Songs by Gertrude Niesen"; "Good News of 1939"
    07-12-1908 - Milton Berle - NYC - d. 3-27-2002
    comedian: "Milton Berle Show"; "Let Yourself Go"; "Three Ring Time"
    08-05-1914 - Anita Colby - Washington, DC - d. 3-27-1992
    actor: "Radio Hall of Fame"
    09-25-1926 - Aldo Ray - Pen Argyl, PA - d. 3-27-1991
    actor; "MGM Musical Comedy Theatre"
    11-03-1889 - Gustave Haenschen - St. Louis, MO - d. 3-27-1980
    conductor: "Palmolive Hour"; "Show Boat"; "Saturday Night Serenade"
    11-04-1930 - Kate Reid - London, England - d. 3-27-1993
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    12-12-1902 - Helen Menken - NYC - d. 3-27-1966
    actor: Brenda Cummings "Second Husband"
    12-17-1895 - Rudolph Anders - Germany - d. 3-27-1987
    actor: Dr. VanMeter "Space Patrol"

    Ron Sayles

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:28:10 -0400
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Tippi and The Birds

    In case anyone's interested, I read an account of the making of the movie
    "The Birds" when it came out.  It said that Ms Hendren was surrounded by
    stage hands who threw birds at her.

    I've always understood the ending of the movie to mean that the birds had
    won their war, because is showed the last of the people leaving the area.

    M Kinsler

    The birds then turned around and sold all the land to condo developers.
    Ever notice all those bird feeders out there?

    512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368 740-503-1973
    [removed]
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:30:49 -0400
    From: PURKASZ@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  GROUCHO AND YOU BET YOUR LIFE

    Perhaps I can add a little  anecdotal something to the ongoing mystery of the
    recording methods of "You Bet  Your Life" for what it's worth.
    It was my great good  fortune one Sunday afternoon in 1972-73 to be invited
    to Groucho's house for  Sunday dinner.
    It was to be a small gathering. My agent at  the time, Marc Cavell was also
    Groucho's wife Erin's agent as well and she  thought it would be nice for
    Groucho to have a few stimulating folks over for  dinner.
    So Marc asked me if I was  busy.
    I laughed and took down the  address.
    I arrived with some trepidation and knocked on a  large door in a home in the
    hills above Sunset in Holmby Hills.
    It was late afternoon on a very hot day and I was worried  about my manner of
    dress.  T-Shirt and tropical white linen  pants.
    I shouldn't have. The door was opened not by a maid  or butler but by Groucho
    himself, wearing a Marx Brothers T-Shirt and Bermuda  shorts and sandals. He
    looked me up and down and said,
    "Nice suit."
    I replied,
    "You  too."
    He hugged me and led me  inside.
    Elliot Gould, Bruce Jay Friedman and myself where  the guests. With Marc and
    Erin and Groucho, the table was a little like being at  Grampa's for Sunday
    Chicken dinner!
    An afternoon of great  fun ensued where I played piano and he sang and we
    smoked cigars and drank some  magnificent red wine after dinner. He told many
    a
    tale of wonder and woe and  napped for ten minutes. The awoke with a quip just
    to let us know he was still  there.
    The other guests left one by one.
    Groucho signaled for me to stay.
    How could I resist. I was now his captive audience and I wish to God I'd had
    some kind of recording device. As it was I swore to try to remember
    everything  he said.
    Later at night he took me for a walk down the  corridors of his hallway
    leading to his bedroom.
    The  photos of him with the great figures of American and European history
    took my  breath away. We also shared sequential birthdays as he was October 2
    and I am  October 1.
    A mere 52 years difference in time seemed not  to matter.
    The night went well into the darkness. It was  just the two of us and a
    beautiful young nurse hovering in the hallway.
    I think he seemed to think we might like to get to know  each other!
    I shook my cigar like he used to when  confronted with a lovely.
    Then he asked me if I'd like to  see his wonderful new toy!
    We went into his Spartan  bedroom, he lay down on the bed, signaling me to a
    chair by the side and we both  looked upwards.
    He had a newly installed TV almost at  ceiling level with remote control
    which in 1973 was pretty  rare.
    "I gotta pal down at Channel 5 who does me a great  favor and runs 'You Bet
    Your Life' at eleven o'clock every night so I get to see  all those bits glued
    together just before I go to sleep."
    When I asked what he meant by glued together he told me the show was done
    with a  good many guests on any given day and that they recorded till he got
    tired. So  even now the show was a surprise to him as a viewer.
    The  secret was that he always wore the same clothes in every show so they
    could cut  back and forth to contestants and still attain some  continuity.
    I gotta tell ya folks, it was something out of  space and time to watch that
    show with Groucho on the bed laughing at his own  antics.
    One of the world's greatest comedians and me,  sitting in a small bedroom
    watching TV right thru to the midnight hours on a hot  tropical night in
    Hollywood.
    I pinched myself several  times just to be sure I was alive.
    He looked a little  tired after the show so I made my goodnights.
    I was  ushered to the door by a nurse who thanked me for making him so happy
    all day.  Then Groucho appeared out of a dark corridor with an autographed
    photo which I  had not asked for, and a book of his, hugged me good-night and
    shuffled off down  the hall with an invitation to return anytime.
    I never did  and in 1977 when I heard of his passing, I regretted my
    tardiness in  responding.
    The photo still adorns my office wall and it  still makes me smile as I
    recall that wonderful day.
    If  anyone would like to see it tell me how to hang it up there on the
    Internet for  others to see.
    Hope that helps with the mystery about the  recording methodology.
    If not I pray it added a little to  the  mystique.
    Michael C. Gwynne

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 07:52:57 -0400
    From: "thomas heathwood" <HeritageRadio@[removed];
    To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  GODFREY
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    After reading Lee's account of the Godfrey "firing" of LaRosa,  I could not
    help but think of the very
    long-lasting myth about Uncle Don supposedly saying, "That ought to hold the
    little bastards."

    I have heard the Godfrey remarks many, many times - radio version - and have
    to admit that what he said,
    perhaps due to lack of time (running late) came out sounding like he was
    firing Julius, despite the
    complimentary  remarks he had made prior to Julius' "swan song".   Maybe if
    Godfrey had made a fuller
    explanation on the next show, people would not have held the negative opinion
    of him for the next 40+
    years.

    Unfortunately, Godfrey had a reputation in the business of being a cranky and
    sharp-tongued fellow at
    times, and was said to be less than cordial to cast, family and the press.  I
    had a friend in Boston who
    interviewed him on WCVB-TV many years ago.  On the air, he was his usual
    jovial, humorous, and
    entertaining self. But off the air, at least on that single occasion, he was
    crotchety and almost rude to
    my friend.  He was never invited back.   My friend is now no longer with us,
    or I would ask him to tell
    you about this himself.

    Rumor is evil and dangerous, and it is quite possible that Mr. G's reputation,
    deserved or undeserved,
    was inflated.  No doubt, in later years especially, he was subject to many
    pains and physical misery as a
    result of his previous injuries and illness.  However, there seems no doubt
    that he did have a controlling
    nature (which, admittedly, may have contributed to his success) and could be
    most unpleasant to be near
    at times. It would seem, that as long as all the "Little Godfreys" did as they
    were told and were submissive
    to him and his wishes, that everything was fine. If that was not the case,
    unpleasantness would result.

    Bob & Ray used to do a take-off on Godfrey, and on occasion would portray
    Arthur as a control freak,
    egomaniac having their "Tony" (Marvin) repeatedly say "That's right Arthur,
    that's right"  all done in
    good taste of course.  But nonetheless, making their point!

    It's hard to believe that all the stories that have been floating around for
    years are completely untrue, but
    at the same time it is quite believable that Godfrey, like Uncle Don, was
    remembered for  "alleged"
    things that never really happened.  Celebrities have, since there have been
    any, suffered from rumor,
    and exaggerated stories.  Some celebs have believed  that as long as the
    public talked about them, it was fine,
    even if what was being said was negative.

    [removed] Godfrey mini-essay is bound to raise more dialogue.  Like
    Godfrey, it's entertaining!
    Tom Heathwood

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    Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 07:54:28 -0400
    From: "thomas heathwood" <HeritageRadio@[removed];
    To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bob Elliott
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    Let's all wish Bob Elliott HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  He was born 3/26/23 which means he
    is celebrating
    his 84th birthday anniversary.   With Ray Goulding, Bob began their radio
    careers here in Boston
    at independent radio station WHDH, after both had returned from service in WW
    II.  Both
    were "staff announcers"  and found they "clicked" together on the air, which
    led to ad-lib comedy which took
    form on a program called MATINEE WITH BOB & RAY.  By mid-Summer,  1951, NBC
    had purchased their talents for a daily show, and the rest is history. Ray
    left us several years ago, but Bob continued to offer his unique brand of
    satirical humor, and has left a wonderful legacy in his son, Chris, now a
    household name in the world of movie and TV comedy.
    Tom Heathwood

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    Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 07:58:02 -0400
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Ampex tape recorder

    As my friend Fred Bernay predicted in his last two postings, there are a lot
    of things in them to correct concerning the invention of the tape recorder.

>     We all know the story of how our American troupes found a
>      tape recorder in Germany after the war.

    Over the years, Jack Mullin built this story up into something a lot bigger
    than it really was.  When he first found these machines they were such a
    surprise to him that he thought they must have been a war secret.  Far from
    it.  The AEG Magnetophon was publicly introduced at the 1935 Berlin Radio
    Fair, one was used to record a concert by British conductor Thomas Beecham
    in 1936, and shortly after that they sent one to their American partner
    General Electric in Schenectady to study.  (We believe that the model K-2
    that I own is that machine.)  It was no secret.  The machine was vastly
    improved with the re-discovery of high frequency bias in the early 1940s,
    and German radio made wide use of it.  But it was still not a secret.  The
    machine was pictured and described many times in the German radio guide
    publication "Rundfunk" during the war.  While it might not have been easy
    for the Allies to get German publications, I have no doubt that it was
    available, especially via Switzerland.  The set I saw was in the Library of
    Congress.  (It's a weird experience going thru that publication.  Of the
    hundreds of pictures during the war years I saw only one that showed German
    soldiers in uniform -- and they were in the audience of an opera
    performance!  It was as if there was no war going on.)

>     As I understand, that recorder used metal tape.

    Nope.  It used plastic base tape.  The machine that used metal tape was
    developed in the late 1920s as the Blattnerphone, and improved as the
    Marconi-Stille.  It was used by the BBC, the CBC in Canada, and the ABC in
    Australia.  There is one working machine in Melbourne, and the National
    Library of Canada sent down the seven huge reels of metal tape they have to
    Australia in 1992 and I have a videotape of the TV news report showing the
    tapes being played.  The BBC has a non-working machine on display in
    Broadcasting House, London.  (The Canadians were hoping that maybe on the
    reels might be a Lorne Green newscast -- none exist -- but alas that was not
    to be.  The six good reels contained episodes of the wartime trans-Atlantic
    broadcasts reuniting British parents with their children who had been placed
    in Canada for their safety.  The bent reel contained a portion of the
    coverage of the Royal visit to Canada in 1939.  Someone had dropped the reel
    and bent it, so it wasn't reused later.  But it does show that the steel
    tape machine was in use in Canada quite late.)

>     What Bill Palmer and Ampex did was to create a
>     recorder that used paper base tape rather than metal.

    No, the Magnetophon already used plastic tape.  Scotch was commissioned to
    make the first American batch of plastic tape, and J. Herbert Orr, who had
    also discovered machines in Europe but went one step further by befriending
    Fritz Pflaumer, the person who was in charge of developing and manufacturing
    the plastic tape for BASF, came home to Opelika, Alabama with the formulas
    Pflaumer gave him and founded Orradio which made Irish brand tape to compete
    with Scotch in Minnesota.  As an experiment to make a cheaper tape, Scotch
    developed paper tape which Irish then also made.  But the German researchers
    I consulted with wanted to make it clear that in Germany they would never
    have used such a cheap and unreliable a material as paper for tape.  The
    American companies abandoned paper around 1951.  The irony is that every
    reel of paper tape I have ever come across is in perfect playing condition,
    while many plastic tapes have not survived the years well.

>     Again the story is vague, but Bill Palmer had designed
>     a tape recorder that had the capston and pinch roller on
>     the same side that the feed reel was on. So that the tape
>     was "pushed" through the heads instead of being "pulled"
>     through the heads.  Ampex didn't want to pay him royalties,
>     so they redesigned the recorder to have the capston and
>     pinch roller placed on the same side that the take up reel is on.

    >From the beginning, the German AEG Magnetophon had the capstan after the
    heads on the take-up reel side, and this is how the first Ampex,.the model
    200, was designed.  Likewise the 300, which was their finest machine.  It
    was the Ampex 400 which had the capstan before the heads on the feed reel
    side.  It was an attempt to make a budget machine and a lot of corners were
    cut.  The machine was a poor performer, and when I visited the Ampex Museum
    in 1987 they told me they purposefully did not have one on display!  They
    then went back to the more traditional design for the 350 which was and
    still is the most beloved Ampex of them all.

>     When I worked at Palmer Films, they still had that
>     original tape recorder and it was still working.

    You mean a 400?  I first saw one at WDAS in Philadelphia around 1968, still
    working, at least as well as a model 400 could work.

>     There was a lot of history at Palmer Films. I was told that the
>     galvanometer that we used to put sound tracks onto film was
>     the same one used back in the days of the Jazz Singer movie.
>     I thought that that film had sound on disc, but maybe at some
>     point the sound was transferred directly to film.

    Of course "The Jazz Singer" was a sound-on-disc film in 1927 using the
    Western Electric Vitaphone system.  Around 1932 Warner Bros. did a transfer
    to sound-on-film so that they could retire the discs since most theatres had
    switched away from using discs. As one who has heard the original discs,
    that transfer to sound-on-film was quite a step backwards.  And you were
    still using a galvanometer from those days???!!!!  Was it a Variable Area
    (RCA [removed] Hoxie system) or Variable Density (Western Electric
    system)?

    Michael Biel   mbiel@[removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #98
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